Chapter 51 Mr. Bennett
Elizabeth drew near to her father. “Papa, you are quite hidden away in this corner. May I interrupt your reading for a few minutes? I wish to speak of your visit to Pemberley.”
“Yes, Lizzy.” He patted the place beside him. “Sit here, my girl. What is it you wish to know?”
“Sir, is everything arranged? Will you come to Pemberley with Uncle Edward next week?”
“I shall. He travels down on Monday to collect Lydia, and they will call for me on their way to Nottinghamshire.” He rubbed his chin. “Say an extra prayer for your sister, my dear. I can only hope the next school will succeed in correcting her conduct.”
“Is she so very bad, Papa?”
“It appears your sister believes herself a queen, and her special friends are obliged to serve her wishes. She has attached to herself three girls who indulge her in everything. The result is that Lydia has grown more demanding and obstinate than she ever was at home.”
Elizabeth frowned. “How can that be, sir?”
“Two of the girls are from wealthy families. They were friendless until Lydia took them in, and now they supply her with whatever she desires during their weekly visits to the village. The headmistress reports that Lydia refuses all discipline and will not abide by the rules.”
Elizabeth was silent.
He shook his head. “This child may yet bring ruin upon herself and upon Kitty.”
“Ought I to tell Mr. Darcy? Georgiana is still unwed. It may affect her.”
Mr. Bennet glanced toward his son-in-law, who sat across the room, conversing with his friend.
“Yes, Lizzy, it is best. Edward speaks well of the school in Nottinghamshire. It has a reputation for producing respectable young women, regardless of their origins. But he has an unmarried sister and he should be informed.”
“I shall tell him this evening, though it pains me to do so. He once thought me a liability. What will he think of me now?”
Mr. Bennet placed his hand over hers. “Elizabeth, any man may see how much he loves you. When he looks at you, my dear, his heart is in his eyes. Lydia will not come between you. Tell him, so that he is not taken unawares if matters worsen.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, when Elizabeth ventured to ask, “Papa, what of Mrs. Tolbert? Do you intend to marry her?”
He looked at his daughter, and then his gaze fell to the book resting in his lap.
“I think not, Elizabeth. We are well as we are. She invites me to dine with her and Mary, and they dine with me in return. We speak with one another in the courtyard after church, and she has taken to walking with me to Oakham Mount each morning.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Is that why you appear so neat and trim?”
He chuckled. “I have had to order new clothes. My coats and trousers no longer fit, so I sent them to the parish for the poorhouse. They were pleased to receive them and observed that they had been but lightly worn.”
“That is because you spent all your days in your study.”
“That is true, my girl, but I walk now. Hettie and I see one another often enough to enjoy our time together. Lizzy, I fear that if we were to marry, we might soon fall into discord, as it was with your mother and me. I was married for many years, and I find I value my independence. I enjoy the quiet of the house. I may spend as many hours as I please in my study, and if I choose to skip a meal, I may do so. I have even found a measure of peace in my own thoughts.”
Elizabeth placed her hand over his. “I understand. I no longer hear mother’s reproaches echoing in my thoughts either.” She leafed through the book on her lap, then said, “Papa, do not fail me. Come with the Gardiners. Mr. Darcy says you will be delighted with his library.”
Mr. Bennet smiled. “Very well, my girl. I shall come, and if his library is as fine as he claims, you may never be rid of me.”
Elizabeth laughed and leaned forward to kiss his cheek.
That night, when Mr. Darcy drew Elizabeth into his arms, he said, “What is it, Elizabeth? You are very somber this evening.”
She turned to face him. In the moonlight, she traced the lines of his face. “Fitzwilliam, I am troubled about my sister Lydia.”
“You speak of the youngest, who is at school?”
“Yes. My uncle Gardiner is removing her from the school on the Isle of Wight and sending her to one in Nottinghamshire. Instead of improving, she has grown more spoiled this past year and has learned nothing of proper deportment.”
She related what her father had told her. Darcy listened without interruption.
When she had finished, he said, “She has not attempted to run away or formed any improper connection with a young man?”
“No, sir. They have no contact with men, but Papa says she conducts herself as though she were a queen.”
He smiled with some amusement. “Elizabeth, if she is to be placed at Mrs. Barrymore’s Academy in Nottinghamshire, you need not be uneasy.
The headmistress has years of experience in reforming young ladies.
The instructors are firm, and each student must earn her privileges.
There is no opportunity for such behavior there.
Your sister will learn what is required of her. ”
“Fitzwilliam, I feared this would lower me in your esteem.”
He drew nearer and kissed her. “I promised for better or for worse, my dear. You must not keep anything from me. We shall meet every difficulty together.”
He looked at her more closely. “You are weeping.”
“I did not fully understand, until now, that you meant what you said when you recited your marriage vows.”
“Elizabeth, neither of us stands alone any longer. We have one another.”
He brushed away her tears with the sheet, and soon they were lost to all else.
Kitty and Georgiana were seated in the carriage, but Elizabeth was still taking leave of her favorite sister. She embraced Jane, who pressed a handkerchief to her eyes.
“We shall bring Kitty back to you at Easter, when we return to London. Pray write to me, Jane.”
“I shall, Lizzy.” Jane smiled through her tears. “Who could have imagined such happiness for us both?”
“Who indeed. The year began in such uncertainty.”
Thomas Bennet was seated in Hettie Tolbert’s drawing room. He had walked into town expressly to visit her and now heard her approaching in the hall. Her eyes brightened at the sight of him, and they moved together to sit upon the sofa they favored.
“Thomas, twice in one day? All is well with your family?”
“Yes, all is well. Elizabeth departed this morning. Her husband is taking her to Pemberley, and I have been invited to visit over the winter. I shall travel to Derbyshire with the Gardiners next week. I wished you to know.”
“Thank you for telling me. I shall miss you.”
“And I shall miss you. I might have declined, but I wish to see where he is taking my daughter. I expect it to be a fine estate, though I must satisfy myself that she will be comfortable there.”
“Of course. You would have given offense had you refused. When do you return?”
“In late March. They will bring me back on their way to London. They plan to spend Easter with Jane and afterward go to town. The countess intends to host a ball for her two sons and for Mr. Darcy, to mark their marriages and to introduce their spouses into society.”
Mrs. Tolbert appeared impressed.
He smiled. “It all sounds very grand, does it not?”
“It does indeed. Will you stay for tea?”
“Yes. If you have received your new novel, I thought perhaps you would be willing to read the first chapter to me. I have not made a practice of such reading, but it may be time I enlarged my tastes.”
She smiled. “It is here.” She held it up for him to see. “I shall be pleased to read it to you.” She left him to ring the bell.
When she returned, she said, “Thomas, I know you maintain that we shall never marry, but I begin to see something of the man I once knew.”
“Oh? And what was he like?”
“He was affectionate, expressive, and sensitive.”
He sighed. “I do not believe that man exists any longer, Hettie. He took a severe blow when his first love abandoned him, and afterward he endured much from a woman who was incapable of love.”
Hettie regarded him soberly. “We shall see. It has only been a few months, and I glimpse him now and then. I thought you ought to know.”
He laughed. “Very well. I am put on notice.”