Page 11 of Elizabeth’s Choice

Elizabeth took a quiet breath and approached her mother and kissed her cheeks, “How have you been, mama? You look very well. Jane has been keeping me apprised of what has been happening in Longbourn and it has been too long since I have been here last.”

Mrs. Bennet sighed, “You look well also, Lizzie, even if you are still wearing trousers and rambling around the country like a nomad.” She inspected her daughter’s clothes closely and continued, “The materials on this suit are the finest and Jane mentioned that you will be looking for a home to purchase as soon as you are of age. How is this possible? I heard you are winning some of your archery competitions but how are you able to afford such quality clothes and to save enough to pay for your own house? It is unheard of! You are not doing anything… illicit… are you?”

Jane giggled, “Mama! Lizzie is not only winning all the competitions but she is now a captain through an honorary rank!”

Elizabeth nodded her head, “It is not a true captainship but I am allowed to use the title and it has been quite an experience to travel to several places in England. I just spent a fortnight in Ramsgate to teach young ladies about archery and will be happy to do the same for my sisters if they are interested,” she looked at Mary, Kitty, and Lydia who were sitting with their mouths agape. “I will be here for a week to look at Ashw…”

“A week? Does that mean one of us will have to give up our room?” Lydia shrieked, “Why would I want to learn archery? Why are you dressed like a man, Lizzie? How will you ever get married if you look so ridiculous? What a joke! No one will ever offer for you and you will die an old maid!”

Mrs. Bennet stood up abruptly to respond but there was a voice heard from the doorway, “Lydia Bennet, go to your bedchamber and do not leave until you are allowed out.”

Elizabeth saw her father’s face reddened in furore and she smiled. She had heard from Jane that Lydia had become an unrestrained fifteen-year-old and that the next elder, Kitty, who was seventeen years old, only emulated the youngest child. Elizabeth looked at Mary to gauge her reaction but the eighteen-year-old only sat still without any expression at all and she waited for her parents’ next move.

Mrs. Bennet, surprisingly, grabbed Lydia’s arm and pulled her up from her seat, “You ungrateful child! Listen to your father and go upstairs. I told you to mind your mouth but you never listen.”

Lydia cried out as she left the parlour and Kitty followed behind, and Mr. Bennet greeted Elizabeth with a kiss on her cheek, “I am sorry you had to listen to her, Lizzie. We tried to prepare her for your arrival but she is thick-headed and forgetful.”

“I am well, papa, and appreciate that you tried,” she responded. “I remember Kitty and Lydia being the same way five years ago and they have not changed at all. What about you, Mary,” she faced the middle child, “Do you have any questions to ask me?”

Mary glanced at both of her parents with a slight worry in her eyes and asked, “Papa told me more about you and Jane explained why you dress like a man, but I do have a question. How, that is… Papa made mama and me promise to not say a word to anyone and told me only yesterday that we each have five thousand pounds set aside for our dowries, but how are you able to afford living in London as well as travelling to different places in the country and now are looking to purchase your own house? I did not think it possible for a woman to own property.”

“It is uncommon but as an unmarried woman, as soon as I am of age, I will be able to own a house and be independent to live as I wish. Papa was generous,” Elizabeth looked at her father fondly, “and advanced my dowry to me when I left home and he, as well as Uncle Edward and several old and new acquaintances helped me to study and invest in some speculations that were successful during the past five years. That, with what I was able to earn from winning the archery competitions, I have enough for a comfortable house for us, which would be separate from the entailment, and I can put my name on one as soon as March arrives.”

Jane added, “Our dowries are more than what we could have dreamed of but Lizzie won large purses and truly worked diligently to make something of herself.”

Elizabeth looked at her mother and added, “Even with Longbourn being entailed away, if something should happen to papa, we will have a home and I am to look at Ashworth tomorrow. Since the Robertsons are needing to retrench to town this autumn, they plan to let out Ashworth for some time until they are able to sell it and I would like to learn what it takes to run my own household. I might purchase a house as early as March if I find one suitable for us but also plan on looking at a few other options in the north in order to choose the best one to safeguard our future.”

“Oh!” Mrs. Bennet excitedly shouted, “I knew you were not so clever for nothing! All those years of studying books and working on the ledgers like a son, you have done very well and will be able to take care of us all!”

Mr. Bennet chuckled, “She is better than any son, Mrs. Bennet, and I am glad to have her back at Longbourn.” He embraced his favourite again, “I wish you would stay longer but we are very pleased to have you here for the week.”

Mrs. Bennet finally smiled happily as she also embraced Elizabeth next, “I am sorry we let the years pass for so long. I was being stubborn but always knew you had good intentions. It is only unfortunate that you refuse to marry, but it is your choice and I will respect your wishes. I was sorry to hear that the late Mr. Bingley’s son turned out to be an arrogant sort of a young man and Jane said he was not worth knowing, but she will find someone eventually and I am pleased to know that you will take care of us if anything should happen to your father.”

Elizabeth and Jane smiled broadly at each other, as they had kept the details of the meeting with Mr. Bingley to themselves so that their parents would not grow angry or be disappointed with the deception on both parties.

Mrs. Bennet continued, “But, if I can ask you for one thing while you are here, it is that you wear dresses before our neighbours as a concession to me. I want them to see how beautiful you turned out and no one knows the reason why you left home. I would be most grateful and will talk to Lydia and Kitty. They are good girls but are too silly for their own good.”

“Thank you, mama,” Elizabeth replied and quickly wiped her eyes, “Longbourn looks the same but feels so different now and I will dress more appropriately while I am here. I never wish to shame the family name and why I used an alias during the past five years. I would like to take a quick rest before going out for a ride with papa and reviewing the ledgers, though. I know it is entailed away but Longbourn is still our family home and I will help care for it any way I can. Jane, can you show me to the bedchamber?”

With Jane leading the way, Elizabeth walked through the house and headed up the stairs. It had been decided that Jane and Mary would share a room so Elizabeth would have a bedchamber to herself. Her sister rubbed her arm as she spoke in Mary’s room, “That went well, I think. Do not mind Lydia and Kitty, Lizzie. They are young and mama will sort them out.”

“I know you told me about them but I did not expect them to be so unruly! I hope they behave better in public but you were too generous with your descriptions of them, but then again, you always are, Janey,” Elizabeth laughed. “Mama is as she has always been but she was kind and I will try to be good. I will need to borrow a dress or two but will continue to make peace with mama.” She looked around Mary’s chamber and commented, “Perhaps it is time I encouraged Mary to splurge a little on herself. She wore such dark colours and her bedchamber is also quite… unembellished.”

“Mary has taken to heart the philosophy of living a pious life and I have been working on her but you might help her while you are here,” Jane explained. “She needs someone with a lively disposition as well as good sense and I could see that she respects you greatly already.”

Elizabeth giggled, “Mama might think I am attempting to poison her mind so I will be discreet.” She yawned widely, “I am so sorry. I was so nervous that I slept very poorly the entire week. I will shut my eyes for a bit. I would like to inspect the property boundaries and set up some archery targets as well as practice my new skills in fencing. I am to visit Ashworth tomorrow morning and plan on calling on Charlotte Lucas also. We have been writing to each other often and I am very eager to see and speak with her. My week here will be gone in a blink of an eye!”

Jane smiled and left the room, while Elizabeth unpacked her belongings and laid down to stare at the canopy above the bed, thankful that she was received warmly by most of her family members but still felt detached just as much as she had been during the past five years. She wondered if she would ever belong in one place and prayed that having her own home would finally fill the void she felt in her heart. She closed her eyes as she thought of fencing with Mr. Darcy and the joy she felt to finally get one hit against him the day prior and fell soundly asleep.

Chapter 8

Darcy stood in front of the window to look outside as his aunt continued her monologue without giving anyone else a chance to speak, while Colonel Fitzwilliam and Georgiana could only sit silently with their cousin Anne de Bourgh and her companion Mrs. Jenkinson. Darcy’s mind wandered to Miss Elizabeth and how she might be faring in Hertfordshire, when his aunt asked, “…setting a date, then, Darcy? Perhaps before Christmastime?”

He sharply turned around and replied, “What is before Christmastime, Aunt Catherine? My attention was on the view from the window and did not hear you,” he quickly recovered, “I thought I saw some overgrowth in the garden and thought to go out and inspect it.”

Lady Catherine snipped, “If the gardeners have not been doing their duties properly, you must see to it that the steward has a stern talk with them! Do you see why you need to be here longer than just for one dinner? I was talking about setting a wedding date. It was your mother’s fondest wish…”

Darcy saw Georgiana covering her amusement and Richard grinning broadly before he interrupted their aunt, “It might have been something that my mother had thought at one time but she passed away while I was still a child and neither my mother nor my father mentioned any arrangement whilst they lived.” He took a seat in front of Anne and continued, “My father had actually spoken about his great desire for me to marry his friend’s daughter only a day before his passing and we had argued over it so I know for certain that there is no understanding with Anne, formal or informal. Anne,” he addressed his cousin directly, “do you wish to marry? Do you have any wish to marry me?”