Finally, things are coming to a head... This chapter ran away from me so I had to cut it in 2 as I would like to keep my chapter length reasonably consistent - the second part will now be chapter 10 in 2 days time.

Chapter Nine

Mr Collins left Longbourn as planned to return home, happily woolgathering in the post coach taking him home, thinking about his dear Charlotte and looking forward to showing her the delights of Kent. As unused as he was to being part of a large family, he had enjoyed the last few days of his stay, with five young ladies praising him as a favourite cousin and sincerely congratulating him on his wise choice of a bride.

To the surprise of his family, after his cousin's departure, Mr Bennet did not instantly retreat to his book room as was his wont.

"Well, Lizzy, I hope you are happy. You have condemned your mother and unmarried sisters to a life in poverty, perhaps even homelessness after my death."

"Oh! Mr Bennet." His wife whined, hoping to turn his anger against herself rather than her daughter. "What will become of us all? My poor nerves."

"I will look for another husband for Elizabeth, as I want her out of this house and in the cottage I have prepared as soon as may be. You can go live with her once I am dead, as she refused to secure this house for you." Mr Bennet snapped at his wife. "If I cannot find a man who will take her, you have better hope that your brothers Phillips and Gardiner can be persuaded to help you. I will advise them to disown Miss Lizzy if she continues to disobey my orders."

His bitterness shocked his wife and daughters despite the many years of derision and mockery they had suffered; they knew of his disappointment but could not understand why Elizabeth's redirection of Mr Collins' affection would anger him so; he would never see his cousin inherit and seemed to care but little about his daughters' long term prospects.

Bennet himself would have struggled to explain it, had anyone enquired. In just under six months, Elizabeth would be of age, and he would no longer be able to dictate where she lived, what she did or who she married at that point. Knowing his most useful daughter could soon simply leave, Bennet had reacted strongly to the admiration he had observed in Mr Darcy. The tall northern gentleman had spent enough time simply staring at Elizabeth for even a negligent and cynical father such as hers to notice. The plain and outspoken bluestocking had caught the man's fancy and Bennet could neither understand nor accept that fact. Despite Mr Darcy's departure, he worried that the attraction would prove too strong and pull him back to Netherfield in time, especially as Mr Bingley seemed determined to attach himself to Bennet's insipid eldest daughter. Mr Collins had offered a very sensible chance for Bennet to guarantee that Elizabeth would never leave and would continue to work and provide him with the lifestyle he was accustomed to without any effort on his part. Her defiance and determination to discourage the heir to Longbourn was not a factor he had taken into account and he could not let it go unpunished. He would find a way to tie his daughter to Longbourn permanently.

Winter weather settled over Hertfordshire, and the house regained some semblance of calm normality. Mrs Hurst visited Longbourn several times in her brother's absence. As the engagement was to be kept secret, her official excuse was a desire to get hints and guidance for running a household in this part of the country from Mrs Bennet and Jane, but she often brought little notes Charles had sent his fiancee via his sister. The eldest two Bennet sisters also called on Louisa at Netherfield Park, and before the week was over the three ladies were addressing each other informally and becoming friends.

Miss Bingley chose not to join her sister in any of these visits, and Mrs Hurst chose not to inform her younger sibling of Mr Bingley's happy news or his planned return within ten days of his departure. Jane openly admitted to missing the gentleman, while her sister kept her own feelings about a former member of the Netherfield party to herself.

When she was not working with the housekeeper or visiting with her new friends, Louisa spent time with her husband; Hurst was making some significant changes in his life, but it was difficult after so many years of overindulging; Louisa wanted to help him as much as she possibly could, which was much more easily achieved without Caroline around. Perhaps after the wedding, Gerald and her could travel together, spend time at the seaside alone and visit the elder Mr and Mrs Hurst. Caroline hated seaside resorts as she saw them as unfashionable and was certain the sea air and the sun would age her skin, and she was not welcome at her in-laws' estate in Somerset after insulting Gerald's younger sister soon after Louisa's wedding. It could be a second honeymoon of sorts, without an interfering and shrewish sister in tow this time.

Just under a week after Mr Collins' departure, Mr Bennet summoned Elizabeth once more to his library. As soon as she saw his smirk, his daughter's anger rose; whatever the man was planning, she would fight him with all her strength.

"I have met a conquest of yours and I am preparing a marriage contract." He said bluntly, wishing to destabilise the young lady early on.

"I have made no conquest, and I believe I told you before that I will not marry any man not of my choosing," Elizabeth answered coldly, knowing she must remain calm and emotionless. Mr Bennet meant to anger her for his own pleasure and gain, so she would be politely composed.

"Mr Wickham, whom I met yesterday, seems to find you pretty enough, and as the son of a steward, he has some knowledge about estates and will not need as much training as Mr Collins would have required."

Elizabeth started laughing; she was stunned, angry too of course, but luckily laughter was her first reaction to such an announcement, although tears were not far behind and difficult to control. "I will never marry that cad, thank you very much for the joke, but I need a husband with more substance. In addition, if being the son of a good land manager was enough to make a man useful, Mr Goulding would not be so worried about his family's fate once his oldest son inherits, would he? What do you think a man with any talent for a steward position is doing in the militia? There are plenty of estates who would snap up such a valuable staff member if he had any skill."

She recovered her control and stared at her father. "I know not what you have told the lieutenant, nor what tale he has woven for you, but I guarantee that as soon as he realises that he would gain very little from such a union and even that only for a few years at best, he will disappear faster than snow in July would. Do not think for a moment that I would lie to him; he will understand the next time we meet that I do not admire him, indeed he disgusts me. What twenty-year-old gentlewoman would be attracted to an ageing flirt such as him, a man with no prospects, not even born a gentleman? Did you inform him that the estate will not give him more than two or three hundred pounds per year after you have taken your usual share, and that will be needed to run a household in that tiny cottage? I believe I shall not forget to tell him that no matter how well anyone runs the estate, Mr Collins will inherit, and you could be dead by next year for all we know. Do you truly think he will be interested in such a bargain? I certainly do not. And as I said before, I will never say I do in front of any priest."

While his daughter remained calm in appearance, Mr Bennet's anger was palpable, "I am your father, the master of Longbourn, and you will obey, I want you married and in that cottage. If your husband needs more income, you need to find a way to improve the estate further or cut your sisters' allowances, I do not care which."

Elizabeth forced her mouth into a sneering type of smile. "I will not. If you want a steward, I will not stop you from employing one, I can even help you select the right man, who will certainly not be Mr Wickham. I will neither marry nor train your steward, and any compromise orchestrated by your new friend will lead to your ruin soon after mine." She paused for a moment, before continuing, this time with a more genuine smile, "Did you ever wonder why I offered to improve the running of Longbourn?" Her father said nothing, but she could read the answer on his face; he had never thought of it, for he had never cared. "I did it for the tenants, the servants, all of the people who depend on this estate for their livelihood. I could see you were too lazy to do the work and too selfish to spend money on wages for a decent manager, so I stepped in. You got your extra funds for port, cigars and books, but all the people on this land have enjoyed greater profits and thrived as a result of my efforts. They are the ones I work for, not you. How will they react to your scheming if I openly denounce you and Mr Wickham?" After so many years, Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed seeing the shock on Mr Bennet's face. He had turned an unhealthy shade of red, nearly purple.

"I used to think of you as a clever man, but you are so self-centred you are blind to the truth. You disappoint me, sir, I expected more of you. If you no longer want me to remain in this house, I will move to Meryton this very day, but you must understand that if I do, I will never come back, and I will not lift a finger when the estate starts sliding backwards as you ignore your responsibilities. I will assist any tenant who asks, and with Netherfield doing so well since Mr Bingley came, I am sure the community will be able to support them of find new farms if needed. But not you, I will not help and neither will the inhabitants of Longbourn and Meryton, not once they know why I left home." Her eyes were shining with all the accumulated rage of the past five years, Elizabeth held her head high and was looking more like a warrior than any of the officers stationed in Meryton.

"How dare you speak to me in that manner? You are nought but the ugly child of a vulgar woman of mean understanding. You are nothing without me." Mr Bennet had jumped to his feet and was pounding his desk with his fists as if he wanted to mark the tempo of his words.

"Very well, I will return the account books I was working on and will be gone within the hour," Elizabeth answered, turning to leave the room.

"You will do no such thing, you are not of age and you will remain here, in your room until you see reason and obey." He hissed, struggling to breathe, his skin a darker shade than ever.

Elizabeth left the room without acknowledging her father further and Bennet felt genuine fear for the first time since his father died. The old man had seen his son's cynical selfishness early on and had tried to curb it, but for the past five and twenty years, nobody had dared defy him. His anger and his agitation could not prevent his mind from seeing the truth; Meryton would side with Elizabeth; Bennet had some authority still over his daughters, but Jane and Elizabeth had their neighbour's respect and approval, from the tenants and servants to the merchants and the gentry, and those people could make his life very difficult if they chose to. He had to regain his self-control, and he had to find a way to placate the unruly child fast before he lost more than his position as head of the household.

Fanny Bennet was crying silently once more in the pink parlour at the back of the house.

"I am sorry, Mama, I should not have reacted the way I did. There must have been a better way to deal with Mr Wickham, but my temper got the better of me; I am so very sorry." Now calm, Elizabeth regretted her harsh words, as they placed her sisters and mother in a precarious position and could jeopardise their future chances of saving more funds; her temporary enjoyment when she had witnessed Mr Bennet's surprise was not worth endangering her beloved family.

"Oh, no, my sweet girl, I am not upset at you," her mother said soothingly, "I am proud of you for standing up to that man. It was bound to happen someday, and him attempting to marry you to a scoundrel was as good a reason as we have ever had. These are tears of relief; I think Mr Bennet needs to realise he has fooled none of us and we do not fear him. It has been many years in the making and I am quite glad the day may have come at last."

"Charles will be back any day now," Jane said, sitting next to her sister, holding her hand, "I am of age, and we can marry fast. You will come to Netherfield with us, and look after Longbourn's people from there if you wish, without having to face our father any longer. Indeed any of you will be welcome, always."

"But Jane, dear, do you not want a proper wedding, with flowers and a trousseau and all that goes with getting married?" her mother asked.

"No, Mama, all I want is Charles, the ceremony doesn't matter as long as he is the one standing next to me and you and my sister are around us. I would like to have all my aunts and uncles too, so I will ask Charles to send an express to Gracechurch Street and all will be perfect."

Mrs Bennet inhaled deeply and held her breath for a moment. Her daughters saw the moment she made her mind up, as her face took on a fierce, determined appearance.

"It is decided then, girls. We are done with waiting and we are done with all the deceptions. I will confront your father and inform him of the way things will be from now on; no more hiding, no more obeying and no more accepting his insults. We will be very busy over the next few days, not just with wedding preparations, although we will prepare as good a celebration as we can, Jane, and we will have many of your friends with us on the day, it will be a perfectly proper event." She looked straight into her daughter's eyes, communicating without word that she would not relent on any of these points, Jane would have a dress and a wedding breakfast no matter how little time there was to prepare. "We will show Meryton who the Bennet ladies truly are. I am afraid we will need to explain more about Mr Bennet than I would like, but the Lucases and my sister will help. Your father may force us out of Longbourn. I do not think he will, but I cannot be certain how he will react. Frank and Martha will house us if needed while we organise our new lives, as I do not think Jane and her dear Mr Bingley should have us all at Netherfield so early in the marriage. Yes, my loves, we will go on the offensive now, it will be better than waiting for the next attack from that man in any case. Let today be our new beginning."

"I love the idea of just being myself all the time now, but what do we do about Mr Wickham?" Lydia had not forgotten the handsome officer's involvement in the day's drama; the man may be a complete wastrel, he was still nice to look at, from afar of course.

Elizabeth sighed, "I think I must speak to him as soon as may be, I cannot let him start spreading rumours of an engagement. I have no desire for more confrontations, but this cannot wait. Who wants a nice long walk to Meryton?"

In the end, all five girls departed for Meryton together. As luck would have it, Mr Wickham was standing in the main street with Mr Pratt and Captain Denny. He smiled widely at Elizabeth when the sisters approached their group and his friends snickered.

'Miss Elizabeth,' he started with a short bow.

"Save it, Mr Wickham, I am not interested," Elizabeth's patience for the day was exhausted and, as she had told her sisters on the way to town, she would openly and loudly deny any rumour the man may have started. "I have no idea what you told Mr Bennet, and I care not. No matter what rumours the two of you started already, I will never marry a man such as you."

Wickham was startled but still convinced his charm would win her over. "My dearest Miss Elizabeth, I apologise for talking to your esteemed father before talking to you, but our conversation was so congenial, I could not help myself."

They had attracted a small audience already by that point, and Wickham gave Elizabeth his most practised, charming smile.

She snorted and stared him down. "You mean you talked to Mr Bennet as you knew I would utterly reject you. No matter what he implied, Longbourn will go to Mr Collins and my sisters and I will inherit nothing. You would be tied to a woman who despises you, for a mere two hundred pounds per year while her father lives, and a one thousand pound inheritance once her mother passes too, and that is protected against the likes of you. Let me be perfectly clear, there is no more money to be had, all our neighbours will confirm that for you, it is no secret." It was a lie of course, but the man did not need to know about her dowry, and as none out of the family had any idea, she was safe from discovery. Wickham paled and looked at the crowd around them; none of her friends seemed surprised by the lady's assertions and a few were nodding knowingly.

"Why would your father tell me that he could break the entail and you would inherit?" He asked, confused.

Elizabeth let out a short, bitter laugh. "To tie me to the estate, I suppose. I am afraid he did not care who you were, or whether you would abandon me once you discovered his lies, as long as I remained at Longbourn to run the estate for him."

Wickham recovered quickly, Mr Bennet had lied to him, nearly tricked him into marrying his penniless daughter, but it all worked out well enough and he remained unshackled. He had not missed the statement from Elizabeth about despising him; he could have his revenge for that set down, especially with a large audience surrounding them. "I won't wed you without money, my dear, no matter how enjoyable the wedding night would be. Shame really, as that would have been a blow for that pompous prick Darcy; he won't marry a low-born chit like you, but I would have relished informing him that I was the one to bed you daily."

There were several gasps all around at these crude words, but Elizabeth burst out laughing. She stared at the man once her mirth had calmed. "Mr Wickham, thank you for openly proving why any suggestion of my favouring you is simply impossible. I may only be country gentry, but that is still many levels above such an uncouth person as you. Having lived with Mr Bennet's constant censure and slights has luckily rendered my sisters and I immune to such a paltry attack, but I hope your aim with a rifle is more accurate than this pitiful display, or I fear for the safety of this country should the militia ever be called to battle."

The murmurs surrounding them at this point got louder, and many an unfriendly glare was directed at Mr Wickham and the rest of the officers. The local gentlemen and ladies present also stored Elizabeth's comment about Mr Bennet's attitude toward his children for future reflection.

Elizabeth did not want to give the lieutenant a chance to recover, so she continued, "I suggest you find every person you spoke to since meeting Mr Bennet and firmly deny any engagement for you are the last man I would ever be prevailed upon to marry. I am certain that all the witnesses surrounding us just now will happily help dispel any rumour circulating; my neighbours have more sense than to expect my head to be turned by a scarlet coat and a silver tongue, especially after such an offensive speech. We may not be as sophisticated as the London set, but we are not unaware of the dangers posed by impecunious soldiers, and you will find the community united against any threat towards any young lady's reputation, not just mine." She turned and walked directly to her aunt and uncle's house, with her sisters trailing protectively behind her.

Kitty and Lydia, who came last, heard pleasing sounds of approval and compassion for their sister and condemnation for Mr Wickham and Mr Bennet for placing a hard-working, honest and caring young lady they all respected in such a terrible situation.