A/N - A big thanks to my beta reader Ann (goclimbatree) for reading through and helping me fix errors and ensuring clarity.
Let me know if you continue to see any issues with consistency, language/usage, or just too much information. This story will be published on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited at some point once it is finished (new target: September 10?).
Chapter 22
Following the confrontation, Mrs Bennet remained in her room for the rest of the day and only emerged at her husband's insistence the next morning. While Kitty and Lydia were working on their lessons with Mrs Martin, she spoke quietly with Jane, who chose to remain at Longbourn to help her mother, in spite of Elizabeth's attempts to convince her to stay at the house let by Darcy.
Lydia complained loudly following Elizabeth's departure, and after listening to her complaints for some time, her father sat down to explain the necessity of sending her to school. Surprising them both, he apologised for his past inattention and for allowing her to believe her behaviour was appropriate.
"Lydia, you must go to school," Mr Bennet said in a firm tone his daughters were unused to hearing from him. "If Lady Lucas did not object to you as a daughter-in-law, you would either be engaged to young Lucas or ruined because of rumours of your improper behaviour. Such rumours would ruin your sisters as well. Sending you to school is necessary as your mother and I have obviously not done our job in ensuring you know how to behave."
"But I am behaving as Mama has always told us," Lydia said. "She encourages us to have fun, and kissing boys is fun. It was better when the militia was here, but Ben Lucas …."
"What do you mean?" Mr Bennet stopped his youngest daughter from running on. "What did you do with the militia officers?"
"Oh, I kissed several on a dare," she told him. "Maria Lucas and I thought it was a good joke, although Kitty would not join us. In fact, I think Maria was too afraid to actually follow through with it, but I was kissed by at least five officers."
"You have allowed five officers to kiss you?" Mr Bennet nearly yelled, seeming to understand finally what a dangerous precipice of respectability his daughter was teetering on. "What were you thinking, you foolish child? I am astounded that rumours are not circulating throughout town, and your reputation is not in ruins already."
Lydia was nearly in tears as her father had never raised his voice to her before. "What do you mean?" she blubbered.
Mr Bennet calmed himself and attempted to explain how her actions could have impacted her and the rest of his family. For the first time, he felt shame at how lax he had been with his daughters. He knew Jane and Elizabeth's behaviour, and Mary's to a lesser extent, was due to the influence of the Gardiners. Kitty and Lydia, however, had not visited them and only had the example of their mother to follow. Since Mrs Bennet constantly belittled her second daughter, they would not listen when Elizabeth corrected them, and Jane had never attempted it.
His conversation with Lydia preceded a long-overdue conversation with his wife, during which he finally told her in greater detail about the debt he amassed and how the Darcys had saved them, including paying the merchants in Meryton and preventing their family's near ruin from becoming fodder for the village gossips. Mrs Bennet was surprised at some of these revelations, especially as they related to her youngest daughter, and was further surprised when her husband followed this confession with a sincere apology for his treatment of her during the years of their marriage. This conversation lasted well into the evening and left both tired but more content and hopeful than either had been in many years.
So it was when Elizabeth and Darcy arrived for a visit later that morning they found a household more subdued than usual. Lydia remained in her rooms, as Mr Bennet was still unwilling to allow her in company until she understood the damage she had nearly wrought upon the family.
Mrs Bennet received them graciously and was almost civil to her guests. As the family sat together in the drawing room, Mrs Bennet once again began her inquisition: "So, Jane, tell me again of the gentlemen you met at Pemberley with the Darcys." Although she attempted to be quiet, her voice carried to nearly everyone in the room. "Why are you not yet engaged?"
"There were several single gentlemen at the house party, Mama, but none were interested in me, and I did not wish to know any of them better," Jane replied, her voice low as she attempted to keep the conversation private.
"Whyever not, Jane? Surely there was at least one single gentleman there who caught your notice," the matron insisted.
"Now that I have seen something of life in the first circles, at the ball to celebrate Darcy's marriage and other events we attended, it is not a life that interests me. I did not encourage any of the gentlemen at the house party, but I doubt any would have been interested in me regardless," Jane tried again.
"I do not understand, Jane," Mrs Bennet demanded, her voice becoming loud and shrill in her excitement.
"Calm yourself, madam," Mr Bennet hissed at his wife. "Jane said she was not interested in any of the gentlemen and that is the end of it. She will marry when she finds a gentleman she wishes to marry. There is no reason to push our daughters to make matches they do not desire."
Mrs Bennet scowled at her husband and then shot a glare at her married daughter before muttering something under her breath. Mr Bennet thought he heard "unfeeling child" but was uncertain which daughter the imprecation was directed toward.
Mr Bennet attempted to turn the conversation. "So, Lizzy, tell us of Pemberley," he began. "You have said much in your letters, but I would like to hear more of your new home. It must be magnificent, given how diligent a landlord your husband no doubt is." His voice was tinged with his obvious resentment and bitterness toward the man who had stepped into rescue him and was constantly lecturing him on his lackadaisical attitude.
"No, Lizzy," Kitty interrupted, "tell us of your wedding! On your last visit, you were so distracted in speaking with Papa that we never heard much about it. Jane has said a little, but I would love to hear more."
"Yes," Mrs Bennet cried, "tell us of your wedding! Did I understand correctly that you married by special licence? And at the home of an earl? Tell me of your wedding dress." This shift in the conversation encouraged Bennet to invite Darcy to his study under the guise of discussing estate business, but Darcy was reluctant to leave Elizabeth until she gave him a slight nod. Truly, Bennet did not want to speak with his son-in-law either, but speaking of estate management seems far preferable than hearing of weddings and lace.
Elizabeth hid a grimace, knowing her mother only wanted to boast to her friends about the wedding. "Yes, Mama, we married from Mr Darcy's uncle's home. I stayed with his aunt and uncle for a day or two when I first arrived in London after the incident with Lady Catherine, although I removed to the Gardiners once they arrived in town."
"I never understood why you were sent away from the Collins' home," Mrs Bennet interrupted. "Lady Lucas tried to make it out to be some sort of compromise, but when she hinted at it in July, you and your husband accused her of spreading falsehoods."
"Lady Catherine wanted Mr Darcy to marry her daughter. When he refused, as he has before, she blamed me and decided to ruin me. At her orders, Mr Collins immediately evicted me from the parsonage without any thought or care for me or my reputation. Mr Darcy had prepared for this eventuality and ensured I was not injured in any way. I travelled to London in a hired coach with a maid and a footman and stayed at Matlock House until my Aunt and Uncle Gardiner returned with Jane. Mr Darcy had already asked for a courtship, but once I was at his family's home, he proposed. He visited Papa the next day and received his consent to our marriage. Papa sent me a letter recommending we wed soon and in London. At the time, we believed Lady Catherine had something to do with the need to marry quickly, but we learned later that Papa hoped my husband would give him the money he needed."
"Your father approved of your marriage? He knew of it ahead of time?" Mrs Bennet screeched.
"Of course, he did," Elizabeth coolly replied. "We could not have married otherwise as I was not yet of age in April."
For some time, the room was quiet as each considered these revelations.
When she learned of the wedding after it already occurred, Mrs Bennet was angry and offended, especially as she only learned of it through a letter from Mrs Gardiner. It never occurred to her in her limited understand that Mr Bennet must have consented to the marriage for it to go foreward. During her daughter's visit in July, she was determined not to speak to her daughter for some time and largely ignored her. It was now obvious to her that Mr Bennet had not bothered to inform his wife of her daughter's wedding and had encouraged the couple to marry away from Longbourn. While she remained resentful toward her daughter for marrying so well while Jane was still unwed, those feelings were eclipsed for the first time at anger toward her husband.
This revelation allowed Elizabeth to better understand some small portion of her mother's recent anger toward her but was even more frustrated and angry with her father over his selfish thoughtlessness. She alleviated her mother's concerns about the sudden wedding as best she could and made a point of acquainting her mother with Mr Darcy's good traits, as he had been much maligned in recent months in the Bennet household by Mr Bennet's bitter complaints about Mr Darcy's 'demands' related to the loan. Mrs Bennet began to feel better about her daughter's marriage after this conversation and, being less angry with Elizabeth, pressed her repeatedly to allow Lydia to stay home and to introduce her youngest daughters in town, even as she criticised Elizabeth.
"Your cheeks are fuller and you are losing your figure. Your husband will not appreciate that and if you want to keep his interest, you will need to pay more attention to what you eat. I know you are accustomed to traipsing about, which I imagine helped you with your weight before, but now …" she trailed off, allowing her daughter to understand she expected Mr Darcy to tire of her soon.
Elizabeth heard enough and put a stop to her mother's demands and disparagement. "Mama, I do not know why you think Lydia should be permitted to remain at home. She desperately needs instruction, which she is not going to receive here. She refuses to listen to the governess, whom you constantly contradict, preventing her from correcting Lydia's behaviour. As far as my other sisters, Mary and Jane, if she desires, will reside with my husband and me, Kitty will remain at home with the governess, and we will invite her to stay with us at Pemberley or in London once she is ready, or she may go to the Gardiners if they invite her. As I said last night, you will not be invited to any of my homes until you apologise for your treatment of me. The letters you sent were atrocious, and while I now understand there was some miscommunication that made matters worse, there is no excuse for what you wrote and said to me, especially since I married. You fawn over my husband, making him uncomfortable, while disparaging me and telling him he should have chosen another of my sisters. We may be able to be civil when in each other's company, but until you apologise, I want no relationship with you."
"Whatever do you mean, Lizzy Bennet? How dare you speak to me in this way?" the matron demanded, her banked anger rising once again.
"You are well aware, madam, that I am not Lizzy Bennet; I am Mrs Elizabeth Darcy. You have criticised me my entire life. When I entered this house yesterday, you fawned over my husband while insulting me. You call me selfish and unfeeling for trying to save you and the rest of my sisters from the hedgerows, which was a real possibility had we refused to pay Papa's debts. Had we not acted as we did, Papa would have been thrown into the Marshalsea, or worse, allowed one of the men he owed to take one of my sisters in repayment. Do you understand what that would have meant? I understand your frustrations were exacerbated by my father's unwillingness to speak with you honestly or directly in this case, but nothing justifies your ill-treatment of me. I said yesterday I would accept no more letters from you, but now I will have nothing more to do with you until you apologise sincerely."
Elizabeth's outburst shocked Mrs Bennet, and the rest of the room, into silence until the gentlemen returned from the study.
In the study, the conversation was stilted and awkward; the two were only barely acquainted, and Darcy was not in a mood to be of much help. Mr Bennet was half ashamed of the basic questions he asked about estate management, as he had been a landholder nearly as long as Darcy had been alive, even as he admitted Longbourn would benefit from Darcy's diligence in keeping up with modern practises. After a time, they asked Mr Todd to join them, as Bennet confessed to not knowing many of the particulars of his own farm. Darcy felt he was a tutor whose pupil was as recalcitrant as any young lad in the schoolroom and directed most of his conversation to the steward, who accepted the information gratefully.
When the conversation exhausted itself — and Darcy — they returned to the drawing room, where Darcy was surprised by the obvious tension in the room. He glanced at his wife, and when she rolled her eyes in his direction, he grimaced in reply before sitting down to listen to Mrs Bennet's effusions. As quickly as he could, he extricated himself and his wife from Longbourn, claiming a need to return to their own temporary home.
On the way, Elizabeth explained her mother's almost-apology. "Papa did not explain why you visited Longbourn or tell her we were to marry. She learned we were married in a letter from my Aunt Gardiner and was rather piqued because she assumed I married in London to avoid her planning the wedding. Papa never told her I married in London at his direction."
Darcy groaned. "I asked him if he wanted to make the announcement before I left, but he said he preferred to inform his wife after I left Longbourn. I should have known when we read that letter he sent he would do something like this. No wonder your mother has been so angry with you," he said, pulling his wife into his arms.
"I am no longer upset by it, William," she told him. "My father has once again shown us how completely he disregards his wife and daughters. I hope, for my sisters' sake, he eventually sees the error of his ways, but his habits are so ingrained that I doubt he will ever really change. We may force him to at least take an active interest in his estate for a time, and we have removed my sisters except for Kitty from his care. She will continue her education with a governess employed by us, not him, and perhaps, finally, Mama realises this is important and will not actively attempt to circumvent the governess.
"The fact is that once he pays back the loan, he has no incentive to continue being responsible for the estate. I hope all of my sisters are settled and no longer subject to his whims — or Mama's, for that matter — before that happens. While I believe, or maybe I just hope, the conversations last night and today will have some impact upon their behaviour, I have little faith they will make lasting changes."
They arrived at their lodgings just then, and Darcy quickly exited the coach before helping Elizabeth down. He knew her well enough to know she was more tired than she let on, so he escorted her to their shared room, where he coaxed her to lie down. After both were more comfortably attired for a nap, Darcy cuddled his wife as she fell asleep. They had not been in this position long when Elizabeth gasped and sat upright.
"William!" she cried, her eyes ablaze. "I think I felt it."
Darcy sat up with his wife. "Felt what?" he asked, confused by both her words and the look on her face.
In answer, she brought his hands to her stomach. "The baby, William, I felt the flutters, just like Aunt Gardiner said. Our baby is letting us know he is really there." She had tears in her eyes as she spoke.
He grinned broadly and blinked back a few tears of his own. "So, we will definitely be parents soon, my love?"
"Sometime in April," she told him. "Around our first anniversary, if my estimate is correct."
Darcy pulled his wife into a tight hug. "I love you, Elizabeth," he told her before kissing her gently on the lips. "Now, you need to rest, my dear. Let me hold you while you sleep."
Elizabeth chuckled. "I do not want to sleep now," she told him.
"But you will later if you do not now," he reminded her. They talked quietly together until Elizabeth fell asleep. While she slept, Darcy fretted. His biggest fear was for his wife's health. His mother had never been strong, and after Georgiana's birth, she had never truly recovered. Elizabeth was healthy, but childbirth was always a risk for the mother. For a moment, he agonised about what he would do if something happened to her, but he quickly shook off those thoughts, knowing they would do no good. To calm himself, he thought about the child, wondering if it would be a boy or a girl and which parent it would favour. He drifted off and dreamt of a beautiful dark-haired little girl with eyes just like her mama's.
Copyright 2023 Melissa Anne
