Chapter 45 A Red Coat
“Lizzy, will you walk into Meryton with me? I have nearly run out of embroidery thread.”
Elizabeth looked up from the collar she was mending. “Yes. I need more white thread for Papa’s collar.”
“I am coming too,” Lydia called. “I need ribbon.”
Kitty immediately looked up. “So do I.”
“You bought ribbon last week,” Jane said.
“That was blue. I think I want yellow or pink.”
Elizabeth put her sewing aside. “A remarkably difficult problem to solve before luncheon.”
Lydia made a face at her.
The four sisters set out soon afterward. Lydia and Kitty talked almost without interruption along the way, debating ribbons, bonnets, and which officers were likely to attend the next assembly.
They had scarcely entered Meryton when Lydia seized Kitty's arm.
“There is Mr. Denny!”
Both girls hurried ahead.
Elizabeth stopped.
Several officers were gathered farther along the street. Two stood outside the inn, while others were making their way among the shops.
Her eyes moved from one face to another.
Mr. Denny had seen Lydia and Kitty and was approaching them with another young officer.
Elizabeth released her breath and wondered if one of those officers was Mr. Wickham.
Jane touched her hand.
“Lizzy, what is it? You have grown pale.”
Elizabeth looked at her sister and smiled. “Nothing at all. I am perfectly well.”
“Are you certain?”
Elizabeth watched her sisters. Lydia was laughing at something Mr. Denny had said, one hand resting upon his arm.
“I was thinking how readily our sisters trust gentlemen merely because they wear red coats.”
Jane followed her gaze.
Mr. Denny's companion was speaking with Kitty while Lydia continued talking to Denny. She stood close to him and touched his sleeve again when she laughed.
“They seem harmless enough,” Elizabeth said. She glanced farther along the street, where several other officers were gathered. “But some of those gentlemen must be thirty at least. What have Lydia and Kitty to do with men of their age?”
Jane's expression changed.
“I do not like how familiar Lydia is with Mr. Denny.”
“No, nor do I.”
Lydia laughed again.
“Come,” Jane said. “We should collect our sisters and finish our errands before Lydia forgets herself any further.”
They crossed the street.
“Lydia,” Jane said, “we are going to the haberdashery.”
“You go. Kitty and I shall come presently.”
“No, dear. We came together.”
Lydia looked disappointed, but after extracting a promise from Mr. Denny that he would attend the next assembly, she allowed herself to be drawn away.
The haberdashery restored her spirits.
Within minutes, Lydia and Kitty had several lengths of ribbon spread across the counter and were debating loudly over pink and green. Jane selected the embroidery thread she needed while Elizabeth found a spool of plain white thread suitable for her father's collars.
They stopped at Aunt Phillips's house before beginning the walk home. Lydia spent most of the visit talking about Mr. Denny and the other officers, with Kitty supplying whatever details her sister overlooked.
Their enthusiasm continued throughout the walk back to Longbourn.
“Mr. Denny says Captain Carter is an excellent dancer,” Lydia said. “He danced twice with Maria Lucas at the last assembly, though I cannot imagine why.”
“Lydia,” Jane said, “I wish you would be a little more careful in how you behave with the officers.”
Lydia stared at her. “How I behave?”
“You are very familiar with gentlemen you scarcely know.”
“I know Mr. Denny.”
“You have met him several times, yes, but what do you know of him? Of his family? Of his character?”
“What care I for his family? As for his character, he is very amiable. Jane, I wish to know whether he will be at the next assembly.”
“You know nothing of consequence about him.”
Lydia laughed. “Jane, you are becoming as dull as Mary.”
Kitty giggled.
Jane colored. “You should not encourage such familiarity, particularly in the street where everyone may see you.”
“I was only talking to him.”
“You had your hand upon his arm,” Elizabeth said.
Lydia looked at her. “What of it?”
“You are but fifteen years old.”
“I know how old I am.”
“Then you are old enough to understand that you cannot behave with every officer in Meryton as though he were an old family friend or a suitor.”
Lydia stopped smiling.
“You are not my mother, Lizzy. You have nothing to say to me.”
“I am your sister. Your elder sister, who knows a little better than you how one ought to behave.”
“You need not act like another mother, Lizzy. One is quite enough.”
Kitty laughed.
Elizabeth ignored her. “People notice such behavior, Lydia.”
“I do not care what people notice.”
“You may care when they begin talking about you.”
“Oh, you are no fun at all. You would rather have us buried in books all summer.”
“I would rather you remembered that every gentleman who smiles at you is not necessarily a gentleman.”
Lydia tossed her head. “Come, Kitty. We shall walk ahead. Lizzy has decided to preach me a sermon.”
Kitty hurried after her.
Jane watched them go.
“Perhaps you were a little severe.”
“Perhaps she requires someone to be.”
Jane looked at her in surprise.
Elizabeth softened her voice. “I am sorry. But she will not listen to you because you are gentle with her, and she will not listen to me because I am not.”
“What are we to do?”
“I do not know.”
When they reached Longbourn, Lydia carried her complaint directly to her mother.
“Mamma, Lizzy has been scolding me all the way from Meryton merely because I spoke to Mr. Denny.”
Mrs. Bennet looked up. “What nonsense is this?”
“It was not merely that she spoke to him, Mamma,” Jane said. “Lydia is becoming too familiar with the officers.”
“Too familiar? What can you mean?”
“She scarcely knows Mr. Denny,” Elizabeth said, “yet she allows him the familiarity she might permit a brother.”
Mrs. Bennet waved away the objection.
“Never mind, Lizzy. You have always been too staid. You would rather read Greek classics than enjoy a little amusement.”
“Mamma, that is not the point.”
“I remember enjoying the company of a red coat myself when I was a girl, and no harm came of it.”
Lydia smiled triumphantly. “There, Lizzy.”
“You are young only once,” Mrs. Bennet continued. “I will not have Lydia made miserable because her elder sisters have forgotten how to enjoy themselves.”
Jane looked at Elizabeth.
There was nothing more to be gained.
* * *
Several days later, the Bennet family joined the Lucases and several of their neighbors for dinner at Lucas Lodge. When the gentlemen returned to the drawing room, Lydia and Kitty made their way directly to Captain Carter and two other officers who had been invited.
Jane watched Lydia cross the room to meet them.
“Perhaps we should speak to Papa.”
Elizabeth followed her gaze. “I think we must.”
They found him near the card room, where Sir William was arranging tables for whist.
“Papa,” Jane began, “may we speak with you?”
Mr. Bennet looked from one daughter to the other. “Two daughters at once. I fear I must have done something very wrong.”
“It is Lydia,” Jane said.
“Ah. Then I am innocent.”
Jane glanced at Elizabeth before continuing. “We are concerned about the way she is behaving with the officers.”
Mr. Bennet looked across the room. Lydia was laughing with Captain Carter while Kitty stood beside her.
“She appears to be enjoying herself.”
“That is precisely the difficulty,” Elizabeth said. “She thinks only of enjoying herself.”
“A failing she shares with a considerable portion of mankind.”
“Papa, please.”
Something in her voice made him look more closely at her.
Jane said, “She has become very familiar with gentlemen she hardly knows. Lizzy and I spoke to Mamma about it after we returned from Meryton, but she did not think there was any cause for concern.”
“Your mother and Lydia are of one mind upon many subjects.”
“But surely you must see there is cause for concern, sir?” Elizabeth asked.
“My dear Lizzy, Lydia is fifteen. She is foolish, loud, and excessively pleased whenever a gentleman in a red coat looks in her direction. None of this can be news to you.”
“That does not mean it should be permitted.”
“What would you have me do?”
“Set limits upon her behavior.”
“And what limits do you propose?”
Elizabeth had not expected the question. “For a beginning, she should not be allowed to spend every visit to Meryton seeking out officers.”
“I see. Shall I forbid Meryton altogether?”
“No. I did not say that.”
“Then perhaps you will provide me with a list of the officers she may speak to and the number of minutes she may devote to each.”
“Papa.”
Mr. Bennet chuckled.
Elizabeth did not smile.
His amusement faded a little.
“Lizzy, you are taking this far too seriously. Lydia will flirt, your mother will encourage her, and the officers will eventually go elsewhere. I see no reason to turn Longbourn upside down over it.”
“But something could happen that would ruin Lydia and bring disgrace upon us all.”
“Like what, my girl?”
Elizabeth could not answer him.
Jane came to her aid. “We only ask that you pay greater attention to her, Papa.”
“I have heard you both, Jane. Now go and enjoy the evening. Sir William is threatening me with whist, and I must prepare myself for the ordeal.”
He went into the card room.
Elizabeth stared after him.
Jane slipped her arm through hers. “Come, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth allowed Jane to lead her away.
That evening, after they returned to Longbourn, Elizabeth went directly upstairs. She had scarcely reached her room when Jane followed her inside.
“You are angry with Papa.”
“I am frustrated with him.”
“He did listen to us.”
“He listened. He did not act.”
Jane sat beside her. “Lizzy, what do you fear will happen?”
“Lydia trusts too easily, and she believes every man in a red coat must be an honorable gentleman.”
“Most of the officers have behaved very well toward us.”
“Yes, but that is not the point. Someday one may not be a gentleman and may take advantage of Lydia's foolishness.”
“Then what would you have us do?”