Jane gasped. “Lizzy!”
“I saw him,” Elizabeth went on. “He was shaking the branch on purpose. He said Longbourn should have been his, and Mark stole it. That he was going to make it right.”
“Elizabeth!” Mr. Bennet barked.
But she did not flinch.
Mr. Bennet turned to William slowly. “Is that true?”
William’s face twisted. “No.”
But the lie hung in the air like smoke.
Mr. Bennet looked to Jane. “Jane. Have you heard anything like this?”
Jane fidgeted, twisting the edge of her sash. “Yes,” she whispered. “He… he said things sometimes. About Mark. But Ithought it was just because he was sad. I did not think—he must have been joking, mustn’t he?”
Mr. Bennet’s voice was quiet. “William. Where did you get these ideas?”
William’s jaw tightened. “My father. Before he died, he always said Longbourn was ours. And at Harrow… the boys—once they found out I was older than Mark but not the heir—they laughed. Even my one friend said I should fight for what was mine. So, I did.”
Silence.
The only sound was the ticking of the tall case clock in the corner and the faint murmur of bees outside the open window.
“I see,” Mr. Bennet said at last.
His voice was steady, but his eyes were full of something Elizabeth had never truly seen before.
Sadness. Real, deep sadness.
“William, return to your room,” he said. “We will speak again when I have decided what is to be done.”
The boy left without a word, his face a mix of resentment and shame.Just wait until I get him alone, Elizabeth thought.He will pay
“Jane, you may go too.”
Jane hurried after him, her eyes swimming with tears.
But when Elizabeth turned to leave, her father said, “Not you. Wait.”
She stopped. The door clicked shut behind Jane.
Mr. Bennet walked slowly to the chair by the hearth and sat down, resting his elbows on his knees. For a long moment, he simply looked at Elizabeth—his strong-willed, clever daughter who was now, undeniably, no longer a little girl.
“Come here,” he said softly.
She stepped forward.
“Tell me again exactly what happened.”
She did. Every word. Every motion. Every part of it.
When she finished, he leaned back and looked toward the ceiling, closing his eyes.
“Thank you,” he said finally. “You did the right thing. Even though it was hard.”
Elizabeth’s voice trembled. “Is William going to be sent away?”
