An Agreeable Compromise by Jann Rowland

Author:Jann Rowland [Rowland, Jann]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: One Good Sonnet Publishing
Published: 2022-07-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter VIII

M eryton was not an exciting place. It was a small collection of weather-beaten buildings along a principal street which was still a dirt track rather than cobblestones, a street that became muddy and all but impassible when it rained. Even to the locals, there was little of interest in Meryton other than a few modest shops serving the surrounding gentlefolk, a small assembly hall set aside for their use, and the few relations one or another of the gentleman could boast among the townsfolk. Mr. Phillips, the town’s solicitor, and Mrs. Phillips, sister to the former Mrs. Bennet, were prominent among such connections.

Of little interest though it was, Meryton was the nearest village of any size in the neighborhood, close enough that the younger generation of gentlefolk often met there. No matter how many times they perused the shops and lamented as to the paucity of their wares, they kept returning, for ennui was a curious affliction. Of course, of late, the company of militia quartered in the town added to its appeal, such that one could not walk ten paces without encountering a pocket of red-clad officers, flirting with young maidens of the neighborhood. The officers were also popular among the more credulous of the young men of the district, who often listened to those intrepid adventurers’ stories, nary a thought of whether they were true passing through their minds.

The Bennet sisters were no less immune to the uncertain lure of Meryton than any other ladies in the neighborhood. They often walked thither, together or alone, visited with their aunt, or investigated the shops, breathlessly hoping their stock had somehow changed from the previous time they had entered. The Bennets were not as enamored with the officers as many others, as Jane was indifferent, Mary disapproving, and Elizabeth only interested insomuch as those fine fellows might provide new subjects for character study. The one Bennet sister, Kitty, who was inclined to give those gentlemen what they considered their due, was yet young, and her elder sisters, knowing her character, remained vigilant whenever she was in their company.

One could hardly remain unknown to the officers unless one completely eschewed the events of the neighborhood, for the homes of the local gentlemen teemed with red-coated men. A few among them Elizabeth found interesting, and she did not refrain from speaking to them when the opportunity arose. Such was the case a few mornings after Jane’s evening with the Bingley sisters.

That morning all four Bennet sisters agreed to walk to the town, and in this desire, Mr. Collins joined them. The parson, while they might rightly have thought his visit would be unendurable, had settled into the house, his time largely dominated by Mr. Bennet’s efforts to show him something of his future inheritance. Elizabeth sensed her father had grown fatigued with Mr. Collins’s company, and the parson, as he now did not look on his cousin’s daughters as potential brides, appeared to be suffering from a lack of anything with which to occupy himself.

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