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“Oh no, my dear! It’s too dangerous! I admire a handsome officer in a red coat as much as the next girl but we don’t know anything about these militiamen. Who knows what sort of trouble they might get you into, and then we would all be ruined!”

“But Mama…” Lydia’s voice returned to a wail .

“Lydia...” remonstrated her father.

“But you promised! ”

“Lydia.”

“ But I WANT TO go to Brighton !!! ”

“ SILENCE!!! ” Mr. Bennet had finally had enough.

“For heaven’s sake! This is not a discussion.

You are not going anywhere near Brighton and that is final.

In fact, you shall not be attending any assemblies or parties for the next month, at least. At the end of that period, I will review your behavior and decide if you have shown adequate improvement to be allowed out into company. ”

“But…”

“No. For now, you will go to your room until you are calm enough to act like a sensible little girl as it is quite obvious that the proper behavior of a young lady is well beyond your current capacity.” Thoroughly disgusted, Thomas rang the bell for a servant and motioned for his daughter to stand.

Fortunately, it was the housekeeper herself who answered Mr. Bennet’s summons. “Mrs. Hill— excellent. Miss Lydia shall not be going to Brighton or anyplace else for the next month, so you may tell Sarah that she need not see to any packing, regardless of what my daughter claims.”

Hill’s eyebrows rose at the sight of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet united in taking their spoiled child in hand. Wisely, she simply nodded and said nothing. Mr. Bennet continued in a stern tone, “For now, she will be going to her room.”

Lydia couldn’t stand it anymore and flounced to the door, crying over her shoulder. “I hate you! I want to go to my room! I don’t want to see you ever again!” And with a last huff she swept from the room, whipping the door open so hard that it slammed into the wall.

Mr. Bennet sighed and turned to his wife who had burst into tears upon her favorite’s spiteful words.

Patting her on the shoulder, he said gruffly, “There, there Fanny. It had to be done; it’s for her own good.

She cannot go on like this and it is our responsibility—yours and mine—to see to her.

” He offered his handkerchief and then turned to their housekeeper.

“Mrs. Hill? As you have no doubt guessed, we have come to the conclusion that our youngest daughter needs to… err… modify her behavior.” Mrs. Hill met his eye and nodded in such a way that Mr. Bennet guessed that she considered such an action to be long overdue.

He cleared his throat. “Please inform the other servants; I would not be surprised if Lydia becomes more difficult for a time. If she causes you or the others any trouble, come to me immediately.”

Hill nodded and left the study, privately wondering if Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had any hope of reforming their wayward daughter.

On the way to the kitchens, she sighed and rolled her shoulders.

She was really getting too old for this but was determined to see all the Bennet girls off and married before she retired to the pensioner’s cottage that Mr. Bennet had promised her.

She sighed again and reminded herself that she had worked for far worse masters.

While Mrs. Hill was reporting the startling turn of events to those in the kitchen, Mr. Bennet spent some minutes comforting his wife. He was pleased to see that her eyes appeared to be opened to Lydia’s poor behavior.

“Fanny, I have a difficult time comprehending that our babies are growing into young ladies. It seems just yesterday that Jane was put in my arms for the first time.”

“Oh Thomas, I know, I know.”

“But, just as we had to be on guard when they were toddling about on leading strings, so we must do now that they are young ladies. Do you remember when Lizzy was almost run down by that wagon in Meryton?”

“Oh Thomas, how could I forget? I took my eyes off her for one second and she was out of the shop and halfway across the street!”

“Yes, my dear; we were lucky that day… and many others I suspect.”

Mrs. Bennet nodded, lapsing into memories until Mr. Bennet spoke again.

“I have been considering how best to make Lydia behave in a way that she will be safe in the world… safe from men who are not gentlemanly, let us say. I can only guess that it is like teaching her not to run into the road when a cart is barreling down upon her; a combination of clear rules backed up by punishment for breaking them and praise when she obeys.” He paused. “We must be united in this, my dear.”

A determined glint appeared in Mrs. Bennet’s eyes. “Yes, Thomas—you’re perfectly right. Indeed, I believe I’ll go check that Lydia did indeed go to her room—it would be just like her to sneak off.”

Once Mr. Bennet had approved her plan, Fanny rose and prepared to deal with her youngest daughter.

She paused with her hand on the door and spoke haltingly, not quite meeting his eye.

“Thomas, I’ve never thanked you for what you did…

marrying me, I mean. But I want you to know that I do understand how a proper gentleman’s daughter should act, even if I don’t always manage it myself.

I’ll do everything I can to set Lydia to rights. ”

Thomas Bennet felt tears forming in his own eyes and moved forward to take his wife of twenty-odd years in his arms. “Oh, my dear Fanny, you’re a good woman with a good heart.

Neither of us would measure up to society’s definition of perfect behavior, if strictly examined.

” He paused, disliking to speak of his emotions, but forced himself to go on.

“Though I may not show it very well, I firmly believe that I was the lucky one. Longbourn came to life the day you became my wife.”

“Oh, Mr. Bennet… God has been very good to us.”

“Yes, my dear, He has.”

And with that, the Bennets parted in far better spirits than one might have expected, given the cause of their meeting.

Not much later, Mr. Bennet convened with his neighbors to explain his concern that Meryton’s shopkeepers had been extending credit to the soldiers but that some individuals might be tempted to depart without settling their debts.

As the regiment was set to march within the week, the gentlemen readily agreed to accompany him into the village, assemble a list of debtors and then share it with Colonel Forster.

Mr. Bennet’s neighbors were surprised to see the usually retiring gentleman taking on such activity but easily agreed to follow his direction.

The Bennets had been the leading family of the district for generations and it was something of a relief to see the current patriarch finally step up to his role in the community.

Mr. Wickham was probably less pleased, although the gentlemen never saw him.

The Lieutenant’s name figured prominently on the lists of unpaid debts produced by Meryton’s merchants.

Colonel Forster was displeased to see the extent of his new officer’s expenses, but his face had brightened when he recalled hearing that Wickham had had an excellent run at cards on the previous night.

When the regiment departed for Brighton later that week, the shopkeeper’s ledgers were balanced and George Wickham’s pockets were quite empty; a situation that old Mr. Darcy’s godson was not at all pleased with.

Needing a bit of solitude after so much unaccustomed activity, Mr. Bennet took a roundabout way back to Longbourn, finally handing his gelding’s reins over to the stable boy not long before tea.

“How is it around the house, Davey?” inquired Mr. Bennet. The young man was Mrs. Hill’s son and, though simple, usually had a keen idea of the comings and goings of the family.

“All’s well that I know of, guv. Miss Bennet and Miss Mary went out earlier with a basket. I asked ‘em if they wanted the gig but Miss Jane said they’d rather walk.”

Mr. Bennet nodded with approval. A long walk outdoors would do Mary good, not to mention time in company with Jane’s good sense.

After he had washed and changed clothes, Mr. Bennet descended to his study and asked for a tray to be sent to him.

In the course of his activities in Meryton, he had missed luncheon and now his stomach was rumbling in protest. He allowed himself an hour to eat and read a favorite chapter of Tom Jones before settling down to the tedious duty of checking over Longbourn’s ledgers.

Thus, when Mary tapped tentatively on his door, clutching Mr. Fordyce’s Sermons to her chest, the interruption was much to his relief.

“Ah, yes. Come in Mary, come in. You needn’t look so frightened, child; come, let us sit by the window where the light is best.” Once they had settled themselves, Mr. Bennet prompted her; “So, how was your morning?” He was pleased to see Mary’s expression brighten.

“Very well, Papa. Jane and I visited the Wagners and gave them the basket. They were very grateful— even for the littlest things.” Mary paused before adding softly, “I would never have known what to bring but Jane seemed to know just what they required.”

Thomas nodded approvingly— to himself he noted that his eldest daughters probably knew more about his tenants’ lives than he did himself.

“She knows because she has taken the trouble to learn; by visiting them regularly, she understands their lives better and they are more comfortable telling her what they are lacking.”

After a few minutes discussing Longbourn’s tenants and the obligations of the Bennet family to their servants, Mr. Bennet turned the conversation to what he knew of the beliefs of charity in other cultures—the Muslims, the Jews, the Greeks, the Romans—and the pair spent an enjoyable hour in discussion.

When Mary departed, she was clutching several books in addition to the Scottish clergyman’s manual on proper behavior and her father had hope that he had broadened her mind just a bit and possibly gained himself a new student.