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T here was no happier girl in the kingdom than Lydia Bennet when she had to dig into her satchel for the rags she used for her “monthly visitor,” as Mama called it. She understood that this “visitor” meant she was not with child. She was so happy that she hummed as she went about her chores.

But after a few days, her joy faded and she began again to fulminate over her situation.

How ever was she to escape her servitude?

Should she write to her mother? Surely Mama would come for her at once!

Yes, that was the answer! She knew Miss Alice, who always showed her kindness, would allow her to use paper and ink. She resolved to ask for this at once.

But upon reflection, she wondered if this was a good idea.

It was certainly known to all that she had eloped, thanks to the stupid letter she had left for Harriet Forster, coupled with Mama’s inability to keep such a thing to herself.

Lydia had worried about being returned to the schoolroom, but in reality, her situation was far worse than that.

As a girl whose virtue was no longer intact, she was ruined.

By extension, her sisters would be ruined as well, once it became known that Lydia was not married.

She thought about this a good deal. It took several days of thinking, but she finally – finally! – realised that she had been an utter fool and had completely ruined her life. Was there a way that she could avoid ruining her sisters as well?

The best thing would be for her to return to Longbourn as a married woman, which would wash away the stain of the elopement, but she could not think of any way to contrive this. The next best thing would be for her to vanish forever, and let everyone think her dead.

***

Fortunately, the enormous amount of work Lydia was expected to perform every day kept her from dwelling on her situation every moment of the day.

She had never been part of an important household before, so she learnt a good deal from her fellow servants and from the glimpses she had of the Greenfields.

And she certainly had a lot to learn about being a servant.

One day, she encountered Miss Alice while sweeping that young lady’s room.

She said, “Is it not a lovely day, Miss Alice?” The young lady looked at Lydia in something like shock before responding.

Then she said, quite gently, “You know that you are not supposed to speak to me unless I speak to you first, do you not? I tell you this not to embarrass you, but to keep you out of trouble with Mrs. Hodges.”

Lydia flushed to the roots of her hair and had managed to stammer out a quick “I thank you!” before fleeing the room.

That night, in the privacy of their room, Lydia told Edith what had occurred.

Edith stared at Lydia for a long minute before replying, “Well, I was certain ya had never been a maid afore, but now I think ya really are from the country! How could ya not know that servants do not address their betters?”

“I always said that I was from the country, did I not?” Lydia replied, with some asperity.

“But yer no farmer’s daughter!” Edith snapped. “Not with them clothes you were wearing when ya got here.”

“I am a farmer’s daughter,” Lydia protested, thinking longingly of her home in Meryton. “I swear it. But tell me what else I need to know. What if one of them speaks to me first?”

“Ya answer as briefly as possible, in a low voice.”

Lydia thought of Betsy, the maid she had shared with her sisters, and Mrs. Hill, and how they had all been so familiar with one another. This was not, evidently, how things were done in London. “I am certain to make many mistakes,” she said, mournfully.

“Well, there is one mistake ya should never make, or ya’ll end up like poor Jenna,” Edith replied, darkly.

“Jenna? I thought she had just left her employment.”

“Not exactly,” Edith scoffed.

“Well, what then?”

“She had one in the oven!”

Lydia considered this sentence, but could make nothing of it. “I am sorry, Edith, but I do not understand. One what? What oven?”

“Yer green one and no mistake! She was with child, o’ course!” Edith’s voice was full of scorn.

“With child!” Lydia’s mouth fell open in shock. “But – but who?”

“Alfred, I think. At least, she used to go on and on about him.”

“And they made Jenna leave?” Lydia was horrified.

“Threw ‘er into the street, more like.”

“But Alfred …?“

“Do ya know nothing at all? ‘Tis always the woman who is blamed, no matter the truth of the situation. Stay away from the footmen, I tell ya that for nothing.” With that, Edith turned away and shut her eyes, leaving her roommate to stare at the ceiling for a long time.