Chapter Eleven #2
“I, ah, I think perhaps we should go,” Captain Carter said, looking across the parlor doorway to Wickham.
Upstairs, a door slammed.
“I agree,” Mr. Wickham said, sounding nearly as angry as Mrs. Bennet. He shook off the arm Lydia had wrapped about his.
Mr. Bennet stood. “Before you go, you should know that from now on both Kitty and Lydia are going to be under strict chaperonage. They are not permitted to leave this house without one of their sisters with them, and they cannot chaperone each other.”
“Oh, but Papa,” Kitty cried at the same time as Lydia wailed, “Nooo,” sounding precisely like their mother.
Captain Carter turned to Kitty with a warm, reassuring smile, then nodded to Elizabeth’s father. “I understand and approve.”
Mr. Wickham’s gaze narrowed. “I would like a few moments alone with Miss Lydia.”
“I think you heard me,” Mr. Bennet said. “The answer is no.”
Mr. Wickham turned to Lydia. “I can’t provide you with a good home. If you want to break our engagement, I understand.”
“No, I love you.”
“With your father’s restrictions, it might be years before we can marry.”
Elizabeth frowned, feeling as if she’d missed part of the conversation.
“I don’t make much, and what I do make, I spend,” Wickham continued. “I have debts everywhere. As Mrs. George Wickham, no one will extend you any credit.”
“I don’t care,” Lydia insisted. “I love you. You’ll find some way for us to marry. I’ll wait for you.”
“So be it, but mark my words, you’ll regret marrying me,” Wickham said and, in strange mimicry of Mrs. Bennet, stormed out.
Lydia’s gaze found Elizabeth where she still stood beside the fireplace. “You must be happy. You get to be right, like always.” Tears filled Lydia’s eyes and she turned to their father. “Why can’t you give us money? I hate both of you.” she cried and ran from the room.
Quietly, Captain Carter took his leave, giving Kitty a last, lingering smile.
Once the door closed behind him, Kitty let out a sigh. “I suppose I should check on Mama and Lydia,” she said, voice devoid of enthusiasm, and headed from the parlor.
The rest of the day passed quietly, only Kitty returning downstairs.
In the evening, Elizabeth, Mary and Betty made up sandwiches, as Betty wasn’t certain what the recipe Mrs. Bennet had planned called for.
They all retired early, and Elizabeth could tell that Lydia only pretended sleep so as to avoid speaking with her.
The following morning, Elizabeth got up early and went to the kitchen to find that Betty had breakfast in hand.
After thanking the maid, Elizabeth went to the parlor to find her father reading a borrowed book.
Uncertain if he wished for company after the uproar the day before, she perched on the edge of the chair nearest him.
He looked up, dark circles under his eyes, and sighed. “I owe you an apology.”
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. “I hardly see why, when I am one of the people in this house not angry with you.”
“Giving your mother more responsibility seemed to be going so well, I wished to try the same strategy on Lydia.” Mr. Bennet shook his head.
“I went too far, it seems, on both counts. Certainly, we should have weighed what you’ve learned about Mr. Wickham into any decision on him becoming engaged to Lydia. ”
Elizabeth’s pique at her father’s refusal to consult her dimmed. “Mother has been behaving with so much sense and reason, and it’s been so much nicer, I can see why you hoped to continue the effect.”
“Her suggestion that we judge a man based on what we’ve seen of him, rather than rumor, was eminently reasonable.”
“I agree. Or, I would normally, but I’ve begun to suspect that Mr. Wickham is no ordinary fellow, but rather a terrible sort of man, who should not be handled by normal means.”
“I’d begun to suspect as much.” Mr. Bennet marked his page and closed his book.
“You should know that yesterday I told both Captain Carter and Mr. Wickham that I am refusing to allow the banns to be read. The engagements will be allowed, but the marriages cannot take place until they have demonstrated they have a place to live and an income to support a wife.”
Which explained Mr. Wickham’s agitation and reference to Mr. Bennet’s ‘restrictions.’ “How did they react?” she asked, though she could guess.
“Captain Carter found my decision very reasonable. Mr. Wickham did not, a fact that tends to confirm my growing suspicion about him.”
It pleased Elizabeth to know that her father had begun to see the truth. “Then why not tell Lydia she cannot marry him?”
“If I act as an unreasonable and unmovable father, I fear Mr. Wickham will persuade Lydia to elope, then come to me for money after it is too late for me to do anything but comply or see her in poverty.”
“That goes far beyond a growing suspicion,” Elizabeth said, but she approved of her father’s decision, and seconded his worry.
“You do not agree?”
“I do, but is this not unfair to Kitty? Surely, Captain Carter is not of the same ilk as Mr. Wickham.”
Mr. Bennet shrugged. “It will not hurt Kitty to wait, and her inclusion hides the fact that my restrictions are aimed solely at preventing Mr. Wickham from wedding Lydia.”
Elizabeth nodded, impressed with her father’s deviousness. “And when Captain Carter meets your stipulations and weds Kitty, that will allow Lydia to believe that she and Mr. Wickham will eventually marry, making her less likely to attempt to elope.”
“Precisely. Now, do you want to tell me about Mr. Wickham?”
Elizabeth nodded. She drew in a deep breath and proceeded to tell her father of Mr. Wickham’s tale about Mr. Darcy and the living, along with Mr. Darcy’s side of the story and as much of what the Murphys had said as she could remember.
Mr. Bennet nodded along, not appearing surprised.
When she finished speaking, he said, “Let’s keep this to ourselves.
Neither Mrs. Bennet nor Lydia is in the mood to hear such information, and if Lydia confronted Mr. Wickham with it, he could probably convince her that he was both innocent and maligned. ”
Realizing her father was likely correct, Elizabeth nodded, relieved to have shared what she knew.
Maybe, with Mr. Bennet’s restrictions and in view of his frank words on inheritance, Mr. Wickham would simply give up on the idea of getting any money through Lydia.
Better yet, maybe he would abandon his post and leave Meryton.