by Lauren King
Mrs. Gardiner tries to calm Mildred so Mildred can reveal whatever she saw yesterday afternoon. “Mildred, do not cry; just tell me what you saw. I just need to know the truth. If you did not take the brooch, then do not worry. You know me to be fair and reasonable; I will not blame you for something you did not do. Now, what did you see yesterday afternoon?”
“Mrs. Gardiner, I want to keep my job, please. I do not want to be thrown in prison for something I did not do. Please, ma’am.” Mildred begs excruciatingly.
“And you will keep your job here; I will not throw you in prison or dismiss you for nothing. Is someone threatening you?” Mrs. Gardiner asks impatiently. She has to get Mildred to reveal this secret.
“Ye…yes, ma’am….” Mildred continues to sob as she covers her face with her hands; her body shakes and trembles with fear.
“Who, Mildred?” Mrs. Gardiner tries a different tactic to ease Mildred’s mind. “I would like for you to help me find Mrs. Darcy’s ruby brooch, Mildred. The entire family has been looking for it, and we have not been able to find it. Now, if you know something that could help us, then would you not want to help? If its disappearance is not your fault, then you have nothing to worry about with me or Mr. Gardiner. We like your work here. Do not be afraid; just tell me. I could help you if someone is threatening you. You live under my roof; Mr. Gardiner and I will protect you.”
“Mrs. Gardiner…” Mildred sobs uncontrollably.
“Come now; take a breath and tell me.” Mrs. Gardiner consoles the young girl. Her own worry and impatience is cornering her, causing her much grief.
“I am afraid, ma’am.” Mildred continues to cry and tremble while looking down at her shoes and hugging herself.
“I will help you; truly, I will. You will be helping us, greatly. That brooch is very expensive and my family will have to pay for it if we cannot find it. We do not have that kind of spare money, Mildred. I need your help. Will you help me?” Mrs. Gardiner asks calmly.
Mildred nods and sniffles as she replies, “Yes, ma’am.” She wipes her eyes with the back of her sleeves before revealing what she saw. “When everyone was at Miss Elizabeth’s – I mean Mrs. Darcy’s wedding – I went to all the chambers to pick up any soiled linens for the wash. When I reached Miss Bennet’s and Mrs. Darcy’s chambers the door was slightly opened. I had to shift some of the clothes I had onto my left arm so that I could use my right arm to pick up anything else I might find in Miss Bennet’s room. As I stood there doing that, I saw…”
“What did you see, Mildred?” Mrs. Gardiner inquires eagerly.
“I saw…” Mildred sniffles.
“What, Mildred?” Mrs. Gardiner inquires impatiently.
“I saw…Mrs. Denny putting on the brooch, so I did not open the door. She put on the brooch and looked at herself in the looking glass. I wanted to give her some privacy, so I turned quickly to leave. I think she heard me rustling outside the chamber door, so she came outside after me as I walked away from Miss Bennet’s chambers. She told me that she was just trying on the jewelry for fun. She said she put everything back already, so I better not say anything to anyone or else she will have me dismissed, and she will tell you that I stole the jewelry. Then she walked passed me into her chambers. I swear, Mrs. Gardiner; I did not go back into Miss Bennet’s chambers after that. I was so scared.” Mildred sobs again with her face covered by her hands.
Mildred continues when Mrs. Gardiner compassionately pats her back to calm her a bit. “That was the only time I saw the ruby brooch, ma’am. I never saw it again. I was very scared to be up near the family chambers so I have not been back up there since that time. I know nothing of it being missing until you asked me about it just now. I swear to you on my life; I did not take it, ma’am. You can search all of my belongings if you want, ma’am. I would not do such a thing; I would not.” Mildred’s sobs cannot be held back; she is going to be thrown in prison for stealing. Only God can help her now. Please, God! Please, she is not lying!
Mildred prays that Mrs. Gardiner will keep her word about protecting her. Mrs. Deny is Mr. Gardiner’s niece, so they will protect her; Mildred is certain of it. Oh God; what will happen to her? Where will she find another decent job as this one if she is not thrown into prison? Mrs. Denny is an awful person to threaten her like this. She never did anything to Mrs. Denny to garner her hatred this way. Mrs. Denny must be the one that took Mrs. Darcy’s brooch if it is missing now. Mrs. Denny is probably very angry with not going to Mrs. Darcy’s wedding so maybe that is why Mrs. Denny took the brooch. Who knows about these richer people; Mildred just does not want to be dismissed for something she did not do.
“Mildred, you are certain that you saw Mrs. Denny put on the ruby brooch?”
“Yes, ma’am because the red stood out against Mrs. Denny’s light colored dress that she had on.” Mildred prays that she will not get into any kind of trouble for this.
Mrs. Gardiner is shocked that this could be true of Lydia. However, it does fit her personality to do something like this. She does not want to think ill of her husband’s nieces but with everything that has occurred between Lydia and Elizabeth, this is not too farfetched. Furthermore, Lydia and Sergeant Denny are strapped for money. Could this be true? Lydia has resorted to stealing and threatening others to cover up her evil deeds? Mrs. Gardiner has to speak to her husband, immediately.
In her bedroom chambers, Mrs. Gardiner explains to Mr. Gardiner what Mildred has told her. “What should we do, Edward?”
“Good Lord! What the devil has come over that girl? Has she not wreaked enough havoc for her entire family for a lifetime? Now, she has stooped to stealing?” This makes Mr. Gardiner enraged as much as when Mr. Clarke embezzled money from his business last year. “How can she have turned out this bad, Madeline?” Mr. Gardiner is stunned at his youngest niece.
“Edward, we must either search all her things or if you want her to confess what she did then you must confront her with Thomas. If this is true, then she is too much. I refuse to have her in our home ever again, Edward! I am sorry to ban her from our home, but we cannot expose our children to these things.” Mrs. Gardiner asks reasonably.
“I agree with you.” Mr. Gardiner sighs heavily. “You do not need to apologize for protecting our children and our home. I will speak to Thomas straight away. Now, did she leave the house yesterday, at all?”
“I do not know. I can ask the servants; why, Edward?”
“Because if she did and she is smart, then she may have sold the brooch for money; do you not think? Or do you think she would keep the brooch to wear once she moves away from Longbourn?”
“That is clever thinking, Edward. From what I can see and figure out about Lydia – unfortunately, it could be either way with her. She may want to sell it for money because she and her husband want more money to live leisurely. However, she may just want to feel special and grand enough to keep the brooch to show off to the other soldiers’ wives and sell it when they really need the money. Does that make sense, dear?”
“It makes much sense. It does sound like Lydia, either way. Well, let us rule out whether she left the house at all yesterday while we were out. You should go ask all the servants. She would have had to hire a hackney if she wanted to leave for any of those types of shops that would buy such things. Would she even know which shops to go to? She is not that familiar with London. She would have had to premeditate all this. It sounds too sophisticated for her. Moreover, she did not know that she was going to remain home from the wedding. Additionally, she did not know that Lizzy had anything valuable to steal to plan the theft. It sounds like she did it on the spur of the moment. What do you think, dear?”
“I agree with you. I do not know if she is savvy enough to plan all this impulsively. Would she be brave enough to go by herself to such places to sell valuables? I do not know her well enough to rule out that behavior, but it sounds less likely because she seems ill-equipped to preconceive of something so important. I could be wrong especi
ally if she is desperate for money. However, for her to instantly threaten Mildred points to her guilt. If she truly was merely trying on her sister’s jewels, why would she have to be scared enough to threaten an innocent servant with dismissal and stealing? And then the next day, the jewel is missing.”
“I do not like to think this about my own niece, but I think she thought she would be on her way to Longbourn before anyone would find out about the missing jewel. She probably thought that the servants would be blamed, and Mildred would be too scared to expose her. How awful this is. I am purely and plainly ashamed of her if all this is true. I thought I could not be any more ashamed of her, but she outdoes herself with this wicked, immoral deed.” Mr. Gardiner shakes his head in disgust as he states his fear.
Mrs. Gardiner finds out from the servants that neither Lydia nor Mrs. Bennet left the house yesterday while everyone was at the wedding – as far as they know; they did not follow the two ladies around the house the entire time. Mrs. Gardiner informs her husband, and they approach Mr. Bennet to disclose what they have found out. The shock that Mr. Bennet experiences is the same shock that he felt when he found out Lydia was with child. He stares at Mr. Gardiner in a dazed silence.
After a couple of minutes, Mr. Bennet is able to summon his brain to focus on the disgrace. “Is it certain that you can trust your servants, especially this Mildred, Madeline?”
“I am quite certain, Thomas. I am sorry.” Mrs. Gardiner answers with distress.
Mr. Bennet shakes his head in disbelief, and then his hand holds his forehead as he bends down in dismay. “I do not understand what has become of her. How could she have done this to her own family?” Mr. Bennet still cannot move from the shock of it all.
“Thomas, I can imagine how hard this is for you, but we need to act on this without delay so we may recover the brooch to give back to Lizzy. That is an expensive piece of jewelry. Neither you nor I have the extra funds to pay for it if it is truly stolen. I mean, I do have the funds to replace it, but I refuse to use my family’s savings if I do not have to. I am sure you are in a similar position.”
“Thank you, Edward, Madeline for aiding me in all this. I have lost with Lydia; she has won.” Mr. Bennet shakes his head in consternation; he is thoroughly distraught.
“Thomas, how do you want to handle this matter? Confront her and force her to return the brooch or just search all her things for it?” Mr. Gardiner suggests.
“I have had it with her. I will confront her alone in here and have Jane stand outside listening. If Lydia denies it all, then we will search all of her things until we find the brooch. I will not leave her be until we find the brooch. I am sorry that this has been brought into your home, Edward, Madeline. I apologize on the behalf of my entire family. I am so ashamed of Lydia right now that I have no other words for it. I am sorry.” Mr. Bennet is filled with obloquy.
“Thomas, she is my niece. I understand your hardship concerning Lydia and Frannie, now. I am sorry, too. Let us just get this over with.” Mr. Gardiner states forthrightly. He wants to address this problem without further delay to reduce the risk of the brooch going missing permanently. Whoever has it will most likely sell it for money; it can be sold for a lot of money, and that is very tempting.
“Lydia, I am going to ask you this just once, and then I will take action. What have you done with Lizzy’s jewels?” Mr. Bennet asks gravely. Unfortunately, he has to try to trap his own daughter to see if she really is the thief.
Lydia gasps and instantly blurts out. “It was only the ruby brooch – that housemaid took it! She threatened me to keep quiet!” Lydia was caught by surprise with her Father’s question and accusation; she instantly corrected the amount of jewels that he accused her of taking.
Mr. Bennet shakes his head in disbelief, but there is no way for him not to believe that his own daughter is a thief to her family. No one mentioned anything about a housemaid, yet Lydia brought it right up which means she knows of the exact incident. Furthermore, she clarified that ‘it was only the ruby brooch’ when he mentioned ‘jewels’. Furthermore, she says that she was threatened by the housemaid.
“How can a housemaid threaten you? With what and why would she threaten you?” Mr. Bennet becomes impatient when stupidity is before him.
“Umm…because…umm…I do not know. She wants to steal it for money, I figure. I do not know, Papa.” Lydia rushes and stumbles in her explanations.
“Why would she come back to work if she stole such an expensive jewel? How can she threaten you? You are her employer’s niece; why would she think that your Uncle would believe her over you? Lydia, you need to give back the brooch so we can give it back to Lizzy. Do not go down this road of sin. It will only get worse, and then you will find that your life will also worsen. Maybe the money will feel like it is benefiting you initially, but when you continue life without any family to care for you or even think of you, it will be a miserable, dismal life to lead. That is the dissolute life that you will fall into if you continue to act the way you are acting now. Go get the brooch and bring it here to me, Lydia.” Mr. Bennet continues his grimness.
“I did not take it, Papa.” Lydia asserts not so confidently. She hardens her appearance, slightly. The only other time that she has seen her Father this angry is when he found out that she was with child.
“My God, Lydia! You lie naturally, now. How have you become this way? I do not understand how you have traveled to this point. This is the result of your Mother’s teaching – or lack of teaching I should say – and my thinking that you three girls would imitate Jane and Lizzy. My Lord, you have resorted to stealing from your own family, no less! I have no more words for you! Your husband will be told of what you have done. I will stop all monies to him, and he will not complain about it at all. He will be displaced from the Army with dishonor for aiding his wife in robbery. He will not be able to find a job doing anything other than working in the sewage systems – maybe. Even if you sell that brooch for money, you will run out of money and be miserable for living a wicked, evil life. We will never speak your name again. I will never acknowledge you again, and I am sure all your relatives will do the same when they find out that you have stolen from Lizzy. If your Mother continues to support you, then she can go live with you and your husband; I will not support her either. You have brought so much shame to our family already that I am no longer afraid of the consequences. Your sisters will be fine because they have some substance within themselves to interest a decent man. Moreover, Mr. Darcy is now their brother, and he is sure to support and protect them. He will be able to find them decent men to marry. So you see Lydia, I am not fearful of the repercussions of your criminal actions, and I am definitely no longer worried about your husband’s evil extortions. He will have to abide by me, now, if he does not want a ruined life for himself and his parents and siblings. What are you going to do, Lydia?” Mr. Bennet’s anger is thorough from head to toe; his eyes must be frighteningly bulging out.
Hesitantly Lydia says, “Papa…I…I did not take the brooch.” She cannot think straight. Will her Father cause all those horrible things to happen to her and John? How will they live? She could sell the brooch and get a good sum for it, but after they spend all the money, will John be able to find work anywhere? How will she be able to live comfortably? It will be shameful to have a husband who works in the sewers. All of her family will cut ties with her except her Mother? She will have to support her Mother? How will they be able to live if she can sell the brooch for only a few hundred pounds? How much will she be able to sell it for? It must be worth at least a thousand pounds. Mr. Darcy would not buy anything cheap for Lizzy. But how will she make a thousand pounds last a life time? That blasted housemaid had to walk in on her! She could have gotten away with this neatly, but now it has become a huge mess. Should she still deny taking the brooch? Her Father cannot do anything beyond reprimanding her, right? He cannot get John in trouble with the Army. Her Father has nothing to do with the Army. He is not rich
enough to be able to influence the Army. Oh Lord! Mr. Darcy is rich enough, and his cousin is a colonel! Oh God! But John has a marriage contract that says that her Father has to pay monies to John as part of their marriage. What should she do?
“Lydia, I am giving you one last chance to tell me the truth.” Mr. Bennet’s glare is forbidding.
“I did not take it, Papa.” Lydia continues to look down at her hands as she makes calm statements.
“I cannot believe that I have such a disgraceful daughter as you. You will stay in here and not leave until I come back for you.” Mr. Bennet knows that Lydia is lying because if she really did not take it, then she would not be denying it so serenely. She would be screaming it from the top of her lungs in denial.
Mr. Bennet leaves the study to go speak with Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and start the search of all of Lydia’s possessions. Mr. Bennet has Mary and Kitty guard the study so Lydia cannot leave – for any reason – if she has to use the water closet, then Mary and Kitty will follow her closely.
Lydia stands there unmoving contemplating what she must do. She has hidden the brooch. No one will find it. She just needs to keep quiet for now.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, Jane, and Mr. Bennet search Lydia’s chambers that she shares with Mrs. Bennet. Mrs. Bennet is shocked at the entrance of these four people, so she whines about not having some peace. Mr. Bennet ignores her, but he has to explain what has happened so that she will stop her constant questioning and nagging.
Mrs. Bennet is agape after Mr. Bennet explains everything. He will cause that much trouble for Lydia and Sergeant Denny? All their relatives will no longer acknowledge Lydia? However, that will permeate towards her, especially if Mrs. Bennet takes Lydia’s side. Good Lord, what has Lydia done? She will not be able to protect Lydia from this.