Chapter 28
Mrs. Bennet was incensed; Lydia had disappeared from the picnic while she had been diverted by the compliments of one of Mrs. Forster’s friends on her gown.
She had been trying to find her for the past fifteen minutes, but to no avail; not that anything she did could be considered a proper search.
The three ladies that had been introduced to her today as some acquaintance or other of Mrs. Forster had completely attached themselves to Mrs. Bennet, making her too scared to even hint at scandal regarding her youngest daughter.
Thus she did not give away the fact that Lydia was missing.
Mr. Bennet is just looking for an excuse to throw me away from Longbourn and make his precious sister the mistress.
She thought dejectedly and was adamant about not letting her husband and his sister succeed even if she had to keep Lydia bound and gagged for the rest of the visit.
The only time she had ever had a holiday was during her wedding trip when Mr. Bennet had taken her to Bath, but from then on all her entreaties for a good holiday had fallen on deaf ears.
Now here she was in Brighton, walking near the sea with a cool breeze on her face, and her youngest had decided to spoil everything.
She kept looking everywhere she could see, but with no signs of Lydia, finally she feigned sore feet to go back to the house, thinking to slip away and look for her daughter, when she saw her skipping towards them like a child.
For the first time Mrs. Bennet realised that Lydia should still be in the schoolroom and was in no way old enough to be out.
Mrs. Bennet locked the door of Lydia’s bedchamber as she stepped inside. They had come back an hour ago, and had retired upstairs to rest. Thinking this to be the best time to discipline her wayward child, she had quietly walked to Lydia’s room.
“Mama, whatever are you doing here? I thought I would sleep before dinner; it was all so tiring,” Lydia said as she saw her mother enter her room.
Mrs. Bennet, instead of responding, went up to her and pulled her ear, and gave her a tight slap on her cheek. The shocked girl immediately began wailing.
“You will listen to me now and listen carefully; if you ever pull the stunt that you did today, we will return the very next day to Longbourn and I will be locking you up in the nursery for a year.”
“But that is so unfair; I did nothing wrong, I was just having a good time with my friends.”
“None of those worthless officers are your friends; they laugh and flirt with you because they have nothing better to do and would forget all about you once you are gone.”
“You are wrong, they all love me,” Lydia said, sulking.
“Even if that were true, they can hardly afford to marry you, for they are all as poor as church mice.”
“I do not care about that; love is much more important than money.”
“Very well, you may get engaged to an officer of your choice if you agree to work as a maid at Longbourn for six months; I am sure that will prepare you for life with an officer.”
“You are just so unfair!” Lydia wailed, having nothing more to say in her defence.
“Unfair or not, if you step a toe out of line, you may forget attending any social events until all your other sisters are married and safe from your ridiculous behaviour.”
“None of them are as popular as me, I am sure I will be the first to marry.”
“Live in that dream if you wish, my dear, but remember your father allowed you to be out only on my request. Do you think that he will not lock you up if I were to demand it? Let me assure you that he will do it happily and throw away the key for good measure.”
Mrs. Bennet then gave a hard stare to her daughter and finally left the room to go and get some much-needed rest; but not before bribing a housemaid to keep an eye on the wayward child.
While Mrs. Bennet was busy trying to rein in her youngest child, her oldest was facing a different sort of conundrum.
Jane had mentioned the invitation to the Matlock gathering to Mr. Bingley and was surprised to learn that the Bingleys were not acquainted with the Colonel’s family and did not have an invitation to the gathering.
“I still think that Lizzy may have left a lasting impression on the gentleman, for if he has not extended the same courtesy to you, then there was no reason to single me out,” a perplexed Jane spoke as Mr. Bingley took his leave.
“You are a handsome lady, Miss Bennet; the invitation may have been in your own right,” Bingley answered.
“Mr. Bingley, I am not so modest as to never imagine another’s interest in me, but the good Colonel could hardly be so enamoured just by meeting me for a few minutes.
He did speak about Elizabeth and hence my suspicion,” Jane said with a reassuring smile.
Her heart fluttered at the obvious worry in Mr. Bingley’s tone at another paying her attention, if nothing else, the Colonel had done her a favour by nudging her suitor into expressing what he had been too timid to openly admit.
The gathering turned out to be a pleasant experience, though Jane was even more confused than before.
There were multiple people who inquired about her sister and not just from the Colonel’s family.
Lady Margaret, the wife of Judge Darcy, and aunt to Mr. Darcy, seemed impossibly curious regarding Elizabeth; she even enquired about her eye colour and general education.
For a moment Jane considered if Lizzy had formed an attachment to Mr. Darcy but was quick to discard it.
The gentleman was most unsuitable in manners and temperament to match her rather impertinent and cheerful sister, and Lizzy’s dislike of him was deep-seated.
“What did you make of today’s gathering, Aunt?” Jane asked Mrs. Gardiner on the way back to Gracechurch Street.
“I had considered that the Colonel may have been taken with you, dearest, but that does not look likely. It seems the family paid us more attention than the good Colonel himself. Lord Matlock even went to the extent of expressing his desire to be acquainted with your uncle.”
“Did you also have to answer questions regarding Lizzy? I felt that many of them were inordinately curious about her.”
“You are not wrong; many seemed aware of your sister. Lady Rebecca, the Colonel’s sister, and Lady Matlock both asked after her,” Mrs. Gardiner answered, frowning.
“I am worried that something may not be right in Hampshire; Lizzy is there, as is Mrs. Ashcombe, Judge Darcy’s sister, and Mr. Darcy himself,” Jane replied with some concern.
“Elizabeth does have a habit of keeping her own counsel; I will discuss the situation with your uncle and we will decide what is to be done. I am sure it is nothing to worry about—only that your sister seems to have made friends with some very influential people,” Mrs. Gardiner consoled her niece.
“I hope you are correct, Aunt. It is only that she hardly seems acquainted with her well-wishers.”