Beginning, Next Section
Posted on Wednesday, 27 June 2007
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an admiral in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
However little known the marital state of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters. That he might not have been so considerate as to preserve his single status is too preposterous to contemplate.
"My dear Mr Bennet," said his lady to him one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?"
Mr Bennet replied that he had not.
"But it is," returned she, "for Mrs Long has just been here and she told me all about it."
Mr Bennet made no answer.
"Do not you want to know who has taken it?" cried his wife impatiently.
"You want to tell me and I have no objection to hearing it."
This was invitation enough. "Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs Long says that Netherfield is taken by an admiral of large fortune from the west of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr Morris immediately, that he is to take possession before Michaelmas and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week."
"What is his name?"
"Croft."
"Is he married or single?"
"How can he be married? They do not have any women at sea." Mrs Bennet was all astonishment. "But an admiral of large fortune, near thirty-thousand pounds. What a fine thing for our girls!"
"How so? How can it affect them?"
"My dear Mr Bennet," replied his wife. "How can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them."
"His wife may like that very little."
"His wife! Nonsense; how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes."
"I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better. For, as you are as handsome as any of them, Admiral Croft might like you the best of the party and these sailors have no qualms about having a wife in every port."
"My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be any thing extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty."
"In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of."
"But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Admiral Croft when he comes into the neighbourhood."
"It is more than I engage for, I assure you."
"But consider your daughters. Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for in general, you know they visit no new comers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not."
"You are over-scrupulous, surely. I dare say Admiral Croft will be very glad to see you and I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his liking which ever he chooses of the girls, though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy."
"I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good-humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference."
"They have none of them much to recommend them," replied he. "They are all silly and ignorant like other girls, but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters."
"Mr Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves."
"You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least."
"Ah! You do not know what I suffer."
"But I hope you will get over it and live to see many wealthy Navy officers come into the neighbourhood."
"It will be no use to us if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them."
"Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty I will visit them all."
Mr Bennet was among the earliest of those who waited on Admiral Croft. He had always intended to visit him, although he had still assured his wife as he left the house that he had no intention of going.
He was not at all surprised or disappointed to see the admiral had a wife; on the contrary, it was exactly what he had expected of a high-ranking officer of the Navy. What he had not expected was that Mrs Croft did not leave the room, as Mrs Bennet would have done. She remained and talked.
Mr Bennet was a little astonished by it. He could not imagine his wife remaining in the room if a gentleman called. She would have no interest in their real conversation, but she would prefer to speculate on it from another room.
After the first exchange of trivialities Admiral and Mrs Croft proved not to be very foolish and Mr Bennet felt he could safely remark in amusement, "my wife will be sorry that you are married, Admiral. We have five daughters."
"Before you inquire, I have no sons either," Admiral Croft replied pleasantly. "How old are your daughters?"
"The youngest is fifteen." His expression made it abundantly clear that they were all of a most trying age.
The admiral understood. "I am sorry to disappoint Mrs Bennet in this regard."
"It is of no consequence." Mr Bennet waved it away when Mrs Croft looked rather funnily at him. "I am pleased to find I was right and she was not."
"That is indeed a pleasure," said Admiral Croft. "For me it is rare. My wife has an unmarried brother, however, but he is at sea. That is a pity, for he enjoys balls and assemblies as much as all the young ladies of the neighbourhood undoubtedly do and if he represents our house, we need not go."
"Your opinion of the young ladies is quite correct. For the next ten years I shall have to attend each ball in the vicinity." Perhaps Mrs Bennet's burning desire to see them all wed as soon as possible was not so bad after all.
The admiral looked very sympathetic. "I was at a ball once. I met Mrs Croft there. Oh! There have been balls since, I suppose, but I do not recall them. Every governor of this or that must give a ball in one's honour at a new posting -- very tiresome. One sees their ladies all rigged up and then they are offended if one does not recognise them a day later."
"You recognised me a day later," Mrs Croft protested gently.
"That might be because I was interested and perhaps also because you did not have enough money to disguise yourself."
"You would recognise Mrs Bennet, I believe," said Mr Bennet. He was well pleased with the admiral. He thought the man was a welcome addition to the neighbourhood, at balls especially. His womenfolk were likely to disagree, however. The admiral was too married and Mrs Croft not worthy of emulation, being older and unfashionable.
"Frederick is at sea?" asked Mrs Croft when their visitor was gone. "How could you say so when you know he is expected here very soon?"
Admiral Croft had good reasons. "The young -- and old -- ladies of the neighbourhood seem rather excitable, my dear Sophia. Name me one family who have called on us who did not have marriageable daughters."
"I am not sure I could name any, daughters or not." She laughed. "Poor Frederick. Or do you think he is ready to marry?"
"He ought to be, a man his age. I daresay he will be pleased to have so many dance partners to choose from. Have you marked the occasion on the calendar, my dear?"
"Yes, but it is of little use to you, since you will not look at the calendar, but you depend on me and my memory. If it is not in my interest to attend a ball, I may simply choose to forget. There are more pleasant ways to meet people."
"I fear we have some sort of duty. Write to the boy and beg him to bring his crew."
"Darling, what a marvellous plan!" Sophia cooed. She could not forget about the practical details. "Who would feed all those men?"
"I am full of marvellous plans," he shot back. "I should have thought of a solution. We could leave them with Mrs Bennet. Mr Bennet seemed to imply they would be welcome. All daughters would undoubtedly be married off by the end of a fortnight."
Sophia laughed at how he saved himself. "Did you not receive the impression he mocked her?"
"I received the impression you were mocking me a minute ago. When you cooed." He narrowed his eyes to pretend he was being suspicious.
"But that was lovingly," she protested. "I should not go somewhere to reveal how silly you were."
The admiral was confident. "That might be because I am not at all silly."
"That is true. But if the girls are silly as well, Frederick may not like them."
"How would he know, coming straight from his ship, what is silly and what is not?"
"Then he may learn that here," said his sister. "We are around to prevent him from being so silly as to like silly girls, are we not?"
Captain Frederick Wentworth was indeed unmarried and on his way. He had once been engaged, but this had ended very painfully and he preferred not to think of it anymore. For years Anne Elliot had haunted his mind and body, but now he finally felt at liberty to make a fresh start. He considered himself healed. The wounds left by a girl he had known for only a few months ought to be insignificant compared to those more recently left by the brutal deaths of trusted friends and brother officers. On them he had been able to depend; on a woman one could not.
Her lack of firmness and confidence in him had grieved him, but he had proved her wrong. He had been lucky in every posting and he had made his fortune.
She would be married now, to someone who had had better prospects. He ought to seek the same for himself. There were girls enough ashore and he had a clear idea of what he wanted. Firmness of character was high on his list of desirable attributes -- a young woman who knew her mind and who would not abandon him under her family's pressure.
He would visit Sophia and see if there were any nice girls in the area. She wrote there were plenty, although she had not met any yet. The admiral had added that he should bring his crew so as not to disappoint any local girls. He glanced at the carriage that followed. It was not his crew, but they would be more than welcome.
In case the girls here were all worthless, he would have company. The admiral and Sophia as he last remembered them were rather distracted by each other, though not intentionally so. To be the only other person besides them might be lonely at times, however, and he had enough of loneliness. It was one of the prices one had to pay for being a captain.
Yes, he was quite ready to share his life with somebody, but it was a little worrisome that his sister and her husband thought so too. He would not particularly like girls being thrust at him or matches being made without his approval. He had always been in control of his own life and happiness -- save for a brief episode he did not like to think about -- and he wanted that to continue.
Posted on Saturday, 30 June 2007
Mr Bennet managed to conceal for a while that he had called on Admiral Croft. Occasionally Mrs Bennet complained about his neglect and his lack of consideration for his wife and daughters, but he managed to ignore her until a perfect opportunity presented itself and the entire family was present.
"Do not make that hat too fancy, Lizzy, or Admiral Croft will not recognise you a day after the ball," he said to his second daughter.
"What nonsense you speak, Mr Bennet!" said Mrs Bennet, who was still disposed to react with indignation to any mentions of the gentleman her husband had neglected to visit. She had refused to meet any of her friends, for fear of being outdone in gossip, and this had been a great hardship. "He will not know Lizzy, because you will not be able to introduce him to her!"
"I rather think he will not know Lizzy because he thinks all ladies are rigged up beyond recognition at a ball." He was pleased to notice that Lizzy at least understood him. Jane was doubting, but the others had not caught his meaning at all.
"Rigged up?" Elizabeth giggled. "Did he say so, Papa?"
"Lizzy, what nonsense!" cried Mrs Bennet. "How can your father know? He has not visited and he never will!"
"Tell me, Papa," Elizabeth continued unperturbed. "Is he young, handsome and single? Or is he, as Charlotte and I think, married and as old as the admirals mentioned in the newspaper?"
"What, did Sir William Lucas not tell his daughters about Mrs Croft?" Mr Bennet inquired.
"I have not seen Charlotte since Sir William and Lady Lucas went and as such I am not privy to what they disclosed. Is there a Mrs Croft? I had assumed that their absence meant that they were attempting to keep the admiral all to themselves." It was undoubtedly what her mother would have done.
Mr Bennet had an interested audience now and he was prepared to speak on. "Oh yes. Did I not always say there would be a wife?"
"You are inventing one to vex me," said Mrs Bennet.
"He is old, is he not?" asked Elizabeth. She was not surprised there was a wife. "And he would have been too old even if he were not married."
"It would have been a stretch," Mr Bennet admitted. "But not entirely beyond my consent, I think. For if any of you end up in a good home -- or ship -- I cannot withhold my consent. But brighten up, dear girls! Sailors have wives in every port and he may yet like another."
"Mr Bennet!" cried his wife, beside herself with shock.
Elizabeth was not affected. "Does he have sons?" This ordeal would not be over if the man did.
"No, he does not. Mrs Croft, I believe, would be too young to have sons your age." Mr Bennet smiled, knowing what was to follow.
"She must be a very dislikeable woman," Mrs Bennet decided. "To be young and to be married to an old man. Only for his money, I wager. Is she pretty?"
"I believe Mrs Croft has the right kind of prettiness for the admiral," Mr Bennet said after some hesitation. Saying she was pretty would get him into trouble and saying she was not pretty would get the poor woman into trouble.
"Depend upon it, girls!" Mrs Bennet cried confidently. "She is a fright to behold."
"Not at all," said her husband. "I managed to study her quite well, knowing you would all be interested in her appearance and sense of fashion."
"Is she fashionable?"
He shook his head. "It pains me to admit that living with six females I am able to recognise a fashionable woman, but she was not. She is a very sensible woman instead, I think, as the qualities are always at odds with one another."
"She sounds rather pleasant," Elizabeth said in a low voice. "Perhaps Mama will yet come to see that she did not marry the admiral to spite us."
Mrs Croft had indeed not married the admiral to spite anyone; she had not even married an admiral, but a captain, and although he had at that time attended a ball and enjoyed it, it had not been because of the dancing. That there was a local assembly now that they were expected to attend was rather troublesome, but he hoped their ages would be sufficient excuse not to dance.
He hoped Frederick would be in time to take care of the dancing honours for Netherfield and that he would furthermore bring some company. The locals were, in spite of having access to newspapers and London, not at all well informed about the wars. With great confidence they mixed up years and battles, and geography was beyond their reach. They had heard of Trafalgar, but did not know where it was or they did not care to know.
Sophia said he knew as little of countryside politics and taxes, so he would simply have to hope they would ever find common interests with these people.
Admiral and Mrs Croft returned Mr Bennet's visit not long after. The admiral was promptly taken away by Mr Bennet, but Mrs Croft was left to the mercy of the ladies of the house. Although Elizabeth and Jane had feared that their mother would be barely civil to a woman who had snatched away an admiral, however unjustly, Mrs Bennet was all politeness.
That she was also all ignorance did not seem to fluster Mrs Croft in the least. She reacted to the most uninformed comments and questions with remarkable forbearance.
Although Jane and Elizabeth did their best to be reasonably sensible, Lydia undid their efforts entirely. "All sailors are very handsome, are they not?" she asked.
"No more or less handsome than any other set of men," Mrs Croft replied.
"You must have enjoyed yourself on all those ships anyhow. I know I should. Do they have many balls on a ship?"
"Cannonballs."
Upon hearing that ships did not have exceptionally handsome sailors, nor many balls, Lydia lost interest. She sat by the window and looked out.
"Have you ever seen any fired?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes, I have. Practice shots, of course. When it came to real action my husband always sent me below."
"Why?"
"I asked him that as well, to be sure," she smiled. "But he said he did not want to see me shot. And to be honest, having seen men who were shot, I began to understand him eventually."
The admiral stayed away only fifteen minutes. Then he returned to collect his wife and to exchange a few words of politeness with the ladies.
"Why do we never get exciting new neighbours?" Lydia whined when they were gone.
"I am sure they have exciting tales to tell. I understood Mrs Croft has seen as much of the world as the admiral," Elizabeth replied. She was sorry not to have met the woman without her mother and Lydia present. Mary and Kitty, at least, had remained silent.
"But when things got exciting they sent her away, so she saw nothing."
"A woman ought not --" Mary began, but she was silenced very quickly.
Although the Crofts had not told the Bennets they were expecting company, apparently they had let slip something at Lucas Lodge, for Charlotte Lucas brought this news with her when she visited.
"Well, if their guests are as old and plain as the Crofts themselves, they will not be of any use to us," Mrs Bennet declared.
Charlotte, being no beauty, chose not to comment and Elizabeth took her outside. "My mother was greatly affronted by the admiral's being married," she said. "He can now redeem himself by bringing a dozen handsome gentlemen, but I doubt he will seek to ingratiate himself with my mother in such a manner."
Charlotte chuckled. "My mother was disappointed, I daresay, but she has not spoken of it. We thought them very agreeable. They will make pleasant neighbours."
"Perhaps," Elizabeth said doubtfully. "To my father. I cannot see my mother strike up a lasting friendship with Mrs Croft. They seem too different."
"Your mother?" Her friend gave her a wondering look. "Oh. I spoke of myself. My mother -- if you promise to keep this secret -- celebrated her fiftieth birthday two summers ago. Mrs Croft has yet to celebrate her fortieth."
"You do not say!" Elizabeth exclaimed. Occasionally, of course, she had to be reminded that her friend was a few years older. "But that would indeed make her closer to you in age than to your mother. How do you know? Because she does not look it."
Charlotte shrugged. "They stayed over an hour and they talked a great deal."
"But how many handsome gentlemen are they bringing?"
Admiral Croft did in fact not know how many guests were coming, nor whether they were handsome gentlemen. Frederick had written to Sophia, but he had not mentioned any names. He had merely written that he was grateful he would be allowed to bring some friends.
"They had better be handsome," said Sophia. "Some of the young ladies around here want nothing else. There are some sensible girls, however. Miss Lucas was very agreeable and the eldest Miss Bennet seemed very sweet, although she hardly spoke. The second Miss Bennet spoke more and she was sensible enough."
"I hope you have not yet been looking for a sister."
She laughed. "No, not really. First I must ascertain who will be agreeable neighbours. I know you would have preferred something in the west, but this was such a good deal."
The admiral nodded. "Because it has not got a fresh coat of paint in the last hundred years."
She had noticed that, but it did not bother her very much. Their lease was too short. "We cannot see that from the inside."
"I asked that fellow for cans of paint."
During the years with her husband Sophia had developed the ability to supply names when he did not. Somehow she knew whom he meant. "Barnaby."
"Yes and when I chanced to mention it to Mr Bennet, he offered some of his daughters as painters."
"As long as you do not do it."
"I told him you were as agile as a monkey in your younger years, but --"
"You told him," she said in dismay. "But I should prefer it if you accepted Mr Bennet's offer. Elizabeth and Lydia will climb the ladder -- Lydia in particular if handsome sailors await at her the top -- and a third daughter can hold it."
"I am not going to stand at the top of that ladder," the admiral protested.
Then, finally, the day of the assembly came. There had been speculation for days. Everyone knew it more certain than everyone else -- Admiral Croft would be bringing an entire shipload of Navy captains and lieutenants to the ball, all in fine uniforms and with fine fortunes made by the war. The numbers were dazzling. They were not redcoats, but still officers of some kind, and there was one for every unmarried girl and then some more.
When Admiral Croft arrived at the assembly, however, he had brought far fewer people than gossip had promised and there were even ladies amongst them. It was soon determined who they were, for he was not at all loath to introduce them. There were but two captains -- Captain Wentworth, who was Mrs Croft's brother, and his friend Captain Harville. The latter had also brought his wife and his sister. This was considered quite unkind of the admiral, for Mrs Harville made Captain Harville unavailable and Miss Harville could not possibly not be engaged to Captain Wentworth.
This last matter was less speedily cleared up than their identities, for they danced the first dances together and seemed altogether well-acquainted. It was seen as a great pity, for Captain Wentworth was pronounced to be the most handsome man the ladies of Meryton had ever seen and the gentlemen discovered he had made a great fortune in prize money.
Elizabeth had listened to the gossip in amusement, but it gradually turned into embarrassment when her father was the one who took the greatest delight in spreading such disappointing news and her mother was subsequently one of the loudest to lament the loss of such eligible marriage candidates. It might have remained bearable had she not abused the admiral for dashing their hopes and although Mrs Croft showed no sign of having heard, Elizabeth could not be easy about it.
She had not entertained any hopes herself -- her father had sometimes spoken against the characters of sailors and she was not as drawn to uniforms as some other members of her family, not to mention that any gentleman would like Jane first. Consequently Elizabeth could look upon the loss of this prospect in detachment.
Captain Wentworth had come with the intention to amuse himself and he had almost always succeeded at accomplishing what he had put his mind to. Amuse himself he would and he stepped around confidently.
Harville had wondered what business he had at a dance at all, given his injuries, but Wentworth had assured him there would be enough time for conversation. The man needed to go out once in a while, even if it was only to look upon the dancing.
Captain Wentworth danced the first dance with Fanny. This ball was good entertainment for her as well, he reflected. She did not often have such an opportunity. There was not enough money to spare for Fanny's amusements. Fortunately she never complained and she found enough distraction and joy in reading and educating her nephew and nieces, something he admired.
Posted on Tuesday, 3 July 2007
During the second dance, having no partner, Elizabeth found herself by Miss Harville, who had been introduced to them by the admiral himself when he had greeted Mr Bennet and his family. "The captain dances with another," Elizabeth observed. Mrs Croft was speaking to Mrs Harville, Admiral Croft to Captain Harville and some local gentlemen, and they had left Miss Harville to fend for herself now that Captain Wentworth was dancing.
"The captain may dance with whomever he pleases," Miss Harville said pleasantly, but there was a sparkle of amusement in her eyes.
"Are you not engaged?" Elizabeth decided to be impertinent, although she kept her tone very polite. As the couple had parted after the dance, she had not witnessed any special regard in either, though it might well be that they were engaged without a very deep mutual regard, or that she failed to see it.
"To dance? No, we are not."
Elizabeth received the impression that Miss Harville was teasing her. She supposed she deserved it and she wished she did not feel so eager to discover whether the captain was truly engaged. He was, however, very good-looking and decidedly the most handsome man who had ever visited this town. "We were led to believe you were engaged to be married. The admiral said so."
"The dear old admiral is quite a scatterbrain," said Miss Harville with an indulgent look. "He sometimes leaves out crucial information. Do you not recall he said I was engaged to a captain he did not name? I am indeed engaged, but the captain in question is not present. He is a friend of Captain Wentworth's and my brother's. Depend upon it, if he were present we should be dancing together. Or perhaps sitting in a corner as the older couples are."
Elizabeth wondered if it was worth enlightening everybody about the captain's availability. She decided not. He might thank her later for the respite. Such good news would leak out soon enough. "And where is your captain?"
Miss Harville smiled proudly. "Doing his duty, but he will soon be free and then we shall be married."
"You are looking forward to it."
"Indeed I am. I have been waiting a few years," Miss Harville said seriously. "Men who serve the country are not always available and not all of them are fairly rewarded for their toils. It may take years for them to have earned enough to wed upon."
"How long have you had to wait?"
"Six years."
"Six!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "I do not know if I could."
"Oh, I did see him now and then. I did not do completely without him all that time. And if he could not visit, he wrote. He is an excellent writer. One can reread letters."
"Yes, but --" She was doubtful of their power.
"I see you have never received letters from a truly romantic man."
"From none, in fact. But my sister once received a poem." She rolled her eyes.
"Oh dear," said Miss Harville most solemnly. "I see that was not a great success. I do not advocate sending poems to girls of whose regard you are not certain. Hints of despair and uncertainty might creep through. My -- Captain Benwick writes very well. Frederick -- Captain Wentworth can also write very good letters and poems, but only to mock. He has a great talent, but he uses it very ill."
"How do you know if you are not engaged?" Elizabeth liked a man who could mock, but perhaps he was not entirely proper.
"We played writing them as a game once. His closing couplets are particularly wicked."
A while later Captain Wentworth came in their direction. Although she was conversing very agreeably with Miss Harville, Elizabeth agreed to dance when her companion nudged her. She admitted she was a little interested in the man. In addition to his undoubtedly being charming, he seemed a kind friend who also found time to sit by his friend Captain Harville occasionally. Miss Harville's brother, she had seen, was a little lame and could not dance. It did Captain Wentworth credit that he remembered that in the face of such distractions.
He danced well and he could speak at the same time. "I saw Miss Harville needed to nudge before you accepted. I am sorry if you were made to dance when you had rather not."
She saw he did not take this as a slight to himself and that she needed not be concerned about her answer. "I did not want to leave Miss Harville alone among strangers, but I needed no other persuasion to dance."
He gave her an interested look. That word always caught his attention. "Do you otherwise never yield to persuasion?"
"To good persuasion I certainly do."
That was a surprising thing to him, someone who admitted candidly that she yielded to persuasion. There seemed to be a distinction between good and bad, however, which she thought an excuse for yielding. "But to bad persuasion?"
Elizabeth held her head to the side in a reflective manner. "The notion of bad persuasion is very subjective. Who determines whether it is bad?"
The dance required him to move away and he used this time to think. A particular instance of persuasion came to his mind and he frowned. He supposed someone had considered good what he had considered bad, but he would not say their opinions were equally valid. Most definitely not. He spoke when his partner came nearer again. "You will not allow for an objective existence of it?"
"No," she said with a charming smile.
He raised his eyebrows. "But people who call bad persuasion good are simply prejudiced and misguided -- or they lack understanding."
"In short, everyone who disagrees with you is incorrect."
He wondered why she smiled as she said that, or why she even came to that conclusion. "I am indeed always right."
Elizabeth perceived that again he did not appear to be offended, but that he spoke with the simple confidence of a man for whom this had so far always been true. To him it was nothing but the truth that he was always right. "How insufferable that must be to your nearest and dearest!" she laughed.
"I have never given their plight any thought," he responded, but he began to wonder if he was insufferable. "Should I?"
"Nobody likes someone who is always right."
"That applies only to people who boast of it."
"That is true," she conceded. "Confident modesty is much more palatable. It comes closer to being reliable and dependable than to being obnoxious."
"I also prefer dependable people to obnoxious ones," he grinned. "May I return the favour and say that men are more dependable than women?"
"They are not!" Elizabeth protested, but as she did not have good arguments as to why they were not and he did not want to reveal why they were, no conclusion was reached.
Captain Wentworth danced with every girl to whom he was introduced until he ran out of dances. By the end of the evening he had amused himself, but he remembered very few details.
"Which girl did you like best?" asked Fanny as soon as she was helped out of the carriage. She would have preferred travelling on the outside of it, like Frederick, but the admiral had not allowed her. Her questions had to be postponed, but she had some.
"I have no idea." He could recall names, faces and conversations, but not which went with which. There must not have been a girl who had stood out in particular. Although he told himself it was impossible after such a short acquaintance, if he examined himself he knew it could happen. It had happened once. He had remembered a girl then, her name and her words.
"I liked Miss Elizabeth Bennet quite well," Fanny spoke.
"Who was she?" His question was in earnest. The name rang a bell. There were several Bennet girls, if he was not mistaken, but he could not put a face to a name. Indeed, the face that kept coming up was one he did not want to see.
"I was speaking to her when you asked her to dance."
"As I deliberately asked girls you were speaking to, that tells me very little."
Fanny laughed incredulously, for she had not noticed such a thing at all. "You talked rather animatedly with her. She is not very tall and had a blue gown."
He said the first thing that came to mind when he remembered that particular young lady. "She is tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me." She had been tolerably clever and witty, however, and impertinent. Yet he had not been able to recall her instantly. He frowned.
It made Fanny gasp. "I must chastise you severely, Frederick, for that is no way to speak of a lady."
"I am sorry, Fanny. May I not comment on a lady's looks?"
"How about the eldest Miss Bennet? She is very beautiful."
He screwed up his face trying to remember her -- all mute smiles and no fire? He granted that she was pretty, but it was not enough. "Too insipid, my dear Fanny. Why are you not friends with the lady?"
"You are on to me. She is such a picture of perfection that she makes me quite…"
Captain Wentworth could be brief and decided about that. "Not a picture of perfection." He regretted his outburst, for now she would surely ask him about his idea of perfection, something he did not want to share. Fanny could be sharp if she chose.
He had known her for too long still to wonder if they suited. If they had met before Anne perhaps, but not now. He would not be satisfied with anything less than instant interest. Fanny agreed with him there; she had been struck instantly by James Benwick.
"What are you telling Fanny?" asked the admiral.
"Nothing, Uncle James," Fanny replied saucily.
He slapped her with his hat. "Impertinent chit, calling me uncle."
She giggled. "But you are a dear old man."
"I know." He would not give her the satisfaction of being contradicted, even if he did not consider himself an old man. "But what was Frederick saying? He danced so often." He could have asked his brother-in-law himself, but they had enjoyed the dark ride in silence and only now did he realise there had been an opportunity.
"He should start remembering girls if he wishes to marry," Fanny observed.
Frederick laughed at the truth of that remark. "I was just thinking the same. I do wish to marry, but I am not rash. I do not want to settle for someone inferior. One can be instantly interested, you know."
The response came quickly. "Yes, we know, but how do you?"
He realised his careless slip. Revealing too much of his past was dangerous. "You have both told me often enough." That was something they could not contradict and he was relieved when they accepted it.
The Bennet girls were almost unanimous; only Mary would not admit she was in love with Captain Wentworth. Elizabeth liked him a great deal, Jane thought he was the perfect example of what a young man ought to be and Lydia and Kitty loved him because he had spoken of pirates.
"He did exactly what one ought to do at a ball," Jane said to Elizabeth. She would have repeated her young man comment, but her sister had laughed and called him not so young.
"Indeed. He spoke to everybody and danced with as many girls as he could. He was especially good for including us among them, though he would have been even more admirable had he included Mary, Kitty and Lydia. I tried to provoke him, but he withstood me."
Jane would never provoke anybody and she looked curious. "Why? Did you tell him to dance with them?"
"No. That would have been cruel. No. He is always right, but he happens to be like that, I think," Elizabeth mused. "I should not have believed him if I had not known you."
"You flatter me, Lizzy."
"I do not, but the difference between the two of you is that you are modest and he is not. I shall be waiting for his flaws to surface. He is bound to have some, as he cannot be a man without fault."
"Do you not like him?"
"I do, but you have first rights to him as the eldest." There was yet no indication that he liked either of them, or that she even liked him in that manner, but in any case she would bear it graciously if he should come to prefer Jane.
Posted on Saturday, 7 July 2007
"Frederick, come with me to the Bennets," Fanny said invitingly during breakfast. "I should like to call on Miss Bennet and you have nothing to do here. Thomas promised the children to go fishing. And --" She glanced at the admiral, but she did not finish her sentence. They all knew that the admiral had a new rowing boat which must be used, preferably with Sophia and not Frederick. The boat did not admit more passengers, even if any were so brave as to join the couple.
Frederick was not in a mood to acquiesce immediately. "I am one of the children."
"No, you are not. Besides, I need a chaperone to Longbourn, for I may lose my way."
He laughed at her, because he did not believe that for a moment. She would not set out if she did not know the way and once she knew it, she would not get lost. Fanny was not stupid. "No, you will not."
"I do not even know where it is!"
"I do not know it either." He would be of little use to her.
"Frederick, you must come along with me. The girls will like to see you, too. If only because nothing ever seems to happen here. New people are interesting to them." Because of her brother's profession she had met many people, but she knew well the days and weeks of absolute isolation. They would like seeing new people.
He sighed. "How far is it?"
She would undermine her position if she admitted she had consulted a map. "A few miles."
"Are we not better off riding?"
Perhaps that was so, but she had checked the stables and made an annoying discovery. "That would be a good plan if there were a saddle for me. If you want me to ride, you must buy me one first."
Frederick sighed again. "Well, if those girls are to be your friends while you are here, perhaps you are better off with a saddle. We shall walk the horses to Meryton."
"You must not give in to her every whim," said Harville. "She can walk. If all else fails, buy the saddle for Sophia and let Fanny use it."
"I am not at present in a condition to ride," protested Sophia. "I prefer rowing."
"But you have horses and we do not," he replied. "Fanny has no need for a saddle."
"I do not think so either," said Fanny herself. "But Frederick thinks I cannot walk. He would rather buy me a saddle than have me end up sitting on the ground screaming I am tired, but you know I am a good deal older than three and we are not taking little Freddy along."
"I do not change my mind. We shall walk to Meryton and get you a saddle," Frederick decided. "You are going fishing?" he said to Harville.
"Yes, with little Freddy, but he outgrew this behaviour at least a year ago, so you can safely take Fanny with you, as she will have outgrown it too."
"Take Fanny with me!" Frederick protested. "She is taking me!"
Fanny and Frederick walked to Meryton where he purchased a saddle for her. He had enough money, as he told her, and nothing to spend it on and to do her this small favour would be a pleasure. After asking the way, they rode the last bit to Longbourn. He wondered what Fanny was up to, if she was up to anything at all. From some of her comments and questions he had gathered that she considered him ready to marry now that he was ashore. She had often asked him why he was not engaged.
By anyone's standards he was a good catch and he had not met any young men at the ball whom he could consider his equals, neither in looks nor in understanding. It followed that any young lady around here would be rather hasty to secure him -- or rather, his wealth and appearance -- but when it came to a true test of love and trust, they might abandon him just as easily as someone had done before.
Frederick preferred to keep these matters in his own hands, although of course the girl was always an uncertain factor and these matters were never completely in a man's hands. They could be, if all a man wanted was a woman, but he wanted more than that. The topic of women had often come up at sea and among his friends, and although he had had little to contribute, he had found enough of interest to contemplate.
He would accompany Fanny and talk to all the Bennet girls. It might well be that there were some worthy young men who had not attended the ball, but attending balls seemed to be required to impress the female populace. He remembered a different young lady. She had not been like that. Conversation had appealed to her -- serious conversation with a few jokes, nothing flirtatious. He was not even sure she could flirt.
But he should not be thinking of her.
"You look so angry," Fanny observed. "Did I force you into something you would rather not do? Had you preferred to go fishing?"
"No, it was something else." He tried not to think of it again. He had returned to the country with the absolute conviction that he would never think of her again, that he would have no need to, but he kept being reminded of her.
"I am really not as intent on having my own way as I appear."
"I know." He would never think that of her. Occasional moments -- although this was not really one of them -- were allowed for anybody. Everybody should have them. Everybody.
"It will do you some good, too."
He would almost laugh. He had thought the same about her going to the ball, but he had never considered that someone might think him in need of similar charity. Frederick Wentworth, in need of such assistance? No, it was truly almost laughable.
"It will," she repeated a little anxiously.
"Thank you. I know you mean well."
"But you are capable of doing yourself good." Or so he thought, she reflected, but everyone could use a little help now and then. He was not shy, but he could hardly call on girls on his own.
"Why, yes."
"Truly?" Fanny gave him a searching glance. It was clear she did not entirely believe him.
If he had been capable of doing himself good, he would have swallowed his pride years ago, he supposed. It would have done him good. Now it would be too late.
Mr Bennet took pleasure in spoiling his family's amusements, for he beckoned the captain into his library where he treated him to a drink. "Poor man," Mr Bennet said, "to be forced to come along to this house."
"Miss Harville wished to call on your daughter, but she was afraid she would get lost," Captain Wentworth replied very politely. He was not sure what the man was about, pitying him. It could not be real pity, he decided, but he did not know what it was instead.
"Indeed. Well, thank heavens I am here to save you from their incessant chattering." He was determined to test the man and perhaps have some additional fun in seeing the captain long for the female company he was now denied.
Frederick made himself more comfortable. He was not easily daunted, certainly not by gentlemen who took him into libraries as if he was a suitor who must be cross-examined before he was granted access to a girl. He had not set his sights on any girl here. "Must you not also acquaint yourself with any gentlemen who call on your daughters, no matter their intentions? I cannot think you act only out of sympathy."
"Are you unaware that you have been the primary topic of conversation since the ball, Captain? Before they heard of Mrs Croft, it was Admiral Croft who ruled the roost."
"Now he is a poor a man! The only woman he likes is my sister. To be under discussion among females would make him highly uncomfortable."
"But you, on the contrary, are used to it." Mr Bennet raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"Captains and their decisions are always under discussion," Frederick said with a smooth smile. He truly did not know whether he was ever under discussion among females, not in such a manner. He had not met them often enough and his sister did not count. "But why did they not know about Mrs Croft?"
Mr Bennet shrugged. "They did not want to know about her, but anyone who meets the admiral cannot escape her acquaintance, it seems."
Frederick chuckled. "That is correct. They are always together. But what with them rowing together, Captain Harville fishing with his children and Mrs Harville tending to her youngest, I could only go with Miss Harville." There, that acquitted him nicely of having designs on any Bennet girl. He was merely accompanying Fanny.
"You could have gone fishing," Mr Bennet pointed out with a shrewd look.
"That was my original plan, but Miss Harville was afraid of losing her way. You know how persuasive girls can be." He winced inwardly at that word. Why was every conversation reminding him of his past?
"What can your father have to discuss with Captain Wentworth, girls?" Mrs Bennet said with obvious displeasure. She did not wait for an answer, but continued. "How did you like the ball, Miss Harville? Do you go to many?"
"Hardly any, so I liked it very well. I have been to half a dozen in my entire life, I think." Fanny hoped that was not considered much, but in four-and-twenty years she did not think it was.
Mrs Bennet was gratified that Miss Harville had not come from a superior society with more balls, better dancers and more fashionable women. "And how long will you stay at Netherfield?"
"My brother found a house in Lyme, but it does not become available until next month."
"Lyme!"
"Yes, the house is currently still occupied by pleasure seekers," Fanny smiled. There was not going to be any fun or fashion, and she might not even live there herself, if she married in time. "But the quiet season approaches and he shall be quite isolated there."
"And Captain Wentworth?"
His whereabouts were far more important than hers, Fanny knew. "He has no home of his own. Apart from his sister here, he has a brother in Shropshire whom he might visit. I cannot say how long he might stay."
"Until he sets up his own home, perhaps," Mrs Bennet speculated.
"His sister does not mind having him -- and any wife he might find."
She leant forward in her chair. "Is he looking for a wife?"
Fanny caught Elizabeth rolling her eyes behind her mother's back and she was amused. She could be; she was neither Frederick nor the wife he was looking for. "Not actively, but not being on active duty he has no reason to avoid matrimony." Perhaps Mrs Bennet would benefit from a dose of reality. "They are all very dashing, these officers, but one forgets that most of the time they are away from home."
"Or they may not return," added Elizabeth.
"It is indeed a real possibility," Fanny nodded, clenching her fists. She was glad Frederick's entrance distracted her from gloomy thoughts. The faces in the room were wonderful to study.
Posted on Tuesday, 10 July 2007
Captain Wentworth had at last been released by her father. Elizabeth had grown rather impatient as she had to listen to her mother questioning Miss Harville about the man. Her mother had been delighted with the news that the pair were not engaged, but thankfully she had not repeated this delight to the lady's face. From what Elizabeth had seen from Miss Harville, however, she suspected that their guest was well aware of Mrs Bennet's feelings. She was no fool.
"My apologies for having been detained, Mrs Bennet," said the captain with an elegant bow after he had entered the room.
Elizabeth was always suspicious of an excess of charm, but he was not yet in dangerous territory. He might not know her mother needed no winning over or he might simply have excellent manners. Whether he was insightful or not, he sat himself by her mother instead of by one of the girls, thereby preventing any jealousy.
"I hope I am not interrupting anything," he said.
Mrs Bennet hastily assured him he was not and she ordered Jane to pour him some coffee.
He thanked her most kindly, but not, Elizabeth thought, with any admiration. She was sorry for Jane, although she did not know how well Jane liked him, and a little indignant on her sister's behalf, for she was by far the most beautiful of them and ought to have her share of admiration.
Lydia could not contain herself. "Do tell us about the pirates again, Captain! You left us at a most distressing point at the ball."
He shot a quick glance at Miss Harville, who then spoke to Elizabeth in a very low voice. "He made something up, I can tell." She cleared her throat. "Why not tell them how you were nearly roasted over a pot once?"
"That is a good story indeed," he grinned and proceeded to tell it to Lydia and Kitty, who had gasped and squealed the loudest.
Elizabeth was interested, but she was too far away. "We are not as appreciative an audience, I wager," she whispered to her neighbour. She would indeed not squeal as loudly.
"I am not, certainly," Miss Harville agreed. "It is one of those stories they tell each other after a few too many drinks. If he had gone a few thousand miles off his course he might have got himself roasted, although I will grant that he might have come across the remains of a cooking pot."
Elizabeth giggled. She was intrigued in spite of Miss Harville's scepticism. "Have you ever been to sea?"
"Nothing but the usual transports from one port to another, but the natives' cooking pots here are hardly big enough for us. If you want a more serious opinion you should ask Mrs Croft. She has been everywhere."
"Why not Admiral Croft? I cannot imagine he would allow his wife to explore countries where they roasted people, not if he would not even allow her to witness any shooting."
"I suspect that Mrs Croft is in fact a very good shot," Mrs Harville whispered. "But the Admiralty would not like it."
"Why not?"
"Well, if Mrs Croft can shoot, so could other women -- and women are not allowed on board. They might have to start allowing them if they were in fact useful. To be honest, I do not know if she can, but it would be an excellent joke."
"I am not familiar with those matters," Elizabeth said. "But I believe you instantly."
As the captain regaled the younger girls -- and Mrs Bennet -- with tales of his narrow escapes from pirates' pistols, French frigates and cannibals' cooking pots, Jane and Elizabeth told Miss Harville about the area, its sights and amusements.
"My sister and the admiral have gone rowing. I wonder where they will overturn today," Frederick said in response to a question from Lydia.
"Rowing?" asked Mrs Bennet. "In a boat?"
"Indeed in a boat." He contemplated asking her in which other contraption one might row, but then he thought such a question might not be polite. "Yesterday they came home wet."
"Both of them?" Elizabeth inquired.
"Oh, yes. My sister will jump in if the admiral falls out."
"To save him?" She was ready to laugh at an admiral who had to be saved by his wife after falling out of a rowing boat. The sort of water that was available nearby made such a thing even more ludicrous.
"I think to share the experience of being wet, rather," Frederick said in a dry tone. "They must always do the same things."
"They are adorable," Fanny said warmly. "They are very much in love. It is the kind of love extolled in poetry."
"They hate poetry," he said in amusement. They would hate to be the subject of Fanny's romantic poetry.
"But I do not!"
"I wish you did!"
"And I wish you did not!" she retorted. "Do you remember the poem you wrote that started with so lovingly we shared a kiss at dawn?"
He grinned while everyone else gasped. It was the kiss that did it, he supposed. It had done the same for Fanny once upon a time, until she had come to the end of the poem. "Yes. But do clarify that I did not kiss you at dawn."
That interpretation had not yet occurred to her and she looked taken aback for a moment. "Oh. No. But you were being very evil by making me think you were writing about a woman."
He was still grinning. "That was the point." They quizzed and questioned him as to what had been his topic instead, but he would not answer. Then they turned to Fanny, but he was pleased to see that she refused to reveal it.
He feared Fanny had not been satisfied with his closing couplet and that was with good reason, because only in the last couplet had he been able to undo the seriousness of the rest of it. It had been too well-composed to throw away at the time, although he did not have it anymore at present. Fanny, however, seemed to know it by heart. It made him wonder.
"Say, Fanny," he addressed her. "You did not by any chance keep that thing, did you?"
She smiled. "I did. I have to learn the craft from my betters."
This made him a little uncomfortable. "It was nonsense from beginning till end," he lied. He would have to persuade her to throw it away when they got home.
Her smile widened. "I should like to learn how to write nonsense."
To avoid her, he seated himself next to the eldest Miss Bennet and tried to engage her in conversation. It was difficult, for Mrs Bennet and Lydia answered instead of her. He was slightly irked by the fact that she allowed it to happen and decided she must not have a very strong character. She might be beautiful, but she was not very interesting.
Although in this family, as opposed to another, he would meet with little resistance from the parents if he proposed to one of the girls, the prospect of proposing was not very likely. He had not come here with the intention to judge them in that manner, but he caught himself doing so nevertheless -- perhaps this was Mr Bennet's fault from treating him like a suitor -- and while he was judging one he might as well judge the others.
Lydia was a strong-minded girl, he suspected, but she was not well-informed. Of Kitty he had not received a good opinion, nor of Mary, and Elizabeth -- he did not know what to think of her. She was witty and lively, but there was something lacking.
Having satisfied himself of this, he attended the conversations with interest again. Should Fanny or anyone else inquire, he knew his mind. Nothing was worse than being questioned before one had made up one's mind about such matters.
Mrs Bennet suggested that the young people go on a walk, to which they readily agreed. Elizabeth found herself near Captain Wentworth at last. Although she was less impressed by poems about kissing than her mother, who favoured the scandalous in spite of her age, she owned herself a little intrigued. "Tell me, Captain, was it a metaphor?"
He waited a little before he spoke. "It was an attempt to tease Miss Harville, rather, and it worked. I wish she would not bring it up in company, though."
"Because of the subject of the poem?"
"You did not hear all of it, Miss Bennet," he smiled. "You must not draw conclusions based on one line."
"If it started out that way," she said readily. "I can guess what it was about."
"Very well, madam. If you insist, but in that case there is nothing left to ask me, is there?" He was polite, but nevertheless determined.
Elizabeth decided she had guessed correctly. Whatever he had told Fanny, the poem had somehow dealt with a woman anyhow, because she did not know what else one could kiss. She wondered whom he had kissed, but he was not likely to answer that. Jane would not think men did such things, but she was not Jane. They did that and a good deal more, she expected -- although she could hardly ask him about it.
"How long do you plan to stay with your sister?" she asked instead.
"Oh," he said slowly. "For as long as she will have me. I shall probably travel to my brother to stay with him for a while as well. He keeps wanting to show me his new wife, who by all accounts deserves more praise than he can bestow, but after that I shall return to my sister."
"Is that not boring?"
"Boring?" Captain Wentworth seemed surprised. "Why should it be boring?"
"Well, they are so much older."
He gave her a searching look. "Not from my perspective -- and at any rate they are not boring. If we are in any danger of boring one another, we have plenty of friends to invite or to visit."
"All of the Navy," she guessed.
"Naturally. They make for the best friends."
"Are you prejudiced?"
"I am."
"Why do they make for the best friends?"
"Not for you, perhaps," Captain Wentworth admitted. "But for me. We like the same things; we live the same life; we understand the importance of being able to depend on each other."
"It sounds like a very tight circle of friends. But," Elizabeth said thoughtfully. "Some of them admit women into that circle. Do they ask the same of women?"
"I suppose so."
"But you think women are less reliable." She studied his guarded look. He might not like the topic, but he was still answering. Therefore it was still safe.
"Indeed. That may be why I am not married. I have not encountered one on whom I might depend." He smiled, but it was a faint smile.
"But your circle of friends does not exclude them."
"My sister proves that they do not. So do Mrs and Miss Harville."
She switched topics when she deemed a question about the attributes of a good Navy wife would be considered odd. "Your adventures with pirates notwithstanding, was there ever a moment that you thought you would never return home?"
He considered it. "No. There were moments that I did not care if I returned, but never moments that I despaired."
Elizabeth looked at his proud face and believed him. He would have been confident. "And Miss Harville's captain?"
"He is on his way and for her sake I hope he will arrive safely."
Posted on Saturday, 14 July 2007
When the younger girls had thrown their bonnets into a tree and Elizabeth ran ahead to help them, Frederick stood watching with Fanny and Miss Bennet. Mary Bennet stood a little away with a disapproving frown. "Such behaviour is not becoming in a female," she said.
"Nor in a male," Frederick agreed cheerfully.
She had not expected his reaction and she gave him a stare, though stares were equally unbecoming.
Frederick observed the girls' antics and of course they were coming no closer to untangling the bonnets, for the branches of the tree were not coming any closer to the ground. Since they seemed to have fun nevertheless, he saw no need to interfere.
"I wish they would come down," Miss Bennet said a little anxiously. "Lydia will be quite upset if she cannot get her bonnet back. She spent much time on it."
Frederick gave her an incredulous look, but he said nothing. If she had spent so much time on it and she would be upset to lose it, she should not have thrown it into a tree. Perhaps this was not evident to a girl, but it should be.
"Oh, Frederick," said Fanny after they had been watching the fruitless efforts for another while. "Go and make yourself useful. You fail to read their unspoken minds."
As Fanny was very likely better at reading a girl's mind, he sighed and picked up a branch. With that he angled the bonnets out of the tree. It was so easy. They could have thought of this themselves. They could even have done it themselves.
"That is very clever of you, Captain," Elizabeth praised.
"Is it? It appears practical rather than clever to me."
She whispered. "That you avoided lifting one of them up."
He was surprised. "It was not conscious avoidance on my part, I assure you. This was much easier to think of." Lifting them up would have come last.
"I thought you would climb the tree, Captain," Lydia said saucily when she had fastened her bonnet again. "I am sure you can and I should have liked to see it."
Although he had previously been thinking of Lydia as merely a silly young girl, there was something in her tone and expression that he recognised. It gave him pause. One expected that from a serving girl in a public house, or from some other woman who lived off her flattering skills. He had not expected to find it here.
As he studied her for further evidence, she let out a childish giggle and chased after Kitty. Perhaps he was wrong and she was still a child, unthinkingly throwing her bonnet around, but the last time he had been addressed this way it had not been so very innocent.
"Close your mouth. You look quite…" Fanny observed softly. "Has nobody ever flirted with you, Frederick?"
He glanced around, but they could not be overheard, he hoped. There were advantages to walking with girls who kept running around. "The last time someone was as saucy as that to me, she named her price."
Fanny was not beyond being shocked.
"Although I do not suppose she is like that," he said hastily, fearing he had been too harsh about Lydia.
She was not shocked at that, but at something else. "Do they really do that to officers?"
Frederick had always thought Fanny was informed enough to know. It was one of those things everyone knew. He therefore looked a little amazed. "Yes."
Her eyes were large and anxious. "Do the officers ever…pay?"
"Some do. Do you mean to ask me whether I did? You can ask me that directly. I do not mind answering." Frederick gave a wry chuckle as he thought of Sophia. She had asked him often enough, with varying degrees of directness.
"Jimmy?" she whispered the name.
"I see you care less about me than about him, which is as it should be, I suppose, but I can only reply truthfully with regard to myself. He does not need to share these things with me. That I do not know of him doing it does not mean he never has," he warned. He had never cared to wonder and he did not want to be drawn into speculating now.
"Oh."
"Would it matter?" he asked stupidly. It had slipped out of his mouth before he realised how stupid the question was.
"How could you ask?" she flared up. "Would it not matter to you?"
"Perhaps this is not the best moment to discuss this, Fanny," he said when the running girls came nearer again. This was not a topic that was suitable for their ears. He had his doubts whether it was even suitable for Fanny's, but she had brought it up herself.
She hissed at him. "But I want to discuss it now."
"And what will you do if he is not pure, break your engagement?" Somehow he could not see that happening. They cared for each other too much. She had waited all this while; she would not throw that away now.
"No, but I shall be miserable and give him a good slap across the face."
He laughed, but he hoped Benwick would be spared this fate. Given his love for Fanny, he probably would.
"And you? Are you pure?" she demanded.
He hesitated. "Are you going to slap me if I say no?"
"Frederick!" she cried in shock.
"You are," he deduced. The party had resumed walking and they were the last two. If they walked slowly they could not be heard. What was pure? "I am not entirely pure, but you knew that from my poem."
Fanny gasped.
Frederick thought she was being very girlish and silly. "Fanny, really. What is next, a swoon?"
"I shall leave it to your wife to slap you," she said with a dignified look. "Because I am sure she will if she finds out."
"That depends on whether she is like Sophia or like Edward. Sophia applauds displays of affection; Edward abhors them." As he mentioned his brother he had to wonder about that wife of his. Had this changed his brother in any way?
"And you?"
He had known there was no getting away from the question. "Under the right circumstances, I applaud them," he said with a challenging look.
"But since you are not married to the recipient or recipients of your affections, do you regret them?"
He winced at not being married. No, he was not -- something had happened to prevent that. He was not sure whether he regretted his displays of affection, which she correctly considered in a dubious light. "Fanny, do not be so sharp."
She gave him a sharp look nevertheless. "You disappoint me."
Frederick sighed. He was almost certain her disappointment was merely a ploy to get him to talk, but he could not let her keep thinking ill of him. "I was engaged once and when engaged -- as surely you know -- much is allowed. Happy now? This is all I will tell you." It gave him a headache.
"You do not look happy," Elizabeth said to Miss Harville. She supposed it had something to do with the whispered conversation with Captain Wentworth.
"It is nothing. I want my Jimmy."
Elizabeth felt sorry for her earlier words. "I apologise if what I said earlier gave you cause for concern. I did not intend it. I merely wanted to make my mother understand that it is a dangerous profession and that she needs to look beyond a fortune and a pretty uniform -- which she may not however often she is told."
"I am often concerned, so do not fear."
They neared the others again because they had stopped. There was a stile and of course Lydia and Kitty could no longer climb it on their own. Captain Wentworth was begged to assist and he gallantly lent them a hand. Mary declined very primly.
"It is not very becoming in a lady to refuse assistance from a well-meaning gentleman," he informed her.
Mary was so amazed that she jumped down from the stile and would have fallen if he had not caught her. This unsettled her to no end and she quickly walked on.
"You are very bad, Captain," Elizabeth chuckled when she reached the stile. "Distressing my sister so. But you must not think us all so incapable of climbing." She nevertheless allowed him to jump her down. It was very agreeable.
"Do not deny me my feelings of usefulness! I must find something worthwhile to do now that I am ashore."
"It is extremely worthwhile," she assured him, but promptly the captain's services were needed on the other side of the lane as well. Mary had already climbed over on her own, which made her laugh. Many things could make her laugh, but she sensed that for all his charming gallantry the captain was merely trying to laugh and not enjoying himself as much as he wished. He frowned now and then.
"What is he doing talking to Mary?" she asked Miss Harville incredulously. There were more amusing sisters, she would think, unless he meant to give each one of them equal attention, something Mary would not care about in the least.
Mary's firm notions of what constituted proper behaviour had intrigued Frederick for some reason. Although her opinions sounded as if they came straight from a book, she must agree with some of them. He questioned her on some insignificant matters and although she was reluctant to answer at first, she eventually did.
It was easy to steer her towards a certain topic; she was too caught up in expressing her opinions to notice. He ended up asking her something he had never doubted enough to ask. "Should a girl listen to her parents after she has received a marriage proposal?"
"It is her duty to do so," Mary said seriously.
"And if they do not approve, do you think she ought to break it off?"
"Yes, she ought."
He realised he had expected no less from her, given her replies to other questions, and that it was not surprising that everything here conspired to make him question his own behaviour in the past. It gave him such a headache to think he was deliberately giving himself pain and that he could not stop himself.
It was disheartening to find that she was still everyone's superior, uniting so many good qualities in one person. Not only was she superior, but her decision to break her engagement was considered absolutely correct by at least one person here.
He did not speak much for the rest of the way, because he would only get himself drawn into more of such conversations if he kept comparing these girls to her.
"You will catch a cold, riding everywhere," Mrs Bennet said to Frederick when almost the entire family accompanied Fanny and him to their horses. She had already issued a very important invitation to dinner -- twice.
"This weather is nothing to an ocean storm," he replied carelessly. Although he felt a little unwell, it was not due to the weather. It was all because of his past and the implications it had for his future. It was not even raining.
Frederick had expected Fanny to speak to him as soon as they were out of earshot and so he was not surprised when she did.
"So…" she said meaningfully.