“Bandit! Oh no!” Miss Bennet interrupted my reflections, and I turned to see the unruly dog had wrapped his lead around her legs and was on the verge of pulling her to the ground.
“To heel,” I shouted, leaving Miss Elizabeth’s side to relieve Miss Bennet of her tormentor. “You must behave yourself when walking with ladies,” I commanded as I took the lead up short, forcing the dog to sit while I spoke to him.
“Now, if you wish to enjoy your exercise, you had better do so as a civilised dog. You are not a monkey, sir, and you will cease flinging yourself about.”
Bandit seemed to appreciate plain speaking. He became docile as a lamb, glancing hopefully at me from time to time, as though he wished for a little reward for good behaviour.
“You shall get no praise from me, sirrah,” I said in an aside to him, and began to put him through his paces.
Whenever he began to think of capering, which he communicated through his leash, I pulled him up shortto remind him of his dignity. Soon, we turned and proceeded back the way we came, and I was quite absorbed in my corrections. Before I knew it, I could see Longbourn through the trees.
“You have wrought a miracle on our Bandit,” Miss Bennet said in wonder. “I have never seen him so well behaved. Will you not come in for tea and greet my father?”
I glanced at Miss Elizabeth, who looked wholly unimpressed by the prospect of my visit, and said I would be happy to do just that.
