Page 32 of Resilience

Is the snow very deep in Derbyshire? We have had some here, but not enough to prevent travel.

Lizzy

Two days after Lydia left, Mr Bingley and Jane called upon the Bennets. “Hill, would you ask my father to join us?” Jane asked when Mrs Bennet had ordered tea.

Elizabeth was by the window assisting Kitty in trimming a bonnet. Aunt Gardiner always gifted each Bennet daughter two plain straw bonnets at Christmas, and quantities of fabric remnants, ribbon, and feathers to trim them with. Considering the cost of bonnets and hats, the Bennet ladies were all skilled in creating such finery themselves. Elizabeth had remarked to her sisters many times that with their varying preferences, and expressions of fashion and colour, if they were ever forced to earn their living, they might become famous by opening a bonnet emporium in London.

“Well, Jane, will you tell us why I have been summoned?” Mr Bennet demanded.

Mr Bingley cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked at his wife, then her father. “Mr Bennet, my wife wishes to discuss your plans for marrying off your remaining daughters.”

“Jane was told that she would have the largest dowry because she was the eldest and most likely to wed, but I also informed my eldest daughter that I expected her to help me in getting her younger sisters married once she achieved that state.” Mr Bennet looked directly at Jane. “So I believe it is I who am curious to learn what Jane’s plan is.”

“I beg your pardon, Papa, but after it cost my husband half of that dowry to obtain a husband for Lydia, I believe I have done my part.” Jane’s voice was cold. “I will do nothing more, and I will not allow my husband to be used. If it were not for Mr Darcy’s assistance, the affair might never have been managed at all, especially since you refused to contribute.”

“The very least you could do would be to take Lizzy or even Mary into London and introduce them to your husband’s friends.” Mr Bennet raised his eyebrows at his eldest and her husband.

“No, the very least we could do would be to give up the lease on Netherfield, take a house in Bath, then return every future communication from Meryton unopened, which is what my husband and I will do if you do not take steps, Mr Bennet. Kitty is no more trustworthy than Lydia, and I will not wait to learn how she might mortify us now that Lydia is gone.” Jane was colder than Elizabeth had ever seen her before.

“I have done nothing wrong! Lydia told me nothing of her plan! I would not have allowed her to run away if I knew!” Kitty cried.

“Only because you would have wanted to be the next to wed so you might have the rest of the dowry money. I am sure that if a man showed you any attention at all, you would make Lydia’s attempts to ruin us all look innocent.” Jane was hearing none of Kitty’s objections.

“I wish this good fortune had never come to Papa. Since we learnt of the investment, the family has fallen quite apart, and we have all turned upon one another.” Elizabeth put her head into her hands and sighed heavily. “I do not know about the rest of you, but I have been utterly wretched since Papa gave us the news.”

“That is only because you learnt that day that being Papa’s favourite earned you no favours.” Jane refused to meet Elizabeth’s eye.

“Jane Bennet, how could you be so callous? Of course you should have helped Lydia after you found such a rich husband!” Mrs Bennet objected. “You ought to help all your sisters, and I must say, I defended you through your engagement when you were often quite unreasonable! Like when you wanted Lizzy sent away for your wedding…but I thought it was only wedding nerves! All ladies experience such flutterings of anxiety before they wed, but you ought to have set your nerves aside by now!”

“I will not take any of them anywhere.” Jane was firm. “Kitty and Mary do not know how to behave, and I have finished with Lizzy’s attention-seeking ways.”

“If you all do not mind, I will retire to my room, I have a headache, and please do not banish me for it,” Elizabeth said, trying not to close her eyes against the light from the window. “Jane need not worry about me, I have been invited to live with Aunt and Uncle Gardiner next month when I reach my majority.”

“Lizzy, fleeing to London and throwing yourself all over the Matlocks again will not encourage Mr Darcy, nor his cousin the viscount, to propose marriage to you,” Jane said scathingly. “And the attention you draw to yourself there does me no favours. I was quite embarrassed at the opera.”

“Yes, embarrassed not to have been recognised by the Matlocks when your sister and family were welcomed by them perhaps, but I don’t see how you could expect to be acknowledged by them, considering your insult to Miss Darcy.” Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief. “I can only hope that you are intelligent enough not to cross Lady Priscilla again, she will not tolerate your disrespect, nor your acquaintance, and I should not like to think what damage Lady Matlock could do to you in society if you pressed them too far.”

“Lizzy, I am surprised that you would embrace the friendship of those who are openly against Jane.” Mr Bennet looked at his second daughter with interest. “Can it be that you have turned against the sister you always championed?”

“Is it truly a surprise, Papa, given the events of the last months?” Elizabeth grumbled. “Besides, no one was very surprised by how quickly Jane sought the friendship of Miss Bingley, who quite openly loathes me, so perhaps my defection is not so surprising after all. However, I am quite serious about this megrim. I lately seem to find myself in the grip of one whenever my elder sister imposes herself upon me. If anyone wishes for me to depart Meryton before my majority, I will gladly make arrangements to do so, but for now, I really must seek solitude in my room.”

Chapter Fourteen

When Elizabeth returned downstairs the following day, having taken a tray in her room and retiring early the previous afternoon, she was grateful that not only were Jane and Mr Bingley not present in the drawing room, but that the two households avoided each other for at least a sennight.

Elizabeth waited each day for a reply from Georgiana, but none came. She wondered if Mr Darcy had returned to Pemberley immediately after Mrs Wickham’s wedding. Was he, as she had fretted in her letter to his sister, now disgusted by Lydia and her new husband? The gentleman had every right to shield himself and his family from theirs now, if he found it necessary.

Mr Bennet had not wasted any time during said sennight. Elizabeth noted him coming and going from the soldier’s camp, as well as sending and receiving mail from their cousin in Hunsford. However, he did not speak on either matter until a letter arrived from Hunsford a week after Jane’s call, presumably in answer to one or more Mr Bennet had sent earlier that week.

“Mary, Kitty, I wish to speak with you.” Mr Bennet folded his newspaper one morning and laid it by his plate as his two middle daughters straightened at his attention. “I have given what Jane said to us all a great deal of thought, and I have come to the conclusion that I will have no peace whatsoever until I do as she bids and take steps. We have waited for your mother to bring you all up to scratch, but it is my responsibility to see you married, and so I have made inquiries.”

“Papa?” Kitty whispered in horror. “I wish to be married, but always thought I would do my own choosing, like Jane and Lydia.”

“If you are thinking of choosing like Lydia, it is best that I step in,” Mr Bennet said. “I have decided that as Lizzy said, this fortune has been nothing but a curse. It has turned you all against one another, and caused far too much hardship. If I am not supporting all of you girls any longer, then the income of Longbourn will suit my need for books and port well enough. I would rather use the remaining funds from the investment to acquire my own peace and tranquility.”

“So you will give all the girls a dowry?” Mrs Bennet asked from her place across from him.

“It rather sounds like he plans to pay men to marry us. I do hope I am incorrect,” Elizabeth observed. “And I am not certain if it was the actual fortune that turned the family against one another, or rather our parents setting us up against one another in competition for the money. Jane, Kitty, and Lydia might have been drawn in, but I want no part of it.”