"A lady ought not be in this kind of business, Lizzie..." These are the words Elizabeth Bennet is stuck with in her head everyday.
Her mother's voice echoes through her ears, as she is stitching up Mr. Grover's arm.
Indeed her mother hated her working and especially in a hospital, but she needed this job. Nothing else in her life made as much sense to her as helping people did.
"Mother, this is the fifties and woman are allowed to have careers and work now. And you better get used to it." This would always be her reply though she doubted her mother ever listened to reason.
Her mother only ever cared about marriage and to a rich man of course.
"A man with a fortune" such a man would never look in her direction, besides her job here at the hospital would surely not be favorable to any potential suitors.
"Nurse Bennet, they need your assistance in ward four." Nurse Joy called on her from the doorway. Elizabeth covered her patient with a blanket as she finished up with the elderly man. "I'll come check on you again in a few minute, Mr. Grover. Definitely once I'm finished with my other patients." She said smiling at the elderly gentleman, after which she went help out with other patients in the Fourth Ward.
The rest of her shift went by as most of them did, patients coming in and out. This wasn't one of the best hospitals in the city and definitely not a very large hospital either. But Elizabeth felt that her in a hospital in the center of London that she could definitely make a difference in caring and saving as many people as she could.
Around eight that evening her shift finally ended and Elizabeth headed home to her small family town house. It had been three years since her family moved from their farm house in Meryton to London.
Her mother had insisted to move the family closer together as her two eldest daughters had moved away to London in search of finer prospects and much to her mother's dismay for work. Her mother grew up in a very old society, but not Elizabeth. No indeed the war had changed that for her. In fact after the war things changed, especially for women in society who was now expected to work and earn their own wages. A career in some sort of profession was now considered an accomplishment and this was something Mrs. Bennet simply didn't understand.
Elizabeth sat on her regular bus route home and tried to get a bit of rest. She knew that once she got home, she would surely not get any piece and quiet till much later that evening. Instead she marveled at the sightings of London the beautiful city she calls home.
After a ten minute walk to her home from the bus stop she finally arrived at there modest London home. The house was the classic English styled brick home, with vines and trees running all along the outer bricks of the house. In the daytime the most beautiful flowers could be found in the garden, which made the house look even brighter with colors like red, violet, yellow and more shining in the sunlight. Roses were of course her mother's favorite.
Her mother was the keeper of the beautiful garden which she had been working on for the last two years. Something Elizabeth suspects her mother started to keep her from going insane with the embarrassment, especially since her eldest two daughters had hardly any prospects for marriage in the foreseeable future.
Elizabeth opened the small gate in front of the house, she saw her mother peering out of the sitting room window. She smiled and her mother in chance gave her a nasty frown and turned away. "Here we go." Elizabeth said to herself and went into the house.
Inside she found her mother and three younger sisters lounging in the sitting room.
"Good evening, Mama. How was your day?" Elizabeth said looking straight at her mother who choose to ignore her question. She turned to her sisters, "Good evening, sisters."
"Hi, Lizzie. How was your day?" Mary stood up and gave her sister a hug.
Elizabeth smiled in delight that someone was glad to see her. "I survived, it was a busy one to say the least."
"Well your day was boring, papa refused to take us for shopping and we were in doors the entire day. School breaks in the summer are the worst, how long has it been Kitty?" Lydia complained.
"It has only been two week's Lydia." Kitty answered.
"Well, Lydia. You could just take the underground or a bus into the city, papa doesn't have to drive you everywhere." Elizabeth seriously told her youngest sister.
"That's not the problem, Lizzy. Dad has the money and I can't buy anything without it now, can I?" Lydia exclaimed, she was clearly getting annoyed with her sister.
Then suddenly a voice came from the hallway behind Elizabeth. "Well Lydia, you can just take your sister Elizabeth as a role model and go find your own job. Then you wouldn't have to depend on your parents for money anymore." It was their father, a man who carried his years well on his rather old but still handsome face.
"Good day, Papa." Elizabeth said as she embraced her father. She was still her father's favorite daughter and one of her only supporters in her fight to be a nurse and not some lonely child bearing housewife.
"My Lydia, get a job. Mr. Bennet how can you be so cruel to our youngest daughter." Mrs. Bennet got up onto her feet, but dramatically lowered down onto the sofa again. "She is not yet finished with school and you want her working." Mrs. Bennet said while fanning herself on the flower printed sofa.
Mr. Bennet got a grin to the corner of his mouth which only Elizabeth saw. "Well I guess Mrs. Bennet if you insist then I guess there is nothing I can say." He went to sit next to his wife and read the newspaper left on the coffee table.
"Well, I think I'll be off to bed first. I did have a tiring day. Is Jane home yet?" Elizabeth asked. She suddenly had no energy to keep arguing with her mother anymore. She needed to be in bed and rest.
"No, she is not. I expect she'll be just as tired as you Lizzie when she gets back." her mother exclaimed.
Elizabeth ignored another few of her mothers remarks on her daughters ungrateful character and then announced, "Well good night everyone. See you in the morning."
After bidding everyone a good night she retired to her bedroom. Her bedroom was up the stairs and much like the other rooms in the house it was decorated with floral wallpaper patterns and most of the bedding and curtains were white. She shared the room only with her eldest sister Jane. Jane now was twenty five and but only two years her senior. She had turned twenty three only a month ago.
Jane had a job as a secretary, she loved her job. Sometimes Elizabeth thought she liked it more than Elizabeth liked nursing. Sure, women have been nurses and secretaries for many years and it is quite the norm in a big city such as London. She hoped only her mother would see this one day.
She lay down on the bed and slowly drifted into sleep, she was more tired than she thought. It felt like hours had passed when Elizabeth finally woke up again from someone entering the room. It was Jane, dressed in her plain brown secretary outfit.
"Oh no, sorry Lizzy. I didn't mean to wake you up, go back to sleep."
"Don't worry yourself sister. What is the time? Do you only return from work at this hour?"
Jane ran towards Elizabeth's bed and went to sit down on Elizabeth side of the bed. "Oh, Lizzy. You won't believe the night that I've had." Jane the beautiful golden-haired Bennet sister said.
"Where have you been dearest Jane? You out at night, I can't believe it" Elizabeth teased her sister, since Jane was hardly the type to go out and meet men.
"Well, it all started this morning around ten. Mr. Gardiner had a client come visit him at the office for some business matters. And the client was one of the most handsome guys I had ever met, he had red hair and the kindest face I had ever seen."
"Jane, we talked about this you see to much goodness in people. You get deceived so easily, I have warned you before." Elizabeth said as she took Jane's hand.
Jane shook her head, "Not this man, Lizzie. I thought about that when I first saw him, but later our uncle Gardiner confirmed that he was the most amiable and good-natured man he worked for. But anyway the man's character is not really the story here."
"Well then what is your story?" Elizabeth said as she raised her eyebrows and teased her most beloved sister.
"Well, apparently during the meeting the client, Mr. Bingley, asked Mr. Gardiner and his wife out for dinner. And on top of that he insisted I accompany them."
"Really, he asked for you specifically."
"Yes, and it was the most wonderful evening. Mr. Bingley is so agreeable Lizzy, I can't see a single fault in him."
"Really now a man without fault, you cannot be so naive to think that such a man exist Jane."
"Well, maybe you won't ever know such a man to exist Lizzy, that doesn't mean that I would never meet such a man. However I promise you, he is really something else Elizabeth." Jane couldn't stop smiling and it put a sense of warmth into Elizabeth's heart to see her sister so happy.
"So do you have plans to see him again."
"Yes, indeed I have. We will meet up at a restaurant tomorrow evening. But Lizzy I have a favor to ask. Will you accompany me? I'm still cautious with him, he is a man and I don't want to find myself in a difficult situation."
"Accompany you on a date isn't that a bit out of the ordinary. I can hardly think he would agree to such a thing."
"Don't be ridiculous Lizzy. Of course he would agree to it, it was his idea and he wanted to meet my sister. And he'll bring along a friend of his, who knows you might like him."
Elizabeth smiled, "Well of course I'll accompany my dearest sister on her date. But don't expect me to like one or both of these men, I'll first form my own opinion on them."
"As expected from you, Lizzie. Now go to sleep, tomorrow you'll need your energy." as she kissed her sister's forehead. "I'm so excited I hardly know if I'll sleep even for a moment myself."
After this it took both them only a few minutes to fall asleep.