Page 30 of Till Death Us Do Part
Both Bingleys thought a few minutes, and then Charles answered for them.
“It is hard to say, Darcy. Anne and I are so different that we fit together like two adjacent puzzle pieces. You and Miss Elizabeth…”
Darcy finished the thought for him, saying emphatically, “Arenotthat.”
Bingley said, “Perhaps you can still salvage it. You have to try.”
He sighed. “I will, but… after I return from France.”
Bingley said, “Do not wait too long. Sometimes the ship sails without you.”
13.Desperate Times
“Lizzy, when are you going to tell us about your adventure? How far did you get?”
Everyone at the dinner table gasped and stared at Lydia in surprise and varying degrees of consternation.
Lydia was unperturbed. “Do not stare at me like that. I may be a nick-ninny, and of course, you all know Kitty and I are two of the silliest girls in the country; but I am not completely stupid. I made sure the servants were gone before I said anything.”
Elizabeth said not a thing but stared at her sister in shock.
Mrs Bennet started speaking, but Mr Bennet over-spoke her violently. “Lydia, what are you going on about. Your sister was—”
Before he could even get his excuse out, Lydia huffed.
“All right! Pretend we did not work it out, but do you seriously expect me believe Lizzy went on a trousseau shopping excursion for a week without Mama or any of her sisters—not even Jane?”
Bennet grumbled. “Her mother, her sisters, and even my own self, are in her brown books, Lydia. It is perfectly sensible.”
“Ha! So where is whatever she bought?”
Bennet snapped back, “Where any sensible person would put it—awayfrom prying eyes and grasping fingers.”
Lydia just huffed and replied in a bit of an impertinent singsong tone. “All right, I will play your game and tell everyone in the world that Lizzy was trousseau shopping.” Then she rolled her eyes violently. “They will believe me, mostly because everyone thinks I’m too dumb to lie successfully, but—”
“No buts—” Bennet snapped.
Lydia continued without slowing or paying the slightest attention to her father (as usual).
“But, really, why is it so terrible if Lizzy ran away. I do not blame her one whit. It is not as if she likes dour Mr Darcy. Even if he is rich, he does not hold a candle to a red coat, and if she wants to run away fromthissilly family, she should run away. You are all worse than Mary—all worried about ourreputations, as if that will make the slightest difference in our prospects. There are no marriageable men in this accursed village anyway.”
Everyone was struck dumb by the reply, and Elizabeth wondered just what kind of mayhem would ensue when her letter arrived in a few days.
She had taken dinner in her room the previous evening when Mr Baker returned her to Longbourn, not even bothering to speak to anyone at all after the tremendous row with her father. Most of her sisters had either been told to leave her alone, or they had enough sense to avoid walking into a room full of gunpowder carrying a burning torch. The next day, she breakfasted early and retired to her room again.
The day passed miserably, and she would have called for a tray yet again, but her father put his foot down for once in his life, and insisted she eat with the family to preserve what little was left of her standing among the servants. He reckoned there was entirely too much gossip floating around already and prayed that his fabrications would hold over the much more rational explanation that his stubbornest daughter just did not want to marry Darcy.
Elizabeth kept silent, not speaking a word other than asking for things or the barest of civilities. Mrs Bennet kept trying to speak to her, but so far, she had not answered her mother with even a single word. She tried to imagine the rest of the time waiting for the dreaded event, and was just making an estimate of how long she would hold out before throwing a screaming fit over her mother’s silliness.
Lydia’s comment snapped her out of that downward spiral, and she stared at her sister for a minute, waiting for the small row between her father and her youngest sister to subside.
When Lydia paused to scoop more food onto her plate, Elizabeth said, “Thank you, Lydia. Those are the first supporting words I have heard in this entire debacle. I confess that I, like our indolent father, previously did consider you quite silly, but I can see you at least have a head on your shoulders, and I thank you for your support.”
Lydia’s head snapped around to stare at her sister, surprised by the statement. It might have qualified as the nicest thing anybody other than her mother had ever said to her. She smiled, and began to speak, but Elizabeth held her hand for silence.
“Yes, Lydia, I do appreciate it, but let me ask you one thing, if I may.”
Lydia looked at her suspiciously, but then giggled, “Of course, Lizzy.”
