Prude & Prejudice

by Francene Carroll

  “I have to give my speech in a minute,” she heard him say. “Would you help that young lady over there with the platters?” The man glanced at her briefly before turning away.

  “Do you mean Prudence?” he said, and she could hear the smirk in his voice. “I’m not in the habit of assisting the hired help, especially young ladies with names like Prudence Higginbottom. Besides that, she’s not exactly a delicate flower. Look at the size of her arms, I bet she has more upper body strength than me.” Prue could barely believe what she was hearing. Just who exactly did this man think he was, speaking about her so rudely, and within earshot? Even if her uniform was highly unflattering and made her look like the size of a small truck, that gave him no right to insult her so openly. He was obviously an arrogant pig and any other circumstances she would have told him exactly what she thought of him. As it was she had to bite her tongue and pretend she had heard nothing

  Two hours later she was still fuming over his rude comments as she cleared away the last of the leftovers. Although the function was over, quite a few people still lingered in the room, and she noticed a small group gathered around the man she now knew for a fact was William Darling. They were all listening to him intently and she moved in closer to find out what he was pontificating about. What she heard caused her to cover her mouth in shock.

  “They come to this country and take jobs from hardworking people. They are destroying our traditions and our ways of life and they need to be stopped. We need to send a message loud and clear that we do not want their kind around here. I think it’s getting to the point now where we have to take some kind of action against them. Governments are not listening and before long it will be too late.”

  Prue knew several people who held similar views on immigration, including a few in her own family, but to hear someone speak so vehemently against it at a business function was truly shocking to her. The kind of sentiments William Darling was expressing would not have been out of place at a British National Party meeting. What was even more shocking was that all of the people around him were smiling and agreeing with every word he spoke. In her experience those involved with organic products tended to be quite liberal in their political orientation, but apparently not in this organization.

  “As you know, that’s one on the reasons I wanted to come here, to start a grassroots movement with others who think like us. People in the city don’t care as much, but out here they are closer to the old ways and they can see what is happening to this country. I know Charles doesn’t agree with me, but it’s heartening to see how many of you are prepared to join the fight.”

  So it seemed William Darling was not only rude and arrogant, he was also a racist fool who stood for everything Prue despised. She was relieved to know that at least Charles Bradley did not share his views, but it was a small consolation when Darling had just announced his plans to ferment racial intolerance and hatred in their peaceful little town. She made a vow then and there that she would do everything in her power to stop him and expose him for the ugly xenophobe that he was.

  ****

  “You’re very quiet tonight, Prue,” said Cate as they set the dinner plates down for the evening meal. “Is everything okay?”

  “I’m fine, just a bit tired, that’s all. I wish I could stay here tonight. but I told Bob to take the day off tomorrow. I’ll have to be home to feed the animals in the morning.” Mary was the only daughter who still lived with their parents in the house attached to the café, but it was not uncommon for the other girls to spend the night there. They had grown up on a large rural property just outside town, but when Thomas Higginbottom retired while Prue was at university he had wanted something else to occupy him. That’s when the family had hit on the idea of opening a café’ together, and Prue had moved back to Merryton to join them after she’d completed her degree. At first she had lived in town, but she found that she missed the wide open spaces too much, and not long afterwards she brought her cottage and fulfilled her dream of running a small organic farm.

  “What did you think of Charles Bradley and William Darling?” asked Cate.

  “I thought Charles Bradley was very nice and he really seemed to be quite taken with you, but the other one is incredibly rude and arrogant. He definitely does not live up to his name because there’s nothing darling about him. I hope I don’t have to have any dealings with him in the future because I don’t know if I can be civil to him.”

  “I must say I agree with you on this one, the man was very rude,” said Mrs Higginbottom, catching the end of their conversation as she came into the kitchen. Mary was not far behind her.

  “Who’s rude?” she said, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table.

  “Why, that Mr Darling,” replied Mrs Higginbottom, picking up a spoon and serving food onto the plates Prue and Cate had laid out. “I don’t think he spoke a word to anyone all day. Every time I saw him he was moping in a corner by himself. I asked him a question once and he could barely bring himself to speak to me. Mary, go and call your father and let him know dinner’s ready.”

  “Oh, he spoke alright,” said Prue, sitting down at the table. “Mr Bradley asked him to help me with a platter and he mocked my name and then refused to assist the hired help. Those were his exact words. He said I wasn’t a delicate flower and could manage on my own.” She shot her mother a dirty look. “I told you I looked like an elephant in that jacket.”

  “Who had the nerve to say such a nasty thing about my Prue?” said Mr Higginbottom as he joined them. “I have a good mind to go around and teach him some manners.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” said Mrs Higginbottom. “We need that business. They’ve already booked us for two more functions and Mr Bradley also wants us to cater a private party at his house in a couple of weeks. Prue will just have to live with it.”

  “That’s not all I heard him say. He’s also a complete racist. After you had all left and I was cleaning up I heard him talking about immigration and how it’s destroying this country. He said it was time for ordinary people to stand up and take action, and he wants to start a grassroots movement in this town.”

  “Oh my god,” said Cate. “That’s a worry. I hope Charles doesn’t feel the same way.”

  “He said Charles didn’t agree with him, but everyone else there seemed to. The last thing we need is people like that stirring up trouble around here.”

  “Just because someone doesn’t agree with immigration, it doesn’t make them a racist,” said Mrs Higginbottom primly. “I’m proud to be British and if I think my country and values are being threatened, then I’ll jolly well speak up about it.”

  “Oh no, here we go,” said Mary, rolling her eyes. “Can I be excused?”

  “No, you cannot. What kind of world do we live in where people can’t express their opinions in their own homes? Its political correctness gone mad, that’s what it is.”

  “My dear,” cut in Mr Higginbottom, “If you read anything besides gossip magazines, you might realize that the history of the human race is the history of immigration. People have always moved around the globe extensively and the kind of national pride you express is a very recent thing, which in my opinion is exploited by politician’s and shock jocks for their own nefarious ends.”

  “What about all those immigrants causing trouble, refusing to assimilate and living off the government? Most of them don’t even come here legally. Why do we have to put up with them? You know they form their own ghettoes where decent people are too afraid to walk. They bring their problems here and get involved in crime and destroy the fabric of our society. Send them back to where they came from, that’s what I say, otherwise this country will soon be in even worse shape than it is now.”

  “It’s not that simple mother. Many of the people who come here are highly skilled and help the economy, not to mention all the international students and the money they bring to the country. The ones that aren’t skilled need support through English classes and job progra
ms to help them find work, and it’s not just immigrants that need these things either. There are many young people out there who feel like they have no future. All the services they need are being cut, and when trouble inevitably happens it’s easier to blame immigrants and stir up race hate than to deal with the real problems. People like you just play straight into the politicians’ hands.”

  “You and your radical ideas, Prue, they’ll be the death of me. I know where they came from too, your father. I should never have let him indoctrinate you girls when you were too small to know any better. Young people with no hope for the future! Now I’ve heard everything. More like too lazy to do a day’s work. They expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter and when it’s not they go on a rampage and destroy the property of those who have worked their fingers to the bone for everything they have.”

  “Things have changed since your day, Mum,” cut in Cate. “Many kids have grown up in households with no role models and they have no one to teach them what it means to have a work ethic. Drugs are much more easily available and there aren’t enough jobs to go around. They are harassed by the police…..”

  “My day, let me tell you about my day…,” interrupted their mother.

  “Seriously, can I be excused?” said Mary.

  “No! My generation knew the meaning of hard work, and earning a pound. We didn’t expect a government handout. We got off our bums and worked hard for a living, and now you want to tell me that these immigrants and lazy young people shouldn’t have to do the same? It’s a joke what is happening in the world, and I for one am more than happy to stand up for basic decency and old-fashioned Christian values.”

  Even though Prue had sat through her mother’s lectures on many occasions and knew her political opinions well, she had already bitten her tongue once that day and she was not prepared to do it again.

  “You sound exactly like Mr Darling,” she yelled. “Why don’t you go and join his grassroots movement? You can harass the Singh family and drive out the Nguyen’s while you’re at it for destroying your precious British values. It’s high time we had a bit of racial intolerance around here, it will do wonders for the town. Maybe a lynch mob or two would liven things up a bit as well.”

  “Now you’re just being silly. You know the Singh’s make delicious curries, and the Nguyen’s are very nice people. She always stops for a chat and her English is impeccable.”

  “So how do you think they will feel if people start banging on about the evils of immigration? How long till it gets violent and ugly? Hatred breeds hatred, Mother, and I have news for you, you don’t own this country. Just because some accident of fate you were born here it doesn’t give you the right to decide that other people don’t belong here and to get all up in arms because they don’t speak English on the train. You’re just like those horrible women I saw on Youtube. You really make me sick and at times like this I’m ashamed to be your daughter.”

  “Come on, Prue, I think that’s enough,” said her father. “Whatever your mother thinks, she’s still entitled to her opinion, and you need to show some respect under this roof.”

  “She can express her opinion all she likes under this roof, because I’m leaving.” With that she got up from the table and stomped across the kitchen to grab her coat from the rack near the door.

  “At least stay and finish you dinner,” called Cate after her.

  “I’ve suddenly lost my appetite.”

  “Thank you very much for informing me about Mr Darling’s grassroots movement, Prudence,” said Mrs Higginbottom in her sweetest voice. “It sounds very interesting and I will definitely be looking into joining it. It’s about time someone was prepared to stand up for what is right around here.” Her mother always had to get the last word in and Prue knew her only response was to slam the door shut behind her.

  ****

  Prue pulled up in the drive of her cottage twenty minutes later, but instead of getting out of the car she stayed seated for a few moments and took some deep breaths to calm herself. Despite the frequent provocations she endured from her mother, she usually managed to keep her cool, but tonight was different. She was still smarting from William Darling’s rude comments about her appearance, and she was also deeply concerned about the conversation she had overheard. Her mother’s prejudices just added to her fears that his ideas might catch on. If he was creating tensions in her own family already she could only imagine what would become of their peaceful little town if his grassroots movement took hold.

  “Damn that man,” she said as she got out of her car and slammed the door closed. The deep breaths in the car had not done much to quell her anger but as the darkness and silence of the countryside enveloped her she began to relax a little. The rhododendrons in the garden were blooming and their sweet scent mingled with the fragrance of freshly turned earth drifting from the plot where she had planted some green beans a few days earlier. Instead of going straight to the house she wandered through the garden, with only the moonlight to guide her, checking on the animals and topping up their water bowls. By the time she let herself inside she was feeling much better, but even after a glass of wine, she still could not get William Darling out of her head completely. With her cat Muppet curled up on her lap, and her Labrador Sunny at her feet, she spent the next hour chatting with friends online and updating her profile on various sites. She was about to shut her computer down and turn in for the night when it occurred to her that she could do a search on William Darling to find out more about him.

  Feeling a little like a stalker she typed his name into a search engine and then trawled through the results. There were many other people with the same name, and although she eventually managed to locate a couple of his social networking profiles, they all had maximum privacy settings, and she could find nothing at all about his political views. She was about to give up when she came across a site called CheatingDirtyBastards.com, and when she clicked on the link, the photo that appeared on her screen left no doubt he was the person being referred to. He was at what appeared to be a work function with an attractive dark-haired woman, but from the comments written about him by Georgina Wickham, it was evident it had not ended well between them.

  William Darling is a director of a company called Organic Feasts. I worked with him as his assistant for three months before we started an affair. He was engaged at the time but that did not stop him trying to hit on me every day until I gave in. His fiancé’ eventually found out about us and called off the engagement. It was obvious he was a cheater and a liar, but unfortunately for me I fell in love with him. He told me he loved me too and we began dating properly but it did not take long for him to lose interest in me. A new girl started who caught his eye, and then I was the one playing second fiddle. I don’t think she was the only one either, she was just the only one I found out about. I lost my job when he dumped me and have not worked since because he wouldn’t even give me a reference. This man has no integrity whatsoever. Stay away from him if you know what’s good for you.

  So not only was he an arrogant racist, he was a cheater too. Prue did not know exactly what use she would make of this information but it was very handy to have. It was an excellent indication of his character and gave her a weapon against him if his grassroots movement took off. She wondered if the woman knew that his actions were illegal in sacking her over an affair? He could be taken to court and sued for a lot of money if her allegations stood up in court. Her mood was much lighter as she turned off the computer and got ready for bed.

  Prue slept surprisingly well that night after the argument with her mother, and she was up at the crack of dawn the next day to work on the farm. After collecting the eggs and milking the cow, she fed the other animals and did some weeding. She had hired a few retired men from the village to help her out with chores around the place, and they did much of the planting, ploughing and crop rotation. The farm was still quite small, but demand was growing and she was looking at expanding in the near futur
e. She could not afford to pay the men much, but she let them take as much produce home as they wanted, and they were happy to have something productive to do with their spare time.

  Bob Shippley was a former farmer and an endless source of advice and help for her. Over the last year he had also become a good friend. He turned up early to do some weeding that morning, even though she had told him to take the day off. Prue stood up as he approached and wiped the sweat from her brow.

  How are you today?” he asked.

  “A bit tired, we had a big function to cater yesterday.”

  “Was it for those new folks in town, in the old bank building?”

  “Yes, it was their official opening party.”

  “Organic products distributors aren’t they? You must have a lot in common with them.”

  “Not as much as you might think.”

  “I ran into one of them the other day at the markets actually. I think he said he was a director, the name was William something or other. We got talking and he had some really interesting ideas.”

  The last thing Prue wanted was to hear about was anymore of William Darling’s ideas. It was bad enough that her own mother agreed with them. Here, in the sanctity of her own home she should not have to be exposed to his poisonous beliefs.

  “Sorry, Bob, but I don’t have any interest whatsoever in that man’s ideas, and if you don’t mind, can you please not mention him to me again?”

  “Done something to get on your bad side has he?”

  “There are some things about him that I can’t tell you, but let’s just say he’s not a trustworthy person.” Prue knew it was wrong to spread rumours based on online gossip, but you had to fight fire with fire.

  “I see. Well he seemed like a nice enough fellow to me, but if you say he’s not trustworthy then I believe you. I know you wouldn’t say that for no reason.”