Fragment from Caroline Bingley's Diary Discovered

Below is a transcription of a rare document found revealing some hitherto unknown information about Miss Caroline Bingley, and providing our first evidence of the existence of a cousin to Mr Darcy. As yet, the cousin’s identity is unknown.

Note from the Editor: the following fragment was discovered among the coals in Miss Bingley’s bedchamber. Since it is a rare example of personal writing by her, we have here a discovery of monumental importance for those interested in determining the accuracy of Pride and Prejudice. One can only guess at Miss Bingley’s feelings throughout the piece, however. It is particularly unfortunate that the rest of the document is lost to us. We must hope that other evidence will be unearthed which will reveal more about this unknown cousin of Mr Darcy’s.


Transcription of diary fragment:

[I] do not keep a diary.

At least, I have never kept a diary until today. Only the direst circumstances could bring me to confess my feelings on a piece of paper. I have always found the idea utterly juvenile. Of course, I must have been juvenile once, but I did not keep a diary even then. For what is the point of writing one’s thoughts on paper, when one has already thought them, and no one will read them?

No one must read this, least of all my sister Louisa. I could [not?] bear to think of her as having even an inkling of how I feel.

However, there are moments in one’s life which demand to be recorded, and today is one of them.

Today was Mr Darcy’s wedding. To watch him slide the ring on Miss Eliza Bennet's finger, to hear him say his vows to her, to know that their lives are tied together, never to be split asunder -- I
the worst day I have ever experienced
to imagine that my outbu[rst]
watching me all the time
Mr Darcy’s cousin

By Monica Fairview, whose THE OTHER MR DARCY is coming out in June 2009