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Though Darcy tried to protest, Richard waved him off and turned to the older gentleman in their company, ignoring the fact that he was looking rather pale.

“Mr. Bennet; we have not met before today, but I have the utmost respect for Miss Elizabeth Bennet. If your youngest is anything like her sister, then I expect to meet a spirited girl with a zest for living and a determined independence that is not likely to be suppressed by an order from her father, however sternly it is worded. If she does not understand why she must behave, then she will simply focus her energies on getting around your authority and finding herself some other mischief.”

Mr. Bennet nodded tiredly. “And the next time she could very well succeed in ruining her own reputation and that of her family, though she does not appear to care about anyone but herself.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

“I did try to take her in hand last spring; I forbade her from attending assemblies and parties and so forth until she could conduct herself in a more ladylike manner… obviously it was not successful. I had no idea that she been writing to Mr. Wickham…” He trailed off, feeling too ancient and too exhausted to deal with his youngest daughter’s latest devilry.

After a moment of silence, the Colonel spoke in a gentler tone than before.

“Sir, my youngest sister was much the same. As the daughter of an Earl, she was raised in much stricter circumstances—nurses and governesses and so forth—but even those did not keep her from acting out and embarrassing herself and the family on occasion.”

Longbourn’s master studied Mr. Darcy’s cousin.

As much as he wished to bury himself in a book and forget that any of this had ever occurred, he was forced to admit that he could no longer do so.

Indeed, he vaguely recognized that it was that very habit which had caused much of the current predicament.

He sighed. “Very well, Colonel. Although I highly doubt your sister was ever stupid enough to leave behind her family and friends and throw herself into the power of a known seducer and blackmailer bound for London.” He sighed again and waved his hand.

“Well, then. What would you have me do? Send her away, I assume?”

Closest to the door, Colonel Fitzwilliam might have heard a small sob from the hall but he was too focused on summarizing what his knew of ladies’ seminaries.

Luckily for Mr. Bennet, this was surprisingly extensive for a single gentleman who had spent most of his life in the military.

Richard had assisted his mother in finding an appropriate school for his younger sister, and then later supplemented this knowledge when he and Darcy decided that Georgiana would benefit from the increased society at a lady’s seminary.

However, the youngest Miss Bennet left long before she could hear any details.

Racing up the stairs toward her room, she was only halfway up when she was forced to give way to her elder sisters.

Jane swept by, giving Lydia a look of such anger and disgust as no one would ever have expected from a lady so widely known for her sweetness and serenity.

With a sob, Lydia turned away and ran to her room as quickly as she could. Elizabeth had paused to watch, noting that, for the first time she could remember, the girl had looked genuinely remorseful.

“Ignore her, Lizzy. It is no use—she will not listen.” Jane Bennet had reached her limit and wanted only to sit quietly with her family and share some pleasant, undemanding conversation. Perhaps she would work on the handkerchief she was embroidering for Charles, she thought to herself.

Elizabeth managed a small nod, understanding her sister better than Jane did herself.

In many ways, her elder sister was more like Mr. Bennet than Lizzy, for all that the gentleman professed her to be his favorite.

Both would happily ignore any unpleasantness until forced to face it, and then attempt to forget about the trouble as quickly as possible once it appeared to be solved, temporarily or not.

“You go ahead, Jane. I’m just going to run up and make sure that she doesn’t start ripping apart Rebecca’s doll clothes now that she is done with yours.”

Miss Bennet’s lips thinned but she nodded slightly and continued on to the sitting room.

Though wondering at herself a little, Elizabeth retreated back up the stairs and knocked lightly on Lydia’s door. Hearing a noise beyond, she opened it and was met with the pitiful sight of her youngest sister crouched in the corner, arms wrapped around a pillow and tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Oh, Lizzy… they’re going to send me away…” wailed Lydia. “Do you think they’ll lock me up in a cage?”

Realizing that her sister appeared to be genuinely frightened, Elizabeth studied her for a moment before moving to sit on the bed.

She had seen Lydia show anger, self-pity, and an unbelievable level of callowness—even Mr. Wickham’s rejection had seemed to hurt her pride more than her heart—but this was the first time she had shown any hint of concern over the consequences to her actions.

Cautiously, Elizabeth inquired, “What did you expect to happen?

Surprised enough by the question to pause in her blubbering, Lydia stared at her sister before shrugging. “I don’t really know… go to some parties and do some shopping, I suppose, and then go back to Longbourn.” She brightened. “At least Meryton will be more fun now that the regiment has returned.”

Elizabeth stared at her sister with disbelief. “Lydia, surely you understand that you shall not be attending any parties, much less socializing with the regiment?”

The girl’s spirits wilted again. “Because I’m to be sent away and put in a cage.

” She sniffled a little more into an already damp handkerchief.

After a few moments, she looked up at her older sister, genuinely bewildered.

“But why, Lizzy? I don’t understand… aren’t we supposed to smile and flirt and catch ourselves husbands? ”

“I don’t much like your way of catching a husband, thank you very much,” snapped Elizabeth, but stopped, knowing that ridicule was unlikely to help the situation. She sighed. “I apologize for that, Lydia. You asked an honest question and I should not have mocked you.”

There was a moment of silence between them while Lizzy considered how to explain the facts of life to the sister she knew least well.

“In many ways, you and I have a similar fault… or rather, we both have taken on some of the worst aspects of our parents, rather than their virtues. I, like our father, tend to mock and ridicule instead of looking for the good in people. And you…”

She eyed Lydia carefully, uncertain if her sister was capable of accepting criticism. However, Lydia’s brows were knit together and she seemed to be making a genuine effort to understand. “And me? Am I too much like Mama?”

Reminding herself that Lydia had never had the advantage of spending time with the Gardiners and seeing how a proper lady behaved in society beyond Meryton, Elizabeth tried to be gentle but honest. “I love our mother, but her behavior is… not always in accordance with what is acceptable in higher circles. Married to Papa—an established gentleman and landowner—she is protected. Our neighbors may laugh behind her back an d pity the rest of us for the embarrassment she causes, but Meryton is a small enough society that they will not cut us unless she does something truly inexcusable.”

She turned to her sister, eyes deadly serious. “Her daughters do not have that protection, Lydia. We have nothing but our good name—no dowry to tempt a gentleman, and no possibility of any inheritance.”

“But you and Jane are both engaged,” protested Lydia.

“And have you seen either of us flirt as blatantly as you do with the officers, or any other man who catches your eye, for that matter?” Elizabeth’s tone was tart as the subject came closer to her heart.

Lydia studied the pillow in her arms. “No, but you must have… they are marrying you, after all. How else do you make a man fall in love with you?”

Elizabeth could not restrain herself; she sprang to her feet and paced the length of the room though it was barely five paces across and she had to dodge the two beds.

Finally she stopped by the window and, staring out over the mews beyond, sighed.

“Lydia, you are confusing love with lust. Do you understand the difference?” She was oddly relieved to see her little sister blush a little.

“Lizzy… you shouldn’t speak about… that … It isn’t proper!”

“Not proper!?!” exclaimed Elizabeth in disbelief. “What did you think was going to happen when you got into that gig with Mr. Wickham?”

Lydia pouted. “He said he loved me and wanted to marry me! We were going to Gretna Green! I would have been the first of my sisters to be married…”

“Don’t be simple, Lydia,” returned her sister scornfully.

“London is not on the way to Scotland—even you know that. George Wickham had run up nearly twenty pounds in gambling debts to his fellow officers, not to mention the unpaid accounts he surely left behind with the shopkeepers in Brighton. He did not have the money to pay his debts and so he decided to desert his post—you do understand that such an action is considered treason against the crown, do you not? You were merely brought along to be an amusing bed warmer until he tired of you. He would have deserted you in some flea-infested public house—left you alone, defenseless and penniless in a London gutter with nothing but the dress on your back, if that.”