Chapter 23 #3
“Let’s get it over with then, Lizzy,” was her first greeting, much to Elizabeth’s chagrin. “At least it will be better than another of Mother’s awful letters. If you had brought one with you, I should have refused to speak to you at all, I dare say.”
With little grace and some yawning, the girl listened then to Elizabeth’s impassioned warning about the dangerous and undignified life of an actress, how the Bennet name would be dragged through the mud, and Lydia would never find a husband.
At her shoulder, Mr Michelson lingered, projecting a kind of impassive sympathy that was neither helpful nor unhelpful to Elizabeth’s cause.
“Very good, thank you, Lizzy,” Lydia answered with more than a little sarcasm as Elizabeth finally came to the end. “I shall think about all that you said, even though it was so boring and you brought that proud, priggish Mr Darcy with you to nod along.”
“Lydia, do not be so rude!” gasped Elizabeth, although Mr Darcy himself did not react at all to such childish taunting. “Mr Darcy has ridden all the way from Pemberley with me, at great effort and expense, only to find you and try to dissuade you from this madness.”
Lydia only laughed, seeming to find this mortifying scene comical. Did she think this whole episode was just a theatre show that could be rehearsed and done over?!
“I never thought you so clever before, Lizzy,” her younger sister said with rather worldly amusement, looking from Elizabeth to Mr Darcy and back again. “Do you know, I do believe you could do whatever you wanted with Mr Darcy.”
This was beyond bearing. Elizabeth wished she could close her ears. More than that, she wished she could close Mr Darcy’s.
“It is bad enough that you insult me and the rest of our family, Lydia,” she berated the insolent girl, “but you ought not to insult a gentleman who has shown such decency and good character in trying to defend your safety and honour.”
At this statement, Lydia only giggled. Behind her, Mr Michelson sighed.
“If it is any comfort to you, Miss Bennet, I can assure you that Lydia will be safe and unharmed with us. She has been sharing a room with Maisie and Ethel over there, and Mrs Brown’s boarding house has very strict rules about visitors and suchlike. I hope you will tell your mother that, too.”
Elizabeth silently despaired. She did not think she could explain to this apparently well-intentioned man that for a young woman of Lydia’s class, it did not matter how strict Mrs Brown’s rules might be.
Simply staying in a boarding house without her family and associating with Mr Michelson’s theatre could ruin all Lydia’s future prospects.
“Five minutes is up, ladies,” called out the director onstage, clapping his hands again and summoning back the young women lounging in the wings and front seats. “Back to work. Fred, back to the piano.”
Lydia made to leave them but then turned back impatiently as Elizabeth called her name.
“Don’t hold things up, Lizzy. We can speak again in a few days, if you like. Now I really must continue with the rehearsal if we are to be ready for our opening night next week.”
With another sigh and a small bow of his head, Mr Michelson followed after Lydia. Elizabeth was left alone once more with Mr Darcy, feeling empty and disheartened at having come so far and achieved so little.
“At least she is willing to see you again,” Mr Darcy said quietly. “You were also wise not to give her Mrs Bennet’s letter. This was a start.”
“Yes, I suppose so,” Elizabeth agreed, although her spirits refused to rise as they walked back to the carriage.
∞∞∞
“Of course you must all stay here while you are in Brighton,” Mrs Forster insisted. “My husband and I wouldn’t hear of anything else, and our guest rooms are a good size.”
“It is a fine house,” remarked Georgiana Darcy, clearly approving of this offer. “I am sure we would be far more comfortable here than in any hotel, Brother.”
“We would not want to put you to any trouble, Mrs Forster,” Elizabeth told their hostess who had reacted with surprising strength of feeling to Mr Darcy’s statement that he ought to book some rooms in a good hotel, as they expected to be in Brighton for at least a week.
“After all that has happened with Lydia, I should not want to presume on your hospitality.”
“My dear Miss Bennet, it is a question of propriety as well as hospitality,” the colonel’s wife pointed out, with a meaningful arch of her eyebrow in Mr Darcy’s direction. “It really would be more appropriate if the three of you stayed under our roof.”
Elizabeth’s cheeks burned all over again, just as when Georgiana had made a similar point at breakfast, or at the theatre when Lydia had made such unfortunate insinuations about Elizabeth’s supposed power over Mr Darcy.
Why was everyone treating them more as a courting couple than as employer and companion?
With that question in her mind, she glanced across at Mr Darcy, who had turned half away from the ladies as if examining an antique clock on a nearby shelf.
From this angle, only Elizabeth could see the self-consciousness of his handsome features.
Was he presently asking himself the same question as Elizabeth? Her heart fluttered at the thought.
Something fundamental had changed between them, Elizabeth realised, something that both of them could feel and that others could also perceive in their presence. She shrank from trying to put a name on it, afraid of the consequences of owning such knowledge.
“We would be glad to accept your kind offer, Mrs Forster,” Mr Darcy said gravely, turning back to the room. “Your consideration is much appreciated.”