Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

A s rational as Elizabeth considered herself, the fifth time she refused a proposal of marriage, even she knew she had become a ridiculous creature. Her family agreed and acted to elaborate on their feelings. Mrs Bennet was the most voluble in her outrage, if nearly unintelligible in her accusations and invectives, and was soon helped to her bed before she could voice even more injurious thoughts and threats.

The drawing room had hardly grown quiet before Kitty and Lydia, who had deserted Elizabeth on Longbourn's drive to laughingly deliver the news of her newest thwarted proposal—stupidly announced to them by the affronted Mr Nugent—showed their true feelings.

"What is so wonderful about Lizzy that she captures the eye of every eligible man in Meryton?" said an astonished Lydia.

Kitty appeared even more indignant, stamping her foot angrily. "Papa, you should have made her marry Mr Collins so she could not interfere with our chances with any marriageable men who follow!"

"She shall make all of us appear uninterested in marriage!" cried Lydia.

"Now, now," said Mr Bennet, who seemed as distressed by the shrieking that pulled him from his book-room as he did by the news prompting it. "Unless she has determined herself as disinterested in husbands as Lizzy, Jane is to marry Mr Bingley." He looked to his eldest daughter, who sat beside Elizabeth, looking stricken. "Jane, you do not plan to jilt Mr Bingley, do you?"

"No, of course not," Jane replied almost sharply, her troubled expression turned to disbelief. "It is not the same circumstance at all, Papa."

Elizabeth gave her a grateful look before turning to her father. "Jane is right. Mutual love and misguided infatuation are quite different things."

His brows rose. "As is the life of a bitter spinster and that of a married woman, cared for by her husband and children. Not every lady gets to make the choice even once, let alone two or three times."

Such a cutting remark from her father should not have surprised her, but the hurt it caused did make Elizabeth catch her breath. Her sisters, however, continued to share their thoughts. Kitty seemed especially injured on behalf of the rejected suitor.

"Poor Mr Nugent. He is all that a gentleman should be!"

"He is short and fat," Lydia reminded her.

"But he makes up for it with his smile and fortune," insisted Kitty.

Lydia nodded vigorously. "Lizzy's refusal to marry will put off any worthy gentlemen from coming to Meryton!"

Although Jane did her best to quiet her youngest sisters, urging them to go to their mother and discuss their concerns, she and Mary appeared more mortified on Mr Nugent's behalf than accepting of Elizabeth's refusal. "He is young but he is a good man and you could improve each other's understanding and happiness," said Jane. "And our families would be further joined."

As if I should desire Caroline Bingley any nearer to me! Elizabeth composed herself before replying. "I wish a husband who is more than my equal, not a man in constant need of my advice and correction and my tolerance to set aside mistress duties for an invalid mother. Such a marriage can only lead to resentment and unhappiness."

"Would not love make for an easy patience?" asked Mary.

"Perhaps you want nothing but patience, but to call it by another name—hope—is misleading," said Elizabeth. "I am an imperfect creature who seeks a man who is at least somewhat less flawed."

Such an admission seemed to placate Mary, who had never claimed any wish to marry, but Jane appeared sad. "I did think you enjoyed Mr Nugent's company, Lizzy, but if he was not your ideal then you have done the right thing in refusing his suit. Still, he must be greatly disappointed."

Have I wronged Mr Nugent when even Jane believes me cruel in my understanding and acceptance of my future?

Elizabeth carried that feeling with her when her father called her to his book-room later that day . Mr Bennet, upon hearing Elizabeth's explanation of the dumbfounded gentleman she had denied the opportunity for her hand, did not smile. "Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then. It is something to think of, and gives her a sort of distinction among her companions. But you, Lizzy, have not been crossed. You have done the crossing."

Something in his voice alarmed her. His wit could be mean, but that he directed at her mother or Mrs Philips or Lydia and Kitty. Not at me.

"Most girls are accustomed to one offer, which they accept, gratifying the wishes of the young man and their families. One proposal per girl is the custom. But you, Lizzy, have had a surfeit of proposals?—"

"Papa, you cannot include youthful infatuations! I was a child when Mr Goulding and Mr Lucas made their ‘proposals'."

"Yes, and your mother reminds me that with a little effort, I could have held their fathers to those offers." His eyebrows rose. "She also reminds me that each of them will inherit a fine estate, and have since married or become betrothed to other of Meryton's finest jewels."

Elizabeth did not need reminding that Mr Goulding and Alice Welby had wed a month prior, and that Mr Lucas had returned to Meryton in January and quickly become engaged to Susan Nettles—to say nothing of Charlotte marrying Mr Collins.

"All your suitors are husbands now, Lizzy. Fool though he is, Mr Collins will inherit this fine estate, a fact your mother will bemoan daily until my merciful death allows me silence." He chuckled. "Never let it be said that Mrs Bennet of Longbourn does not have the finest memory in all of Meryton."

Never let it be said she does not have the noisiest grievances as well.

"Had her perception been sharper and kinder, Mama would have understood that Mary was the best match for Mr Collins." Elizabeth looked at her father, as she so often had in this room, hoping he would nod in agreement. He did not.

"What you escaped in a husband, I lost in a son-in-law who would have amused me for my life's duration. I feel his enmity is such that we may never again see him visit Longbourn until he is its master—not that I shall see him, of course."

When Elizabeth did not smile at his joke, Mr Bennet became more severe. "Until Mr Bingley came along, none of your sisters had received a proposal, not even when Lydia was eleven and sweet on Robert Millington. You, my dear girl, have received—and refused—five proposals from four young men."

"Two were mere boys ."

Shrugging, he sat back in his chair. "Your mother is rather cross. Do you understand her frustration?"

"Yes, Papa. I have ears and am fortunate she has not boxed them," she replied, unable to disguise her irritation. "As the object of her disdain, I am well aware. But you have met Mr Nugent."

"Yes, he has scarcely reached his majority, lives under the thumb of a bedridden mother and hypochondriac aunt, and can scarcely hold an intelligent conversation beyond horses and haberdashers. I must say, Lizzy, is Mr Collins the only fully grown man who has determined to have you?"

"You are inviting a conversation to amuse you and mortify me, and I have had enough of both already today."

He steepled his fingers, hiding his smile. "And an unwanted proposal. It was just the one, yes? Shall we expect another from Mr Nugent or will his attentions be directed elsewhere?"

She waved her hand. "If he could gain a friend of more gravitas, or a mentor less interested in discussing the latest fashion in cravats, I believe Mr Nugent could become a worthy husband for a less challenging lady. Over time, perhaps he would notice Kitty, who shares his interest in fashion and gossip and appears to admire him."

"Heaven help us if Kitty is as particular as you, but a little seasoning would likely help the both of them." He winked at her but his expression remained sober. "Mrs Bennet is overfull with the town's gossip, but even I have heard talk about your lack of interest in marriage."

"My lack of interest is in marriage to a fool or a child-man. I wish to respect my husband as a man of sense, strength, wisdom, and humour."

"And some fortune, I assume, lest you be scrubbing pots and pulling turnips alongside your farmer husband?"

At least he did not smile at his joke; it had scratched at her in a way she did not like.

"Lizzy, although you have long been the most sensible of my daughters?—"

"Am I no longer?"

"You are no Mary, who claims herself content to remain always at Longbourn, nor one of the silliest girls in England, but it is time to be sensible of your place in the world and ensure your future." Mr Bennet rubbed his eyes before giving her a look that exhibited his failing patience.

"I am loath to lose you, but it is time you take a husband. You have had more opportunities than any four women together can boast—proposals from two men of fortunes or income and whom you should not refuse, but have. Until now, though you are not of age, I have granted you the right to refuse an offer. With some six months until you reach your majority, that can no longer stand. You leave me little choice but to ensure your future and those of your sisters, at least two of them quite keen on this marriage business."

"Papa—"

"You must accept the next proposal of marriage that is made to you."

Suddenly cold, she gripped the arms of her chair. "You do not mean it! You would have me surrender my future and force my marriage to a scoundrel, a wastrel, a man I cannot like or respect?" She was at a loss for words. Her wit abandoned her, as it seemed her father had done.

"No scoundrels have yet courted you—I believe you too discerning to allow them near you." Mr Bennet shrugged. "But you must decide what you do like, and remain in company only with gentlemen whom you consider acceptable as a husband. It is easy enough to avoid men with horrid breath, bad teeth, and contrary dispositions—unless, of course, they are very rich."

She laughed but it was bitter. "I am certain to earn at least three more proposals with so little to be satisfied. "

"I did not wish Mr Collins as your husband but the foolish man is my heir. Mr Nugent is young and vain, but he claims a house in town and a decent income, making him an eminently suitable match for the daughter of a gentleman."

"He is a coxcomb, who laughs loudly and stares too much."

"Your liveliness commands attention, dear girl, and thus you are plagued by staring men."

She smiled tightly, almost too angry for tears. "And my wit condemns me to a horrible fate."

"Before you determined him not so terrible, I recall complaints about Mr Darcy's stares as well."

Yes, though not at my bosom, and not with his mouth agape.

"Perhaps you will encounter him at Jane's wedding, if he stands up with Bingley. Your mother may despise him, but ten thousand a year and a house in Mayfair would soften her opinion."

In an infuriating sign of dismissal usually reserved for Elizabeth's mother or sisters, Mr Bennet reached for his book. "Your last two proposals were only months apart, Lizzy. I am certain your next offer cannot be too far off."

An ultimatum! Never had her father delivered her such a blow! Only once had he scolded her, when as a child of four years she had pointed at an enormous wart on Mr Russell's nose and refused to eat the buns made by the elderly baker. She had embarrassed her father and Mr Russell, and gained a lesson in kindliness and propriety—one that two of her sisters certainly had not learnt. The way they had carried on, emphasising Mr Nugent's mortification rather than that felt by Elizabeth! These girls had no understanding of how it felt to win affections you could not reciprocate. Hardly affections—Mr Collins scarcely liked me; he wished to force me into his idea of the ideal wife.

Jane, who had been all understanding after the debacle with Mr Collins, continued to show undue dismay on the part of Mr Nugent. He would be her near relation, as cousin to Mr Hurst, but in her throes of happiness with Mr Bingley, could she not recognise the similarities between her betrothed and Mr Nugent? Mr Bingley remained a man quick to action and yet slow to correct his sister, as tranquil in the face of her vitriol as he was Mrs Bennet's fawning. Elizabeth liked Mr Bingley and admired his kind heart and joyful disposition, but could not enjoy his happy complacency.

Perhaps no man could escape the severity of her judgment, but she hoped to spare Mr Nugent's feelings and help preserve Jane's equanimity. She must leave Meryton, for a time, at least. The following morning, she returned to the book-room, where Mr Bennet sat with an expectant look.

"Well, Lizzy, have you used your prerogative and changed your mind on Mr Nugent?"

Irritated at once again being the object of her father's mean teasing, she fisted her skirt in her hands and presented the arch smile she knew he always enjoyed.

"What if there are more suitable men in the world beyond those who have offered for me in Meryton? Would it not be better for everyone that I remain unattached for them, for a man I can truly love and respect and who will give the same to me, and allow Jane her joy here, without such a capricious sister to mind?"

Her father agreed it wise to separate Elizabeth from her latest notoriety, and after reminding her of his stipulation, decreed she would go to London and stay with the Gardiners at Gracechurch Street, until joining Sir William and Maria on their visit to Charlotte in April.

There , Elizabeth promised herself, I shall avoid the company of all unmarried men.