Page 21 of The Wager
“So true! I imagine one becomes inured to what is around them.”
“Much like the frog who jumps into a pot of warm water, not realizing until too late it has come to a boil.”
The eldest Bennet's sister had unexpectedly added to their conversation.
“Such a gruesome metaphor, Mary.”
“I was reading about the life of amphibians and this morsel of information caught my interest.”
“I am not surprised by this. Besides the pianoforte, you are fascinated with anything that crawls, hops, and slithers,” Lydia said with a visible shudder.
“Lydia, my love,” Mamma called from her chair beside Lady Lucas. “Would you and Kitty like to take Maria upstairs and show her the fan and shawl Aunt Sarah sent?’
“I almost forgot! You will die from envy, Maria.”
Lydia leaped to her feet, grabbed Maria Lucas by the hand, and tugged her out of the room, followed by a giggling Kitty.
“Lydia is so full of energy, Mrs. Bennet.”
“She is. Mr. Bennet and I have found a good school for her and Kitty. There is not enough here to keep her occupied and we all know the wicked one will find work for idle hands.”
“Your Lydia would not do anything bad.”
“Not intentionally,” Mamma said before taking a sip of her tea. “However, with the expectation of the militia quartering here in Meryton for the winter, I am not willing to place her in the way of temptation. She is at the age where she will see romance in everything, even if a gentleman sneezes, she will think it is because he is trying to gain her attention.”
“I think we all were silly when we were younger,” Lady Lucas said then smiled wide. “Do you remember when Mr. Goodman’s nephew came to visit when we were about fifteen years of age?”
“I do. I very nearly died when he smiled at me at church.”
Elizabeth and Jane looked at one another with wide eyes. They had never heard Mamma reminisce about anything before she had wed their father. At times, they forgot she had been a young girl whose heart fluttered upon seeing a handsome man, or boy.
“I remember he had a lovely smile, although no one was more handsome than Colonel… oh dear, what was his name?” Lady Lucas asked her longtime friend. “He rode in front of his men when the militia paraded into town.”
“His name was Colonel Millar.”
“Yes, Colonel Millar.” Lady Lucas closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “He sat his horse very well. Very well, indeed.”
She cracked open one eye and looked at Mamma, who blushed slightly before they both laughed heartily.
“Martha Whitby Lucas, you are a naughty woman.” Mamma looked at their four daughters who watched, mouths slightly agape. “We were young girls who thought all officers were handsome and charming and Colonel Millar was everything a gentleman and an officer ought to be.”
“Sadly,” Lady Lucas pulled out a handkerchief, and pretended to wipe away a tear, “He was happily married and broke our tender hearts.”
“My heart was not too broken. Mr. Hamilton had just arrived as Longbourn’s rector and soon, all I saw was him.”
“That is true. He was a lovely man and now you are blessed with another wonderful gentleman. Mr. Bennet still thinks the sun and moon revolve around your whims and fancies.”
‘He is a good man and I love him dearly.”
“I am glad to hear that, my dear,” Papa said upon entering the room, the Netherfield party following behind. “I am too old to find this Colonel Millar and challenge him to a duel.”
“Oh, Mr. Bennet!” Mamma said with a gasp. “You will make our guests think you are a terrible rogue with talk like that.”
“They will think I am a man who still finds his wife pretty enough to protect from other rakes and scoundrels.” Papa kissed her on the cheek and then turned to look at the male guests from Netherfield. “You have been warned, gentlemen. Mrs. Bennet is my lady fair.”
To Elizabeth’s surprise, it was Mr. Darcy who responded.
“I concede the field to you, sir.”
