Lydia, with her usual lack of restraint, saw her sisters receiving the attention of various gentlemen and others at the party, so she quickly set her sights on Captain Carter, one of the militia officers stationed in Meryton. Her voice, frequently high-pitched and flirtatious, rang out across the table as she laughed a little too loudly at his jokes, her eyes never leaving him.
“Oh, Captain, you must tell us more about your time in the army! I do love a good story,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at him, her hand resting on her wine glass as if to catch his attention. She leant in just a touch too far, her gaze fixed on him with an expression of eager admiration, hoping to catch the eye of the handsome officer.
Captain Carter, a tall and well-built young man with a swagger to his step, seemed both amused and flattered by Lydia’s forwardness. He smiled and leant in to reply, no doubt aware of her intentions but enjoying the attention nonetheless. Lydia, oblivious to the effect of her actions on others at the table, continued her display of youthful exuberance, her laugh ringing out a little too loudly, a little too freely.
Mrs. Bennet, seated across from Lydia, observed her daughter with a mix of pride and unease. Though Lydia’s flirtations were nothing new to her, after her earlier conversation with Elizabeth and Anne, Mrs. Bennet began to worry about others' opinions, especially if Lydia went to London. While Lydia's behaviour might be tolerated in Meryton, where people were used to her antics, Mrs. Bennet noticed Captain Carter eyeing her daughter in a manner that could be perceived as predatory.
Likewise, she noticed the subtle glances exchanged between the other ladies and the disapproving looks that passed between the gentlemen at the table. She could see their distaste, but they were too polite to comment on Lydia’s actions.
Mrs. Bennet’s eyes shifted uneasily to Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam, two of the highest placed gentlemen here, who had been observing the scene with quiet disapproval. She could see that Darcy’s attention, previously focused on his conversation with his hostess, had now shifted, and though he said nothing, the coolness in his gaze was unmistakable. She had no doubt that Darcy would find Lydia’s behaviour inappropriate, and the last thing she wanted was for her youngest daughter to embarrass herself in front of such distinguished company. Additionally, if he disapproved of Lydia’s behaviour, he would be less willing to take her to London to introduce her to other wealthy men.
She glanced at Mrs. Hargrove, who sat opposite Elizabeth, and noticed the woman’s tight-lipped expression as she glanced briefly at Lydia before turning her attention back to her host. Mrs. Hargrove’s disapproval was clear, though carefully masked behind a polite smile. Mrs. Bennet’s brow furrowed as she thought,I must be more careful with Lydia. I cannot have her ruin the impression my family is making, especially not in front of people like Mr. Darcy and his family.
With a sigh, Mrs. Bennet shifted in her seat, trying not to attract attention as she cast another glance at Lydia. She had long resigned herself to her daughter’s behaviour, but in this moment, she could not help but wish for a little more decorum from her youngest.Why must she always act as if she is the centre of attention and to flirt with gentlemen, demanding their attention?Mrs. Bennet wondered, as Lydia’s loud laugh cut through the conversation once again.
Despite her discomfort and new awareness of how matters ought to be done, Mrs. Bennet could not quite suppress the tiny flicker of hope that perhaps Lydia’s attention-seeking antics might win her the favour of a young man in time.If she can catch someone’s eye, maybe… just maybe… I can have another daughter married. Elizabeth is married well, and Jane is drawing the attention of Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr. Bingley.This gave her pause, and she noticed that her eldest daughter was sitting by the colonel. Mr. Bingley was nowhere to be found at that end of the table.
Much to her surprise, Mrs. Bennet saw that another of her daughters was seated by Mr. Bingley. Kitty was seated on his right, with Maria Lucas on his left, but as she watched for a few minutes, she noted that his attention often turned more towards Kitty than Maria.“Well, that is an interesting turn,” she musedto herself, pondering what this shift in attention could mean for Kitty’s prospects.
With this thought, Mrs. Bennet allowed herself a faint, hopeful smile before returning her attention to her meal while continuing to watch Lydia, especially comparing the behaviour of her youngest daughter to that of her others. Perhaps Mrs. Hargrove and Lizzy had been right and that Lydia’s behaviour would need to change before she would be accepted into society.
Chapter Thirty-Four
MONDAY, 9 DECEMBER 1811
The time had finally arrived for Elizabeth to confront her father. He had avoided her when she visited Longbourn on Friday, did not come to Netherfield on Saturday or to Lucas Lodge that evening and stayed home from church on Sunday. It was clear he was avoiding her, but she would not allow it any longer.
As previously arranged with Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth and Darcy arrived at Longbourn early Monday morning. Elizabeth intended to arrive when no one else would be downstairs, knowing Mr. Bennet rose early and repaired to his study to avoid the rest of his family.
Just before nine, the Darcy carriage arrived at Longbourn, and the door opened before the couple even had time to step down. Mrs. Hill showed them directly to Mr. Bennet’s bookroom. After a sharp rap on the door, similar to the one Mrs. Hill typically employed when she brought the master his tea, she heard the call of “Come.”
Elizabeth entered just behind Longbourn’s housekeeper, who carried a tea tray with three cups. After pouring tea for Elizabeth and then Darcy, the housekeeper finally prepared Mr. Bennet’s cup and set it in front of him.
“Will there be anything else?” she asked in her usual manner.
“I suppose I should ask why you have allowed two people to enter my private room without my permission,” Mr. Bennet said with asperity.
“The Mistress, she told me to show them straight to your study when they arrived. Besides it is Miss Lizzy, sir, and she has always had free reign of the house and your study. You do not mean to suggest that the room is off limits to her now, do you?” Mrs. Hill asked in pretended innocence.
Mr. Bennet frowned and dismissed the servant before turning his gaze on his uninvited guests. “I suppose you have come to complain about how ill-treated you were, eh, Lizzy?” he remarked with a cynical smile. “You could have had it far worse, my dear. At least you were still unmarried when Mr. Darcy found you again. Had I had my way, you would have married Collins long ago. I must admit, I thought him a more sensible man from his letters. Still, I suppose it is for the best, as even you would have had a hard time with the man.”
Elizabeth’s expression hardened. “So I should be grateful, should I?” she retorted, her tone laced with mockery. “It is a miracle of chance that your schemes failed, and I should thank you for it, I suppose. For four years, I lived with a broken heart while you squandered the money intended to secure my happiness on your own whims. You would have married me off to that man—a fool, if ever I met one—and condemned me to a life with him treating me as a mere possession, a servant in his house? But then, that seems to be how you have viewed me all along, does it not?”
Mr. Bennet waved his hand dismissively. “You would have had Longbourn, Lizzy, and stayed close to your family. At sixteen, you were hardly capable of making a proper decision. Mr. Collins might not be as handsome or as rich as this gentlemanhere, but you would have managed him easily enough. He is weak, a man who needs a strong hand to guide him, and I daresay you would have made it work.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes, struggling to breathe through her rising anger. “You cannot have it both ways, sir,” she said, her voice tense. “Either I would have been content to be married to a fool or miserable with him, but not both. As it stands, my decision at sixteen to accept Mr. Darcy’s proposal has proven to be the right one. At twenty, I cannot imagine a better husband, or a better man. No, Father—you are the weak one here. You accepted money for the fleeting satisfaction it brought you, giving no thought to the consequences for me or anyone else in this family.”
She took a steadying breath, her eyes flashing with indignation. “Even now, I suspect you are contemplating how to convince Fitzwilliam to pay you what you imagine you are owed. Despite all your efforts, Collins refused to come sooner, delaying the marriage you had planned for years. Even if he had come, I would not have submitted to your schemes. The day you introduced him and declared what was expected, I would have found a way to leave Longbourn, one way or another.
“I cannot fathom the depth of your selfishness to plan this, to accept money in exchange for my happiness. You were never truly a father to any of us girls. The love I thought you had for me, as your proclaimed favourite, was not even that much, for you only wanted me here as an unpaid steward.”
Mr. Bennet hesitated, a flicker of uncertainty in his expression. “I wanted to give you Longbourn,” he said, his voice lacking its usual confidence. “You would have married my heir, and I believed from his letters that he would have allowed you to guidehim. If I trained you as a steward, it was so one day you might manage the estate as its true master.”
Elizabeth’s laugh rang out, sharp and disbelieving. “Do not claim you acted out of any affection for me. That is absurd. Your only aim was to tie me to Longbourn, ensuring I stayed here to manage everything in your stead. You cannot possibly expect me to believe that his letters ever painted him as a man who would bow so easily to your demands. For years, you schemed to lure him to Longbourn to marry me, yet he refused, citing his own reasons. What did you imagine would suddenly change once I became his wife? He is completely devoted to his former patroness and now lives in fear of losing his position, knowing she lacked the authority to appoint him in the first place.”
Darcy spoken then, his voice edged with contempt for the man sitting in front of them. “Even now, despite our marriage and that of Miss de Bourgh, he clings to the delusion that both unions could be annulled by his late patroness, as if we were mere pieces on a chessboard for her to rearrange at her will. He has convinced himself that Elizabeth could still yet be his wife and that I would be relegated to marry my cousin by force of some imagined authority.”
He stood up straighter, glaring at his wife’s father as he continued. “Tell me, sir, is this the husband you deemed suitable for your daughter? I endured less than half an hour in his company and had more than one passing thought of shipping him off to the Hebrides. To condemn Elizabeth to a lifetime with such a man would have been nothing short of cruelty to the daughter you claim as your favourite.”
