Chapter Twenty-Eight
Mrs. Bennet fussed over Jane and Elizabeth on their return to Longbourn, though she spent more time mourning that both of them had come home unwed than showing concern over Elizabeth’s accident.
They were quite content not to have to discuss the matter anyway, since they had already agreed that no good could come of anyone else knowing the depths of Mr. Collins’ wickedness.
Especially not Mrs. Bennet, who would never have been able to keep such a juicy secret to herself.
“Well,” Mrs. Bennet threw up her hands, after several minutes of prying over their dinner failed to elicit any worthwhile gossip, “I am glad that you are well, Lizzy, and that you are both come safely home again. Poor Charlotte.” This was said with a great deal of insincerity, before Mrs. Bennet leaned forward and said in a loud whisper “I do not suppose you detected any signs that she was increasing, did you?”
“Mama!” Jane gasped, utterly shocked.
“Well, but it is an important question, Jane, for you in particular! If there is no son, then there is no entail,” beaming, Mrs. Bennet sat back in her chair. “Longbourn will be saved.”
Astonished, Elizabeth and Jane stared at each other in silence. Elizabeth was the first to recover her voice. “Are you sure, Mama? Does not the entail devolve to the next male heir in line?”
“There is none,” Mrs. Bennet said with great satisfaction.
“My brother Phillips has investigated the matter thoroughly, and the terms of your great-grandfather’s will are quite clear.
With no living male heir after your father, the entail reverts to the eldest female in line - yourself, Jane!
Provided that Charlotte Collins is not enceinte with Mr. Collins’ son, ghastly thought! ”
“Mama, she has just lost her husband,” Mary reproached. “Surely a child would be a great comfort to her in this time of such terrible grief.”
“Oh, what do you know about it,” Mrs. Bennet flapped a dismissive hand at Mary. “She only took him because she had her eyes on being mistress here after I am gone; well now she will have nothing!”
“Mama!” Jane, Elizabeth and Mary cried in a chorus of disgust. Mrs. Bennet harrumphed and tossed her head.
“Well, the timing is most inconvenient, too! Your father was going to take us all to Brighton for the summer…”
“I most certainly was not, my dear,” Mr. Bennet lowered his newspaper for long enough to say. “Nor did I plan to allow Lydia to go by herself, no matter how dear a friend she is to Mrs. Forster.”
“Stupid, stupid Mr. Collins!” Lydia burst out vehemently. “Now we’re in mourning, we can’t even go to parties and meet the officers, and they are leaving in just a few days! I’ll never see my dear Wickham again!”
“Poor, darling Lydia!” Mrs. Bennet fluttered her handkerchief. “If only you could go to Brighton, I am sure you should have caught him!”
Lydia promptly burst into noisy tears and was equally swiftly banished upstairs by Mr. Bennet, who would not tolerate such behaviour, not at mealtimes at any rate. Elizabeth could hardly wait to make her own escape with Jane, hurrying upstairs to their shared room and closing the door.
“Dear Lord, I think that this family may have had a lucky escape!” she gasped.
“I know! Kitty whispered to me that Wickham has called regularly, courting Lydia quite assiduously.”
“What a horrifying thought!” Elizabeth shivered. “Well, we must keep a very close eye on Lydia until the regiment has departed.”
“You can’t think that she would…” Jane said, shocked.
“She has thought of nothing but officers and flirtation since the regiment first came to Meryton, and with their departure she is clearly cast into despair. Foolish girl that she is, I believe her quite capable of doing something that would cause irreparable damage to her reputation, if she thought that it might persuade Wickham to marry her.”
“We must ensure that she does nothing of the sort,” Jane said decisively, making Elizabeth blink at her uncharacteristic firmness.
“She has brought enough ridicule and shame upon this family, Lizzy. She almost cost you a chance at happiness with Mr. Darcy, and I will tolerate no more of it. It is high time that she and Kitty both learned proper behaviour.”
Elizabeth sat back and stared at Jane admiringly. “I have never seen you like this, Jane!”
“Well, if I am one day to be mistress of Longbourn, it is high time that I started acting like it, is it not?” Jane smiled back at her.
“I have done my best to lead by example for our younger sisters, Lizzy, as have you, I know. I believe that it is high time we admitted to ourselves that this strategy has failed us and we must adopt new tactics.”
“Strategy and tactics; you sound positively military, Jane!” Elizabeth teased gently. She was a little surprised when Jane blushed.
“Colonel Fitzwilliam and I — we talked, quite a bit, when we were trying to work out who it was that attacked you.” Jane’s voice was soft, and she looked down at her fingers, twisting them together in her lap.
“He said that… that I was clever. Nobody ever called me clever, Lizzy, never in my life. Everyone just expects me to be pretty and nothing more than that, but Colonel Fitzwilliam…” she chuckled, surprisingly.
“His first sight of me was when I walked into the parlour and slapped Mr. Darcy across the face. I don’t believe that he ever thought of me as just a pretty face. ”
Elizabeth stared at her, astonished. “You slapped Mr. Darcy across the face?”
Realising that she’d never told Elizabeth about that incident, Jane began to laugh.
“Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?” Elizabeth exclaimed, before joining in with Jane’s laughter.