Chapter 15

Five years later…

London, November 1859

Lydia Bennet fiddled with a button on her sleeve as her carriage travelled through Cheapside to the home of her new Greek tutor. Her maid Jemima travelled with her; the girl's nose buried in one of the novels Lydia encouraged her to read. A lady or even a man of her position might usually expect a tutor to travel to them, but when she had declared her intention to begin learning the language, her brother Will had been insistent on recommending a particular teacher.

"He's eccentric, and he won't come to you, but Mr Carter is the best," insisted Darcy. "I travelled to him for help with my Greek as often as possible when I was at Cambridge. The man is grumpy, and you may have to put up with some peculiar manners, and a weekly journey to the far end of Cheapside, but you won't find a better instructor."

Lydia was used to peculiar manners, considering the company she had kept over the last five or six years. When she had returned to Pemberley in the year 54 after travelling with Georgiana and Vivian to Paris, she had only partially gone back to her old routines. Elizabeth had been persuaded to hire Joan as the permanent manager of the hotel, and although Lydia travelled there to assist in the spring to prepare for the upcoming summers for two years, the hotel did not really need her anymore, though it had exceeded all of Elizabeth's expectations, put Sanditon on the map, made Mr Farinacci even more famous, and Mr Tom Parker wealthy indeed. There was no more need to fear for Sanditon any longer. The future of the little seaside resort was assured. Kitty was even outfitting a house for a third doctor.

Instead, she had split her time betwixt her sisters and mother, visiting here and there, when she was not travelling to advise businessmen on the opening of their new hotels across England, and to consult on the planning of many enormous notable events that were held in the massive ballrooms of said hotels.

Lifestyles and industries were changing and growing all across Her Majesty's kingdom. Tradesmen were becoming fabulously wealthy, travel was becoming faster, safer, and more convenient. People of all ranks were keen to move about and see the world, and when they did so, they wanted to do it in style.

After assisting in the planning of several enormous society weddings and events at some of the most exquisite locations in the kingdom, locations that were exquisite because of her expertise, Lydia was known among the nobility as the premier advisor of all things fashionable, having advised on the decor in at least a room or two of most fashionable houses in London.

In addition, Lydia was a champion of education for women, and was not only a patron and on the board of two women's colleges, but also member of a number of educational societies. At six and twenty, she still devoted a great deal of attention to her own studies.

Between the eccentric elite of society, the new ideas of the men and women coming up in trade, and the forward views of the academics she surrounded herself with, Lydia was no stranger to peculiar behaviour. Indeed, she was known for eccentricity herself, and it had been some time since the suitors of the ton had troubled her. She had made it patently clear to society over the years that she enjoyed her life as it was, and that only an extraordinary man would ever turn her head. The men of London had long since stopped trying, though no one dared to apply the word spinster to the notoriously fashionable Lydia Bennet.

As the carriage travelled deep into the heart of Cheapside, much farther than her aunt and uncle's old house, Lydia thought of the elderly man who would teach her Greek. She had visited last week with Will, but this would be her first visit alone. Will had warned her that Mr Carter was cantankerous and grouchy, but brilliant at explaining the complexities of the Greek language. During their visit, Mr Carter had been a bit gruff, but hopefully he would not be truly unpleasant, she reflected as she watched the street life of Cheapside through the window.

The carriage finally came to a stop, and as the footman handed her down, the front door of the house opened, and what appeared to be a whirling dervish emerged, fleeing down the stairs in a blur of dark blue, and collided with her. "See here now, watch where you're going!" her footman John objected, ready to defend her. John had been Lydia's personal footman since Wilson hired him in Sanditon. An enormous man, he was well trained by Miss Carmichael, and took Lydia's protection seriously.

The dervish stopped short. "I beg your pardon, I could not get out of that house fast eno- well, as I live and breathe, if it is not Lydia Bennet!" A tall man in a naval uniform bowed deeply in front of her.

"Dorian Goulding? Can it really be you?" Lydia cried, throwing her arms about his neck. Dorian Goulding was the cousin of her neighbours, and had been Mr Goulding's ward. He had been a favourite of Mr Goulding's mother, who wished to see him become a solicitor, but sadly, when the dear old lady died, Mr Goulding had run short of kindness. Dorian had just turned seventeen and instead of sending him to Cambridge after he returned from Eton as he had promised, Mr Goulding purchased the boy a naval commission, and sent him away.

Lydia had been heartbroken. He was three years her senior, the first young man she had ever danced with, and she had been crazy about him. It was her broken heart, she remembered, that had driven her to chase red coats as if she did not care any longer when he had gone.

"Indeed, it is, Miss Lydia! Or should I call you…" the young man trailed off.

"It is Miss Bennet now," Lydia confirmed.

"Ah, so much for being the first of your sisters to wed!" he laughed.

"That is because I've been waiting all these years for you to keep your promise, Dorian Goulding!" Lydia poked him in the chest, laughing.

"Ahhhhh, sweet Lydia… If only I had gone to read the law…" the gentleman laughed. "It is Captain Goulding now, though I will soon resign my commission."

"I congratulate you. How do you come to be visiting Mr Carter? Are you learning your Greek?" Lydia asked pleasantly.

Suddenly Captain Goulding's expression turned cold. "And if I was? Am I not entitled to my education, though my uncle did not agree? Or do you think a common sailor is beneath such considerations?"

Lydia started, taken aback by his sudden change of demeanour. "Certainly not, considering that I, a woman, who many would consider beneath such considerations, am here for the same purpose," she chided.

A chastened expression appeared on the captain's countenance. "Miss Bennet, I apologise. As you can see, I have become a barbarian in my time in Her Majesty's navy."

"That is quite all right. I too, am accustomed to such prejudices, but as you can see, I do not allow them to prevent me from attending to self-improvement," Lydia replied.

"So much for learning all you need by fourteen!" he laughed.

"You were right, it was intolerably boring," Lydia admitted, laughing out loud.

"Where are you staying?" inquired Goulding.

"With my sister Elizabeth at Pemberley House in Mayfair," Lydia answered. "You should pay us a call. Kitty and Mary, that is, Mrs Brandon and Mrs Fitzwilliam, they are in town with their families, and would be glad to see you above anything."

"I met Elizabeth once or twice in the summer, during her visits. She was a bit older than us as I recall. Are you certain your sister would not mind?" asked Goulding thoughtfully.

"She is Lady Darcy now," Lydia informed him,

" The Lady Darcy, who builds all of Her Majesty's ships?" asked Goulding. "Are you certain she would welcome a call from a common sailor?

"The very same," Lydia confirmed. "And she welcomes any caller that brings her family joy."

"Well, I certainly hope my coming might bring you joy, Miss Bennet," said the young captain in a deep voice, bending his head low to her.

Lydia blushed deeply, something she had not done in many years, "Above anything," she repeated, gazing into the most enchanting brown eyes that she had thought never to look into again. ‘ Please do not be in love with someone else …' the thought intruded into her mind. Suddenly her heart was racing, and she was fourteen all over again. Abruptly, from nowhere, she felt the sharp pain that she had experienced when she had heard he was gone from her, perhaps forever, and could not tell if she were about to laugh or cry. ‘ Oh dear ,' she thought to herself. ‘ Get ahold of yourself, Lydia !'

She jumped as the door opened behind Goulding, and Mr Carter's voice rang out sharply, "Well Missy, in or out!"

"I beg your pardon, I must go!" Lydia blurted out as she curtsied and turned away quickly. ‘ I must get away before I say or do anything stupid !'

"I shall call on your sister's house!" Captain Goulding called out as she hurried inside. She turned and waved, feeling like a complete lunatic, then jumped a moment later as Mr Carter slammed the door behind her and her maid.

Lydia stood there in the hall, trying to regain her composure, as the elderly man inspected her closely. "Are you ill?" Mr Carter asked sharply.

"No, I…" ‘ Yes ,' Lydia thought to herself. ‘ I need to go home before I go mad !' "I suddenly have a headache."

"You look flushed," the old man said, peering at her closely. "Go home. Come back next week if you have not died."

"Yes, sir. I beg your pardon for the waste of your time. Of course I shall pay for the session," Lydia replied, mildly amused at his manner.

The old man waved a hand as he opened the door to let her out again. Captain Goulding was mercifully gone from the street, and John and the driver jumped into action as she descended the stairs.

She had no idea how she managed it. Somehow, she held it together all the way home. She made not a whimper in front of her maid, who nonetheless was not stupid, and said nothing the entire ride, sensing that her mistress did not wish to talk.

*****

She made it all the way into the house and nearly to the stairs, when Elizabeth's voice called out as Lydia passed the drawing room. "Whatever are you doing home so soon? Is everything alright?"

Lydia stopped and sighed and turned back to the drawing room, where Elizabeth was taking tea with Mary and Kitty, who had come for the afternoon to help Elizabeth plan a charity function. As she entered the room, her sisters could immediately see that all was not well. "Is everything alright, Lyddie?" Elizabeth asked again gently.

"Lydia, what has happened?" asked Kitty, standing and coming to Lydia and taking her hands. They could all see that their sister was deeply upset, and Lydia was never so.

"I saw Dorian Goulding today," Lydia said simply.

"Oh, Lydia…" Kitty replied comfortingly, as Lydia threw herself into her sister's arms and wept every tear she had ever shed for Dorian Goulding all over again.

"Is he married?" Mary asked a quarter hour later when Lydia had cried herself out.

"Or engaged?" Kitty said.

I do not know. I do not believe so," answered Lydia.

"Is he a chimney sweep? Or on trial for murder?" chimed in Elizabeth.

Lydia giggled, "Of course not!"

"Well then, anything else can be managed, I am sure," Elizabeth teased.

"He is a naval captain," Lydia informed them.

"I did always wonder what happened to him. Ella said he never wrote," Mary mused. "Does he look well?"

‘ Does he ever ,' Lydia thought, blushing hotly.

"I think we can safely say that he looks very well." Kitty smiled.