Elizabeth Bennet's Impertinent Letter by JP Christy

Author:JP Christy [Christy, JP]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms
ISBN: 9781999620905
Goodreads: 40374296
Published: 2018-05-23T04:00:00+00:00

June 8, 1811

At breakfast, Lydia insisted she would not join her sisters for tea with Georgiana. “Those Darcys are the reason poor Wickham is gone,” she moaned as if this were fresh news.

Elizabeth exclaimed, “Lydia, stop, I beg you, before you drive us all mad! Your ‘poor Wickham’ has been proven a liar and a rogue. And consider this, even had he not deserted, he would be with the militia in Brighton and not with you in Meryton.”

“And I would be in Brighton, too, instead of Maria Lucas!”

“Would you, my dear?” Mr. Bennet asked, a steely undertone to his voice. “Have you some fortune or some other family who would bear the cost? I assure you this family would not.”

“Lydia, do you not feel you have sufficiently conveyed your disappointment?” Mrs. Bennet asked. “It is time you made yourself agreeable to the Darcys. A close friendship with Miss Darcy is certain to put you in the path of wealthy, eligible men.”

“Mama!” Elizabeth and Kitty exclaimed in unison.

Jane, in her usual measured tones, said, “We do not offer friendship in hopes of gain, Lydia. We do so because we enjoy each other’s company.”

“I do not enjoy their company,” Lydia snapped.

Jane said firmly, “You have behaved rudely from the moment Mr. Bingley and his party arrived. I am embarrassed by you and for you.”

Mary said, “As is written in Ephesians, ‘Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another.’”

Lydia, having chosen her role as Wickham’s defender, would not be swayed. “Mama, I do not wish to go to Netherfield. Please do not make me. Please.”

“A childish request from a girl who demands the privileges of both a young lady and an indulged toddler,” Mr. Bennet said. “Who exactly are you, daughter? If you wish to be out in society, you must participate in the responsibilities of that position. If you wish to cry off from adult company, you may stay at home.”

“Then I—” Lydia began, her tone defiant.

Mr. Bennet interrupted, “In which case, you will no longer be out.” Lydia glowered but made no further protests.

≈≈≈

As arranged for the afternoon, Mr. Bennet joined Bingley, Darcy, and Fitzwilliam on a riding tour of Netherfield’s grounds. When Darcy and Fitzwilliam rode ahead, he gestured for Bingley to remain.

Maneuvering his horse beside that of the older man’s, Bingley asked, “Is there something here to which I should be attending, sir?”

“No, sir, just to me.”

“I am all ears, sir.”

“Why are you here with me when you could be visiting Jane?”

Bingley had expected this. “I behaved foolishly last year, as you well know.”

“Oh? How so?”

“You are not going to make this easy for me, I see. Nor should you. I stupidly left here—left Miss Bennet—when I should have been steadfast in every sense of that word.”

“Why did you pay so much attention to Jane and then leave?”

“I had intended to be gone for only a few days, but I stayed away because I listened to my fears rather than my heart.

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