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The youngest Miss Bennet cocked her head for a moment but was forced to admit it was true. “But there won’t be any gentlemen there, Lizzy! And no dances or parties! What on Earth will we do with ourselves?”

Elizabeth could not stop the laughter that bubbled up inside her but she wrapped one arm around her sister’s shoulders to take the sting out of it.

“Oh Lydia… you shall have so much to do and talk about… you are going to school! Can you not understand? Two years to do nothing but study music and art, languages and history, and all sorts of other wondrous subjects. I am very, very jealous, don’t you know? ”

Lydia’s expression indicated that she considered her sister quite insane.

Elizabeth sighed. “Lydia, you are not even sixteen. Despite the way our mother goes on about it, you don’t need to even think about getting married for some years yet.

Consider the next two years as a time for yourself, before you must take on all the responsibilities of a household and children and all the other work that comes along with a husband. ”

“I’d never really thought of it that way,” admitted the girl more thoughtfully.

“That’s not surprising, really. Mama is so caught up with her fears of being thrown to the hedgerows when our father dies that she has pushed us all to marry quickly. Of course, Uncle Gardiner would never allow any of us to go homeless, but, well, you know Mama and her nerves.”

The two shared a smile, but Elizabeth soon grew serious again.

“Jane and I were fortunate to spend time with our Aunt and Uncle Gardiner while we were growing up. With them, we saw a marriage that combines affection and friendship. They love each other, but it is so much more… there is trust and companionship and mutual esteem and respect . After seeing that such a marriage was possible, Jane and I swore to each other that we would settle for nothing less.”

“Mama always goes on and on about that lord who wrote poetry to Jane when she was only fifteen,” said Lydia slyly, navigating her way through new thoughts.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Yes, but she neglects to mention that he was not a day under fifty. He was infatuated by Jane’s youth and beauty… but he cared nothing for her mind or heart. Do you understand why she refused him?”

Once Lydia had recovered from her disgust that such an ancient man might wish to marry, she cocked her head in a way that would have reminded Mr. Darcy of her elder sister.

“You’re saying that he would have treated her like a doll, to dress up and show off to his friends, but he wouldn’t have appreciated Jane, herself. ”

Elizabeth nodded, pleased. “And for similar reasons, I refused Mr. Collins.”

Lydia giggled. “Oh Lizzy—he was such an odious creature—you need not explain that to me.”

Elizabeth returned her grin but pressed on to make sure that her point was understood. “Yes, but Mama was very serious in her desire for me to accept his offer; if I had, it would have secured my mother and sisters’ futures.”

No longer able to sit still, Elizabeth jumped down from the stone wall, brushed out her skirts, and was soon striding along the path with her sister in tow.

Lydia studied her carefully. “Do you feel guilty for refusing Mr. Collins, Lizzy? I thought it was all such a joke.”

“What would you have done if his eye had fallen upon you, Lydia? He might not be handsome, but he is respectable and his wife will become the next mistress of Longbourn.”

Lydia matched her sister’s pace for some ways before replying, “I still would have refused him. I could barely stand to be in the same room with him—and meals! The way he stuffed his mouth while talking made me positively ill!”

Elizabeth was unable to keep from smiling, however hard she attempted to maintain a serious demeanor.

“I quite agree, but let us consider your reasons a little more carefully. Mr. Collins’ behavior at the table is not what we would prefer, but perhaps he was not taught proper manners growing up.

Is he the sort of man whom a wife could encourage to change his ways? ”

Lydia’s eyes became thoughtful. “Yes, I suppose. It would take a bit of cunning; you couldn’t go at him head on—he would get all stuffy and hurt—but if you made him think it was important to Lady Catherine or something…”

Elizabeth smiled. “Yes, and when I visited Kent in March, I was astonished to see that Charlotte had managed just such a transformation, with only a little backsliding now and then.”

Lydia’s giggles joined her own for several minutes, but even before Elizabeth could bring herself back to the point, her younger sister grew serious again. “But Lizzy, even if his manners can be improved, I do not think I could stand to be married to him.”

Her elder sister agreed. “The two of you have nothing in common. Though I was dismayed when Charlotte accepted his offer, I believe that I understand her decision a little better now. She desired a respectable husband and her own household so that she would not remain dependent on her father and brothers. Mr. Collins might not be handsome or intelligent, but he is respectable.”

Lydia scrunched up her face. “I suppose I can understand that… it would be better than being an old spinster like Miss Carter.” Miss Carter was an elderly aunt of Mrs. Goulding who seemed perennially fearful.

She lived entirely on the goodwill of her brother-in-law and seemed to tiptoe through her days, doing her best to oblige everyone and, as a result, an noying all.

“My point is that you should consider what you want your life to be like, Lydia. I would have been miserable married to Mr. Collins because I could not respect him… but then, I was not backed into a corner like Charlotte. What I am trying to say is that you would do better to focus less on the wedding as your life’s goal, and more on what comes after.

Are you prepared to spend the next fifty years with such a man?

Do the two of you want the same things? Does he prefer town to the country?

Does he want to travel or stay at home? What shall you talk about on Sunday afternoons when there is no one but the two of you in the house? ”

The sisters walked on for some ways, speaking occasionally but also being silent when they wished.

Even as Lydia was beginning to appreciate her older sister’s greater experience and understanding, Elizabeth was reminded that the youngest Miss Bennet was not nearly as silly as her father had labeled her.

When the pair had circled around and was nearing the house again, Lydia returned to her primary source of anxiety. “But Lizzy, I still don’t understand why I must be sent away to school. Couldn’t you convince Papa that I have learned my lesson and shall behave better?”

“It will be easier for you to change your habits if you are in a new situation, Lydia.”

“But why must I be locked away in some dreadful school!?! If I can’t stay at Longbourn, why can’t I go to Pemberley with you or stay with Jane at Netherfield?”

Elizabeth stopped and looked her sister in the eye.

“For heaven’s sake, Lydia! You are going to a school , not a prison.

You shall be the first female in our family to gain a formal education—stop acting as if it is a punishment!

You will be with other girls your age from all across Britain and have masters to teach you on every subject! Think of it!”

Lydia stared at her sister with a dawning amazement. “You really do wish you could go! I thought you were just trying to make me feel better!”

Elizabeth shook her head and started walking again.

“The more of Mr. Darcy’s family and friends that I meet…

so many of the ladies attended seminary or, at the very least, they had the benefit of governesses and masters at home…

Papa may have taught me, but it was only on those subjects that interested him.

I have no illusions that my education is well rounded.

I studied what he directed me to study as well as those subjects which caught my own interest, but…

well, to be honest, I dread the day when I thoroughly embarrass myself by showing some horrible deficiency in my understanding.

Like saying the Earth is flat… or that Henry VIII only ever had one wife. ”

Lydia would never have thought that her sister might doubt herself. “But Lizzy, you have such a way about you. None of them would ever think less of you.”

“Hmmm… I fear that Miss Bingley and her ilk would disagree.”

The two sisters burst into laughter and Lydia attempted to mimic that lady’s manner of walking and superior expression.

By the time they returned to the house, the youngest Miss Bennet was more resigned to the prospect of school, particularly as Lizzy had promised to write to Mr. Darcy’s cousin and ask for advice about what Lydia might expect.

Indeed, that very afternoon, Elizabeth discovered a letter on her father’s desk from the schoolmistress with a list of clothes and various other supplies that new students were expected to bring.

Lydia’s spirits were buoyed somewhat when her mother began to take an interest in making sure that she had all the right things.

With Elizabeth and Jane’s encouragement, Mrs. Bennet began to treat her favorite as if Lydia were embarking on some great adventure.

Mrs. Bennet knew nothing about school, but she quickly came to understand that it was quite the thing in the highest circles of Society.

After all, if Miss Darcy and Miss Bingley had gone, then certainly her dear Lydia must!

A great deal of time was thus devoted to considering what gowns were acceptable and what must be bought new.

Although Lydia was not very enthusiastic about the prim muslin frocks and practical boots that resulted, she was tremendously pleased with the cherry red wool cloak that Lizzy had ordered for her in London.