Page 16

Dining Room

Longbourn

Evening

Although Elizabeth did not approve of how much money her mother routinely spent on the nightly family dinners, she was usually grateful for ample portions. This evening, though, there was nothing in the lavish spread that tempted her, and she nibbled unenthusiastically on a plain roll.

Lady Lucas was too fond of the Bennets to make indelicate comments directly to their faces, but Mrs. Bennet had not contented herself with visiting Lucas Lodge. Immediately upon departing the Lodge, they had traveled into Meryton to see other cronies of Mrs. Bennet and to “do a little shopping,” as she said. Old Mrs. Long, who dwelt with her nieces, had also not mentioned anything untoward, but had shot curious looks at Elizabeth throughout the visit. The Bennet ladies had then called on the Gibsons, with their whispering giggling daughters, and Elizabeth’s disquiet had grown. The Gibson girls were about Lydia and Kitty's ages and had plainly been enjoying some joke at their visitors' expense.

It was not until they began Mrs. Bennet's “bit of shopping” that unease had deepened into alarm, however. It was impossible for any but the most oblivious person to miss the way the townsfolk had looked at the Bennets, the whispers exchanged behind gloved hands, the frowns and condemning glances. Mrs. Bennet, enraptured by having two daughters well engaged, was blind to them, but Elizabeth was acutely aware of every judgmental look thrown her way.

In the dressmaker’s shop, Mrs. Bennet had spoken at length of muslins and silks and all the new dresses her daughters would need to start their new lives as Mrs. Bingley and Mrs. Darcy. The seamstress had nodded and smiled and made suggestions and shot covert little glances at Elizabeth. This had still not been as bad as stepping into the milliner's and watching as old Mrs. Clayden glanced over, broke off in the middle of her sentence, and bustled out, muttering darkly.

The obvious reality was that her engagement to Mr. Darcy had not scotched the rumors. Indeed, it seemed that the good denizens of Meryton were taking the engagement as confirmation that the whispers were correct, that Elizabeth Bennet had been up to something dishonorable the night of the Netherfield ball. After all, why else would she accept an offer from a man she had openly despised?

Elizabeth needed to think , which was impossible to do at the noisy table. At least the Netherfield party was not here tonight. She did not feel equal to seeing Mr. Darcy right now or, worse, defending herself against Miss Bingley's snide attacks.

There were, Elizabeth thought with dismay, no good or easy options for her. She truly did not wish to marry Mr. Darcy, but to call off the engagement would be disastrous. If the current gossip was injurious, giving the gossipers reason to believe that she was besmirched without an honorable betrothment would be ruinous.

“Mamma, may we have a party here at Longbourn to celebrate Jane and Elizabeth’s engagements?” Lydia demanded, drawing Elizabeth’s attention.

“Of course, my dear, of course!” Mrs. Bennet cried out. “That is a wonderful idea, Lydia. We will need to talk to Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley to determine the best day for such an event, but oh, yes, we simply must have a celebration!”

“Promise me that you will invite all the officers, Mamma!” Kitty whined, and Lydia chimed in, “Indeed, you must. Perhaps I can creep away with Mr. Wickham and be compromised so that he has to marry me! ”

“Lydia!” Elizabeth exclaimed in alarm. “You absolutely must not say such things!”

“Oh Lizzy, do be quiet!” her youngest sister said angrily. “You captured a rich husband by creeping off with him, and it is entirely unfair to tell us that we ought not to do exactly the same!”

“I most certainly did not!” Elizabeth snapped. “I merely went up to the library to read a book, and Mr. Darcy went there as well…”

“Oh Lizzy, do not be ridiculous. Who would wish to read a book in the middle of a ball?” Lydia demanded as she lavishly buttered a roll with butter. “But you need not worry, as I am very pleased with your engagement now. I do not like Mr. Darcy, but he is incredibly wealthy and can help us all when we are married. Indeed, given that he mistreated Mr. Wickham so badly, I daresay he can be convinced to give us money or…”

“Enough, Lydia,” Mr. Bennet said from his position at the head of the table.

Lydia turned indignant eyes on her father. “But Father, you know I am right.”

“I assure you that you are entirely wrong,” Mr. Bennet said and then turned toward his eldest daughter. “Jane, my dear, I hope that when you are mistress of Netherfield that you will speak to Mr. Bingley about the old Simmons field. It is quite waterlogged and is affecting the Sinclairs, who live adjacent to it on Longbourn land.”

“Of course, Father,” Jane said immediately. “I will talk to him about it soon.”

“Thank you, my dear.”

Lydia looked rather confused by their father’s statement, but she kept quiet, and to Elizabeth’s relief, Mary spoke up next to ask about the library and pianoforte at Netherfield. That topic carried the Bennets to the end of dinner. Elizabeth immediately slipped out of the room and hurried upstairs to her own bedchamber, quite unable to endure any further interaction with her family.

***

Library

Longbourn

An Hour Late r

The fire crackled, smelling pleasantly of oak smoke from the old tree a storm had brought down last year. A glass of Bennet's favorite brandy sat on the little side table close to hand, and a candle beside it supplemented the firelight. German was not Bennet's best language, but he could rub along, and he was greatly enjoying his newest acquisition. William Tell was a fine old story, and reading it in a language with which he was only indifferently familiar was exercising Bennet's mind in pleasing ways.

He was grateful for this chance to rest after family affairs and estate business had kept him busy for several days. He had endured his surfeit of his womenfolk and was happy to sit quietly in his library with his books and his brandy as his only company. Nonetheless, his heart was heavy. Soon, he would be losing the only other sensible members of his absurdly silly family. Jane, at least, would merely be a few miles away at Netherfield, but if – if – Lizzy married Darcy, he would lose her to the distant wilds of Derbyshire, and that was a depressing thought.

Of course, that was a big if . Darcy seemed an excellent fellow, in truth, if a trifle stiff and proud. He was honorable, kind, and, most importantly, highly intelligent and well-read. Bingley was an amiable man and would be a perfect husband for Jane, but he would never do for Elizabeth, nor would the worthy but dull sons of their neighbors. His Lizzy needed a husband as clever as she was, who could keep up with her lightning wit without being overwhelmed or intimidated by it. Darcy fit that bill nicely, but Elizabeth, herself sardonic and proud and insulted, seemed incapable of recognizing Darcy's finer qualities.

Bennet selfishly hoped that Lizzy would indeed choose to end the engagement and remain at Longbourn. He would miss her dreadfully should she move away to the north. But that was a concern for another time. For tonight, he had his books, and his drink, and a cozy fire, and solitude, which was, after all, what he needed right now.

The sudden tap on the door made him jump, and he sighed before calling out, “Come in!”

The door opened to reveal his eldest daughter, and he relaxed and said, “Come in, my dear, come in. I assume you are here to hide from your silly mother and sisters?”

Jane obediently entered, closed the door, and made her deliberate way over to the chair by the fire, where she sank down across from her father and folded her hands.

“No, I came to speak to you,” she said.

This provoked a wriggle of anxiety in his stomach, but he forced himself to smile. “Of course. Please do speak. ”

Jane straightened a trifle and said, “We all need to move to London for a time.”

Bennet blinked at his most beautiful daughter in confusion. “What?”

Jane leaned forward a little and said, “We must move to London before Lydia ruins us all.”

Bennet sighed and carefully set his book aside on a nearby table. “Jane, it is not like you to overreact. Lydia is a silly girl but…”

To his shock, Jane interrupted him without compunction. “Father, since I turned fifteen years old, Mamma has talked of nothing but marriage, of how we need to find a husband so that we are not thrown into the hedgerows. Now, thanks to the rumors flying all over Meryton, our neighbors believe that Elizabeth found a good husband by behaving in an immoral way with Mr. Darcy at the Netherfield Ball. You heard Lydia! She wants nothing more than to be married to an officer in a red coat. She is not exactly subtle about her plans to compromise an officer, and Wickham, whom we know is a rogue, is a likely target of hers. He will not marry her without being given a great deal of money, and we also know that Darcy loathes Wickham. It would be a disaster, and you are the only one who can take Lydia in hand and prevent such a catastrophe. ”

Bennet gazed at Jane in astonishment. His eldest child had always been a quiet, gentle soul, thinking the best of everyone around her, and had never, not once, challenged him in her two and twenty years.

It took him aback and made him think. It was true enough that Lydia was a fool – spoiled by her mother, temperamental, brash, and very much inclined to get her own way. Moreover, there was every reason to imagine that the officers would eagerly take advantage of a buxom, flirtatious fool like his Lydia.

“But I do not like London,” he said and winced as he realized that his tone was petulant.

“I know,” Jane said, “but you need only stay long enough for us to be settled, as it would be entirely appropriate for Mamma to act as our chaperone.”

“That would cost a great deal of money.”

“Yes, and soon I will be married to a very wealthy man, and if necessary, I can pay you back after our wedding.”

This was said in a calm tone, but Bennet felt a stab of guilt. Longbourn earned a full two thousand pounds a year, which was plenty not only to support the family and keep the estate in decent condition, but also to save a substantial portion each year. But he had never bothered to save, even after the birth of his fifth daughter, even when it was obvious there would be no more children, despite the fact that the estate was entailed away to the stupid Mr. Collins.

They were, at least, not in debt, which took some effort on his part because his wife was a spendthrift, but he could have restrained her sufficiently to save, and he had not.

“I have no idea how to rent a house in London,” he said morosely.

“I daresay that Mr. Darcy and Charles can provide you with insight on that matter.”

“I suppose they can,” he said with a sigh. “Very well, I will send a message requesting that they both call on us as soon as possible.”

For the first time, she smiled approvingly at him. “Thank you, Father. I will speak to Elizabeth tonight and inform her of our thoughts on this matter.”