Darcy and Elizabeth What If? Collection 3 (19 page)
Read Darcy and Elizabeth What If? Collection 3 Online
Authors: Jennifer Lang
Table of Contents
Miss Elizabeth Bennet was walking round the garden at Longbourn with her sister, Jane, one fine day in May. They were cutting flowers for the house and they were selecting the best blooms, snipping their stems carefully and then laying them in the wicker basket.
Elizabeth was just cutting the final bloom when she saw her sister, Lydia, flying up the path to the house. Lydia’s skirts were streaming out around her and her bonnet was almost falling from her head, so that she had to hold it on with her hand.
Elizabeth and Jane turned to look at each other in surprise.
‘Mamma! Mamma!’ called Lydia in wild delight as she ran up the stone steps and disappeared into the house.
The front door banged shut behind her.
Elizabeth and Jane wondered what could have caused such excitement in their sister, especially as Lydia had been cast down only that morning because the militia were leaving Meryton.
They turned their steps towards the house and followed their sister inside, albeit at a more sedate pace. They were just in time to see her disappearing into the drawing-room.
‘Mamma! Mamma! What do you think? Mrs Forster has asked me to go with her to Brussels as her very special friend. Colonel Forster is leaving the militia and he is joining the regular army, and he is going to Brussels to fight that odious Napoleon. Harriet is going with him and I have been invited to go with her. Only think of it! All the best people in Europe will be there. I will be mixing with dukes and earls and all kinds of people of rank. Lord, what parties and balls we will have. I will probably marry a prince!’
In her mind’s eye, Lydia was already seated in a ballroom in Brussels. Glittering chandeliers were shedding their light from hundreds of candles, and gilded mirrors were reflecting a dozen images of her in a scandalous ballgown, while handsome officers fought for the honour of fetching her an ice. They were challenging each other to duels and declaring their undying love for her and going down on one knee in order to propose to her in quite the most delightful way. In the centre of this most satisfying scene, she was teasing them all, first praising one officer and then another, so they were all mad with jealousy and wild with love for her and several of them were expiring on the spot.
‘My dear Lydia, how wonderful!’ cried Mrs Bennet in maternal glee. ‘Oh, what a time you will have! Clever, clever Lydia, to be invited to such a place!’
She rose from her seat on the sofa and clasped her hands together, quite as delighted as Lydia. Her matronly face beamed with pleasure and matched Lydia’s own broad smile. She had quite as many daydreams in her head as Lydia, and she was sure her youngest daughter would be the belle of the Brussels balls.
There was a strong love between Mrs Bennet and her youngest daughter. They were both frivolous, silly women and they drove their family to distraction with their gossip and folly. But Mrs Bennet was good hearted for all that, and she truly loved her daughters.
‘I do not see why I should not go to Brussels, too,’ said Kitty crossly. ‘I might not be Mrs Forster’s
particular
friend but I have just as much right to be asked as you, Lydia. In fact, I have more right, since I am older than you.’
Lydia said she had not; Kitty said she had; and an argument ensued. It only ended when Mrs Bennet said, ‘Now, Kitty, once your sister is married to a prince she will be able to put you into the way of other great men. There will be plenty of dukes and earls to go around. I am sure I will see you all married before the year is out.’
‘Lord, yes, Mamma, I will find husbands for all my sisters!’ Lydia turned to Jane and said, ‘Even you, Jane, though you are positively an old maid.’
Elizabeth and Jane exchanged glances. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and even good, sweet-natured Jane was forced to smile, for she was not yet three-and-twenty. But then her smile became bitter sweet.
Elizabeth understood at once. Jane had been almost engaged before Christmas, to a jolly, nice-natured gentleman by the name of Mr Bingley. He had rented a neighbouring property, Netherfield Park, and he had fallen in love with Jane. He would have married her, too, if not for the interference of his friend, Mr Darcy.
Elizabeth felt her emotions begin to churn as she thought of Mr Darcy, for she had a difficult and complicated history with him. She had met him first when he had been staying with Mr Bingley at Netherfield Park. Unlike his friend, he had not been friendly and welcoming. He had been cold, arrogant and disdainful of the feelings of others. When he had seen that Mr Bingley was falling in love with Jane, he had parted the two young people, and Elizabeth could not forgive him for it.
No, not even though he had subsequently proposed to her . . .
Elizabeth’s thoughts spiralled back to Easter, when she had been staying with her friend, Charlotte Collins. To her surprise, Mr Darcy had also been in the neighbourhood, staying at Rosings Park. She had been forced into his company and she had made an effort to be polite, for Charlotte’s sake, and so she managed to abide his company.
But then, one day, to her immense surprise, he had called on her at the parsonage and asked her to marry him! Mr Darcy, who had never taken any notice of her except to look down on her!
She had, despite her dislike, felt some natural gratitude for such a compliment from a rich and powerful man, but this had soon been overcome by the memory of the hurt he had caused her beloved Jane, and by his rudeness. He had insulted Elizabeth roundly while proposing, saying that she was beneath him. He had complained about her silly mother, her indolent father and her flirty sisters. She had rejected him angrily and they had parted on very bad terms.
The following morning, however, he had put a letter into her hands, explaining his conduct, and while it did not excuse him entirely, it had made Elizabeth see things in a different light. His letter explained that he had not intended to upset Jane by keeping Mr Bingley away from Meryton. He had watched Jane closely and decided she was not in love with Mr Bingley. He had thought she liked him, but he had not thought her feelings ran deep. He had thought that Jane would soon forget Mr Bingley, once Mr Bingley left the neighbourhood, and that she would find someone else to fall in love with.
That was not the only thing he had explained in the letter. He had explained about Mr Wickham, too.
Elizabeth felt uncomfortable. She had not been very wise in her liking for Mr Wickham and she did not want to think about it. And so she was glad when the fifth Miss Bennet – Mary – entered the room. Mary was as foolish as Lydia, though in a different way. She was not silly and flighty and obsessed with officers, but she was dull and prosy and always trying to tell everyone else what to do.
Her entrance distracted Elizabeth’s thoughts, though, and turned them away from the arrogant Mr Darcy and the villainous Mr Wickham, for which Elizabeth was grateful.
Lydia turned to Mary at once and demanded her congratulations.
‘La! Mary! What do you think? I am going to Brussels with Harriet Forster. What fun we shall have! All the armies of Europe are going to Brussels and the city will be filled with all the most fashionable people and all the greatest officers. Officers! Only think, Mamma, hundreds and hundreds of them, all in red coats!’
‘In point of fact, the coats of foreign soldiers are not always red. The armies of Russia—’ began Mary.
‘Pooh! What do you know about it?’ asked Lydia, interrupting Mary in her usual rude fashion.
‘I have read a great deal —’
‘Oh! Reading! Books!’ said Lydia with a laugh. ‘What are books to officers?’
‘Well said, Lydia,’ remarked her mother approvingly. ‘You have such a way with words and you see right to the heart of the matter. What are books to officers indeed? You are a clever girl, Lydia. You are a credit to your family with your sound common sense.’
Elizabeth shook her head in exasperation. But she knew better than to argue with her mother, since her mother would never see sense.
Kitty was still aggrieved that she had not been asked, and so she was determined to spoil it for Lydia if possible. A rivalry existed between the two girls, despite their friendship, and they were always either laughing and teasing together, or arguing and fighting.
‘The officers will not have any time to attend to you,’ Kitty said. ‘They will be too busy fighting. I wouldn’t be you for a kingdom. As soon as Napoleon starts marching again you will probably be killed.’
Mrs Bennet’s excitement abated a little.
‘I hope it will it not be dangerous,’ she said, suddenly anxious.
‘Of course not!’ said Lydia boldly. ‘Harriet says there will not be any fighting until the autumn, and I am sure I will be married by then, so I will be quite safe.’
‘In that case there can be no objection to it. You must gain your father’s agreement, of course, but I am sure he will consent,’ said Mrs Bennet.
Lydian ran out of the room, almost knocking over the side table in her haste, and shouting, ‘Papa! Papa!’
Elizabeth and Jane exchanged glances and they went upstairs to discuss this new development.
‘Oh, Jane,’ said Elizabeth, when they were alone. ‘I am afraid Mr Darcy was right. Lydia is an incorrigible flirt and she will disgrace us all. Goodness knows what she will get up to in Brussels. It is bad enough here, where she is under Papa’s watchful eye.’ Here she thought guiltily of Mr Darcy’s comments about her father. Mr Darcy had seen at once that Mr Bennet was a lazy father who could not be bothered to correct his youngest daughter’s behaviour. But even so, she knew that her father restrained Lydia sometimes, and that his mere presence put a curb on Lydia’s wilder excesses.
Jane put a consoling hand on Elizabeth’s arm.
‘If Mr Darcy cannot see your value, despite Lydia’s silliness, then he does not deserve you,’ said Jane.
Elizabeth smiled thankfully and put her hand over her sister’s. The two of them shared a strong bond of love and friendship and they had no secrets from each other. So it was that Elizabeth knew Jane was in love with Mr Bingley, and Jane knew that Mr Bingley’s friend, Mr Darcy, had proposed to Elizabeth.
Despite Jane’s reassurance, however, Elizabeth could not help being downcast. Although she would probably never see Mr Darcy again, she did not like to think of him hearing about Lydia’s latest wildest adventure. It would make him think he had been justified in mentioning it in his proposal. Because here was Lydia behaving like a common flirt and proving Mr Darcy right.
‘If Lydia is allowed to go to Brussels, she will bring us all into disrepute,’ said Elizabeth. ‘So far from home with no one to guide her, who knows what will happen?’
‘Colonel Forster will be there. He will not let her come to any harm,’ said Jane.
But she did not sound convinced.
‘Colonel Forster will be taken up with business. Now that Napoleon has escaped from his imprisonment on the island of Elba and returned to Paris, Colonel Forster will not have time to pay close attention to Lydia. Napoleon will not remain in Paris. He will try to conquer Europe once again. That is of more importance to a military man than a silly young girl.’
‘There is Mrs Forster,’ said Jane.
‘Mrs Forster is almost as young and silly as Lydia,’ said Elizabeth.
Jane could not contradict her, for Mrs Forster was much younger than her husband.
‘I do not like to do it, but I must speak to Papa,’ said Elizabeth, after giving the matter some thought. ‘Lydia will never acquire any common sense if she is allowed to go, and that is the least of my worries, because if she goes to Brussels without a proper chaperon I fear the consequences could be dire.’
‘I think you are right,’ said Jane. ‘Lydia is a warm-hearted girl but she is thoughtless. Her habit of bestowing her affections too lightly might lead some people to think she is a common flirt.’
‘Oh, Jane, only you could be so good as to have any doubts about the matter. But whatever her motives, we must protect her from harm, and from dragging the rest of the family into disrepute. We know all too well the harm that causes.’
Jane looked at her questioningly and Elizabeth bit her tongue. She had not meant to say so much. She had not told Jane that Lydia’s behaviour was one of the things that had caused Mr Darcy to take Mr Bingley away, and so it was consequently one of the things that had led to Jane’s broken heart.
‘It leads to gossip,’ said Elizabeth, who did not want to elaborate further as she did not want to hurt Jane.
She went downstairs and found her father in his library. It was a beautiful room lined with books. It was light and spacious and an open door led out onto a terrace, which in turn gave on to wide lawns surrounded by flower beds. A gentle breeze stirred the curtains in a delightful fashion. There was a large desk in the middle of the room and Mr Bennet was sitting behind it, reading a book. His spectacles were perched on the end of his nose and he looked perfectly at ease.
He often retreated to his library when the liveliness of his wife and five daughters became too much for him. But he was always glad to see Elizabeth. She was his favourite daughter. There was a close bond between them and he called her affectionately, ‘My Lizzy.’
When she entered the room he looked up with a frown, annoyed to be disturbed. But as soon as he saw it was Elizabeth his frown changed to a smile. He closed his book with a snap and laid it down on the desk in front of him.
