The next morning, before they left Horley, Mr. Bingley asked Mrs. Longden how Lydia had made out playing the 'marriage game'. He had watched Lydia stumble out of the inn and climb into the coach. She did not appear to have slept much, if at all.
Mrs. Longden laughed. "Not well, not well at all. A militia lieutenant is paid about one hundred pounds a year, out of which he must pay for his uniforms, mess fees, and other personal expenses. I believe I was generous in allotting only twenty pounds for his expenses, leaving eighty pounds for Miss Bennet to spend. No matter how she juggled her expenses she could not pay for all the necessities and still have enough left over to purchase a few ribbons let alone any new dresses. And I did not even add in the expense of a child - that would have quite sunk her."
A child. Mr. Bingley frowned. Had things progressed between Lydia and Wickham that far? "Do you … ah … think that … ah … she might be … ah …" Mr. Bingley felt his face grow warm; he was afraid he might be blushing.
Mrs. Longden anticipated his unsaid question. "I do not believe that Miss Bennet is with child. I asked her some rather blunt and indelicate questions and I can say that she seems to understand what is involved and that she has not done 'it'. She insists that she told Mr. Wickham that 'it' would not happen until they were married." She shrugged. "But it strikes me that Miss Bennet's relationship with veracity is somewhat flexible. We will not know until her courses appear, or do not, as the case may be."
Mr. Bingley was not sure what Mrs. Longden meant by 'courses' but he was not about to ask. He felt sure that if he asked, Mrs. Longden would give him much more information than he wanted to know, and might even ask him questions to see if he had followed along.
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At the stop in Redhill Mrs. Longden advised Mr. Bingley that Lydia had slept through the entire stage and she continued to sleep, the 'sleep of the financially damned' as she characterized it.
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At the stop in Croydon, after their nuncheon, while Lydia was away using the necessary, Mr. Bingley remarked to Mrs. Longden "Miss Bennet seems rather, I'm not sure of the right word to describe her, perhaps 'serene' – it seems that she has accepted her fate and is ready to receive her punishment."
Mrs. Longden shook her head. "You would think so, but I am afraid that in her mind the fate Miss Bennet has accepted is that of a maiden being burnt at the stake, a martyr to love; not that of a convict off to gaol as a proper and just punishment for a crime she has committed."
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At the stop in Streatham Mrs. Longden reported "Miss Bennet is proving to be rather mulish. For every three steps she trudges forward, she skips two steps back. I had hoped that after playing, and failing at, the 'marriage game' she would understand how dire the straits she would have found herself in had her elopement succeeded. But no, she still thinks that she can wave her hand and say 'la de dah' and everything will be made good for her. If only I had her in my charge at home – if she said she had no need to pay for laundry I would have her do her own laundry – after a few hours up to her elbows in hot water using lye soap scrubbing her small clothes and sheets on a washboard, the lesson might be driven home to her. Oh well, she should not be out for another two years at least, perhaps in that time she might be made to see sense."
Mr. Bingley murmured his agreement with that wish and thought that perhaps there was a way in which it might come true if he could convince Mr. Bennet to place Lydia in Mrs. Longden's charge on a more permanent basis.
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At the stop in Brixton Mrs. Longden indicated "Miss Bennet has a request to make of you, one that I think is more palatable than the last one she made. In seems that her father is rather indolent and capricious and so, instead of dealing with her, and the problem she has created, she fears he is just going to cast her out. If that happens, she wonders if you would be agreeable to assisting her in obtaining an apprenticeship with a milliner. She feels that the only employable talent she has is making over bonnets."
"I agree with her assessment of her father. I can see him washing his hands of her. If that does come to pass you can assure her that I will do what I can to assist her in obtaining such an apprenticeship."
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At the stop in London, in the precincts of St. Paul's Cathedral, after introductions to The Reverend Canon Popel and Mrs. Popel, who had accepted the soiled lamb into their home without so much as a blink of crimination, Mr. Bingley had a chance to speak to Mrs. Longden alone. He had a request to make of her.
"Would you allow me to recommend to Mr. Bennet that he retain your services as companion to his three youngest daughters?"
"As you know sir, I am in need of employment, and I must say I would relish the challenge of moulding Miss Bennet into a proper, young lady. But what of the rest of the family? Miss Bennet has told me of them, but I must say she was quite querulous. What are your impressions of them? Would I be able to work with them?"
Mr. Bingley laughed and shook his head. "I devoted so much of my attention to Miss Bennet, Miss Jane Bennet that is, that I have very little impression of the rest of the family. Now if my sisters, especially Caroline, were here …" He frowned at that thought, what a mess they make of the whole situation, if they were here, thankfully they were not, "… they could give you chapter and verse of what is wrong with the Bennets. But I will tell you what I can recall." He paused, recollecting what he had seen and heard for himself, and hearsay he had from his sisters, Darcy, neighbours, servants, and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. He could not recall Miss Bennet, Miss Jane Bennet that is – she would always be the one and only Miss Bennet to him - ever saying anything negative about any member of her family, although momentarily a wince, or frown, might flit across her face, in reaction to some egregious act by one of them. He apologized for his delay and continued "Miss Kitty, the next oldest to Miss Lydia, seems to be a flighty, empty-headed girl, a follower to Miss Lydia. Miss Mary, the middle sister, is a pretty girl, all the sisters are pretty, if not beautiful, but for some reason she pretends to be plain; she is a very prim bluestocking; she plays the pianoforte and sings, and is badly in need of a master. Miss Elizabeth, the second oldest sister, is very intelligent, and not afraid to show it; she got into some very intellectual arguments with my friend, Darcy; way over my head, I'm afraid. My sisters consider her to be very impertinent. And as for Miss Jane Bennet…" here Mr. Bingley smiled, lost in momentary reminisce "… well she is an angel, although I may be prejudiced."
"And their parents?"
Mr. Bingley frowned. "It's common knowledge in their neighbourhood that Longbourn, Mr. Bennet's estate, is entailed to a distant cousin. It's speculated that because of this Mr. Bennet hasn't bothered to make anything of the estate. The estate income is thought to be about two thousand per annum – my friend, Darcy, thinks that with a little work and investment, it could be raised to three thousand. I told you Mr. Bennet is indolent. Not only hasn't he done anything to improve the estate, he hasn't done anything to improve his daughters' dowries. They will share five thousand pounds equally when their mother dies – apparently this sum was Mrs. Bennet's dowry, which she brought into their marriage, and Mr. Bennet has added nothing to it in all the years of their marriage. Mr. Bennet's attitude can be summed up as 'après moi, le deluge.' Because of this, a common refrain of Mrs. Bennet is that when Mr. Bennet dies, she and her unmarried daughters will end up living in the hedgerows. She is desperate to marry off her daughters – my sisters are quite contemptuous of her efforts. She is quite brassy and she seems to say out loud what other match making mothers only think. I must confess that a connection to Mrs. Bennet was one of the reasons I abandoned Miss Jane Bennet."
"You present quite the challenge, sir."
"Yes, I do, but I think that you are up to it. And as a sweetener, should Mr. Bennet retain your services, I will pay you the sum of fifty pounds per annum over and above whatever he may pay you."
"I do like a challenge, especially one as sweet as the one you present. May I give you my answer in the morning?"
"Certainly, I will see you then." Mr. Bingley bid Mrs. Longden goodnight and entered his coach for the drive to his townhouse. He had quite enough of riding; he was badly in need of that liniment his valet had found.
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The next morning, before they left London, Mrs. Longden indicated that she would be happy to act as companion to the younger Miss Bennets should Mr. Bennet agree to retain her services. Mr. Bingley gave her two letters: one a letter to Mr. Bennet, the other containing her fee of twenty pounds and a bonus of another ten. He also told her that he would not accompany them all the way to Longbourn, he would leave them at Meryton. He did this to honour Miss Jane Bennet's wish to never see him again.
