“Lord! Lord! I did not know, I swear, I had no idea. I never had any notion that you were anything. I would have acted very differently. Heavens, you must believe me. I would have. It is Mr. Bennet’s fault, he never told me.”
Elizabeth looked at the anxious woman. Despite being many years past forty, she was still a handsome woman. Wheat colored hair, smooth skin, fashionable dress, a neat lace cap. Mrs. Bennet nervously worked her hands together.
“Mr. Bennet feared for my safety, as was right.”
“He could have just told me something! I swear, I would have treated you differently.”
There was an anger in Elizabeth.
It sat in the back of her mind. It wished to cut Mrs. Bennet harshly. It was a thing that was justified. She should never have been treated by Mrs. Bennet in the way that she did. Her rights had been violated.
The tables were now turned, and Mrs. Bennet was smaller than she was.
“Lady Elizabeth, you must wish to move to Jane’s old room. I shall tell the servants—”
“No.” Elizabeth took in a deep breath. “I would not at present change anything about my home.”
Mrs. Bennet wrung her hands. “But of course you cannot mean that. I shall have it switched. You must wish to have the best room. Of course you do.”
“Mrs. Bennet. Our minds are in many ways dissimilar. You know this. I think that is part of why...why we decided to find a way to live together that required nothing of friendship. I beg you to believe that I am sincere when I say that I do not wish to have my room changed at present, and that if Ididwish it, I would ask for the change.”
“Why did you never stop me? Why did you let...Mr. Bennet would have supported you. I always knew that he would support you in any matter where you had a good reason to your side. Now I know why.”
“Mrs. Bennet, you should have dealt more kindly with an orphaned girl under your care. My parentage does not change that your behavior was often very wrong. I believed always that I deserved some mistreatment. I thought I was in fact illegitimate. But I never did. I would not have deserved anything of the sort, even if I was what I thought I was.”
“I truly never would have if I’d known that you would be rich. I swear.”
Elizabeth sighed. It was notherplace to make Mrs. Bennet see that the form of her apology was nearly half reprehensible as the behavior that had led to it.
“Do not worry. I cannot love you as I love your husband.Hehas been my father, while you have never been a mother to me. However, you would not have ever treated a child with the violencethat manused. You should have been kinder, but I do not wish to resent you. Not anymore. Let us be friends.”
Elizabeth stretched out her hand.
Mrs. Bennet took it and shook it, with that nervousness still very much in her manner. “Oh, and you are so beautiful! You really look like an earl’s daughter. Though you must purchase more lace when you have possession of your fortune. I always knew that you were very beautiful.”
“My dear Mrs. Bennet, I promise that I shall buy a great quantity of Brussels lace, and Chantilly lace, and Mechlin lace, and I shall wear it all about the house at breakfast for your sake.”
Mrs. Bennet tittered. “You do joke, Lady Elizabeth. But you know that one must not dress in such finery forbreakfasteven if the daughter of an earl.”
With a smile Elizabeth dismissed her and turned into bed.
As she lay on the familiar and comfortable old bed, Elizabeth had a strong sense of satisfaction with herself. She was happy she had ignored her angry impulses. She had treated Mrs. Bennet kindly. It was right for her to do so both because she was Mr. Bennet’s wife, and he did look at her with a sort of fondness, though not the sort of love which Elizabeth hoped to have for her partner in life. And Mrs. Bennet was by no means so awful as Lord Rochester.
Kindness was generally, perhaps not always, better than anger or cruelty.
Elizabeth’s mind drifted to Mr. Darcy, and the way that his eyes looked at her when he said that he wished he could always have her near him.
She woke once from a vivid dream where Lord Rochester had tried to beat her, but she had shot him, and as he lay there dead, or nearly so, with blood everywhere, she incoherently debated at great length with Mr. Darcy about whether she ought to be happy or sad about this.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Upon arriving at Netherfield Park, Bingley and his party made a quick decision not to hang about in the drawing room all evening, or even formally dine. Simple food was brought out and handed around. And then, with yawns all about, Jane and Bingley retreated to sleep.
The little remaining light provided no difficulty for that, Darcy imagined, as he’d gotten enough of Bingley’s conversation to know that he and Mrs. Bingley had very much been fully participating in the wild roundabout of the London season.
As Darcy stood, with his own intent to yawn his way to sleep, Hartley called, “Fancy a game of billiards?”
Darcy didnot.
