“Well, I shall not keep you from your practising.” Elizabeth walked out of the little nook and made her way down the corridor to check on her father as she had promised. She poked her head inside the door of his study to find Mr Bennet sitting in his usual chair by the window, nose in a book.
He looked up, no doubt sensing her eyes on him. “Lizzy, there you are. How are you on this fine day?” he asked. He placed a finger in his book and waved her inside his little sanctuary. Elizabeth was the only one of the Bennet family that Mr Bennet readily invited into his little corner of the world. It had always given Elizabeth a sense of peace and belonging, surrounded by the musty smell of books and the boards where her father pinned his specimens of various flora and fauna from around the estate.
“I am well, Papa. And you? What have you been keeping yourself busy with?”
“I have been reading my Coleridge. He is a remarkable fellow, quite remarkable, I must say. Where is your mother? Given how quiet the house is, may I assume she has taken Lydia off to go browsing for a husband?”
Elizabeth laughed. “It is not so quiet. Mary is in the drawing room playing the pianoforte.”
“Mary’s banging is far preferable to your mother’s pecking,” her father said. He wrapped an arm lightly around her shoulders. “But let us speak of more pleasant things.”
Elizabeth knew her father only jested, yet she sometimes wished he would not make such jests at all. He and her mother had once been a love match. But her mother’s frivolousness had worn on him in the years after their marriage, until he seemed to have very little respect left for her. Elizabeth could understand his impatience with Mrs Bennet’s silliness, and yet surely it was neither wise nor kind to make sport of her, as he so often did. Nor was Mr Bennet better judging in the matter of his daughters. Elizabeth had long been both grateful for and uneasy with the clear preference given her by her father. No one could doubt that she was his favourite. Jane was a close second, leaving Mary, Kitty, and Lydia with only the scraps of his affection. Yes, Mary was sometimes prosing and officious, and the younger girls were too boisterous, but surely it could not improve any of them to know their father thought them some of the silliest girls in England.
“You are right that Mama and Lydia have gone off to town. Mama told me to come and check on you, to make sure you still had control of your faculties after reading for so many long hours. She is convinced you will addle your brain with so much reading.”
“Yes, well, she would un-addle some of hers if she had a mind to do more reading.”
“Un-addleis not a word, Papa.”
“Yes, and you know that because youdoread.”
Elizabeth stilled. “Why are you so hard on Mama? And Lydia, for that matter? You know, a gentle word from you might do a great deal towards steering her in the right direction.”
He shifted uneasily. “Perhaps you are right, my dear. But for now, go and attend to your duties. You do not want to spend an afternoon with a foolish old man.”
It was his way of dismissing her, telling her he did not wish to discuss the subject further. With a heavy sigh, she turned and went to the door. Turning back, Elizabeth said, “I love you, Papa,” and walked out before he had a chance to say anything in return.
As she left the little library, she fell into stride with Jane, who had just come from the drawing room, carrying an embroidery hoop in one hand and a sewing needle in the other.
“Hello, sister,” Elizabeth said, linking an arm through Jane’s.
“Hello. And where have you been all the day long?”
“Oh, here and there. As you know, I flit about wherever I please.” Elizabeth frowned in jest. “Why, has it been so very bad?”
Jane shook her head. “Not bad — no, I would not say it has been bad. Mama and Lydia have been in an uproar over the impending arrival of the militia. And you know Kitty will soon follow along.”
“Heaven help us,” Elizabeth replied, rolling her eyes heavenward. “And to think, they will be just in time for the next Meryton Assembly!”
Jane stopped at the bottom of the stairs and picked up her hem before heading up the creaky steps. “It is fortunate, isn’t it?”
“I suppose. If you like military men.”
“I am sure there are some very fine men among their ranks.”
“Oh, to be sure,” Elizabeth teased. “Pray tell, would you be looking for a husband with a glittering military career ahead of him? Or perhaps I should tell Mama to find a general for you?”
“Oh Lizzy, do stop,” Jane said, though her smile showed she had no real objection to her sister’s jests.
They reached their room on the second floor, and Elizabeth opened the door for her sister. She snatched the embroidery away as they passed through and inspected it before gently tossing it on the vanity. “Such pretty stitches. What is this project?”
“Oh, I thought to get an early start on Christmas presents this year.” Jane sat on the chest at the foot of the bed. “Daffodils are Mary’s favourite, I believe.”
“I am sure she will be delighted. Tell me, though, who do you think will be at the assembly? Truly?”
“Oh, I am sure all the usual people will be in attendance. And the militia.”
“But you do not want a military man, you have already said.”
