Could Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri) still have a shot at landing her big London crush, Tom Hayward (Dónal Finn)? The charming young lawyer might already have an “understanding” with Mary’s pal Ann Baxter (Varada Sethu), but in this exclusive clip from BritBox‘s The Other Bennet Sister Episode 5, he definitely seems like he might be interested in Mary? Or, at least, he’s very interested in knowing what exactly is going on between Miss Bennet and Mr. William Ryder (Laurie Davidson)…

The Other Bennet Sister is based on Janice Hadlow’s best-selling novel of the same name and follows the events of Jane Austen‘s Pride & Prejudice from Mary Bennet’s point of view. Not considered as dazzling as her four beautiful sisters, Mary struggles to see herself as the heroine of her own story. When she moves to London to work as a governess for her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, Mary begins to flourish amongst friendlier faces. She slowly, but surely, learns that she is not only capable of keeping up in society, but that she could also potentially make a match of her own.

In this exclusive sneak peek at this week’s all-new episode of The Other Bennet Sister, Mr. Hayward approaches Mary at a party to tell her that he’s noticed Mr. Ryder taking an interest in her.

“I had noticed at the ball that Mr. Ryder had occupied a great deal of your time,” Hayward says, “and he often acts without thinking. I’d be very glad to ask him to be more restrained if that is what you would like.”

Mary pauses, thinks, and then says, “I very much enjoy his company.”

At first, Mr. Hayward awkwardly stammers, but then Mary elaborates. “No, that is to say I’m not drawn to him,” she says.

Then, a couple of gossips pass by, talking about Mary. First they describe her as being the “plain” one of her family and the only one of her five sisters not to marry. However, then, one of them says Mary didn’t look plain to her and that “you can see Ryder’s interested in her. If I were him, I’d snap her up before some other fellow.”

Mr. Hayward looks stricken by this observation and excuses himself.

What does it mean? Could Mr. Hayward be harboring feelings for our Mary? Will Ryder sweep Miss Bennet off her feet?

You’ll just have to keep watching The Other Bennet Sister on BritBox to find out.

New episodes of The Other Bennet Sisters premiere on Wednesdays on BritBox.