Charlotte rolled her eyes and looked towards the source of the voice, finding the irritating sight of Elizabeth's younger sister, Miss Lydia Bennet. She had always considered that girl mean-spirited, ill-mannered, ignorant, and silly. She was surprised to see her there and even more surprised to realize that out of all the people in the world, it was Lydia Bennet who bothered to inquire about her, with an impertinent and annoying grin on her face. Good God...was she looking for some new gossip again? Charlotte hoped she wouldn't make a spectacle of herself; as much as she knew this foolish child couldn't keep her mouth shut about anything. If her sister Louise got wind of the gossip that Charlotte was sulking all alone in the park after hearing news of her engagement, Charlotte feared that her humiliation would be complete, and she would never be able to show her face to her family again.
Charlotte exclaimed, "Lydia! What are you doing here?"
"Hmm... interesting question. But I think I should be the one asking you that. So, what is Miss Propriety Stickler doing here all alone without a chaperone? Don't you prefer to bore others with your dull lectures on proper behavior?"
Charlotte was not in the mood to deal with the stupid questions of this senseless child, so she frowned and replied, "I have never lectured anyone on propriety, and it has been only once when I asked you to behave when you were embarrassing yourself and your family by getting foxed and chasing officers during the ball at Longbourn. But I see that you did not learn anything from that incident."
"La! Charlotte, don't be so tiresome. No wonder you are a spinster. Your sisters are much more fun than you. I am sure that one of them will catch a husband before you do. You know you cannot get the attention of a man if you do not stand out in some way."
The truth of those words hit Charlotte like a ton of bricks; pain flickered in her eyes, but she composed herself.
"Sometimes, I cannot believe that you are the sister of Jane and Elizabeth. Both of them behave like proper ladies, while here you are behaving in such a manner."
Lydia cut off her sentence, "And that's exactly why they'll both end up as spinsters too, just like you."
"They will not; Jane will surely not. She is the most beautiful and ladylike woman in Hertfordshire, and everyone likes her. I am certain that someday she will find a gentleman who will appreciate her for her kindness."
Upon hearing this, Lydia couldn't help herself from giving a most unladylike snort, and Charlotte glanced at her with confusion and annoyance.
"Why are you laughing?" she asked.
"Oh dear Charlotte, you should stop putting so much weight on Lizzy's words. Believe me, she is not that much of a good judge of character as she likes to think of herself."
"I don't understand your meaning, madam," Charlotte said with growing annoyance.
Lydia smiled and replied, "Lizzy likes to see what she wants to see. When she dislikes someone, she only sees their faults; and when she likes someone, she overlooks their flaws."
Charlotte was shocked to hear such words coming from the mouth of a girl she had always considered ignorant. Elizabeth had been her closest friend for many years, but even Charlotte realized that she was capable of both blind love and blind hatred. She never imagined that even this silly girl could see that. Perhaps there is much more to know about Lydia Bennet than what initially meets the eye.
For the first time, Charlotte looked at Lydia with curiosity rather than annoyance. Lydia was the tallest among the Bennet sisters, with a ladylike figure and a child-like, innocent face, yet mischievous eyes. She was beautiful, although not as beautiful as her eldest sister, Jane. If she had behaved like her elder sisters, people would have liked her just as much. However, in reality, none of her elder sisters were as brazenly behaved as she. Charlotte wondered where the Bennet parents had gone so wrong with their youngest daughter. The difference between the mannerisms of her elder sisters and younger ones was striking. Mary Bennet, the middle Bennet sister, seemed like an amalgam between these two groups. She knew what was proper, but her knowledge about society was bookish, and even she had a tendency of embarrassing herself in public gatherings. She didn't flirt shamelessly with young officers; however, in her ignorance, she often tried to put herself above others and displayed her poor understanding of various things in such a way as if she was a master in all of them. Charlotte didn't blame Mary for trying to showcase her accomplishments too aggressively. After all, as Lydia Bennet said, a woman had to put herself forward in some way to grab the attention of potential suitors. But, girls didn't understand that sometimes they got the wrong kind of attention due to their actions. There was a fine line between it.
Lydia hated being ignored, so she decided to break Charlotte's chain of thoughts with her usual loud manner. "Charlotte, are you in love or something? You look lost like one of those mysterious heroines in novels. How romantic," she teased in an amused tone.
The loud shriek caught Charlotte's attention. "Novels?.. what?.. I am not in love... You know it's quite inappropriate to say such things."
Lydia yawned and replied, "I'm referring to those adventurous novels in which the heroine appears to be deeply melancholic before she decides to elope with the handsome officer. They are so fascinating!"
Then suddenly she jumped and exclaimed, "Aaah! Are you planning something like that, Charlotte?"
Charlotte looked at her, wide-eyed with a pale expressions, and blinked repeatedly as she tried to make sense of all the strange nonsense this delusional girl was spilling.
"Wait a minute... Didn't I think at some point that this girl might have some sense? Then how could she connect such links? ... I think it's time for me to eat my own words," thought Charlotte.