“Tell me about yourself,” she was commanded.
“There is little to tell, Lady Anne,” Elizabeth said. “I am the second of five daughters; my eldest sister is lately married.”
“Yes, to Charles Bingley, I believe.”
“You are correct.”
“It is a happy union, I hope?”
“Very happy; they both have temperaments that almost guarantee happiness.”
“And your temperament?”
“Oh, I am nothing like my elder sister. She is all that is good and thoughtful; I am far more troublesome.”
“In what way?”
“Where Jane is happy to sit by the fire and embroider, I prefer to be out of doors. Where Jane reads romances and poetry, I read – well, quite an assortment of books!”
“Such as?”
“Your son has already caught me out on Mary Wollstonecraft; I also read a good deal of history, geography, and even farming techniques.”
“Farming techniques? Surely not.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I am the nearest thing my father has to a son; he and I discuss what is best for the tenant farms and the home farm. My family’s livelihood depends on me being well-informed and active in estate matters. My sisters and I also manage the stillroom, so that we are able to give what help we may to the servants and tenants, as well as to family members.”
Lady Anne glanced over at her namesake, who was staring into the fire moodily.
Elizabeth’s eyes followed Lady Anne’s. “As my father is a gentleman, I have been raised to manage an estate,” she said, boldly. “It is unfortunate that not every young lady of good birth has been similarly prepared.”
“Birth is more important than how one is raised,” Lady Anne insisted.
“It is indeed a desirable thing to be well-descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors,” Elizabeth quoted.
“Your own opinion?”
“No; Plutarch’s.”
“So you see no virtue in being well-born?”
Elizabeth hesitated.
“No pert opinion, Miss Bennet?” Lady Anne asked, tartly.
“I hardly know how to answer without giving offense.”
“You will oblige me by answering frankly.”
“Very well; I prefer a person to be intelligent, thoughtful, well-mannered and charitable. If that person be descended from a lord or a labourer, it matters not to me.”
“You would not marry a labourer, I hope!”
“No, but only because such a person could not support a wife and children. I value character above riches, but while my needs in terms of dress and other personal items are simple enough, I am not eager to starve.”
“So you would choose a person of moderate income and good character over a person of large income and moderate character?”
“Absolutely and without hesitation.”
