Page 153 of The Long Road Back to Yesterday

Jane looked at her in surprise.

Elizabeth softened her voice. “I am sorry. But she will not listen to you because you are gentle with her, and she will not listen to me because I am not.”

“What are we to do?”

“I do not know.”

When they reached Longbourn, Lydia carried her complaint directly to her mother.

“Mamma, Lizzy has been scolding me all the way from Meryton merely because I spoke to Mr. Denny.”

Mrs. Bennet looked up. “What nonsense is this?”

“It was not merely that she spoke to him, Mamma,” Jane said. “Lydia is becoming too familiar with the officers.”

“Too familiar? What can you mean?”

“She scarcely knows Mr. Denny,” Elizabeth said, “yet she allows him the familiarity she might permit a brother.”

Mrs. Bennet waved away the objection.

“Never mind, Lizzy. You have always been too staid. You would rather read Greek classics than enjoy a little amusement.”

“Mamma, that is not the point.”

“I remember enjoying the company of a red coat myself when I was a girl, and no harm came of it.”

Lydia smiled triumphantly. “There, Lizzy.”

“You are young only once,” Mrs. Bennet continued. “I will not have Lydia made miserable because her elder sisters have forgotten how to enjoy themselves.”

Jane looked at Elizabeth.

There was nothing more to be gained.

* * *

Several days later, the Bennet family joined the Lucases and several of their neighbors for dinner at Lucas Lodge. When the gentlemen returned to the drawing room, Lydia and Kitty made their way directly to Captain Carter and two other officers who had been invited.

Jane watched Lydia cross the room to meet them.

“Perhaps we should speak to Papa.”

Elizabeth followed her gaze. “I think we must.”

They found him near the card room, where Sir William was arranging tables for whist.

“Papa,” Jane began, “may we speak with you?”

Mr. Bennet looked from one daughter to the other. “Two daughters at once. I fear I must have done something very wrong.”

“It is Lydia,” Jane said.

“Ah. Then I am innocent.”

Jane glanced at Elizabeth before continuing. “We are concerned about the way she is behaving with the officers.”

Mr. Bennet looked across the room. Lydia was laughing with Captain Carter while Kitty stood beside her.