Chapter 41

41

B ennet had prepared as best he could and spoken to Hill. Now Mrs. Bennet was sitting in his library, looking exceedingly suspicious. He leaned forward and took her hand.

"We need to speak of the militia, my dear, and how to keep our daughters safe."

"Oh, Mr. Bennet, it is too bad of you," she wailed. "My girls are good girls, and the officers are gentlemen. They cannot be as bad as people are saying. Why should my girls not have the opportunity to dance with them at lively balls and gatherings?" Once she began, she rarely stopped, but Bennet shook his head and raised his palm to stem the flow of words.

"Mrs. Bennet, you say the girls are good girls. Of course they are. But they are not trained to fight off a lecherous group of men — and militia officers are not gentlemen." He shivered ostentatiously. "I would hate it if one of them was compromised and ruined." He glanced up at her face.

"Especially now. If the family was ruined, Jane could not marry, and whichever girl it was might be forced to marry a cruel wastrel, who may be flogged and discharged without pay, opportunities or money. Our daughter would be in extreme difficulties, Mrs. Bennet. I do not wish that for any of our girls. Do you?"

"Well, of course not." Her handkerchief fluttered. "But the bad officers will not be here, will they? They will have been discharged, and the remaining men who have not behaved badly, should not be treated so ill as to not have the opportunity to dance with my girls."

Bennet tightened his grasp on her hand. "It was an armed revolt against their officers, my dear. They had provocation, so a number of them have been allowed to stay in the militia with a new chain of command above them. We know not who was prepared to slit their own officers' throat, but I would not want such a man meeting any of my daughters."

"But they have nothing to do here in the house, Mr. Bennet. It is making them fretful and they will not behave well at the wedding."

He nodded sympathetically. "I do understand you, my dear, and I hope you comprehend that what I am going to do is for their own benefit, and not in any way a punishment."

She looked at him through narrowed eyes. "What are you going to do?"

He stifled a sigh and stiffened his determination. He lifted her hand to his lips — hoping it would predispose her to listen more positively.

"I am going to send them to school, my dear — oh, do not worry, they will return here for Jane's wedding before returning to the safety of school, where they will stay until after the militia leave the town. It is the only way I can keep them safe." He met her gaze.

"I have also been considering sending Mary and Elizabeth to the Gardiners, again, returning for the day of Jane's wedding; but I am not certain Lizzy will agree to leave Jane for these last days she will have at home." He tightened his grip on her hand still more.

"We must keep them all safe." He smiled slightly. If Lizzy goes to town, it will keep her away from a suspicious Mr. Darcy.

His wife was fluttering her handkerchief. "I am sure it is a way of keeping them safe, but I do not want my Lydia taken from me."

"If an evil man ruined her, you would lose her to unhappiness her whole life, Mrs. Bennet."

"But how is it to be afforded? You always say the estate cannot afford me enough pin money."

He bowed his head. Perhaps he could ensure she thought better of her second daughter. "I cannot. But Elizabeth is also concerned for her sisters' safety, and I did not know that for some years she has been saving a little of her pin money for her future. She has offered her savings — her future — to help her sisters because she loves them dearly. Of course, it is not enough, but it has shamed me to make up the sum." He waved his hand. "I will sell some of my books."

He looked at her closely before adding the final temptation. "There will even be enough to send money with them to make a new gown each to wear at the wedding."

"Ohhhh." She was speechless — of course, that lasted only a moment. "New gowns! You are so good, Mr. Bennet! Oh, and Lizzy, too. How kind of her, I did not know she cared for them at all, she seems to rebuke them so often for their behaviour."

"She is kinder than I, Mrs. Bennet. I deplore their behaviour, too. But she loves them as her sisters, whatever their behaviour is." He rose to his feet.

"So we are agreed as to what is best for them, and I thank you, my dear, for agreeing that, rather than following your own inclination. It shows much courage." He smiled at her, knowing he would have to keep fostering her feelings for a while.

"Now, I will talk to the girls one at a time to explain it to them in a way so they can understand why it is necessary."

Bennet watched Kitty carefully. His fourth daughter sat twisting her handkerchief in her hands. That habit, copying her mother, might soon be a thing of the past. He hoped so, at least.

"So, you see, Kitty, how necessary it is, I am sure. But I have spoken to you before I speak to Lydia. Firstly, because you are older, and secondly, because you have a choice to make."

She looked up at him, her china-blue eyes puzzled. "I do?"

"Yes, you do." He reached out and took her hand. Kitty was the most fragile of his daughters, but also, in his mind, the most colourless, lacking in personality — or at least with the appearance of it, and guilt struck him anew. How he had neglected his later children, spiralling into indifference as each was born a daughter, and not the son he needed. He pulled his attention back to her.

"I am aware that Lydia has a stronger, more out-going personality, and that it is easier to follow her than to build your own life and interests, Kitty. So my preference is that you go to a different school, one where you can stand on your own feet, make your own friends, and discover your own interests and talents. If you go to the same school as Lydia, you will find it harder to make new friends, because Lydia will be a familiar figure and pull you along with her. But I am giving you the choice. If you want to go to the same school, then that is what you may do. If a different one, then that is what Lydia will be told I have decided."

Kitty's eyes were shining, but her words made it clear that she had really only heard one thing. "You said I might find my own interests and talents. Will they teach me to improve my drawing and painting?"

Bennet felt his eyes moistening. Why had he never taken notice of his younger children? They had not chosen to be born into this family, and he had failed them. He smiled at her and vowed to himself that things would change from this moment. After all, there was more money than Mrs. Bennet knew of.

"Yes, my dear. There will be art teachers at the school, and lessons in the subject. And even if you end up choosing to come home after the militia have left, then you may have an art master here, if that is your wish."

Her face fell. "Lydia laughs when I try to sketch, she says I am hopeless, so I would not be able to learn in front of her."

"You will now," he promised her. "I expect she laughs because she has no talent at it, and I will ensure she behaves better and more kindly in the future." He rose to his feet. "Now, Hill is packing your trunks, but I want you to go upstairs and choose a few last-minute things you will wish to add in the morning when I will escort you and Lydia to your chosen schools."

He watched Kitty leave the room with shining eyes, and turned towards the stairs to wait for Lydia. Hill knew to send her down as soon as Kitty appeared. Although he'd rather rest first, he did not want his youngest child hearing this from anyone else.

As she stomped down the stairs, her expression petulant, he knew he would have to sugar the news with the new gown and proper dancing lessons in a ballroom. He had chosen her school carefully — until he had seen the fees; but then Elizabeth had appeared with the solution, and he was glad of it. Lydia was most in need of consistent, firm, management. He was sorry he had not done her the favour of it when she was younger and would have found it easier. But what was done was done, and she would now find herself learning to regulate her behaviour.