Page 16 of The Best Of Relations

“Mama – I must beg you to keep Lydia from going into Meryton for the time being.”

“Whatever for?” Mrs Bennet said, frowning, and Elizabeth reached for her hand.

“She has not repented her words yesterday, nor apologised to my aunt, and she is still saying that Mr Wickham is a friend of hers and she will not turn her back on him. Truly, she is a foolish, headstrong girl, acting childishly, and you know you are the only one she listens to, Mama. Only your disapproval will rein in her behaviour. If you do not, she will be beyond the reach of amendment; will surely be known as the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family ridiculous! To want to associate with a man such as Mr Wickham, known to be not respectable; how can this in any way not be contemptible? Lydia is vain, ignorant, idle and uncontrolled; my father will not trouble himself to check her and she will not listen to me. You, Mama, you are the only one with the capability and authority to teach her that her exuberance must be restrained, or the respectability of her whole family will suffer!”

Mrs Bennet sat staring at her second daughter for two full minutes in silence, and Elizabeth began to fear that she had gone too far. But she would not beg her mother’s pardon for speaking the truth, unpalatable though it might be. She remained silent until Mrs Bennet spoke, waiting for the reprimand that must surely come.

“Oh, Lizzy,” Mrs Bennet said softly, “What a very great fool you must think me.”

“What? No, Mama, I…”

“Do not say it, Lizzy. You are correct, I have been blinded in my panic. I thought that in putting my daughters out, my job of educating them was done, and now all I had to do was find them husbands. But I see now that I was wrong, what I need to do is complete their education, and the right husbands will find them.”

Elizabeth could think of nothing to say. She looked at her hands as her mother continued. “You are right in so many ways. Lydia’s behaviour will never attract any respectable man. I have heard the officers describe her as ‘lively’ but in my heart I knew they thought her flirtatious and silly. And Kitty: Kitty follows where Lydia leads. I made a mistake in persuading your father to bring the two of them out at the same time. Kitty needed time away from Lydia, time out in society with the good example of her elder sisters to teach her the right way to act. Yes, even Mary,” Mrs Bennet said. “She may not have the beauty of the rest of you, but she is a good girl in her way, and she did very well last night. Mr Darcy very kindly introduced his friend to her, and Mary made quite an impression.”

“Mr Darcy is not at all what we have thought him,” Elizabeth said then.

“I agree with you entirely. I am persuaded that he may be rather reserved, possibly even nervous in company where he is not acquainted with everyone. And knowing what we do now of Mr Wickham, any man who that villain denigrates must be quite the opposite of what he says!”

“We owe my aunt Gardiner a great debt of gratitude,” Elizabeth confessed, “for if she had not come here and warned us about Mr Wickham, I fear I might well have said something inadvisable to Mr Darcy last night, and caused a scene – and perhaps the evening would not have turned out quite as well as it did.”

Mrs Bennet turned to look closely at her second daughter. “Does Mr Darcy admire you, Lizzy?” she asked perceptively.

“I don’t know,” Elizabeth admitted after a moment. “He apologised for insulting me at the Assembly, and said that I was actually exceedingly handsome. And Mr Hutton said that Mr Darcy wrote to him saying that there were a number of beautiful young ladies in the neighbourhood…”

Mrs Bennet smirked. “Well, well. I am very glad that he exposed Mr Collins as a fraud, then. You would have been wasted there! Ten thousand a year; Jane’s will be nothing to it!”

“Mama, I pray you do not say anything of it!” Elizabeth begged frantically. “Aunt told me last night, on the way home, something of Mr Darcy’s home and his family – did you know that his uncle is the Earl of Matlock, and Pemberley is one of the vastest estates in England? Ten thousand a year is likely only a portion of his wealth. He can look in the very highest circles for a bride, he would not look at a country girl with no dowry or connections.”

“Perhaps you are right, dear,” Mrs Bennet mused. “And perhaps you are not. Perhaps he is looking for something that he has not yet found among the first circles. To find one’s match, sometimes one must look elsewhere.”

“Mama, please stop! You will embarrass both Mr Darcy and myself if you thrust me under his nose. All he and I ever do is argue, anyway! He would no doubt want some lady more compliant and agreeable as his wife…”

“Men do not like someone who agrees with their every word, daughter,” Mrs Bennet said quite firmly, “I can tell you that. He would have married Miss Bingley by now if all he wanted was a sycophant.”

At that moment, their conversation was interrupted by Mrs Gardiner coming in to join them. Elizabeth was surprised to find that she did not feel any particular relief, as she would normally have felt when being released from a private conversation with her mother. Indeed, Mrs Bennet had truly listened to her and respected her opinion for perhaps the first time in her life.

“Ah, Sister! I am glad to see you; I should like your opinion. What do you think of Mr Darcy for our Lizzy?”

“Mama!” Scarlet-cheeked, Elizabeth could not look at either her mother or her aunt.

“He should suit her very well, Fanny, and she him. Elizabeth is just the woman to lighten his dour moods with her teasing, and he is strong enough of character to manage her and intelligent enough to match her wits. And I cannot think of anyone whose love of nature would better suit her to be Mistress of Pemberley than our Lizzy.” Mrs Gardiner seated herself, smiling at her mortified niece.

“You – you – this is a conspiracy!” Elizabeth uttered, hiding her face behind her hands.

“My motives are pure, dear one, I should only like to see both you and my cousin happy, and after seeing the two of you dance and talk – and walk – last night, I am quite convinced that you could make each other so,” Mrs Gardiner said serenely. Elizabeth immediately understood that her aunt had witnessed at least part of her walking in the hallway with Darcy, when he had held her arm close and they had talked with great intimacy.

Mrs Bennet clapped her hands with delight. “And of course, with Jane marrying his friend, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to be in his company! Mr Bingley suggested last night that he would like to marry between Christmas and New Year, and of course Mr Darcy will stand up with him, and Elizabeth with Jane. We must get you a wonderful dress, my dear – you will never outshine Jane, of course, but you can look very well in your own right – perhaps the dress-length your aunt brought you can be made up!” She beamed at her speechless daughter.

“I very much doubt that you will have to wait that long to put Lizzy in Mr Darcy’s way,” Mrs Gardiner put in.

“Why, what do you mean, Madeline? Mr Bingley is gone to London at least until the end of the week, and Mr Darcy said that he did not intend to stay in Hertfordshire past the first of December…”

“I mean that unless I am very much mistaken, that is Mr Darcy riding up Longbourn’s drive right now,” Mrs Gardiner interrupted. “And with him is the gentleman who was so kind to Mary last night; Mr Hutton, is it not?”

Mrs Bennet shrieked so loudly that Elizabeth actually feared the approaching gentlemen might hear. Then she was sent off to go and change into a more becoming frock, and tell Mary to do likewise, and be as quick as she could about it!

Elizabeth met Mary at the top of the stairs, grabbed her arm, and pulled her into her room. Jane looked up, startled, from where she was lying on the bed writing in her journal.