Page 57 of The Cheapside Runners
Maria thought about it for a bit, and finally timidly suggested, “Thebestyou could hope for is marriage to a man who is poor as a rat. More likely he just wants to lift your skirts.”
It said something about the experience thus far that nobody batted an eye at either the vulgarity of the expression or the underlying assertion, even though the young lady would have been unable to say such a thing at gunpoint a week earlier.
“Miss Yellow, continuing our practical bent, what elsebesidesdishonourable behaviour might encourage a soldier to be friendly, flattering, or even flirtatious, to ladies like you?”
Kitty sputtered a minute and looked toward Lydia.
“If I wanted Miss Green’s opinion, I would have asked her. You need to escape her shadow sooner or later. Sooner would be better.”
Mary looked thoughtfully at Mrs Black and the rest of the ladies to see if anyone had worked out her identity yet and concluded they had not. While Kitty was thinking, Mary wondered why she alone of the sisters had worked it out, and after only a few hours at that. She thought Jane should have been the first, but since Elizabeth started spending so much time in London, Jane had moved most of her attentions to CharlotteLucas. Kitty and Lydia seldom paid any attention to anything not right in front of their faces, so they would never work it out. The other ladies just did not know Elizabeth all that well. Of course, considering Mrs Black looked and sounded like a cross between a Spaniard and a Viking, it took quite a stretch to associate her with the meek and polite woman everyone thought they knew. Mary hoped to one day learn about how impertinent little Lizzy Bennet became the indomitableMrs Black.
While Mary ruminated, Kitty was thinking furiously. She finally said, “They must get something out of it. Something worth the trouble.”
“Exactly!” Mrs Black said with a smile that made Miss Yellow glow with happiness. That also gave Mary something to think about. Was just a tiny bit of approval all her sister needed to escape the younger and stronger sibling? Could any of the three elder sisters have rescued Kitty from Lydia at any time in the past few years had they made the effort, or would their mother have sabotaged it all?
“Can you guess what that might be?” Mary ventured, just to get in on the conversation. She was surprisingly happy to receive a nod of approval from Mrs Black.
Miss Yellow thought a minute. “Better food and drink, I suppose?”
“Miss Red?”
Mary thought a minute. “I have never eaten in the officer’s mess, but I cannot imagine it competes, given what we saw the first day. My mother sets a fine table if nothing else.”
“Very good, ladies!I would say there are probably other similar things, but that is a good way to think. If they are kind or flirtatious to the ladies of one house, they might be invited to others. There may even be other benefits that are slightly selfish, but not necessarily evil. It is an indisputable fact that eating at any of your estates is avastimprovement.”
Kitty said, “I suppose that makes sense.”
Mrs Black continued, “People do things for their own reasons, though they are not always obvious. With everyone you deal with, it always pays to think about their motives. It helps to understand and even predict their actions.”
More nods ensued.
“Having said that, what am I likely to say next… Miss Blue?”
Jane startled, but finally suggested, “Balance?”
“Elaborate.”
Jane thought some more. “If you pay no attention at all to other people’s motives, you can easily be beguiled and hoodwinked. If you obsess all day about it, will spend your whole life fretting until you have a nervous disposition. It seems like punishing yourself for others’ infractions.”
“Very good words to live by.”
“I can certainly see how they can be useful,” Jane replied.
“How so?”
Mary found the discussion fascinating, though they had yet to touch on the topic of the day.
“I lived most of my life assuming the best about people.” Jane began pensively. “I mostly ignore that which makes me uncomfortable. People have taken advantage of my good nature more than once.”
“Miss Amber?”
The move away from the Bennet family startled the two nieces, but she was ready.
“I suspect I was much like Miss Blue, though to a lesser extent. I did not always believe the best of people, but I had a tough time thinking the worst. I will be more cautious in future. I also now have amuchbetter idea of what I want in a husband.”
“Excellent—especially that last point! As ladies, we are trained to stand around looking pretty if we can, or amiable, or wealthy, or accomplished, or whatever we think is our bestasset. We are supposed to wait patiently for a man to notice us, and hope he has enough sense to know what he wants, and the gumption to go after it. All this passive waiting around is indecisive and weak.”
They all gasped, but by then they were at least accustomed to unconventional ideas. For most of them,anyhusband seemed the best they could hope for, but could Mrs Black be right? Could they somehow shape their destiny, at least a little?
