Jane Bennet sat on the edge of the luxurious bed at Netherfield Hall. She was in the mistress’s room as she and Charles Bingley had been married that morning. Tonight would be their first night together. Jane was gathering her thoughts as she prepared for the night and Charles’ arrival. She began to think about masks and how many of the people she knew masked their true feelings by putting on an outward air quite opposite to what they really felt.

She thought about her sister, Lizzy. Lizzy would put on the mask of indifference to hide a hurt to her pride. Instead of showing how offended she was by Mr. Darcy’s thoughtless remark about her not being tempting enough to dance with at the Merton assembly; she masked those feelings by laughing it off and claiming to be indifferent to the slight.

Mr. Darcy also came to mind. He often wore the mask of aloofness when in reality he usually was interested in what was happening around him. However he did not want to raise expectations nor did he know how to ease into conversation with others. Consequently, he either stared out of windows or stood apart from others with little conversation.

Caroline Bingley, her new sister by marriage, was another who wore a mask. Caroline would hide under the mask of superiority when in fact she felt inferior due to her father making his fortune in trade. She often put down others to elevate her own standing. This was a bitter mask for Caroline to “wear” as her cruelty negated most people from thinking of her as superior.

Even her sister, Lydia, was not as she appeared. Lydia wore the mask of silliness to hide the fact that she was not as clever as her four older sisters. Jane had observed that Lydia, when the two of them were by themselves at home, was quite circumspect and the very opposite of being silly. The mask of silliness gave Lydia a way to gain attention and distinction from her four more accomplished sisters but earned her little respect from others.

Then Jane reflected on her talk earlier that day with Charles. He stated that as husband and wife that he wanted nothing to stand between them. He desired that they should know each other truthfully and fully with no secrets or falsehoods. Jane knew that the mask that she wore would need to be discarded if she were to truly be the wife that Charles wanted. However, tossing aside her mask of calmness, sereneness and gentleness would be a Herculean feat. Jane was not sure she was up to it.

What Jane was hiding behind her mask was more serious than what her sisters and Mr. Darcy were hiding behind theirs. Or at least that is the way it felt to Jane. She was wrestling with what to do and finally made up her mind. She would be the wife that Charles described. She would drop her mask and be real.

Thirty minutes later when Charles knocked at the adjoining door to her chambers he was greeted by an almost empty room with Jane standing behind a dressing screen. “Charles” she called out. “I am going to show you my real self, as you desired.” Charles was all atwitter waiting. When Jane stepped out from behind the screen he was totally shocked. Standing before him was a creature that had a relatively large body and four legs at the abdomen area and two larger legs that appeared more like arms. She looked like a large bug of some sort. Charles was speechless and ultimately fainted. Jane stood over him and with her powerful front legs she was able to hold him down and eat him alive. Her mandibles were up for the job and were able to cut through his endoskeleton with little effort.

Let this be a cautionary tale for the reader:
Be careful what you wish for and it often is better to wear a mask!

“Oh-oh, here she comes, Watch out boy she’ll chew you up, oh-oh, here she comes she’s a man eater!”*

*From: Maneater” by Hall and Oates