Lydia looked at her mother, not knowing how to reply, but after a moment, she just began telling her cousin about the recent ball at Netherfield Park, and about Jane and Elizabeth’s suitors, and the officers whom she had danced with. Miss Holbrook was voracious for news of such doings, and questioned Lydia endlessly about her lace, her ribbons, the jewellery and finery worn by the other ladies, and the number of dances she had enjoyed.
“Have you kissed any young men? You must not, you know! That is how I got into trouble, Lydia, although youwerethe one to warn me. I should have listened to you, cousin. You always were so very clever.” Miss Holbrook looked over at Mr Bennet,somehow finally appreciating his presence, and laughed as she danced over to him. “Hello, good sir! Have you come to take me away from here?”
The old woman giggled and danced away again, and suddenly Lydia could see her own behaviour mirrored in this woman’s actions, a sort of grotesque view into the future, and she suddenly felt faint.
Miss Holbrook was distracted again by the arrival of Sister Mary Frances with a tea tray. The refreshments were modest, as one might expect in a convent, and Lydia was quiet as her parents chatted lightly with the nun, and Miss Holbrook made little remarks here and there about gentlemen coming to take her away, or to meet her outdoors in the moonlight, and how she intended to be the first of her cousins to wed. Though she seemed to understand that Fanny was her first cousin Lydia Holbrook’s daughter, Lydia Bennet’s presence seemed to confuse her entirely, and she somehow did not understand that the fifteen-year-old girl in front of her was not her forty year old cousin’s mother. It was obvious that their visit tired her, and shortly after they finished their tea, they took their leave.
CHAPTER 19
Lydia was silent for a whole hour in the carriage, but when she spoke, it was not to apologise or beg her parents’ pardon. Lydia Bennet wasangry. “Is she mad?” she asked her parents.
“They did not believe she was when she was brought there, but if she was not, she became so after so many decades there,” Mr Bennet answered.
“And what, may I ask, did poor Miss Holbrook do to deserve being locked away?” Lydia demanded. “If this is to be the punishment I am to be threatened with, I believe I have the right to know. Was she locked away for life, merely for kissing officers?”
“If only that were all,” her mother said sadly. “It happened before I was even born, of course. She was much like you and I, Lydia. Lively and happy. But she was flirtatious. Excessively so. It started with light coquetry, and then led to sneaking away from her sister and kissing officers in secluded locations. I am told there was a regiment nearby. Harriet got into trouble. She was with child at sixteen. She was sent away, ostensibly to help nurse a sick relation in the north. Her baby was adopted by good people. When she returned, she was no different. Her parentscould hardly keep her in forever. They needed to get her wed before she got into trouble again. They kept her in for a year when she returned, but before she could even be let out again after her eighteenth birthday, she was with child again. This time there was no regiment. Presumably it was the work of a local man, but it quickly became clear that there were so many local men involved that marriage to anyone was quite out of the question. She was sent away again, and when she returned, instead of going home, she was sent to the convent. She has been there ever since. I did not learn of her until Jane was three. That was when my mother feared that Harriet would survive her, which she has, by well more than a decade. She began bringing me and Henrietta with her, so that the visits might continue. We go twice each year.”
“Abandoned,” Lydia spat. “And you believe that this is what I am to become?”
“Lydia, I have no idea what to expect from you any more,” her mother sighed.
“But if I do not fall in line, that is what I can expect for my future,” Lydia said angrily.
“Of course we would not leave you there forever, Lydia, but if we must, we will lock you up until all of your sisters are wed. We cannot allow you to ruin their chances. They do not deserve it,” answered her father sternly. “When we arrive home, you will find things very different. As you have been told, you will accompany your mother at all times until we decide whether a governess or a school would be best for you.”
“BUT HOW CAN YOU JUST LEAVE HER THERE?” shrieked Lydia. At her father’s raised brow, she continued angrily. “Howcan you just ride away in your carriage, and leave her there alone? Your own family! Locked up in a dreadful castle, and you only visit twice a year! How can you call yourselves human beings?”
“She is not alone, Lydia,” her father said gently. “Did you not recognise that Sister Mary Frances was also your cousin?”
At Lydia’s gasp her mother nodded. “Frances is Harriet’s elder sister by a year. She was ruined by Harriet’s behaviour. There was a gentleman that she loved, from the north, but his parents made him come away when the second pregnancy became public in the village. He returned some ten years later after they passed, but by then her parents were also dead, and Frances refused to leave Hertfordshire to live in the north. Harriet’s mind had become fragile, and they did not believe she could be safely moved. Frances would not live where she could not visit often, so she sent him away, then she entered the convent as a novice. She has stayed with her sister all this time. Harriet is not alone.”
Lydia thought of Kitty as an elderly nun, keeping her company in a convent where she had been sent to save the reputation of her sisters, and felt ill. “Why do not more girls go to places like that?” she asked. “Why do so many ladies end up in the streets as mama fears?”
“Well Lydia, for centuries, there were no nuns or convents in The Church of England,” her father answered her. “The restoration of religious orders is a relatively new practice?1, all things considered. Obviously the church cannot afford to support all of the spinsters of our nation. It takes dedication to become a Bride of Christ. It is my understanding that your cousins entered the convent when it was still brand new, and that their dowries eased their way, along with some family connections. Cousin Harriet is not a nun, in any case. She is there as a guest of the convent, they have been entrusted with her dowry in exchange for her care. Sister Mary Frances had to devote her entire life and her dowry to God in order to earn her place.”
Lydia was quiet the rest of the journey home. She did not know what to say to her parents, nor what she felt about anything any more. Her mind would not rest when she retired to bed with her mother. Every time she fell asleep, she dreamed that she was in front of a mirror, watching as her face changed, and she was transformed into Cousin Harriet.
The restof the week passed without incident. Lydia spent all of her time with her mother, or occasionally Jane and Lizzy together. It had been made abundantly clear that Lydia was to obey them and Mary as she would her father and mother. She was not permitted to walk out, or even go as far as the garden; her activities were completely confined to the house. She spent a small amount of time with Jane and Kitty in the still room, and a little more in the kitchen with Lizzy. The rest of the time she spent with her mother, writing invitations to Mary’s engagement dinner, visiting tenants, helping her mother sew for the estate’s poor basket, and working on her stitching. The ladies from Netherfield called at Longbourn often, and the Longbourn ladies returned those visits with great relish. When these visits were taking place, Lydia joined her father in his study, where she was learning to improve her sums. Her education was sadly lacking, and her father told her that since she had nothing better to do, she might as well rectify it, so that possibly one day, she might be able to pass herself off with a degree of credit.
The visits between Longbourn and Netherfield were greatly anticipated on both sides. Jane and Lizzy had become quite friendly with Anne, Georgiana, and Lady Priscilla, and Mrs Bennet had become as thick as thieves with Lady Matlock and Lady Catherine. As the two noblewomen got to know MrsBennet, they began to give her a great deal of friendly advice, and though Lady Catherine’s interference was not typically welcomed by its recipients, Mrs Bennet wished desperately for her shortcomings not to stand in the way of her daughter’s happiness. She took all of the ladies’ well-meant advice in the manner it was intended, and with gratitude. Lady Catherine gave her a great deal of instruction on how to manage what was left of the education of the daughters not being courted, and Lady Matlock spent hours with her looking at fashion plates from London, telling her what the matrons of high society werereallywearing, and they talked for hours about how much lace and embellishment was elegant, and when too much became tawdry. Mrs Bennet learned to modulate her tones, and though her excitement still often got the better of her often, she managed not to be too crass. The rest of the occupants of Longbourn and Netherfield found her enthusiasm for the activities of the young people and the social events of the village endearing.
The gentlemen spent a great deal of time in one another’s company as well, although Lord Matlock spent some hours closeted away with secretaries who travelled from London each day to confer with him. Each time a royal messenger passed through the little village, escorted by the royal guard, to deliver a message to the foreign secretary, the little village went wild with excitement, and the Bennets were accorded much approval for being the family that he was connected with there.
Darcy and Bingley spent most of their time with the ladies, except for the time that Darcy and Bingley spent teaching Mr Collins how to ride. The man was nervous at first, but Colonel Fitzwilliam took over, and his brusque, militant manner soon had Mr Collins standing at attention. Collins became too busy obeying Richard implicitly to dwell on his nervousness. Richard wanted to leave immediately to follow after Wickham,but unfortunately, he could not. He confided to Darcy that he was obligated to remain at Netherfield until he received orders from the war office for a special assignment, so the search for Wickham was left to Colonel Forster for now.
Upon taking up residence at Netherfield and learning that her parson was affianced, Lady Catherine declared that she was excessively attentive to such matters, and decreed that it was inappropriate for Collins to remain under the same roof with Mary now that they were engaged. Bingley invited him to move to Netherfield, and the society of the other gentlemen there was good for him. The older gentlemen took over in Collins’ instruction when the younger were otherwise engaged with their ladies. They assisted him in improving his barely tolerable skill at sums for keeping ledgers, they taught him about agriculture, crop rotation, and how to handle tenant disputes. They took him hunting and fishing, and insisted that a gentleman who expected to inherit an estate must know how to shoot. They spent a great number of hours closeted together; Mr Bennet, Lord Matlock, Sir Henry, and Mr Collins. Two days before the engagement dinner, Mr Bennet invited Lady Catherine to join him, Sir Henry, and Mr Collins for a discussion about business. They were sequestered for nearly two hours, and everyone wondered what it meant, but they were all informed that they would find out what the business was at the dinner.
Darcy could not shake Miss Bingley in order to court Elizabeth properly, and Colonel Fitzwilliam was hard pressed to distract the woman. Even he, as the second son of an earl, could not lessen her interest. Only Bingley’s and Hurst's edict that both Caroline and Mrs Hurst must begin to learn the duties of the mistress of an estate gave Darcy any peace. Two days a week, Caroline and Louisa were obligated to go to Longbourn to learn from Mrs Bennet about her methods, and one afternoon, Lady Matlock and Lady Catherine both ambushed the twoyounger women, insisted that they change into plain attire – their travelling gowns were all that they owned that was suitable for such an activity – and they were obliged to go out in the pony cart with Jane, escorted by Bingley, to meet their tenants. Charles threatened them both with dire consequences if they were rude or condescending. Louisa followed his edicts, for if he revoked their long term invitation to live with him until Hurst inherited, Mr Hurst would be angry indeed with her. Caroline would not risk being sent to live with her father’s Aunt Clara in Scarborough, so though she seethed inside knowing that Darcy was spending time with Eliza Bennet in her absence, she did as she was bid.
1 The restoration of religious orders in England occurred in the mid to late 19th century, and has been brought forward to the Regency under creative licence.
CHAPTER 20
The night of the dinner arrived, perhaps two weeks after the men returned from London. The ladies had assisted Caroline and Louisa in decorating the house for the upcoming festive season, the men brought in pine boughs, holly, and mistletoe from the woods. To make the decorations for the evening extra special for Mary, her godfather Sir Henry sent to town for a wagon filled with red and white roses from the hothouse suppliers, and they were worked into the greenery for a romantically festive effect.
The entire neighbourhood turned out for the evening. The event was not a ball technically, but two large parlours had been opened off of the music room, and while ladies exhibited on the pianoforte, some of the young people paired up and danced. Lydia was permitted to stand up thrice, once with her father, once with Kitty, and once with Mr Collins. Mr Collins and Mary danced together nearly all night, and no one considered it a scandal. Their joy only increased that of the entire party. The evening was filled with laughter and merriment, and, as usual, the only person who did not enjoy herself was Caroline Bingley.
At dinner, Sir Henry Maulver stood and said, “I have an announcement to make. More than one, actually.” The otherguests tittered. “First, Mr Babcock, our rector, has made the decision to retire permanently, and will move to Suffolk to be near his relations in January.” There were congratulatory murmurs and light clapping about the room, as he continued. “One might think that Mr Stringer, our well-respected curate might take his place, but as it happens, Mr Stringer has accepted a living near his home village, and will be leaving us to return to his home in Stevenage, where he will be married in February!” More polite exclamations followed, and when they had quieted, Sir Henry continued again. “In anticipation of their departure, I have offered the living in Meryton to one who will be a gentleman amongst us one day, God willing, nottoosoon we all hope, and who has a great desire to learn everything he can about this village, his future estate, and to be close to his family. I congratulate Mr William Collins, who has accepted the position as rector to the Meryton Parish, and will take over from Mr Babcock in January!”
