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“Friendship means nothing then?”

Mary sighed. This was not going to be easy.

“She has put her own family first, both Sir William and Lady Lucas, as well as Mr. Collins and herself. Would it have been better if it was an unknown lady of his congregation that became Mrs. Collins?”

Elizabeth ignored the second sentence and focused on the first. She did not consider herself ever marrying and had clearly not put her own family first.

“Mary, would you have accepted his proposal?”

“Honestly. Yes, I think I would Lizzie. I would pray to the Lord for the strength to deal with Mr. Collins and hope that I could gradually change him for the better. I understand your reasons for not accepting him and I hope that you would understand mine for accepting him.”

Elizabeth pulled Mary into a tight hug. Everyone had their own values and reasons, their own faith in themselves and in God’s plan.

“Do you feel betrayed by Charlotte, in a way that you would not with me?”

“No Mary, not betrayed. Used maybe. Even that is not fair. There is no point in regurgitating the points we talked of three days ago. In the end, I thought Charlotte more sensible than this. She has been seduced by material comfort, chosen it over everything else. She has made her choice and will have to face, and listen to, William Collins every day for the rest of her life.”

With that Elizabeth shuddered and led the return to the house. From that day forth Elizabeth made a concerted effort to avoid Charlotte Lucas wherever possible. The friendship of her youth was gone.

--

Mr. Collins and his proposals had consumed everyone’s attention for more than a week. Well nearly everyone. While the cats were distracted two mice were at play. Kitty and Lydia took advantage of their mother’s distraction to spend several days in a row in Meryton, ‘getting to know’ the officers. They thought little of their flirting, thinking it innocent, unaware of how they were putting themselves in danger. Unbeknownst to them Claire, at Elizabeth’s suggestion, had instructed her husband to keep an eye on them when in Meryton and he returned every evening to sit in the taproom picking up as much gossip as possible. Once relative calm had been restored at Longbourn three of the officers had accompanied Kitty and Lydia home and been invited in for tea by Mrs. Bennet. Mr. Wickham made something of a pest of himself with Elizabeth but eventually took the hint and returned his attentions to Lydia. Once the three men departed Elizabeth, Claire and Robert were once again in the stables, their new place to talk uninterrupted.

“I can tell by your face this is not going to be good news. Be blunt please Robert.”

“There are close to 300 men stationed at the camp. There is a schedule for when different groups of men are allowed into Meryton. The officers are free to go whenever they are off duty. So that is the first thing. There are hundreds of unknown men in the area. All ladies need to be accompanied, for their own protection.

“The second thing is the structure of the army. A battalion has 10 companies, each of 100 men. So this camp is less than one third of the total. The Colonel and Major visit all three camps regularly. The camps are spread out so as not to overwhelm one area or town. At least a third of the time both senior officers are not in Meryton, which is giving the officers more leeway than normal. In truth it is rare for both of them to be here. It is usually the Colonel since his wife is here. With the absence of the two senior officers so often, two of the Lieutenants are fixtures at the Inn. One of them, the well-known Mr. Wickham, has already run up a significant account.”

Robert grimaced.

“This next part is unpleasant. He is also sniffing around the daughters of the tradesmen. He has been warned off several times but he appears to take it as more of a challenge. The women he has been importuning have all been young, 14 to 16 years of age. And somewhat inevitably Miss Lydia has caught his eye. A gaze which has been equally reciprocated. I have heard her refer to him as ‘that dreamy Wickham’. She was talking to her sister and did not realise that I was listening.”

“So he is a letch that likes young women and she is an idiot who is going to unthinkingly ruin herself, and the rest of us.”

“I am sorry to say it but that is an accurate summary Miss Elizabeth.”

“What are we going to do?”

It was rhetorical, Elizabeth had her head in her hands.

Matters became more serious and urgent three days later. Elizabeth was visited the Philips in Meryton now that she was finally able to walk without pain. Neither her aunt or uncle could understand why she turned down Mr. Collins but they still welcomed her company. It was a break from the endless whining of Mrs. Bennet. Her threat to never to speak to Elizabeth again was nothing but a false promise.

“I am glad that you always are accompanied when you visit Lizzie. There was an incident with the daughter of the wheelwright yesterday evening.”

“Is she okay?”

“She is shaken by the ordeal.”

“Has she recounted what happened?”

“Flirting that went too far, at least that is what Mrs. Jessop thinks.”

“How do you mean?”

“Katie will not talk of the incident but she has been seen in the company of several members of the Militia. Her father is trying to keep quiet about the whole thing.”

There was no chance of that working with Mrs. Jessop and her own aunt happy to spread the news. Or rumour. It mattered not.