Chapter 11 #2
Elizabeth recounted the ball and the presumption of Mr James. “Lady Barry, I am ashamed to relate the ideas held by Mr James that somehow, but I cannot fathom why, focused upon your fortune and who your heir would be.”
“I heard of that bit of gossip more than a week ago, so you need not mortify yourself by reciting that nonsense to me, Lizzy-girl.” Lady Barry shook her head. “What about the rest?”
Elizabeth covered her face. “He chose the middle of the second set, when escape was quite impossible, and threw himself to his knees. He proclaimed that we had just been discussing our future together, which was quite untrue, at least on my part, and spoke as though the entire room was his audience.”
“In the middle of the dance?” Lady Barry was outraged. “Barbarous…simply barbarous. If idiot men must propose, they ought to at the very least have the decency to do it badly in private!”
“Lady Barry, I was mortified, and still am! How shall I show my face on the promenade? Or at the next assembly?” Finally feeling as though she was speaking with someone with whom she could be entirely open, Elizabeth very nearly wept.
“You shall do so with your head held high, Lizzy-girl, for this is not of your doing, and I will not allow you to be tarnished by it. A man who cannot discern the difference between a dance floor and a stage deserves neither a wife, nor an audience. I may not chuse to go into society, but the society here will never cross me, nor you if they believe you have my approbation.”
Elizabeth then recounted her conversation with Charlotte.
“She speaks of independence as if it were a crime, or something shameful, which I find shocking, considering her circumstances before she married my father. She spoke to me this morning as if I were in danger of wasting the only opportunity I may ever have, rather than protecting myself from a most grievous mistake.”
Lady Barry tutted. “Mrs Bennet is a most practical and pragmatic woman. This, Lizzy-girl, is her greatest merit and also her greatest flaw.”
“I cannot understand her.” Elizabeth was grieved.
“I recognised already that it would be quite wrong of me to be a burden on Longbourn forever, but I thought I might be welcome to return after the summer. She insisted that I am, but in the same breath, spoke of my unmarried state as the end of any proper life I might expect.”
Lady Barry was quiet for a long moment. “She is not entirely wrong, Lizzy-girl. And you know it. That is why you cannot bear her at present.”
“But–”
“Now, Lizzy-girl, you listen.” Lady Barry’s voice was sharp and demanded attention.
“I may thumb my nose at society because I am exceedingly rich, old, and most importantly, a widow. Now, if a woman is fortunate enough to be widowed early, she may spend the rest of her life doing exactly as she pleases. But if she is rich and never marries, she will eventually fade into insignificance, and she will not be viewed as respectable. Invitations will cease to come if she does not live with family. The spinsters in your village are given mercy because they never had the means to marry, and so they are pitied. You will not be given the same consideration if you had the means to be what society considers respectable, and rejected it.”
The older woman sighed heavily. “I cannot give you the answer, Lizzy-girl. Perhaps I encouraged you too much when you expressed your distaste for marrying so soon. Wedlock is not salvation. But neither is independence safety. You imagine two futures. One where you are confined, and another where you are at liberty. I hope that you do not romanticise my independence. If given the opportunity to make my own choice, I might have been as deliriously happy as my daughter and Lady Anne Darcy. That power was taken from me.”
“That is precisely what I do not wish for!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
“I do not want to find a husband merely because I have enough funds to attract one. I will not be driven into it until I am ready! I do not object to Charlotte as my stepmother. Her decision was her own and I do not disrespect her for it, but I wish for more.”
“And so you should,” Lady Barry agreed. “Your stepmother’s mistake lies in pushing you to settle before you are ready.
I do not believe that she does so from a desire to relieve the burden of so many ladies upon her household.
Mrs Bennet recalls the fear of too much time passing, the danger of being single for too long. ”
“I am sure I will probably marry, eventually,” Elizabeth said. “I just did not think it would all happen so quickly. I was relieved by the freedom to avoid it entirely, if I do not find love.”
“No, and nor should it happen so fast,” said Lady Barry.
“Mrs Bennet must be reined in. It will do you no more harm to be married at twenty-three than at twenty-one. Now, though you are in no hurry, you must not let the man you seek pass you by for lack of attention to the possibilities before you. What about that tall, serious young man who spent all of yesterday’s visit appearing as if he had been reconsidering his entire existence since clapping eyes on you? ”
“Mr Darcy?” Elizabeth resisted the idea. “He began our acquaintance by insulting me before we were even properly introduced.”
“Outstanding!” Lady Barry clapped her hands. “What a lot of time and trouble you have been saved by him first displaying that he is imperfect. A lady can waste months mooning over a man who appears to be perfect.”
Elizabeth grimaced. “He accused me of seeking his notice.”
“And was thoroughly abused of that notion and punished appropriately, I hope.”
“I suppose,” Elizabeth answered thoughtfully. “But he can be a beast, Lady Barry…”
“Excellent.” Lady Barry thumped her cane. “Then there is room for you to improve him. There is no use in a man who cannot be improved by his wife.”
“I told him that I do not like him,” Elizabeth went on. “And that I tolerate him only because I am his sister’s friend.”
“And then he spent all of yesterday’s visit observing you as if you were a dilemma he must resolve, and a prize he does not believe he deserves.” Lady Barry nodded in authority. “My son-in-law looked at Isobel in just the same manner.”
“He is not what I first thought of him,” Elizabeth admitted. “But I hate to go back on my word.”
“Give up your determination to be right, Lizzy-girl,” Lady Barry insisted.
“It is tedious and annoying. You are not obliged to marry him or any other. But neither are you obliged to dislike him forever. All you need do is allow him to earn your respect. If he can make you like him, what is the harm in allowing it?”
Elizabeth raised a brow. “You are remarkably encouraging today, Lady Barry.”
“If I cannot see you married to a grandson of my own, Lizzy-girl, then the son of Lady Anne might be the only other man who is good enough for you. There is no harm in becoming well-acquainted.”
The butler entered and bowed. “Mr Bennet, madam.”
Mr Bennet entered and bowed to Lady Barry as well. “Lady Barry, I am happy to see you in good health today.”
He turned to Elizabeth in hesitation.
“You may as well proceed, Bennet, I have heard everything.” Lady Barry glared at him. Elizabeth hoped that if she lived as long as their hostess, men would be just as terrified of her.
“Of course.” Bennet nodded. “I expected it. Lizzy. Mrs Bennet is beside herself at your misunderstanding. She took to her bed in grief that she expressed herself so poorly. She never intended to insist you must marry this summer. Even if she did, I hope you know that I will never allow you to be forced. She only fears that in your desire to enjoy your independence, you will allow true happiness to escape you. Will you accompany me home and allow her to apologise?”
“Of course, Papa.” Elizabeth stood.
“Bennet, you have married a woman of judgment.” Lady Barry waved them off. “I recommend that you not leave her to exercise it alone. You are fortunate, both in your wife and your daughter. I suggest that you proceed as if you are aware of it.”