17. Chapter 15:Blessed is he who is kind

Ch 15: Blessed is he who is kind to the needy

Her headache gone and her letter written, Lizzy felt decidedly hungry. The strident voices of her sisters had silenced, as had Mary's pianoforte practice. It is so peaceful. Perhaps even Papa has ventured out of his bookroom. She smiled to herself as she descended the stairs and made her way to the drawing room.

Peering inside, she watched her father serving himself a plate of cold meat and breads from the sideboard where the servants had laid their luncheon. Strangely, neither her mother nor her sisters were in attendance with him.

"Good afternoon, Papa." Lizzy smiled as she stepped lightly to his side and kissed his cheek.

"Good afternoon to you, Lizzy dear." He looked appraisingly at his daughter. When did she become such a beautiful young woman? Her mother makes much of Jane's looks, but my Lizzy has such life in her eyes. "I trust you have found some relief for your headache. You were sorely missed at breakfast."

Laughing lightly as she served herself, she replied, "I fear what you mean to say is that you missed your ally in 'sensible' conversation." She took a seat near her father. "So where have my mother and sisters gone that we should have the drawing room to ourselves?"

"Well, I am afraid that the departure of the Carvers has left your mother with a great many tremblings and flutterings that can only be soothed by visiting with your Aunt Phillips. Kitty and Lydia have accompanied her with high hopes of sighting an officer or two while there." He smiled wryly as he reached for his glass.

Lizzy could not help but wince at the mention of officers, Carver's words still too fresh in her mind to be ignored. "And Mary chose not to keep their company?"

"No, I did not," a small but firm voice declared from the doorway. Slowly, Mary made her way into the room to serve herself from the sideboard.

Mindful of Jane's admonition, Lizzy bit her tongue and asked, "What would keep you home on such a lovely day? Did not you say yesterday that you wished to make a trip to the circulating library in town?"

Mary paused and looked at her sister, a puzzled expression on her face. I hardly thought anyone listening to me then. Quietly, she sat opposite her sister. "They went into town in search of gossip and officers," she murmured softly, staring down at her plate, blushing hotly.

The elder girl stared at the younger, surprised to see the red flush on her cheeks. She blushes for them! She does not speak in judgment of them, but it is clear she is uneasy with their behavior. Is it possible that I have been overlooking…

"You do not seem to approve, Mary." Mr. Bennet challenged flatly in a tone suggesting that he did not expect his middle child to offer any argument of worth.

Lizzy saw her sister's shoulders slump at the quiet slight. It is almost as if she hoped Papa might listen to her. She does look disheartened. Perhaps Jane is correct, I have paid her far too little attention.

"Is it not taught that the loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable - that one false step involves her in endless ruin - that her reputation is no less brittle than it is beautiful, - and that she cannot be too much guarded in her behaviour towards the undeserving of the other sex?'' Mary timidly offered, shrinking further into her chair.

"So then, you are afraid that your sisters' virtue will be ruined by their silly flirtations is town?" Mr. Bennet laughed softly at first, then more heartily. "Where ever they are known, your sisters will be recognized as the silliest girls in England. That is true." Finished with his meal, he rose to lay his empty plate aside. "But I think it is a far cry from silliness to ruination! For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn? Do not make more of this than there actually is. Good day, Lizzy, Mary." He nodded to his daughters in turn and left the room.

Mary followed her father with her eyes, but said nothing. With a sad sigh, she returned to her meal.

The silence in the room grew loud, until finally Lizzy had to end it. "You fear for them?" she whispered, chancing a glance at her sister.

Startled by the question, Mary's dark eyes fixed on her sister's face. Is she mocking me as Papa does? She is so like him, I am never quite certain. No, there is an odd look in her eyes, perhaps she is asking my opinion. Carefully, she answered, "I do, Lizzy. I am afraid for them and of what others are saying about them."

"What is being said?" Without thinking about it, Lizzy reached to lay her hand over Mary's, squeezing reassuringly.

Swallowing hard, her dark eyes darted about the room uneasily. "You know I do not like gossip, but…" Mary bit her lip anxiously, "…in the circulation library, I have heard them talked about by ladies who did not even know I was there to hear them." I wonder why you are taking notice of me right now. "No, Lizzy, do not ask me who they were, it does not matter. But the things they said! They were awful! They said they would not allow Kitty or Lydia to ever call on their daughters, that they were disgraceful and even indecent! I thought I should die of embarrassment when I heard it!" Tears glittered in her eyes, several trickling silent down her freckled cheeks.

Who among our neighbors have our sisters said is regularly not home when they come to call? "Mary, I had no idea. I… I do not know what to say." Lizzy paused. How is it that I feel as though I barely know you? "What say you we get our bonnets and make a trip into town ourselves. Perhaps we can console ourselves with sisterly affection as we make our way to the library?"

"I would like that very much." Mary nodded, a shy smiling blossoming.

The two girls made quick work of preparing themselves for their outing. As they walked, they spoke quietly, Lizzy listening more than talking. I cannot believe how thoughtful Mary is. I truly believed all she ever read was Fordyce and sermons. But it seems she is a great reader and takes delight in many things. I believe she only quotes Fordyce to test and see if her audience will really listen. She is far more clever than I imagined. A wry smile lit her face as she realized perhaps she had another friend to be counted among her sisters after all.

About a mile from town, they encountered Charlotte and Maria Lucas just leaving Lucas Lodge. They appeared to be struggling with a heavy basket between them. The two girls hurried to their friends.

"Here, Maria, let me help you." Lizzy quickly took Maria's end of the basket.

"Thank you ever so much, Lizzy!" Maria panted, releasing the basket into her care.

"What are you carrying?" Mary wondered aloud, peering into the basket. "Are you taking something into town?"

"Oh no, we are not taking this to town," Maria quickly responded, casting a small scowl at her sister.

"This is for one of the Netherfield tenants," Charlotte explained ignoring Maria's taunt.

"Really? I had not heard anything was amiss." Mary's attention was suddenly fixed on the older girl. Quickly she moved to help with the basket.

With a sigh and a frown, Charlotte began to explain. "My mother is quite satisfied in merely being Lady Lucas in all respects but one. She misses the opportunity that having tenants would afford her for works of charity. When my father kept shop, she always looked after his employees. Now, she takes it upon herself to keep abreast of the needs of the less well attended of our neighbors."

"She means the tenants of Netherfield," Maria interjected tartly.

Charlotte continued, taking no notice of Maria's untoward remark, "Mrs. Black is very ill right now, and her older daughter is not more than seven years old. Her mother is staying with them to help out, but that means another mouth for them to feed, and last year's harvest was not a good one for Netherfield Park."

"Mr. Bascomb is a most neglectful landlord, if you ask me," declared Maria with a flip of her bonnet's ribbons.

"Maria!" her sister rebuked sharply, glaring fiercely at her younger sister. How can you embarrass me so in front of my friends?

"You cannot tell me you feel any differently," she protested with an eye rolling expression reminiscent of Lydia. "He is never here, and has no concern for the welfare of his tenants." She pursed her lips, pouting at her sister.

"Just because you have thought something does not give you leave to say it," Charlotte hissed. "Show some decorum, Maria!"

Folding her arms across her chest, Maria continued scoldingly, "But no one thinks well of Mr. Bascomb. Mrs. Lawton said she thought there was no Mrs. Bascomb because…"

"Maria," Mary gently cut in, her own cheeks flushing at the young woman's words. "It does not do to gossip. Did you not hear Mr. Early's sermon last Sunday?"

Looking down, Maria conceded, "He was ever so severe about that, was he not?"

Perhaps she will listen. Lizzy listened to me today, perhaps… "Yes he was." Mary timidly glanced over to Lizzy to gauge her sister's reaction. The smile and sparkle in her sister's dark eyes encouraged her. "Gossip is not a fitting pursuit for a lady. How is it good that we should entertain ourselves and others by speaking ill of those who are not there to defend themselves?"

"Oh Mary! I do not want another sermon." Maria stamped her foot, much as Kitty had earlier in the day. "Leave that for the curate on Sunday!"

Perhaps not. Mary's face fell, her shoulders sagged sadly as she retreated into the familiar shell that everyone was accustomed to.

Lizzy blanched. Oh my goodness! How like my sisters she is! Mr. Carver was concerned that Kitty and Lydia would influence his sisters. Have they already influenced Charlotte's? She bit her lip as her brows knit. Poor Mary, Maria's cut seems to have truly injured her. How many times has she been cut so, and I have just ignored it? How negligent have I been toward her?

"There is little enough harm in such idle talk. I am quite certain that they must speak about us just as much as we do them. I do not see the mischief in it all." Maria pouted for a moment. "Oh, Charlotte, I did so wish to go to town today. I was to meet Kitty and Lydia there. Now that Mary and Lizzy are here, perhaps they can help you on your errand, for you know I am no good in a sick room."

"I am quite certain they have their own business in Meryton…" Charlotte looked pleadingly at her friend, begging silent apologies for her sister's ill manners.

"We were only going to the library, Charlotte," Lizzy exchanged a knowing glance with her younger sister. "But we can easily do that tomorrow. We should enjoy a visit to see Mrs. Black."

"Thank you ever so much, Lizzy!" Maria gushed, impulsively clapping her gloved hands together. "Tell mama that I have gone to town, Charlotte," she called over her shoulder as she hurried away.

Silently they watched her go.

"Lizzy, Mary, I must apologize for her thoughtlessness. It was quite uncalled for." Charlotte frowned, adjusting her grip on the basket. Slowly they started toward Netherfield Park.

"It is nothing; do not be concerned," Mary whispered, as though afraid to speak louder. She and my sisters always treat me thus, why should I make an issue of it now?

For a long time, no one spoke. Finally, Lizzy broke the silence "You seem troubled, Charlotte. What is wrong? Surely you are not still brooding over your sister?"

With a sad laugh, Charlotte looked at her friend. "It is ironic that we were just speaking of the evils of gossip, when that is precisely what is troubling me."

"How so?" Lizzy pursed her lips together hard, concerned what her friend would say next.

"You know, I am sure, that the Carvers left today."

The Bennet sisters nodded. "Mama is an excessively attentive neighbor, Charlotte, she could hardly fail to alert the entire household of the event." Lizzy laughed softly. The other two girls laughed with her at the gentle tease.

"Since Mr. Carver paid me little attention, I can hardly be upset by their leaving, although his sisters were sweet girls," Miss Lucas continued, a wry smile lifting her lips. "However…" She swallowed hard, the lightness leaving her voice. "However, I have heard tell of why his family quit Netherfield, and that does trouble me."

Oh no! The servants must have heard his speech to me and begun to spread it through town. Jane will be mortified to hear our family so disparaged! On no! Lydia and Kitty are in town. What a scene they will cause when they hear, I cannot think…

"It is being said…" Charlotte sighed as she bit her lip. "There are those who say that Mr. Carver declared the society in Meryton something savage and felt that his sisters were materially damaged by their acquaintances here."

"Oh no!" Mary gasped, blushing. Kitty and Lydia often went to call upon his sisters. How many times did Lydia pine that Mr. Carver was so stiff and droll? Surely it must have been them he sought to censure. How humiliating, and how terrible for Jane! "What a very harsh judgment upon our neighborhood."

"It is indeed, Mary. I fear that the judgment may be far more personal than that," Miss Lucas continued sadly. "I hope it is not untoward of me to say so, but I fear that his concerns may have been directed at Maria."

"Maria?" the Bennet sisters exclaimed simultaneously, exchanging startled looks.

Charlotte lifted her head sharply, cocking it quizzically. "Yes, Maria." Her grey eyes flickered from Lizzy to Mary and back again. "You cannot tell me you have not noticed."

"Noticed what, Charlotte?" Lizzy paused a moment to switch her hands on the heavy basket.

"Yes, it seems she is much as she has ever been." Mary kept her eyes down on the basket. How can she possibly think Maria could cause such a scandal when Kitty and Lydia are about?

"You are both far too kind. Perhaps you have been spending too much time with Jane, for she never sees anything wrong with anyone!" A vague note of cynicism filtered through Charlotte's tired laughter. "I mean no disparagement upon your sister really, but it would take someone of Jane's saintly disposition not to note the change in my sister." Sighing, she signaled her friends to set the basket down near a fallen log at the side of the road. "Here, let us rest a moment. My arms are aching."

"Thank you for that!" Lizzy stretched in a decidedly ungraceful fashion.

"Truly, you have not noticed Maria has been behaving differently lately?" Charlotte brushed stray locks of her straight brown hair from her face. Both her friends shook their heads. "Ever since the regiment has come into town, she has been so…"

"Lively?" Lizzy offered hopefully.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "She is far beyond lively! Perhaps boisterous would be a better description, and certainly flirtatious! She can hardly speak of anything else but the officers. I can no longer check her energies." She pinched the bridge of her nose hard. "I dread the thought, but I feel like I have little choice right now."

"What do you mean to do?" Lizzy sat gingerly beside her friend, peering into her face.

"I do not know what else to do. I think I must sit down and have a very painful discussion with my mother. But how am I to tell her that I fear it was my sister that drove our neighbors away with her indecent behavior?" She dropped her head into her hands. My own prospects are meager enough without Maria's outlandish behaviour to further diminish them.

How indeed? Is not that the very conversation I have been hoping to avoid as well? How is it that you, my friend, have so much more courage than I? But your mother does not have the nerves that our mother does, and your father, though indolent toward all things related to business, is much more energetic in regulating his family. Perhaps they might benefit… what am I thinking! It was my sisters who drove our neighbors away, not yours! You are not the one who needs to have such a conversation. I do!

Kindly, Mary laid her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Such news must always be difficult to bring to those who do not wish to hear it."

"What will you tell Lady Lucas?" Lizzy finally asked.

"I do not know. I truly do not know. It is not the conversation that a daughter is supposed to have with her mother. Quite singular, is it not? She should be admonishing me, not I her!" She looked up from her hands, unhappiness clear in her eyes.

"Have you thought that perhaps your sister is not the one whom Mr. Carver found so objectionable?" Lizzy glanced tentatively at Mary, who dropped her eyes, embarrassed.

"But who else could it be?" I know your sisters are much as Maria, is, but we are not the lovely Bennet sisters, always welcome wherever we go. It is the plain Lucas sisters who must be so much more concerned with decorum, for we have not your prettiness with which to beg forgiveness. "Is it not enough that her behavior could earn her such censure, whether or not she was indeed the cause?" Brusquely she wiped away the tears that trickled down her cheeks.

"Oh, Charlotte. I am so sorry." Lizzy laid her arm over her friend's shoulder.

Drawing a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, Miss Lucas straightened herself. "It is well, Lizzy. You do not have to worry on my account. It is well. Let us continue to the Black's."

The three young women made their way quickly to the small cottage on the edge of the Netherfield estate. Charlotte rapped sharply at the door. Moments later, they were greeted by an unfamiliar old woman.

"What business be ya 'avin' 'ere? Is one o' ya' da' Netherfiel' mistress?" Hunched over as she was, the old woman had to look up into the girls' faces.

"No ma'am," Charlotte quickly explained. "I am Miss Lucas, Lady Lucas' daughter. She was here to see you yesterday. These are my friends from Longbourn, Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Miss Mary Bennet."

The Bennet sisters curtsied in greeting.

"My mother has sent us with a basket for your daughter, Mrs. Black."

"Ah, yes, yes. Me Millie tol' me ta be 'spectin' ya." The old woman ushered them into the tiny, cramped cottage.As they entered, all could easily see that the cottage was in poor condition. The roof, the door and chimney all were clearly in need of repair.

Winter must truly be wretched in this place. Lizzy's quickly scanned the small space. How much difference an attentive and proper master, or mistress, could make in their lives, even if only the minimum necessary were done.

"I be glad ta 'ear dat none o' ya be da mistress 'ere. 'e's a right miserly landlord, I say, an' 'e don't be deservin' a pretty girl da likes o' ya all." Millie's mother grumbled as she led them to her daughter lying prone on a pallet near the fireplace. The woman was clearly ill, pale, and coughing weakly, quite possibly feverish as well.

Charlotte dropped to her knees near the woman and spoke softly, "Mrs. Black, I have brought the things my mother promised yesterday. I have the herbs to make you some tea to improve your cough. May I brew some for you?" She had to lean close to the woman to hear her whispered affirmative. "I have also brought bread and soup, some preserves, vegetables, and a bit of pork. Mama sent a blanket for you as well. She is certain we will yet have a chilling rain this week."

Efficiently, Charlotte took charge of the situation, directing her willing assistants in fetching water, tidying the cottage, bringing in firewood and other small tasks that would ease the old woman's burden in caring for her daughter and her family. Soon the tea had steeped and Charlotte gave both women instruction in its administration.

"Mama asked me to tell you that she would come by in a day or so to check on you and bring you more herbs. If you should need anything in the meantime, send one of the children to call at Lucas Lodge. The housekeeper has been told to watch for them." Charlotte smiled as she allowed the old woman to see them to the door.

"Thank ya kindly for all ya done today. Ya all be right fine young ladies, ya know, right fine." A mostly toothless smile punctuated the soft words.

The elderly woman's praise, humble yet heartfelt, soothed Lizzy's ragged nerves. The three girls walked in silence for several minutes.

"Charlotte," Mary began softly, "when you go to call on them again, may I come too?"

"And me," Lizzy quickly added.

"I would be happy for your company. Maria does so hate calls such as these." Charlotte shook her head at the thought of her younger sister. "Do you often accompany your mother when she pays calls to the tenants of Longbourn?" That was ungracious of me. I know very well she does not call upon her tenants. I should not have taunted Lizzy so.

"No, not often," Lizzy replied diplomatically.

Not ever. Mary raised an eyebrow at her sister.

"I think though, I shall ask her if I may call with her in the future. I find I rather like making myself useful much better than embroidering another handkerchief." Lizzy laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Perhaps that is because you embroider so ill," Charlotte teased, "surely, many things are more pleasant than an afternoon spent stabbing your fingers with a needle."

"Indeed, Charlotte." Lizzy glanced at her sister, who seemed unaware of the good natured exchange. "You seem thoughtful, Mary."

Timidly, the younger girl smiled. "I suppose I am. I have read many sermons that remind us that the Good Book says 'blessed is he who is kind to the needy.'* Therefore, I have known it to be true. But today, I think I understand it for the first time." Lost in her thoughts, Mary failed to notice her sister staring at her with a new respect in her eyes.

*PR 14:21