Page 28 of The Cheapside Runners
Breakfast the next day was where she decided to get on with it. She had at first determined to simply accost her father in his study, but she ultimately concluded that effort was unlikely to succeed. She knew well she would need to use the lure and the lash to gain any hope of success.
When breakfast was near done, she banged her teacup to get everyone’s attention—a manoeuvre that would gain her about a quarter of a minute at best and stood to speak.
“I have been listening to endless lamentations for two days, the main purpose of which has been to either just vent your spleens or cast blame onme, and I have had enough. I ask… nay,demandthat you heed my words. I will give you the problems that drove your suitors away and willcontinueto drive them away in some detail—then I will offer a solution.”
“I will not sit here and listen to this drivel!” Mrs Bennet said and threw down her serviette as if it were a gauntlet.
“Before you storm away in high dudgeon, Mama, I suggest in the strongest terms you at least make yourself aware of what you are walking away from!”
The two stared back and forth, but Elizabeth had stared down misters Darcy and Bingley, and they were hardly the most frightening men she had ever dealt with. Her mother’s ire did not particularly impress her. For Mrs Bennet’s part, she found she did not like the hard as nails look her daughter had no-doubt learnt from her brother. To be honest, it frightened her just a bit,so she sat down with poor grace.
“Very well! You will make me suffer your opinion regardless, so we may as well get it over with.”
Elizabeth sighed in frustration, both at her mother’s inability to listen toone thingand then became even angrier when she saw her father smirking at the altercation as if it were the best entertainment he had seen in years (which might have been true).
Elizabeth stared at her sisters to ensure no interruptions, a trick thatmightget her another minute.
“Do you remember a few days ago when I told you for the thousandth time that you would not starve in the hedgerows… that your brother would not allow it, and that arrangements have already been made?”
Mrs Bennet seemed prepared to contradict her, but Elizabeth simply stared her down once more until she nodded resignedly.
“I will not explainwhyI can say this now, but the quality of your eventual situation after the demise of our father is not set in stone. You will not be left to starve, but you may be left to get by on the interest from your portion. That would allow you to live somewhat worse than Aunt Philips, particularly if you still have unwed daughters, but it hardly counts as starving. On the other hand, if you acquiesce to my suggestion today, then you might reside in comfort somewhere between Aunt Philips and Aunt Gardiner. It is entirely up to you which you get,but you have to decide NOW!”
They stared back and forth a few more times, but just before Mrs Bennet might have agreed or not, Mr Bennet weighed in.
“I am still the head of this household, Elizabeth, and I take exception to this line of discussion. We had an agreement!”
Everyone at the table snapped to attention, as none of them actually understood the agreement, or had even heard of it.
Elizabeth took it all in stride. “Yes, Father, wehadanagreement, but you have not kept your end of the bargain.”
There it was, out on the table and just waiting for his retaliation, which was not long in coming.
“The agreement was that I allow you to do as you will in London for six months of the year, and you do not interfere with how I educate my other daughters. You have exceeded your six months each of the past three years, so what makes you think you can change the terms at this late date? I could just as well assert you have not kept upyourend.”
Elizabeth knew he was just trying to get a rise out of her, so she did not take the bait.
“The agreement was that you wouldeducateyour daughters as you saw fit. You have not done so.”
“I dispute that, and even so, the crucial phrase in that agreement was,‘as I see fit.’”
“Once again, I dispute that. The key word is‘educate,’ and in that respect, you have not lifted a finger since I left at fifteen.”
Mr Bennet started to pound the table, but Elizabeth held her hand and barely managed to stop him.
“There is little to be gained by arguing the point. I will be gone tomorrow, and I have no plans to return. I will reach my majority during the next six months, and I will not return to Longbourn. As a very basic sign of respect, will you at least allow me to have my say. In exchange, I will say that when we leave this table, this family can accept or reject my proposed bargain, but either way, I shall never bring it up again.”
Everyone stared at her in shock. Nobody, not even Elizabeth, had ever challenged the patriarch in such a way at his own table, mostly because such challenges rarely ended well. The man mostly ignored them, but he could be vindictive when the mood struck. They were also stunned at Elizabeth’s assertion that she would never return. Such a thought had not occurred to a single person in the house.
Mr Bennet thought about it for some time, and finally asked, “Are you saying your influence on your uncle is such that you can convince him to reward or punish your mother at your whim?”
Elizabeth bit back the first retort that came to mind and did not like the taste of gristle that appeared on her tongue. The fifth thought did not go down much better, but she finally got her temper under control.
“I see you share a trait with Mrs Bennet. You like to see every statement in the worst possible light and wish to blamemefor the world’s ills. I will not dignify your assertion with an answer at this point. I will promise you a detailed answer in a fortnight, if you will but listen to my assessment and subsequent proposal.”
Everyone, even the supposedly educated patriarch, took far too long in Elizabeth’s opinion to grasp the essence of a simple statement. She ascribed it to indolence of thought but supposed it did not matter.
Mr Bennet finally said, “All right, we will hear you out.”
