The storyline, new character development, new events, and new characters are my intellectual property. Glorioux
Chapter 6 -Mr. Bennet fights for his daughters
Discipline
Lydia ran back into the house, calling her mother as loud as she could. Mr. Bennet followed her, "Quiet, don't go to your mother. I said go to your room!"
Kitty, looking afraid, said, "Yes, Sir, I will obey; I'm sorry," as she hurried upstairs.
Mary listened and went to see her father. "Father, they are lying. I often hear them talking; today, they planned to meet officers for a stroll. I'm sorry I need to tell you something, but don't get mad at me; they were on their way to the encampment to meet them. They have gone there a few times. Oh, dear, they can ruin all of us." Mary looked ready to cry.
Mr. Bennet saw red; this confirmed what Mr. Hill had told him earlier, "Thank you, darling," he told Mary as he nearly ran to find Jane, who was already talking to her mother.
He heard the tail end of the conversation, "Lied to my father. Elizabeth was a wanton with Mr. Darcy, hoping to harm my chances with Mr. Bingley."
Mr. Bennet, who had never done such a thing, walked to Jane and grabbed her arm, forcefully, pulling her away from her mother, "I told you to go straight to your room and wait until I called you. Furthermore, I told you to be quiet. I was clear that if if you disobeyed me, you would not like what would happen; nonetheless you decided to defy me, I will no longer tolerate your attitude. Let this be the last time; henceforth, you must listen to me because I am your father. Now, go to your room," he was calm, firm, and cold. Jane was speechless, not recognizing her meek father, blaming Lizzie for the abrupt change.
Walking slowly behind her father, Lizzie heard her mother's nasty and loud question, "Mr. Bennet, what is going on? What are you doing to my dearest daughters? My sweet Jane does not deserve this treatment. It is Lizzie's doing; she is jealous of her, and you always defend her. Who knows what that girl has been up to. I do not trust her."
Mr. Bennet's words startled Mrs. Bennet, "You should know, should you not? This morning, I was clear when I told you about the coming changes. Though you might not agree or like it, I am the head of this house. I were remiss of my parental duties until now; and I will not deny the regrettable shortcoming. However, I am a responsible parent from now on, considering my daughters need one. Henceforth, I am taking charge of my daughters because you are ruining them. Believe me, I will ensure it will no longer happen. So, listen well, your reign ends today. You might not believe me, but you will see I mean it." Though her sardonic smile was annoying him, he knew he needed to stay calm.
"Moreover, I am certain you know that my young daughters do as they wish. I am sure they don't comport themselves as respectable young ladies should. Moreover, I believe today was not the first time Lydia and Kitty were on their way to the encampment. Listen well, starting right now, no more dances, assemblies, or any society not proper for our girls under 18. It will no longer happen; are we clear?" His tone was harsh, looking imposing, standing straight with his arms crossed, kindling his wife's anger.
Mr. Bennet needed to go, so he stared at Mrs. Bennet, "Just stay here, waiting for me. I'm going to talk to Elizabeth. Do not move from here or call anyone here unless you prefer an alternative you will dislike."
Immediately, Mrs. Bennet started screaming, saying she felt faint, and calling Mrs. Hill to bring her smelling salts. He dismissed her and left with Lizzie, who was crying. Mr. Bennet saw Mrs. Hill hurrying and told her to ignore his wife. He walked to the office with his daughter, and once they were in, he closed the door. He asked Lizzie to tell him what happened with Mr. Darcy at Netherfield.
Lizzie's Tale
Lizzie was factual, telling her father how unhappy she was in Netherfield, wanting to go home daily. She had, more than once, asked Jane to go home. "Jane insisted she was still sick despite looking quite well. Yesterday, Jane said I was wrong when I remarked she no longer coughed or had a fever, so, we had a small argument. After talking to Jane, I went to the library. After a while, I went to get a cup of tea. Perhaps, leaving my open daybook on the seat, was imprudent, but the ink was wet, so I reasoned nobody would care to read the milkmaid's daybook. I heard Miss Bingley; she calls me the milkmaid; it is one of my monikers along with the country mouse and the country maiden." Lizzie stopped to calm down and not cry. Her father harrumphed, annoyed.
Lizzie continued, "Leaving the daybook was a careless mistake. I know it, and I am certain that Mr. Darcy must have read it. I am ashamed since I had just written a few critical statements about him and Miss Bingley." She grimaced, "Even worse, I drew some silly drawings." Lizzie took a deep breath and decided to tell her father everything that she remembered from the day before. Let her father judge her.
She looked at her father, listening attentively, and saw a faint smile when she told him about the silly drawings. Lizzie liked to draw caricatures, some very clever and funny, which her father and some of her sisters liked. Mr. Bennet wondered whether Lizzie had drawn Miss Bingley, so he would ask her if he could see the drawings after she finished talking. He wanted to hear Lizzie before Mr. Darcy came. Mr. Bennet believed he would be able to make an informed decision once he heard Mr. Darcy's version. However, he was very curious as to why Mr. Darcy would have proposed after reading Lizzie's daybook, so he waited.
Lizzie continued. "When I went for a walk, wanting to get fresh air and away from the people in Netherfield, I saw Mr. Darcy following me, by chance, walking his nice little dog. Following right behind him, I saw the Bingley sisters, but Miss Bingley fell on her bum while calling and chasing Mr. Darcy, who was clearly running to get away from them."
Lizzie stopped to chuckle before continuing, "Since I was also running away from them and Mr. Darcy, I decided to walk through a forest path, since I knew that the sisters could not follow me, wearing their fancy slippers. He ignored them and ran after me. I did not want to stop afraid that he was going to talk to me about what I wrote, and I wanted to be alone. But I was wrong; he was calling me because I dropped my daybook." Lizzie sighed.
"So, I was about to tell him to please turn around, considering it was improper for us to be alone in the forest, when Mr. Hurst, who was also walking, greeted us. He told us how wonderful it was to meet us so we could all walk together." Lizzie stopped to pour a glass of cider from a jar on his father's desk, drank a little, and continued while her father listened with great interest.
"I showed them a few things and took them by the Roman ruins, then we returned to the house. I was walking to my room when I heard Miss Bingley telling her brother that I met Mr. Darcy in the forest, implying it was an improper and planned encounter. Horrified, I ran to tell Jane, who, instead of consoling me, was angry and told me it was my fault for walking alone. I was quite upset when I went to my room to write you. While in my room, I heard a low growl, so I opened the door. It was Dee wanting to visit. I was happy to have a friend; she is such a dear; I wish she were mine. We never had dogs or cats, and I like them." She made a sad little sound.
"I like them as well. Your mother dislikes them, but that will also change. We always had a couple of dogs when I lived at home, as well as an old cat and a parrot, Pedro, who belonged to my grandmother, then to my mother; he is still alive. Parrots live for a long while. The Lucas dog is having pups; we will get one; please continue." They were both smiling.
"I kept Dee till last night's dinner time, not wanting to leave my room. I opened the door a couple of times, but she wanted to stay. I came with Mr. Darcy's dog into the dining room, and Miss Bingley insinuated that there was something improper between Mr. Darcy and me. Mr. Darcy had been looking for Dee, and an innocent comment instigated her ugly accusations." Lizzie could not stop crying, so she stopped to calm herself. Her father gave her his handkerchief, quite annoyed with the story.
"I think that Miss Bingley's tirade was all about her falling on her behind. Anyway, I feared the lies she would spread two minutes later. Miss Bingley would tell anyone willing to listen that I was having an improper meeting with Mr. Darcy in the forest. It does not matter that Mr. Hurst and Mr. Darcy called her a liar. Mr. Darcy also reminded her she was chasing him, and he was sure she felt humiliated after she fell. He said if someone were ruined, it should be Miss Bingley for chasing him. Finally, Mr. Darcy said the best way to stop her gossip would be for us to marry. He thought it was his duty since he was at fault for following me." Lizzie sat down on a small couch, still crying, nearly sobbing.
Lizzie told her father about running to her room after Mr. Darcy's proposal while still carrying Dee. She also told him about Nancy Hill coming with Mr. Darcy to her room. Nancy told Lizzie she had seen Miss Bingley going into Jane's room and what she had heard. Her father's face was somber, listening to what Jane had said. Lizzie also recalled the big racket the prior evening, adding she was nearly sure she heard Miss Bingley had tried to get into a room, maybe Mr. Darcy's room. "I was wondering if Miss Bingley were mad, when she came into my dark room, scaring me. I was thankful that Dee, who stayed with me, chased her out."
Mr. Bennet was angry until he heard about Dee chasing Miss Bingley and said, "I wish Dee had bitten her. She is such a good dog; I will give her a filet." Both father and daughter laughed, and he asked. "Darling, would you show me the picture you drew?"
Lizzie saw no point hiding it; perhaps, he would think it was silly. He would not; he laughed with glee, asking why the chicken face, the feathers, and the cow. As for Mr. Darcy's picture, he did not ask, knowing the man was very proud and just laughed. When Lizzie explained Miss Bingley wore large feather and otherwise excessive hair adornments, he laughed some more. "You draw very well. Thanks, I needed to laugh. I know it's childish, but would you give me the drawing, or draw one like it for me; it is good; I am sure I will laugh again when I see it.
He was quiet for a few moments, thinking about Miss Bingley. He remembered early that day when Miss Bingley reminded him of the woman who stabbed his cousin, Edna. He closed his eyes for a minute and remembered the woman. She stood right next to him. Was he imagining? He was uncertain, but the woman not only resembled Miss Bingley in how she overdressed, with excessive frippery and feathers on her head. He had never seen so many feathers on someone's head, but there was a physical resemblance, same ginger hair, but maybe he was imagining, though he had a memory only a few had.
He hoped he was imagining because nobody had ever found the woman again. A sense of wrongness came over him. Edna was eighteen, so pretty, she was Lizzie. And Gustave was Mr. Darcy, ah, the broom; yes, Gustave was like Mr. Darcy, he never relaxed until he met Edna. It made him smile.
"I will, if you promise not to let anyone see it." Lizzie grinned.
"Darling, I just remembered something. I used to think someone had swallowed a broom. Is that what you think of him, of Mr. Darcy?" He grinned, waiting for a response.
She blushed and laughed, "Yes, I wrote it in the daybook."
Disclosures
Though Mr. Bennet might have laughed he was not happy with Jane. He understood the need to take his daughters away from Mrs. Bennet who was a bad influence. Jane was his daughter, or he was pretty sure that she was. Though it was difficult to tell with his wife. Gene, her brother, had often told him not to trust her. Regardless, what he told his parents had not changed; his children, fruit of his loins or not, were his. He loved his daughters, and without a doubt, they were his.
Since the girls were his, his wife should not be around them. Not when she was worse than naughty, advising her young daughters to go and meet with officers, and Jane to go walking in the rain to chase after Mr. Bingley. As for Mr. Darcy, he thought better of him, but still wanted to hear him. It was time to tell Lizzie about his family.
"My dear, I will trust you that what I'm going to tell you does not get out of this room until I am ready to tell others. My parents did not want me to marry your mother, but at the time I was crazy for her. Consequently, I disregarded my parents and your uncle Gardiner's advice. My father is a Viscount, a peer in the House of Lords. I had twin older brothers. Sam died from an infected wound, and Jerry caught a fever; afterward, his health was never the same. I have twin sisters, two years older than Jane; they were three months old when I left. My parents had another daughter, your age. I just met her." He noticed Lizzie's puzzled look.
"My parents married young; my mother was Lydia's age. My mother had her last child when she was 40, I guess. The twin boys were born before she was 16, and I came four years later. I was 18 when I married your mother, who was 23, nearly 24." He shook his head, looking sad.
'Is Mom five years older than you?" Lizzie had not known.
"Yes, after a big fight with my parents, they told me to come and live here, but not to forget my responsibilities. My father is still in good health, that is true. But what if something happens to him? Mr. Collins is a remote cousin from my mother's side; her family is nearly gone, and there are few survivors. In any case, if any of my sisters or you have a boy, the entail states Collins does not inherit. Do you remember when I went to London alone four years ago to look into something?"
Lizzie nodded.
"That was not true; I went to my brother's funeral instead. My father asked me to return and take my place. Though his health is particularly good and many in his family live long lives, one of my twin sisters is a widow, and Helen, the one who is your age, is still single. and of course, my mother is alive, and she will need me. I must return, but they don't want your mother to come with me. Before, I argued that she was a good wife, but I can no longer bring her with me. How can I? Look at what she has done to Jane and to Lydia. Mary told me about them, but I had already heard about it. Mr. Hill told me, before he left this morning. He heard in Meryton that Lydia met with one officer and went walking alone with him." Mr. Bennet paced around the room.
I would like to hear your comments. Be well! Happy reading.
A/N Changing a lifetime of ignoring everything around him, it's going to be difficult, considering Mrs. Bennet doesn't agree with him. Jane will have to decide what to do with her life. We shall see. Happy Reading!
