The officers exchanged glances. At last, Denny said, “I do not believe you have been ill, Lydia. Something else is happening here. I see your gown is a much different style from what you used to wear. Have you been returned to the schoolroom?”
“Never mind that, Denny. Have you been on leave? Did you make it into town?” She listened as he recounted a boxing match he had witnessed, when Mr. Phillips emerged from the post office with a bundle of letters.
The man stopped short at the sight of his niece. “Lydia, my dear, thank you for waiting for me. Your aunt expects us for tea. Take my arm, and we shall go to her at once.”
Lydia froze, but she dared not disobey her uncle. She released the captain’s arm and excused herself. “Denny, tell Captain Carter and Mr. Chamberlyn I have missed their company.” Then she slipped her hand into her uncle’s arm and allowed him to lead her toward his offices. She felt like a prisoner caught in the act.
Once inside, Mr. Phillips dispatched his clerk to Longbourn with a message for Mr. Bennet. Meanwhile, he seated Lydia at his desk and served her tea and cakes.
“Come, child. Tell me, how are you getting on with your governess? Is she a useful sort of person?”
Lydia pulled a face. “She is horrid, Uncle. Miss Farrow is stodgy and dull. She gives me frightful assignments. Today she made me copy verses from the Bible, study mathematics, and read a history book. It is deadly dull stuff, Uncle Phillip, and I detest it.”
“But you are learning a good deal, are you not, my dear?” Mr. Phillips asked kindly.
“I detest her, Uncle Phillip, and Papa will not listen to me, nor will Mamma. If I were mistress of Longbourn, I would dismiss her this instant.”
Mr. Phillips listened with patience and made no reply, fearing the child would become inflamed and run away if opposed. He kept her talking until the sound of wheels was heard in the street.
Mr. Bennet entered, frowning. Mr. Phillips rose. “Thomas, thank you for coming at once. I shall step out and give you privacy.”
Mr. Bennet fixed his gaze upon his daughter. “Lydia, you will come with me in the carriage without a fuss. If you refuse, Samuel is strong enough to carry you and toss you in. Which will it be?”
Lydia glanced at Samuel and answered quickly, “I will come.” She walked out and hopped into the carriage.
On the ride home, he asked sternly, “Tell me, Lydia, why did you creep from the house without permission?”
She flung back her head. “Because I hate being treated like a child while Kitty is in Hunsford and having all the fun.”
“You knew my rules, and you have openly defied them. Since you have proven that you cannot govern yourself, I will be placing you at a girls’ school in East Suffolk. The headmistress is strict. The grounds are locked. The school lies eight miles from Lowestoft, the nearest town. You will remain until you are nineteen, unless the mistress herself declares you fit to return sooner.”
Lydia gasped, then shrieked. “I will not go! You cannot make me!”
Mr. Bennet’s eyes narrowed. “Indeed, I can. You will work to defray part of the expense, and you will learn discipline, even if it takes until you come of age to achieve it.”
Her shrieks shook the carriage, but he was unmoved.
When at last they drew up at Longbourn, he said coldly, “You will walk into the house on your own two feet, or Samuel will carry you over his shoulder. Which will it be?”
Lydia saw that he meant it, and she stamped her foot but obeyed. She stormed upstairs, where Mrs. Hill turned the key upon her chamber.
That evening, Mr. Bennet spoke privately with his wife.
“Miss Farrow and I will take Lydia to school as soon as the arrangements are complete. In the meantime, she is to remain locked above stairs.”
Mrs. Bennet wrung her hands. “Oh, Mr. Bennet, you are too hard upon her. She is but a lively girl…”
Mr. Bennet’s gaze silenced her. “If you persist in defending her, Frances, and bewailing the loss of your favorite, I shall cut off both your pin-money and your use of the carriage. Thus far, I have not been driven to such measures, but I will not endure your fits and tempers any longer.”
Mrs. Bennet subsided into sobs.
“Lydia will disgrace this family if I don’t prevent her. Fortunately, both Jane and Mary are safe, but Kitty and Elizabeth are unmarried. I will not allow Lydia to destroy theirchances. She shall go to East Suffolk. It is the only way to preserve the rest of the family.”
Lydia’s fate was sealed. Longbourn grew a little quieter, though there were occasional wails from the locked bedchamber, wails which Mr. Bennet, with admirable fortitude, ignored.
The morning of Lydia’s removal was not one soon to be forgotten at Longbourn. The carriage was waiting at the front stoop, and Miss Farrow was already seated within. Lydia, however, was in the hall shrieking and stamping with such violence that Mrs. Hill clutched her husband’s hand and trembled. In her fury, Lydia seized a vase and dashed it against the wall.
“I will not go! I will not be sent away like a criminal! Papa is being cruel, Mamma! Tell him so! Tell him you will not allow it!”
