My Beginning With Mr. Darcy - Book Two

by Lauren King

“Lydia, did you take the brooch or not?” Mrs. Bennet cannot think straight; Mr. Bennet is truly kicking Lydia out of the house tonight. Oh Lord, what are they going to do?

  “I…I did not.” Lydia bawls even louder. How is she going to get out of this?

  “Mr. Bennet, she says that she did not steal it! How do you know that she stole it? Where did you find the brooch?” Mrs. Bennet investigates; she does not know what else to do for Lydia.

  “I told Papa and gave him the brooch that Lydia gave me to hide for her so she could get away with stealing it, Mama. She hid it in her petticoat that she was wearing all day today. She pinned it into the middle layer.” Kitty speaks up bravely as she stares impassively at her Mother.

  “What?!” Mrs. Bennet is in disbelief; she looks from Kitty to Lydia and then back to Kitty. She does not understand how Kitty knows all of this unless she was involved in this theft with Lydia. “You and Lydia stole the brooch, Kitty?”

  “No, Mama; I had nothing to do with the theft of the brooch. Lydia told me everything because she thought that I was as corrupt as her. Her plan was to sell it for money, hide it from her husband, and then give me some of it for hiding it from Papa.” Kitty responds straightforwardly.

  “Lydia!” Mrs. Bennet shouts as she stares at Lydia.

  Lydia tries to explain and plead with her Mother. “Mama, she wanted the mon…she stole it! Now, she is trying to blame me since Papa found the brooch in her possession!” Lydia almost slipped into confessing. She turns back to Kitty and screams, “You are stupid, Kitty!”

  “You are the stupid one! How dare you blame me?! You are despicable! I LOATHE YOU! I will never forgive you for this, and I will never speak to you again! You are no longer my sister; you evil liar!” Kitty proclaims loudly. “Papa, I cannot stand here any longer to listen to her lies.”

  “Go to your chambers and rest, Kitty.” Mr. Bennet says calmly.

  Mrs. Gardiner pats Kitty’s arm tenderly before Kitty walks off to her chambers. Kitty looks at her Aunt with understanding of her Aunt’s support. Kitty was right about Lydia; Lydia is scary-bad. She did not want to be right about something so dreadful. Lydia is an accomplished liar, nowadays; she can never trust Lydia again. She will no longer communicate with Lydia.

  Jane and Mary look at the entire scene in silence and with amazement – like it is all in a play on stage.

  “Put your coat on, Lydia!” Mr. Bennet carries on.

  “Please, Mama; do not let Papa kick me out!” Lydia is very scared as she hangs on to her Mother’s arm and panics. Her Father is angry enough to keep his word.

  “Mr. Bennet, you cannot do this!” Mrs. Bennet pronounces with fear.

  “Yes, I can. She is not going to shame me and my family any longer! She will no longer taint my other daughters with her wickedness. Since you defend her under any circumstances even when there is proof of her sins, then you can go with her! We will talk about our situation back at Longbourn.” Mr. Bennet declares gravely to Mrs. Bennet before glaring at Lydia as he instructs, “If you do not put on a coat this instant, I will come in there and drag you out! I am at the end of my rope with you!” Mr. Bennet grits out his declaration.

  “Mama, help me, please!” Lydia sobs with tears as she hides behind her Mother like a shield so that her Father cannot grab at her.

  Mr. Bennet decides to push this scene to the final act – angrily, he tries to reach for Lydia behind his wife.

  “AHHHH! Mama, save me!! Do not kick me out, Papa!!” Lydia, literally, pulls her Mother’s body in front of her like a gladiator would use his shield.

  “MR. BENNET! LET HER GO! YOU ARE MAD!” Mrs. Bennet screams as she pushes Mr. Bennet’s hand away from grabbing onto Lydia. “MR. BENNET, PLEASE DO NOT THROW HER OUT! PLEASE!!” Mrs. Bennet is also crying at this moment. Never has she seen Mr. Bennet this irate before. He has never reacted in this manner and taken action so forcefully.

  Mr. Gardiner decides that the scene has gone on long enough and the women are sufficiently frightened; hence, he jumps in and pulls Mr. Bennet away from the two scared, bawling women. “Thomas, please calm down; give her a chance to put on her coat. Come out to the hallway and take a breather.” Mr. Gardiner coaxes Mr. Bennet to the hallway.

  Quickly, Mrs. Bennet turns to her brother for assistance. “Edward, you must talk to Mr. Bennet. He has gone crazy. I have never seen him so angry before. You cannot let him kick Lydia out. This is your home.”

  “Yes, I have gone crazy because of you and Lydia!” Mr. Bennet glares at Mrs. Bennet as she shrinks back from her courageous claims. After a few deep breaths, Mr. Bennet says, “I will have words with you at Longbourn.” Mr. Bennet expels another deep breath before scowling at Lydia again. “I will wait for you down in the foyer for five minutes or else the servants will take you to the carriage.” Mr. Bennet walks off but continues to voice his opinion without looking at Mrs. Bennet. “Mrs. Bennet, I am certain the servants will have more than their fill of gossip and ridicule about your brother’s family and about us until forever. Let me see if you will be gossiping about this. You will be common fodder for the gossiping servants of London.” Mr. Bennet sarcastically chuckles as he walks away.

  “Edward, please help us.” Mrs. Bennet implores while sniffling and dabbing her face with her handkerchief.

  “Lydia has committed a most terrible crime. Do you not care that Lydia is dreadfully wrong for what she has done to her family? You are blind, Frannie! You need to see that you are wrong for tolerating Lydia’s behavior all these years up to today, even. I cannot tolerate it myself – just listening to all of this mess. I will not support you if you continue this way, Frannie.” Mr. Gardiner says straightforwardly with no semblance of pity for his own sister and his horrible youngest niece.

  “Lydia, should tell the truth about her theft of the brooch. I think Thomas will let her stay tonight if she tells the truth. Do you not think so, Edward?” Mrs. Gardiner proposes. She wants to provide, yet, another way for Lydia to repent.

  “Yes, I do. Thomas just wants the truth, as does anyone in his position.” Mr. Gardiner answers at once and then turns to Lydia. “Lydia, I advise you to admit to your deed and accept the responsibility and consequences of your actions or else your Father will never forgive you for it, neither will any of your sisters.”

  Lydia remains quiet and looks down at her hands. Should she confess? What will happen to her? Will everybody condemn her? She just wants to go home to Hertfordshire.

  After a couple of minutes of silence and no one moving, Mr. Gardiner becomes impatient and more upset at Lydia’s continued stubbornness so he decides to carry on with Mr. Bennet’s plan. “Lydia, I support your Father that you must go to the boarding house. I can no longer tolerate your wrongdoing and injuries to others in my household. I do not want you here any longer to taint my own family; this is a disgrace. I will go get Johnny to take you to the carriage.” Mr. Gardiner walks off to go downstairs.

  “Edward, help Lydia! Do not let Mr. Bennet remove her from your home.” Mrs. Bennet yells after Mr. Gardiner, but he does not acknowledge it. “Madeline, you must talk to Edward and make him change his mind about Lydia.”

  “First of all, Frannie, I do not make my husband do anything. Secondly, I agree with him and Thomas. Lydia has gone too far, and her contemptible actions adversely affect all of her family, thus, she must stop them, immediately. Otherwise, she will not have her family any longer.” Mrs. Gardiner expresses clearly and calmly to Mrs. Bennet, and then she turns to Lydia to say, “Lydia, I cannot believe that you actually think that what you have done and how you have acted is correct behavior for a decent person. Your family will no longer recognize you if you continue in this manner. Family is very important, but you have to put effort into being a good family member if you want goodness back.”

  “They are all against me, Aunt – everybody.” Lydia sniffs and complains because she actually believes that she is in the right.

  “Do you know why, Lydia? You cannot be so obliv
ious that you do not know all the wrong you have committed. You have committed one wrong after another, and you never admit to it or apologize for it or even learn from it. I am still talking to you even after you told lies about me to your Mother because I pity you, and I truly want to help you see what you are doing is wrong so you can fix it and not ruin your entire family. Why did you feel you had to lie about me? I spoke to you out of concern, fairness, and justice; what did you do in return for my concern? You lied about me to make me look like a bad person. What did I say that was mean or wrong?”

  Lydia remains silent and not looking at Mrs. Gardiner so she continues.

  “You see, you have no answer because I am right; you lied about me to your Mother so that you could get others in trouble or get yourself out of trouble. Unfortunately, your Mother instantly believed you. I do not know how she could do that without proper examination, but she did.” Mrs. Gardiner continues without looking at Mrs. Bennet.

  “Do not presume to reprove me, Madeline.” Mrs. Bennet says offensively.

  Without hesitation, Mrs. Gardiner responds frankly, “If I were to truly reprove you, then it would be more than a mere sentence. I am only stating the truth.” Mrs. Gardiner is not going to back down this time. “You presumed to chide me through my husband in front of everyone and you had no qualms about doing that. Your reason for reproaching me was based on lies, I might add. However, you were fooled and deceived by your own fifteen years old daughter; therefore, I do not hold it against you completely for not being able to decipher the truth from her lies. She is a skilled thief and a expert liar, and you are an oblivious, insensible woman.”

  Mrs. Bennet is fuming at her sister-in-law, but she does not want to create another argument directly involving herself and possibly be kicked out also. She needs to take care of Lydia’s situation first. “Come, Lydia; let us go back inside our chambers. I do not wish to continue our conversation, Madeline.”

  “I did not want to converse with you, at all. I am utterly tired of you and Lydia; everyone is tired of all this…wickedness. Thomas and Edward are waiting for the both of you down stairs.” Mrs. Gardiner turns to leave in repugnance.

  Mrs. Bennet plans to remain in the chambers with Lydia and lock the door so that no one can force them to leave until tomorrow morning. Mr. Bennet and Edward would not physically drag them out of the chambers, would they? Mrs. Bennet locks the chamber doors and tells Lydia what she is doing.

  Lydia knew that her Mother would help her and be on her side. She will do as her Mother says; she will not leave the chambers until tomorrow morning. She does not think that her Father will let her ride with them home; she may have to take the post back home. Maybe she can convince her Mother to come with her. She will remind her Mother how inappropriate it will be for a gentleman’s daughter to be riding alone on post.

  After half an hour, Mr. Bennet and Mr. Gardiner know that Mrs. Bennet and Lydia are refusing to leave, so they go back to their chambers to check.

  Mr. Bennet knocks on Lydia’s chambers. “Mrs. Bennet, you best open this door immediately or else Edward will open it with his keys. I do not enjoy my children’s disobedience. Open this door this instant.” He grits out his command, once again.

  Through the door Mrs. Bennet cries, “I will not open the door for you to drag Lydia to a boarding house in the middle of the night, Mr. Bennet! You are being too severe with her! You already got the brooch back; I do not see how it is such a problem anymore! She made a little mistake; that is all!”

  Mr. Bennet looks at Mr. Gardiner, and then they both shake their heads in disbelief. They cannot believe how deep in denial Mrs. Bennet is. She makes it sound like Lydia took the last pastry. Mr. Bennet will not forcibly drag Lydia and throw her out tonight, but he has a plan. “You stay locked in there. I will have words with the both of you tomorrow, and I guarantee that you will not like it!”

  Mr. Bennet and Mr. Gardiner walk back down to the study to discuss what Mr. Bennet plans to do tomorrow.

  CHAPTER 8

  ***************

  MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd

  What an unforgettable, eventful day and night Sunday was. It is not one that Mr. Bennet would ever like to repeat! Now, he has the displeasure of writing to Elizabeth to explain what has occurred.

  February 2nd, 1811

  My Dear Daughter Lizzy,

  I do not want you to be alarmed when you receive this letter – everyone is well. I am very sorry to disturb your honeymoon with our family troubles. I have some upsetting news that I must impart to you and William because it involves you both – so to speak.

  On Saturday while our families were at your wedding, Lydia took advantage of an empty house and she…stole your ruby brooch. There, I have written it down. My own youngest daughter has become a thief – not only that but she chose to steal from her own sister. Lydia threatened and blamed your Aunt’s maid, Mildred, for this theft. Obviously, she wanted to sell your brooch for money. When I was convinced that the maid did not steal your brooch, I pursued a plan to trap Lydia into giving up your brooch. This involved Kitty and with Kitty’s assistance, it was a complete success. Consequently, I have in my possession all of your jewelry, and I placed them in your Uncle’s safe box, personally. Every piece is accounted for. Needless to say, I have left out most of the details to this sorted affair. I am utterly, unequivocally, undeniably ashamed of Lydia. Those are not even strong enough words or feelings to describe all of this, Lizzy.

  We have not left for Longbourn yet, as you can surmise. I want to know what you would like to do in regards to Lydia. Even until this morning, Lydia has not admitted to the theft or apologized for stealing and blaming the maid. She and your Mother have kept to their chamber with everything being brought to them. They are very fearful that I will drag Lydia and place her in a boarding house as I wanted to do last night after I found out the truth about her. However, you know that I would not have done it even if I dearly wanted to do it. I had threatened Lydia that I would bring her to a boarding house because I could not tolerate her sinful ways any longer. In the end, your Mother (of course) locked herself and Lydia in their chambers; they are still there at this very moment.

  Your Mother continues to down-play the theft; her reasoning is that since your brooch has been ‘found’ then I should not be so severe with Lydia. I know your facial expression is in absolute horror at this moment, Lizzy. Trust me; I was speechless last night as was your Uncle and Aunt. They both had words of advice for your Mother and Lydia, but the two women did not appreciate them. Your Mother reproved your Aunt, instead. Imagine my head shaking right now, Lizzy. This is the gist of what has happened, and I am sorry that your happiness had to be interrupted and disturbed by such…unscrupulousness. I do not know what else to say about Lydia other than what I have said to your Uncle and Aunt – I have entirely failed with her, and I am ashamed and humiliated for it.

  As punishment for Lydia, I plan to rescind my offer of my ‘very small and inconvenient cottage’ to the Dennys. I will inform Sergeant Denny of his wife’s transgressions on this trip and permit him to have 40 pounds per year as Lydia’s income – nothing more. I will forbid them from setting foot on Longbourn ever again. If Lydia wants to visit her Mother or sisters, then she must meet them outside of Longbourn. I will no longer tolerate Lydia’s deceit and cruelty. I am worried that she may steal from Longbourn to make up for the money that she has lost out on with your brooch. I know it sounds awful to think that about one’s own child, but Lydia has driven me to it. I can only try to protect what I can, now.

  I hope that you will retrieve your jewelry soon so that it will be safe in your possession. I will leave it up to you whether you want to face Lydia and your Mother. I do not see the use in it; I am truly sorry to say that about my own daughter and wife, but it is the truth. Lizzy, do not let this spoil your honeymoon. You and William deserve all the happiness. Enjoy your time together and your life with each other; it is sure to be a great one. Once again, I am sorry that I
had to bring this to your attention. It is only fair that you know so that you can make your own informed decisions. I will await your response before leaving for Longbourn.

  Once more, I wish you and William many years of bliss and harmony.

  Your Loving Father,

  1673 Grace Church Street, Cheapside

  “OH MY GOD, WILLIAM!! You have to read this, darling!” William reaches out for the letter in Elizabeth’s hand while he sees Elizabeth in total shock, again. “I am speechless. My brain is dazed.” Elizabeth says exasperatingly as she paces back and forth while William reads Mr. Bennet’s letter that they got this morning after breaking their fast.

  “Can you believe Lydia and my Mother? But why should I still be surprised? I guess it just gets worse with every incident. How can people be like this? Of course, there are bad people; I keep forgetting. I am too gullible or trusting; I simply did not think that I could have these types of family members. God, was I wrong!” Elizabeth continues to pace back and forth in agitation while she speaks her mind like a crazy person. What has these two family members become? She is certain that the entire episode is much worse, but her Father was trying to spare her feelings.

  Darcy finishes the letter and sees that his wife is very agitated and angry. He is plainly tired and disgusted with these two contemptible women; he despises them deeply. He feels bad that Elizabeth has to be associated to such family members. Thank goodness they are in agreement about not associating with those two women, at all!

  “Dearest, I am sorry for you. This is beyond anything I could have ever fathomed, given that they are your family.” Darcy claims with repulsion.

  “I am sorry that you are tied to such people because of me. Just when I thought I could not be any more ashamed of Lydia and my Mother, they make it even worse. I am very sorry that you know them through me.” Elizabeth is filled with loathing. How can this keep continuing? Actually, their dreadful behavior worsens!