Page 22 of Sweet on Mr Darcy

“But you do not encourage anyone, Eliza,” Charlotte objected.

“Charlotte, may I appreciate the luxury of being secure before I give my dowry to the first man who wishes to obtain it?” Elizabeth was beginning to lose her patience. “Does this rush to see me settled have a purpose behind it, or is my supposed permanent welcome at Longbourn more of a matter of necessity than affection?”

“Eliza Bennet, please do not say such things. You are Lucas’s sister, and you will always be welcome.” Charlotte drew back as if Elizabeth had slapped her.

“I also used to be your friend, but if I am a burden you feel you must shed before the end of the summer, I can easily return to London with my uncle. I am certain that Aunt Madeleine would be grateful for some assistance with the children and her new babe.”

“I am hurt that you would make such a suggestion.” Charlotte’s voice became quiet. “You misunderstand me. You have always been my friend, and I hope that has not changed with my station as your stepmother. I would be grateful for your company at Longbourn above anyone’s. Eliza…it is not that you must marry…it is that you must decide whether you will make your choice, or allow society to chuse for you. There is bound to be talk after the scene with Mr James, but it might be forgotten if you were seen to be accepting the attentions of another gentleman. Your dowry, though it is not the fortune that some ladies have, is still enough that it will attract some attention whether you encourage it or not. Society expects that you will marry. If you do not chuse a husband, society will select one for you.”

“Society can hang.” Elizabeth’s expression was mutinous.

“Eliza, you spend too much time with Lady Barry. Her misanthropy wears off upon you, but you must take care. Be mindful that you do not become sharp and difficult. You think that your income will save you from being dominated by a man, but an unmarried woman living alone…even with money…faces a socially precarious future.”

“It has been years since I have been able to spend any proper time with Lady Barry.” Elizabeth was not to be moved in the matter of whom she visited. “And when she learned of my dowry, she was the first to offer assistance in considering the possibilities in the gentlemen available in Ramsgate. She is kind to me, and as supportive as any friend could be. But she does not push me where I do not wish to go.”

“I only worry that her curmudgeonly ways will encourage you to turn away from a happy family,” Charlotte explained. “Lady Barry is not a model to imitate, Eliza. She is secure because she has already survived what you have not faced. As a widow who is also far richer than you, she has everything that guarantees her acceptance. Affection from such a person may be rare, but it is not a substitute for a husband and a family.”

“Must I show gratitude to men for being hunted? Is that what my mother’s efforts have purchased for me?” Elizabeth demanded.

“It has purchased you the liberty to refuse. Not the wisdom to refuse everything that is offered to you,” Charlotte said pragmatically.

Elizabeth sighed in impatience. “Charlotte, you are my friend, first and foremost over any other connection, but in this matter, we are very different. I resent being rushed, for though you claim otherwise, that is indeed what you are doing. Not every woman values marriage as the ultimate goal over happiness. I do not see the merit in encouraging the first man who brings me flowers.”

Charlotte was quiet for a moment and gazed out of the window. “You understood my choice when I made it, Eliza. I am not romantic, but nor am I unhappy. I do not regret my choice, and I would not see you make yours out of defiance. I fear you are reacting to pressure, and a desire to impress Lady Barry.”

“If I react to pressure, it is because undue expectation is being placed upon me by those who are entirely unconcerned in the matter, and who ought to wish for my happiness, wherever that may lie.” Elizabeth was not to be moved from her intentions. “There is no need to exert effort to impress Lady Barry. She appreciates me on my own merits, and has done so since I was a girl. From her, I receive only friendship, no matter what my hopes and desires are. She supports me, as I wish you would do.”

“Eliza Bennet, you are guilty of romantic stubbornness disguised as independence.” Charlotte accused. “You are awaiting a man who will make wedlock feel like liberty. It is a silly, girlish gamble.”

“And you are guilty of chiding someone whom you have always called a friend for not accepting a stupid cad who only proposed because he thought I was Lady Barry’s heiress.” Elizabeth shook her head in frustration. “What would my future be like with such a man when he has realised his mistake?”

“Of course I do not expect you to accept him. Only that you must encourage someone.”

“And apparently I must encourage someone before the end of the summer to please you.” Elizabeth struggled not to insult her friend and stepmother. “You do not give the impression that I am as welcome to return to my home as you claim. Did my father ask you to have this discussion with me?”

“Of course not,” Charlotte answered. “But–”

“Then I must insist that we abandon this line of conversation. I will consider the prospects before me while we are in Ramsgate, Charlotte, but I do not promise to encourage anyone outside of my own desire. If I remain unengaged at the end of our time here, I will speak with my father about his expectations regarding the burden I place upon his house. Then I will consider my options. For now, I must apologise, but my inclination for sea-bathing has quite left me. I will ask Jane or Mary to accompany you today.”

“Eliza–” Charlotte protested, but it was no use. Elizabeth stood and curtsied to her stepmother, her formality a testament to her feelings, and left the room.

“Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” the butler announced at Nethercourt House.

Elizabeth had wandered the lanes of Ramsgate for two and a half hours, knowing that Lady Barry did not wake early at her age. “Good morning, Lady Barry.” She curtsied in respect for her old friend.

“Your face is a perfect storm cloud, Lizzy-girl,” Lady Josephine Barry pronounced. “You have either been badly proposed to…or very ill-advised. Which is it, girl?”

Elizabeth sank on the sofa, exhausted from the private castigations of her morning walk. “Both. And I am heartily sick of each.”

“I will not be coy and suggest I have not already heard of the matter. The gossip was delivered to the back door with the newspaper this morning, so it is obviously all about town already,” Lady Barry tutted. “But I wish to hear from you what really happened. Sit down, girl, and let us be disagreeable together.”

Elizabeth drew a breath. “That will be no challenge for me. I fear I had a most objectionable evening last night, and this morning was nearly equally so.”

Lady Barry thumped her cane with enthusiasm. “Then you have come to the right place, Lizzy-girl. I excel at being objectionable.”

Elizabeth recounted the ball and the presumption of Mr James. “Lady Barry, I am ashamed to relate the ideas held by Mr James that somehow, but I cannot fathom why, focused upon your fortune and who your heir would be.”

“I heard of that bit of gossip more than a week ago, so you need not mortify yourself by reciting that nonsense to me, Lizzy-girl.” Lady Barry shook her head. “What about the rest?”