Lydia preened. “La! Why should he not? I am the tallest.”
“He might even introduce all your sisters to eligible young men. And yet you are willing to throw away this opportunity because you took a dislike to this gentleman.” She looked towards Mr. Bennet. “Talk to her. You know our situation. What will happen to us all if you die? We will all be cast into the street even before your body is cold. Explain it to her right now.”
“I would rather not contemplate such a situation,” said Mr. Bennet, taking off the round spectacles perched on his nose and polishing them with a handkerchief of his own. “I am hoping to live a long and healthy life.”
Mrs. Bennet moaned and buried her nose in her handkerchief.
“I am sorry, my dear, that it causes you distress to imagine I would live a long life,” said Mr. Bennet.
She looked up. “Of course it does not cause me distress,” she replied irritably. “It is your refusal to find our daughters rich husbands that concerns me.”
“Rich husbands do not grow on trees. I cannot simply find them.” Mr. Bennet turned to Elizabeth. “As for Mr. Darcy, I cannot make any judgment at this point. I would prefer to meet the gentleman before I can say whether it would be a goodopportunity or not. I will invite him to Longbourn, and, if I like the look of him, I will encourage you to go.”
Elizabeth stared at her father in disbelief. “You will send me to live with strangers, just because Mr. Darcy is a man of means?”
“No, that is not what I am saying. If this gentleman is a decent sort, I think it will do you good to spend time in London as he proposes. At the very least, you will be invited to attend musical events and plays. He will likely have a membership in a lending library, and you can borrow all the books your heart may desire. Why not make the best of it?”
“Think of the shopping expeditions,” said Lydia.
Elizabeth looked around the breakfast room. There was no one there who understood her. She felt very alone.
She came to her feet. “I suppose I had better go and determine which clothes to take with me, since you are all determined to send me away,” she said, tartly.
“I knew we would persuade you in the end!” said Mrs. Bennet. “Oh, this is wonderful news!”
Elizabeth asked for her valise and her trunks to be brought up. She pulled items of clothing out of the cupboard and began to toss them pell-mell onto the bed in a heap which eventually spilled over to the floor. Mr. Darcy had issued a command, and now they were all tripping over themselves to obey him. No one cared enough about her to ask her whether she wanted this or not. Her wishes were completely ignored. She sank down onto the edge of the bed, for once in her life consumed by self-pity.
The door opened and Jane peeped from behind the door.
“May I come in?”
Elizabeth would have preferred it to be her father, but she could never turn Jane away.
“Of course.”
“I will help you organize your things, Lizzy,” she remarked, passing her gaze over the wreckage. “It is not like you to be so unhappy. I would have thought you would jump at the chance to live in Town. I knowIwould.”
“So would I, if it did not involve Mr. Darcy.” She breathed out in frustration. “I wish Papa had spoken to me first instead of reading Mr. Darcy’s letter in front of the whole family. Now that Mamma has taken such a fancy to the idea, I will never hear the end of it if I don’t go.”
Jane smiled and sat next to Elizabeth. “Do you really feel so strongly about Mr. Darcy? Can you not bring yourself to forgive him?”
“I could easily have forgiven him, if he had not injured my pride so badly. It was a long walk back to Lambton. You cannot imagine how mortifying it was to limp into the inn at Lambton and be pitied by a complete stranger who, by the way, was not at all surprised to hear it was Mr. Darcy who was responsible. He as good as implied that it was not the first time it had happened.”
“But did this gentleman say so directly? Was he cast out and accused of being a thief?”
Elizabeth considered what he said. “He did not tell me what happened. He was to introduce himself and tell me later, but I did not stay downstairs long enough, and we left early the next day. He simply suggested that he, too, had suffered at the hands of Mr. Darcy.”
“But you do not know the full circumstances, Lizzy. You cannot let assumptions dictate your behavior. Mr. Darcy’s letter was very civil. He admitted it was all a mistake, and he apologized. He is trying to make amends. He is even going so far as to invite you into his sister’s home forthreewhole months. It is a very handsome offer. You cannot hold a grudge after that, surely.”
Her sister did not like to think poorly of anyone. Even the dreadful Mr. Darcy had to be salvaged.
“I know you like to see the best in people, Jane, but you cannot expect me to forget how poorly I was treated. Mr. Darcy cannot be redeemed. His arrogance, his disdain for the feelings of others and his ungentlemanly behavior – he did not even send a carriage after me when he knew I was wearing evening slippers – cannot be excused. And now everyone expects me to swallow my pride and agree to live with him.”
“You are not going to live with him. You are going to live with Miss Darcy. You might never even catch a glimpse of him. You will be pampered and live in a great house with your own maid and food produced by a French chef. How could that be a bad thing? Think, Lizzy. Unless you believe Miss Darcy is as bad as her brother?”
“No, Miss Darcy is the sweetest young lady, and she has suffered at the hands of her brother.”
“Then surely you would be willing to tolerate the brother for Miss Darcy’s sake. Think, Lizzy! Do not let your dislike of him overtake your chance to do good.”
