Leaning back in his chair, Mr. Bennet grew introspective. “In university, I had several acquaintances among the higher set—a few of them were excellent friends. I keep in touch with one or two, though I have not seen them in many years.”
Mr. Bennet gestured to a chessboard that sat in the corner, carefully away from any activity in the room. There was always an active game on the board, and since Elizabeth had been old enough to understand the game, she knew her father played over the post with acquaintances. Kitty, becoming too rambunctious, had once knocked the board over, earning her father’s annoyance. Now it was common knowledge in the house that the board was to be left strictly alone, and her father kept a paper that described the layout of the pieces that he updated frequently.
“What you do not know is that game,” said Mr. Bennet, “isone I play through correspondence with an earl, a man I have known for many years.” Mr. Bennet chuckled and added: “We are evenly matched, for he holds an advantage over me by one game. I am hopeful I shall equal him this time.”
“An earl?” asked Elizabeth, wide-eyed. “I had not thought you had such acquaintances.”
“A pair of earls, three barons, and a baronet,” said Mr. Bennet with an indifferent shrug. “The man with whom I play this game is my close friend—the others I correspond with occasionally or not at all, and one man has died.”
Elizabeth regarded him with suspicion, leading her father to laugh. “Do not suppose I hold some dark secret, such as my friend being Mr. Darcy’s uncle or some such nonsense.Thatwould be a coincidence, indeed. No, my friend is the Earl of Abingdon, who is an excellent sort, though, like all the peerage, he is full of himself.”
“I would invite you to say such a thing to Mr. Darcy or Colonel Fitzwilliam,” said Elizabeth.
“Perhaps I should!” exclaimed Mr. Bennet. “If I did, the colonel, at least, would agree with me!”
“Yes, you may be correct,” said Elizabeth. The colonel was a jovial man who enjoyed a good joke—there was every possibility that he would find such talk amusing. “You were speaking of your experience in high society.”
“I was,” agreed Mr. Bennet. “As the Earl of Abingdon—he was a viscount then—was a good friend, he invited me to attend the season with him the year we graduated from Cambridge. I will own we had some notion of cutting a swath through the young ladies of London.”
“Did you?” asked Elizabeth.
Mr. Bennet regarded her with a grin. “I will not suggest that I attracted as much attention as my friend. Heisan earl, after all, and at that time was a most eligible viscount. We were not readyfor marriage, of course, for we were but two and twenty. Yet we were eager to partake in the delights of the season and break the hearts of as many young ladies as we could.
“My friendship with Abingdon was, I must suppose, something of an attraction to a young lady of a certain level. These ladies were not possessed of the lineage or dowry of a woman from a noble family, but by the standards of this neighborhood, they were wealthy ladies, indeed. There was one in particular that I liked very well.”
“You said you were not interested in marriage,” observed Elizabeth.
“So I did,” agreed Mr. Bennet. “Yet the face of a pretty young woman may overcome such scruples. In some respects, I consider young Bingley unready for a wife, and I was about his age. Regardless, I soon became enamored of this young woman.”
“Then what happened?” asked Elizabeth.
“Abingdon’s sister, who was a good sort of woman herself, heard some gossip. At her brother’s urging, she told me of what she had heard. The woman, though pretty and engaging, had several character flaws of which I was not aware. Among them was a desire to ascend to the heights of society, not unlike Miss Bingley.
“When I heard her account, I was tempted to ignore it. She convinced me enough that I watched carefully to see if I could discern any of the tendencies of which she had informed me. When I had seen enough, I confronted her.”
“She was false?”
“More that she wished to use me to get to Abingdon. The details are unimportant, but she had an earl in her sights, but nowhere near enough standing to be a serious prospect for him. She planned to put herself close to me, then use the connection to create an opportunity to compromise my friend.”
Mr. Bennet shrugged. “As you might suspect that eventopened my eyes to the truth of society. While there are assuredly good people among them, most of London consists of fortune hunters on the prowl to improve their positions, degenerates who care for nothing but their vices, or those determined to look down on others who do not meet their ideas of quality.”
“Then your aversion for society dates from that time,” said Elizabeth.
“My interest in society has always been limited,” said Mr. Bennet. “In my youth, I was a little more willing to mingle. Soon after I returned to Longbourn, my father passed away, leaving me with the estate. After my mourning, my friend again invited me to attend the season, but I had already had more than my fill. I declined and have not returned since.”
Elizabeth nodded, the account surprising her. She did not think even her mother had heard so much as a whisper of this.
“Then you stayed in Meryton and married Mama.”
“Yes, well,” said Mr. Bennet, mirth infused in his tone, “that was not one of my more intelligent decisions.”
“Papa!” cried Elizabeth, scandalized he would say this much of her mother.
“Do not concern yourself, Lizzy,” said he, waving away her offense. “I am fond of your mother, for all that her nerves are the bane of my existence. She has made me a creditable enough wife, though she is not much of a companion. Then again, I am no companion to her, so in that, I suppose, we are equal. We are not unhappy together, despite outward appearances.”
Despite Elizabeth’s frequent exasperation with her mother’s ways, she was not comfortable with her father’s characterization of his spouse. It was better to leave such subjects strictly alone, so she turned the conversation back to the original subject.
“As I recall, we were speaking of budgeting for a companion.”
