The first week after their return passed quickly.
Then the second week began. It was the regiment’s final week in Meryton, and all the young women in the neighborhood were already miserable at the thought of the officers leaving.
Almost everyone was depressed.
Jane and Elizabeth were the only ones who could still eat, sleep, and carry on with their normal lives. Kitty and Lydia could not understand how their sisters could remain so calm.
They often complained to Elizabeth.
“Good heavens! What are we going to do?”
“How can you sit there smiling, Lizzy?”
Their mother shared their sadness completely. She remembered how heartbroken she had been twenty-five years earlier when another regiment had left town.
“I remember crying for two whole days when Colonel Miller’s regiment left,” Mrs. Bennet said. “I thought my heart would break.”
“I know mine will,” Lydia said.
“If only we could go to Brighton!” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed.
“Oh yes! If only we could go to Brighton! But Papa is so unreasonable.”
“A little time by the sea would make me feel better forever.”
“And Aunt Philips is sure it would do me good,” Kitty added.
These complaints filled Longbourn day after day.
Elizabeth tried to laugh about them, but she was becoming more embarrassed than amused.
Darcy’s criticism of her family came back to her again and again. For the first time, she felt that perhaps he had been right to interfere in Bingley’s relationship with Jane.
Then Lydia’s situation suddenly changed.
Mrs. Forster, the young wife of Colonel Forster, invited Lydia to stay with her in Brighton.
Lydia was delighted.
She and Mrs. Forster had become close friends very quickly. They were both young, cheerful, and full of energy, and after knowing each other for only three months, they already behaved as if they had been friends for years.
Lydia was beside herself with happiness.
Mrs. Bennet was equally thrilled.
Kitty, however, was furious.
Lydia rushed around the house, demanding everyone’s congratulations. She laughed, talked, and celebrated even more loudly than usual.
Kitty remained in the sitting room, complaining bitterly about being left behind.
“I don’t see why Mrs. Forster couldn’t have invited me too,” Kitty said. “I may not be her closest friend, but I have just as much right to go as Lydia.”
“Actually, I have more right,” she added. “I’m two years older than she is.”
Elizabeth tried to make her see reason.
Jane tried to persuade her to accept the situation.
Neither succeeded.
As for Elizabeth, she felt no excitement about Lydia’s invitation. Instead, she saw it as a dangerous opportunity for Lydia to behave even more foolishly.
Elizabeth secretly wished her father would refuse to let Lydia go.
She spoke to him privately and explained her concerns.
“Papa, Lydia is already far too careless about her behavior. Mrs. Forster may be a pleasant woman, but I don’t think her friendship will help Lydia become more sensible.”
“And Brighton will be much worse. There will be even more temptation there than here.”
Mr. Bennet listened quietly.
Then he smiled.
“Lydia will never be satisfied until she makes a fool of herself somewhere in public,” he said. “At least in Brighton, she can do it without causing us too much trouble or expense.”
“Papa, you don’t understand.”
“If you knew how much Lydia’s behavior already damages the family’s reputation, you might think differently.”
“Already?” Mr. Bennet said. “Has she frightened away some of your admirers?”
He smiled mischievously.
“Poor Lizzy. Don’t worry. Any young man who cannot tolerate a little foolishness isn’t worth having.”
“Come on. Give me the names of all these poor young men Lydia has scared away.”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about the damage to all of us.”
“Lydia is loud, careless, and completely unwilling to control herself. If you don’t stop her now and teach her that chasing men and seeking attention cannot be the purpose of her life, she will soon become impossible to correct.”
“She is only sixteen, but she is already determined to flirt with every man she meets.”
“And Kitty is just as bad. She follows Lydia everywhere.”
“They are vain, lazy, ignorant, and completely without guidance.”
“Do you really think people won’t laugh at them wherever they go? And won’t their behavior bring shame on Jane and me as well?”
Mr. Bennet could see how seriously Elizabeth felt about the matter.
He took her hand affectionately.
“Don’t worry, my dear.”
“Wherever you and Jane are known, people will respect you. Having two—or, I suppose, three—silly sisters won’t ruin your reputation.”
“But if Lydia doesn’t go to Brighton, we will have no peace in this house.”
“Let her go.”
“Colonel Forster seems sensible enough to keep her out of serious trouble.”
“And Lydia is too poor to attract anyone who might want to take advantage of her.”
“Besides, in Brighton she will probably be less important than she is here. The officers will have plenty of other women to notice.”
“Perhaps that will finally teach her that she isn’t as important as she thinks.”
“And surely she cannot become much worse without giving us a reason to lock her away for the rest of her life.”
Elizabeth had to accept his decision.
But she remained convinced that he was making a mistake.
She left him disappointed and worried.
Still, Elizabeth was not the sort of person to make herself miserable by worrying endlessly about something she could no longer change.
She had warned her father.
She had done what she believed was her duty.
There was nothing more she could do.
Lydia and Mrs. Bennet had no idea that Elizabeth had tried to stop the trip.
If they had known, their anger would have been impossible to contain.
To Lydia, Brighton was the greatest adventure imaginable.
She pictured the seaside town crowded with officers.
She imagined dozens of handsome young men noticing her the moment she arrived.
She imagined the military camp, with rows of bright tents filled with young officers.
And in her most wonderful fantasy, she was sitting under a tent, flirting with six officers at the same time.
If Lydia had known that Elizabeth had tried to take all this happiness away from her, she would have been furious.
Mrs. Bennet would probably have felt exactly the same.
Lydia going to Brighton was the only thing that comforted Mrs. Bennet now that she had accepted that her husband had no intention of taking the family there himself.
So neither mother nor daughter knew what Elizabeth had tried to do.
Their excitement continued right up until the morning Lydia left.
Elizabeth also knew that she was about to see Wickham for the last time.
She had seen him several times since returning home, and by now the excitement she had once felt around him was completely gone.
She had even begun to notice things about him that she had once found charming.
His gentle manner now seemed artificial.
His pleasant conversation seemed repetitive and boring.
Worse still, Wickham had recently begun showing Elizabeth the same kind of attention he had given her before.
After everything she now knew about him, his renewed interest only annoyed her.
She realized that he seemed to believe her vanity would still be flattered by his attention, no matter how long he had ignored her or why.
Elizabeth no longer cared about him.
She quietly discouraged his attempts to flirt with her, and his behavior only made her feel more strongly that he had never understood her at all.
On the last day the regiment was staying in Meryton, Wickham came to dinner at Longbourn with several other officers.
Elizabeth was not in the mood to be friendly.
When Wickham asked how she had spent her time in Hunsford, she deliberately mentioned Colonel Fitzwilliam and Darcy.
“They were both staying at Rosings for about three weeks,” she said.
“Do you know Colonel Fitzwilliam?”
Wickham looked surprised.
For a moment, his expression showed alarm and discomfort.
Then he quickly recovered and smiled.
“I’ve met him many times. He’s a very gentlemanly man.”
“How did you like him?”
Elizabeth answered warmly.
“I liked him very much.”
Wickham tried to sound casual.
“How long did you say he stayed at Rosings?”
“Almost three weeks.”
“And you saw him often?”
“Almost every day.”
Wickham hesitated.
“His manners are very different from his cousin’s.”
“They certainly are.”
“But I think Mr. Darcy improves the more you know him.”
“Really?” Wickham said.
Elizabeth noticed the look on his face.
He seemed suddenly nervous.
“And may I ask…”
He stopped himself.
Then he smiled again.
“Does he improve in the way he speaks to people? Has he become more polite than usual?”
His voice became more serious.
“I certainly hope you don’t mean that he has improved in any important way.”
“No,” Elizabeth said. “In that respect, I don’t think he has changed much.”
Wickham looked as though he wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or worried by her answer.
Elizabeth continued.
“When I said that Darcy improves with acquaintance, I didn’t mean that his personality has become better.”
“I only mean that now I know him better, I understand him better.”
Wickham’s face changed immediately.
He became pale and uncomfortable.
For several moments, he said nothing.
Finally, he recovered himself and spoke in a soft voice.
“You know very well how I have always felt about Mr. Darcy.”
“So I hope you can understand how pleased I am that he has at least learned to behave properly.”
“His pride may actually be useful if it prevents him from treating people as badly as he once treated me.”
“I only wonder whether the change you have noticed is limited to his visits to his aunt.”
“Lady Catherine has always had a great deal of influence over him.”
“And I’m sure he is especially careful around her because he wants her approval.”
Wickham paused.
“He also has every reason to behave well at Rosings because of Miss de Bourgh.”
“I have always believed that Darcy wants that marriage very badly.”
Elizabeth could not help smiling at that.
But she said nothing.
She understood exactly what Wickham was trying to do.
He wanted her to ask about his old complaints against Darcy.
She had no intention of giving him that opportunity.
The rest of the evening passed pleasantly enough on the surface.
Wickham behaved as if nothing had happened.
But he made no further attempt to flirt with Elizabeth.
When the evening ended, they said goodbye politely.
Perhaps both of them were secretly hoping they would never have to meet again.
After dinner, Lydia returned to Meryton with Mrs. Forster.
They planned to leave for Brighton early the next morning.
Lydia’s goodbye to her family was loud rather than emotional.
Kitty was the only one who cried, but her tears came mostly from jealousy and frustration.
Mrs. Bennet gave Lydia endless advice about enjoying herself.
“Make sure you have a wonderful time, my dear.”
“Don’t waste a single opportunity to enjoy yourself.”
There was little reason to think Lydia would ignore that advice.
Lydia herself was so excited that she barely noticed her sisters saying goodbye.
Jane and Elizabeth gave her their quieter farewells, but Lydia was already too busy celebrating her new adventure to hear them.