Page 9 of The Widower of Pemberley

“Depend upon it,” Mrs. Bennet said when they were at home, as she described for her husband the events of the ball, “Mr. Darcy means to force his friend to marry his sister. You have heard how he forced Mr. Bingley to dance with her twice. I cannot say thatIsaw any attachment between them. Lizzy, the only reason he did not ask you for a second dance was fear that it would offend his friend. Depend upon it. You might steal Mr. Bingley from Miss Darcy if only you make a little effort.”

“I thank you, ma’am, for this advice. I have always considered theft to be a highly honourable endeavour.”

“Lord! What nonsensical scruples. It is not like taking money from a man’s strongbox,” Mrs. Bennet replied.

“Is not the statement,” Mary offered, “that all is fair in love and war applicable to such a situation? The word theft, it seems to me, can possess many different meanings, only some of which imply that the one executing the theft has failed in a moral duty.”

“I stand corrected,” Elizabeth replied, smiling yet wider. “If even Mary says so, then itmustbe an honourable endeavour.”

“Now, Lizzy,” her father asked, smiling, “to what depths of melancholy are you sunk at not dancing with our amiable neighbour twice?”

“The anguish is beyond belief. The fountains of my eyes will presently burst forth in a geyser the like of which has not been seen in this land for many years.”

“Do not joke, Lizzy!” her mother exclaimed. “Your father might die any day—”

“I do not feel particularly decrepit,” he interrupted.

“You are over fifty! And then what will become of us? Jane especially! She will need to be cared for. If only God had not cursed me! First, he did not give me a son, and then my most beautiful daughter was struck blind and scarred till she is hideous. And Mr. Bennet has no concern for my nerves.”

Elizabeth took Jane’s hand. “The scarring is not so bad as Mama always suggests.”

“I used to say to myself,” Mrs. Bennet continued, “that Jane could not be so beautiful for nothing. I believed that she would be the salvation of us all. All for nothing.”

“You, my dear,” Mr. Bennet said calmly but with that unpleasant spark in his manner that came when this subject was canvassed, “ought to blame yourself. The rest of the children received Jenner’s vaccine. It was you who refused to allow it to be given to Jane.”

“Oh, must you say this again? Must you? It was merely chance that made the difference. I never received the vaccination, andIsuffered no lasting harm from the disease.”

“Mama, Papa!” Jane exclaimed. “Please do not argue so. Not about me. You know I hate it.”

“Oh, very well,” Mrs. Bennet replied. “But tell me this. How shall we care for you when your papa dies ifLizzydoes not marry well? We shall not have the money to pay for servants to read to you,then. I do not know that we shall not be near starving after we have been thrown out of this house when Mr. Bennet has been buried.”

“I still feel,” Papa insisted, smiling, “to be in the best of health.”

“And Lizzy will never marry. I am sure of it now. You ought to have heard that terrible Mr. Darcy,” Mrs. Bennet continued. “He danced with Charlotte Lucas twice, but he did not talk to her for half of the second. I would give fifty guineas to know how she offended him so; she ordinarily looks out for her own interest. Well, right where Lizzy and Mrs. Long both heard, Mr. Darcy declared that Miss Lucas was not pretty at all! She is not, but he was a guest in our neighbourhood! He should not have dared say so much.”

“Him saying that at a ballisquite different from you frequently repeating it with satisfaction whenever Charlotte is not present,” Mr. Bennet agreed.

“He then claimed Lizzy had an immoral character. Just from looking at her!”

“Our Lizzy!” Jane exclaimed in shock. “No, I cannot believe that anyone would say such a thing.”

“That shows good judgment on your part,” Elizabeth replied, “as he did not.”

“He did,” Mrs. Bennet replied. “Only Lizzy wishes to pretend what he said was kinder than it is. But you should not take it so seriously. He has a guilty conscience that makes him imagine everyone else has an ill character. They say that he threw his wife from a balcony in cold blood. I am not surprised Charlotte danced with him. She is so desperate for a position that she would risk being murdered to find one. Being so very unhandsome, she cannot expect any offer from a decent sort.”

“Mama, please do not speak so insultingly of our particular friend. Charlotte detected no hint of murderousness in Mr. Darcy. She said as much to me.”

“Hmph,” Mrs. Bennet replied. “He could hardly be expected to murder someone during a public assembly. But depend upon it, he murders women regularly in his own rooms.”

“That is quite a scandalous thing to say about a gentleman,” Mr. Bennet said. “Please do not accuse our neighbours ofmurder.”

“I merely repeat what everyone says.”

“I liked Miss Darcy,” Elizabeth offered.

“I went wrong in the raising of you. I cannot understand why you spent your time cavorting with a young girl instead of pursuing the gentlemen.”

Elizabeth shrugged.