‘I am going to lose my Lizzy to that man, sooner than later,’ Bennet thought wistfully, ‘I know he is worthy, from all of his actions that he has taken and from the report that Sir Randolph had his investigators compile. He is not as wealthy as we are, but he is very wealthy by any measure so even if I did not know that he had offered for her when he thought her penniless, I know that her fortune is not a motivating factor.’
Mrs Bennet was hit as if by a bolt of lightning as she saw what was in front of her, ‘Who would have thought that Mr Darcy would fall in love with my Lizzy? Even when she disclosed all, I did not allow myself to believe, but my eyes do not lie to me. It is a good thing that he is not the same man who insulted her at the assembly. It is hard to comprehend that after she roundly rejected his horrendous proposal and the set-down she gave him, he still persists. Jane was correct, there is nothing to repine in the loss of Mr Bingley! Mr Darcy and the Colonel are proper men. No one will convince them to do anything that they do not want to do. I always knew that Lizzy could not be so intelligent for nothing,’she finally admitted to herself.
After dinner, the party adjourned to the music room where the Gardiners excused themselves before the entertainment, as they needed to get the younger children home to bed, the older two as well, even if the two preferred to think that it was only the younger siblings that needed to go to bed.
After tea, coffee and cake, was served, Jane on the harp was followed by Lizzy, Mary, Tiffany and lastly Georgie, who all played music on the pianoforte to entertain the party. Ladies Elaine and Marie were asked to exhibit but politely declined and deferred to the single ladies.
Not long after the last song was played, the Bennets and Fitzwilliams left after everyone affirmed that they would be at Bennet House for the formal dinner party on Friday.
Chapter 13
Fanny Bennet, with her sister Gardiner, joined Lady Elaine and Lady Marie at Matlock House for tea on Thursday afternoon. The ladies decided to dispense with titles and agreed to call each other by their first names. Lady Matlock poured tea for the ladies and offered pastries and fruit to those who wanted it. Once everyone had their tea and treats, the housekeeper directed a maid to clear the dishes. As soon as the drawing room doors were closed, Fanny Bennet had a question for the countess.
“Elaine,” Fanny Bennet still found it strange to address a Countess so informally, but she had been given leave to do so, “we are looking for a companion for Mary. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Yes, indeed Fanny, it just so happens that the Duchess of Chester’s youngest daughter will marry on Saturday. Her companion who has been with her for over five years is looking for a new position. She is Mrs Henrietta Chandler the sister of Georgie’s companion, Mrs Annesley. The Duchess, who is an intimate of mine, gives her the most glowing of characters. If it interests you, I will send a note to Her Grace and ask her to request that Mrs Chandler meet you,” the Countess offered easily.
“Thank you, that sounds perfect. Please ask her to come see me as soon as she is able. Thomas took Lydia to the Dark Hollow School for Girls in Wiltshire one day early. I made such a mistake spoiling that girl.” Fanny wrung her hands thinking about the way that she used to indulge her youngest.
“Even though my children are yet very young, I am sure that I will make errors, as will Andrew. The most important thing is to try and correct mistakes; not trying to make like they do not exist. You and your husband are doing everything that you can to fix the errors of the past. No one can ask for more,” Lady Marie encouraged gently. Being the youngest lady in the room did not make her any less wise.
“Thank you, Marie. I appreciate your saying so. I pray that it is not too hard on Thomas as he conveys her to the school today.” Fanny smiled ruefully and was given the same smile by Maddie as she knew her niece well.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The subject of his wife’s conjecture was sitting opposite his fuming and petulant youngest daughter as the carriage turned under the large, arced sign that proclaimed, ‘Welcome to Dark Hollow School for Girls.’ There had been a reason that Bennet had the carriage doors locked. His wilful daughter had tried not less than four times to escape the moving conveyance. She had tried once at the inn where they stopped to exchange the horses and have a brief rest, but this contingency was planned for with two huge footmen and four outriders that escorted father and daughter.
“Please, Papa, I promise I will be good. You do not need to send me here. I will have no fun here and I bet there are no men in regimentals for miles,” Lydia cajoled.
“No, Lydia, this is your last chance to learn how to be like a lady. You are a child. Forget about men and concentrate on your betterment,” he ordered.
“I AM NOT A CHILD! Mama said…” She got no further.
“Your mother has told you that she was wrong to indulge you and very wrong to push you and your sisters out at fifteen. I made the mistake of hiding in my book room and laughing at your abject silliness rather than correcting you. Both of us see the error of our former ways so the days of you being allowed to run wild aredone! You can either accept things and learn, or you will suffer for your folly and stubborn refusal to try to change,” he warned a final time.
“I will not learn or listen!” Lydia said petulantly as she stamped her foot and crossed her arms over her body. “I am a woman, not a child!”
“Yet you behave as a child and will be treated as one until you change your ways. Kitty is not out yet, but she was provided with a new wardrobe yet you were not. Do you know why?” he challenged.
“Because you do not love me like you love her!” was Lydia’s churlish reply.
“We love you no less Lydia, but Kitty chooses to learn, to try, and sheislearning and does not behave like a petulant child that belongs in the school room,” he corrected.
Before Lydia could retort, the carriage stopped under a portico. The doors were unlocked and opened, and Lydia was half-dragged and half-carried to the headmistress’s office by one of the mountain sized footmen and passed off to one that worked at the school. She was forced to stand in front of a very stern looking lady while her father sat.
“Good day, Miss Lydia. I am Mrs Hesperia Gilbert, the headmistress at this school,” Mrs Gilbert offered politely.
“I do not care…” Lydia hissed and was cut off for the second time that day.
“One more word, and I will have my footmen bind and gag you,” Mrs Gilbert interrupted her would-be caustic reply. “It is up to you.” She waited. Lydia scowled but did not dare to say another word. “Now, where were we? Ah yes; this is a school that was founded to deal with young ladies like yourself. Behave and follow the rules and you will find your time here pleasant and will learn a lot.”
“If, however, you choose to misbehave, then you will pay the consequences. The property is under guard at all times, the road is five miles from where we are and the nearest neighbour and the town is over twenty miles distant so, if you are thinking that you can run away, think again. The farthest that a girl who tried to run away managed is one half mile. For each infraction there is a sliding scale of punishment, the more serious the offence the more serious the punishment. If you keep breaking rules, for each infraction you will receive harsher consequences.”
“Choose to behave and learn, and you will attain many benefits from the experience. The more you behave, the better your privileges. When you get to your room that you share with a fellow student, you will find your book of rules on your bed. To stop any questions or complaints, there are no personal servants. You and your roommate are responsible for ensuring your room is cleaned. You are dismissed.” She waved Lydia off.
After Lydia was led out to what she imagined would be a fate worse than death, Bennet was asked if he had any questions. When he said he did not, he was handed a document that listed all possible punishments and then was asked to sign his agreement. He reviewed the sliding scale, as Mrs Gilbert had called it, and thought that it was a logical escalation as it was designed to reward as well as to punish. He signed, left the school, and started his return trip to London.
Lydia Bennet, who had been told that she was lively by her mother and had never been corrected by either parent, was in shock. It was not the family’s wealth that was the big revelation to her, it was that her father, and even worse her mother was resolute on the course that they had set, and no number of tantrums, tears, begging, or cajoling would change anything about their resolve. If anything, the worse she behaved the stronger their resolve became. She was no longer out and had been unceremoniously dumped at a school from hell in the middle of backwater nowhere.
