Captain Denny was the fourth son of a minor gentleman. His mother died when he was a small child, and his father died four years ago. He was given a legacy of only £500 in his father's will and used a portion of those funds to purchase his commission in the army. He was twenty-five years old, tall, handsome, and charming.
One of his main flaws was that, as a womanizer, he tended to seduce naive young women and then abandon them without considering the consequences of his actions. Everywhere he went, more than one young lady 'fell in love' with him, and if, after saying sweet words and perhaps a promise of marriage, the young lady wanted to have a good time with him, who was he to say no?
At least two young ladies claimed that he was the father of their children, but he had no intention of taking care of those children. If these ladies were intimate with him outside of marriage, who would guarantee those ladies didn't give their favours to other men? Who could ensure those children were even his? It did not matter that both ladies had been maidens before being intimate with him.
He knew she was an easy target within a month of meeting Lydia Bennet. He had rarely met such a silly and flirtatious young woman. With a few kind words and a promise of marriage, he easily persuaded her to give him her virtue in an abandoned cabin half a mile from Purvis Lodge.
After he was intimate with Lydia, Mr. Collins offered him a large sum of money to seduce her—ironically, he had already done it several times—and preferably leave her after she was pregnant. He accepted the money and promised to keep his part of the bargain.
Although, in his opinion, Lydia was a silly and easy young woman with whom he liked to have fun, he did not have to pay her for her favours, and his relationship with her would end in a few weeks when his regiment moved to another location. Initially, he felt a hint of remorse for not taking precautions to prevent her from getting pregnant.
Since they started having intimate encounters almost two weeks ago, they had already had more than 20 times, and the last seven times had been in an alley close to the milliner's shop. Most of the time, he was fast since the last thing he wanted was to be discovered and have problems with the townspeople.
Fortunately, Lydia was very much in love with him, and she enjoyed sex very much, so she came back to see him every day and continued to believe he planned to marry her in a short time. It was pretty funny.
Her sister Kitty was shyer and more demure than Lydia, and his friend, unlike him, seemed genuinely interested in her. Until then, his friend hadn't been able to take Kitty's virtue, although they had kissed several times.
That day he had just returned from Meryton after his daily meeting with Lydia, and he was surprised when Colonel Forster sent for him to go to his office urgently.
PPP
Captain Denny noticed the two other gentlemen when he entered Colonel Forester's office. One of them was Mr. Barton, whom he knew superficially, but what surprised him most was that the other gentleman was the famous Lord Sebastian. After the usual courtesies, Lord Sebastian addressed Captain Denny without a preamble. "I do not want to waste time, so that I will get straight to the point. I heard yesterday that you are engaged to Miss Lydia Bennet. Congratulations."
"Engaged to Lydia! My Lord, you have been misinformed; I am not engaged to her." Denny exclaimed in panic.
"How strange! Half an hour ago, I was at Stevens' house, and Miss Lydia Bennet assured me you proposed to her a few days ago, and she gladly accepted. Is Miss Lydia lying?"
Denny blushed and tried to answer, but the words would not come out.
He looked him straight in the eye and said thoughtfully, "Captain Denny, I must remind you that you are an officer of His Majesty and must set an example by your behaviour. I also remind you that Miss Lydia is my cousin's sister. Tell me, have you proposed to Miss Lydia, as some neighbours claim?"
Highly flustered since he knew Colonel Forester did not tolerate his officers playing with the local ladies, and he also knew Lord Sebastian could destroy his life in a second, he stammered, "Well, maybe she thought I proposed to her, but actually..."
Lord Sebastian looked him up and down with contempt and motioned for him to shut up. "As I told you a few minutes ago, I do not have time for all this nonsense. My cousin, Mr. Barton, and I have already spoken with Colonel Foster, and your options are such: the first is that you resign your commission today, and I will probably take care of ruining your life; remember, I am the son of a marquess. The second is that you marry Miss Lydia immediately. As a wedding gift, I will contribute an additional £1000 to the £1000 Miss Lydia has as dowry." He paused and said, "I will ask you just once, and I hope you make the right decision. What is your answer, Captain Denny?"
Although Denny didn't wish to marry Lydia, he was no fool and knew that Lord Sebastian could easily ruin his life if he refused. On the other hand, Lydia had at least £2000, which, at 4% per year, was more money than his salary. It seems he had made the mistake of not investigating Lydia's connections in more detail, and now he was to pay the consequences. He replied with a hint of annoyance, "I understand very well the options you are offering, and I agree to marry Miss Lydia."
That same afternoon, Captain Denny went to Purvis Lodge, escorted by Lord Sebastian and Mr. Barton, and he requested Mr. Stevens's permission to marry Lydia. Since they had already anticipated their vows several times, they agreed it was prudent for the wedding to take place in three weeks. Mr. Stevens promised him that he would contribute £25 a year.
PPP
After such an eventful day, the cousins could finally sit down in Lord Sebastian's study to drink brandy and have a serious conversation. Both of them were relatively satisfied with the events of that day.
Curious, Mr. Barton asked, "Why did you offer to increase Miss Lydia's dowry by £1000? I feel we are rewarding their bad behaviour instead of censuring them. Mr. Denny is a liar, scoundrel, and womanizer; on the other hand, Lydia is one of the silliest and most flirtatious young women I have ever met. Their behaviour is deplorable."
Lord Sebastian sighed and replied frankly, "I feel very sorry for Lydia Bennet. She is just a silly and ill-bred young woman. She is almost a child; her mother is not a good example, and she does not understand the consequences of what she did. Furthermore, she also thinks Captain Denny loves her and wants to marry her." He thought sadly of Georgiana. Like Lydia, Georgiana had also given her virtue to a scoundrel. "Besides, you know very well that I am among the wealthiest men in the Kingdom, and £1000 is not a fortune for me. But with that money, Lydia Bennet could hire a maid to help her with housework." He sighed again. "Lydia will have to get used to living with little money."
Mr. Barton nodded slightly and said, "You are right, but it annoys me that you gave money to Captain Denny."
Lord Sebastian shook his head and smiled slightly. "Do not worry. The money is only for Lydia. I will not let Captain Denny spend it."
Mr. Barton nodded and sighed, "Thank you very much, Sebastian. My wife will be happy that everything has worked out for the best." He smiled, thinking of Mary, and added, "I know very well that Captain Denny only married Lydia because you threatened him."
Lord Sebastian nodded. "It was a pleasure to help you." He smiled and added, "I confess I was amused to see Captain Denny's panicked face when I reminded him that I could ruin his life with little effort."
Both smiled, and Mr. Barton commented, "I hope that once Lydia leaves Purvis Lodge for good, Miss Kitty will be on better behaviour." Looking into his cousin's eyes, he curiously asked, "Do you think she lied when she said she was still a maiden?"
Lord Sebastian thought for a moment and shook his head. "I am sure she told us the truth. She was too scared when we told her the dire consequences if she slept with a man out of wedlock, and we were giving her the chance to get married. I hope Mr. Stevens starts controlling his wife and stepdaughters."
Mr. Barton shook his head and said, "Sadly, I do not think so. I get the impression that Mr. Stevens is too much in love with his wife and does whatever she wants and says."
Lord Sebastian nodded, having also had the same impression. Mr. Stevens would not be the first nor the last man to lose his mind over a woman totally.
After a few moments, when they both drank a glass of brandy, Mr. Barton commented, "The other issue that concerns me even more than the reputation of my wife's sisters is the inappropriate behaviour of Mr. Collins." He sighed, "I do not like how he looks at my wife or the lies he said about an alleged engagement between them. He is obsessed with her, and I am afraid he will do something to hurt her. I do not know what to do."
Lord Sebastian nodded. "I also noticed how he looks at your wife during the engagement at Lucas Lodge, and I agree with you; that man is obsessed with your wife and could be dangerous. I will visit Mr. Collins and tell him some truths.