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“No, I entered service in Norwich but the family decided to move to Ireland so I found new work. It was that family that moved to London, and I moved with them. A year later the Master decided to join his brother in India. It was at that point I joined the Gardiner household. And you had joined three months earlier.”

Her husband nodded.

“Thank you for the reminder. I am not sure that I would have remembered all that correctly. When did you stop thinking about your family?”

Claire pulled herself up, tucking the blanket around her.

“I do not mean that in a cruel way.”

Rather than berating her husband Claire stopped and thought about it.

“After a year with the Gardiners. I saw you and was immediately taken with you. When you smiled at me my heart flipped. I had thought of my family when deciding not to move to Ireland and then India. But once settled at the Gardiners they receded in my thoughts. When I saw you I dreamed of a family with you.”

Despite being married to the man beside her Claire Smith still blushed at her admission.

“Trust me, the admiration was mutual. The reason I asked is I think Miss Elizabeth has an unrealistic, naïve even, idea of family.”

“What do you mean?”

“We are talking about the gentry, not people like us. The oldest male inherits everything and any other males have to make their way in the world. Yes?”

“Agreed.”

“And the daughters are married off to suitable, eligible, appropriate men. Pick whichever word you wish. But they are married off. And they leave their birth family and join their husband’s. And together they start their own family, even if it is a continuation of the husbands. Yes?”

“Agreed. Everyone knows this including me, why are you explaining it?”

“Because Miss Elizabeth seems to have missed the point.”

“Do not be coy, speak plain please.”

“She does not imagine leaving her family. Actually, let me change that. She does not imagine marrying and leaving her family. She finds nearly all men tiresome, and has little time for them. And sadly that now includes her father. She spent four years working long hours with few breaks, all for her family. But you have seen all this. The extended family have embraced her, she is loved by all the children, and you know that the servants all respect her. Yet she returns here and her actual family are a mess. Her father never leaves the library, the mother gads about the county spending money, and the two youngest are three quarters of the way to being light-skirts already. And now on top of all that she is disillusioned by her oldest sister, choosing to side with an eligible man and his family rather than Miss Elizabeth and her own family.

“That was why I asked about whether you still thought about your family. At a certain point women decide to separate from their family. And not in any kind of ‘never speaking to them again’ sort of way. But they have to embrace, at least mentally, a huge change in their near future.”

“I see what you are saying. Miss Elizabeth confessed just this morning that she has no idea what is in store for her life. Although she did not say it out loud, it is clear that she does not see marriage as one of those options, given her disdain for most men.”

“That is definitely part of it. She is also having to deal with conflicted feelings about family. Nothing has changed here, for any of the five sisters. None of them have a dowry, and the two youngest are not being parented. Or at least parented appropriately. Again, you know how society works. So let me ask you this. What will happen to Miss Elizabeth, and the others, if Miss Lydia ends up in the Pudding Club?”

There was no answer to that dangerous conundrum. Any comments from Miss Elizabeth fell on deaf ears with the youngest two. In fact they were being actively encouraged in their behaviour by their mother!

“The latter point has no easy answer. It will depend upon whether they can capture the father before he skedaddles. The lack of dowry is not about the money. Rather it is about the priorities of the parents. That is also part of her confusion. She updated those ledgers every quarter, another task the Master of Longbourn abrogated. She saw the numbers, knew what they meant, but it was really driven home when she saw it with her own eyes. And the cutting comments from both of them did not help either.”

Claire slid back down and snuggled into her husband.

“Do you have any idea how she will react?”

“I think she will move to London. She will try and stay through to her majority but I am not sure she will last that long. It has only been five weeks and there are seven and a half months until her birthday. If something happens before then, your guess is as good as mine.”

The candle was blown out and they fell asleep. Little did they know.

--

Elizabeth had read Aesop’s Fables as a young woman and there in the autumn of 1811 she was glad she had. Her daily mantra was ‘if you cannot say anything nice, then do not say anything at all’. The person who had inspired such devoted recitation was the Reverend William Collins, the previously unknown heir to the estate. The man was an utter buffoon. He used 20 words when two would suffice, displayed at least five of the deadly sins and appeared ignorant of the tenets of Canon Law, most especially in his veneration of his patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Mr. Collins had invited himself to stay at Longbourn for two days short of a fortnight. Mr. Bennet had known the date of his arrival for several weeks but chose to only share it with his wife and daughters at the last minute. The manner in which her father had announced the visit to the family was so cruel that Elizabeth was close to casting up her accounts. ‘It is from my cousin, Mr. Collins, who, when I am dead, may turn you all out of this house as soon as he pleases’. Who says that to his wife of nearly 25 years and his five grown children?

What Elizabeth was unaware of, at least at first, was that the Rev Collins had come to Longbourn to seek a wife. The olive branch mentioned in his letter to her father was to be the Rev Collins marrying one of the Bennet daughters. On the third day of his visit he requested a private meeting with Mrs. Bennet where he outlined his intentions. Although thrilled beyond measure at his plans she did encourage him away from Jane, his first and obvious choice. She claimed that Miss Bennet was courting and would soon be engaged. In her defense, she did not actively suggest Elizabeth merely stating that she knew of no impediment with any of the other four. That Mr. Collins immediately transferred his attentions to Elizabeth was now her problem to deal with.