"Oh! thoughtless, thoughtless Lydia!" cried Elizabeth when she had finished it. "What a letter is this, to be written at such a moment! But at least it shows that she was serious on the subject of their journey. Whatever he might afterwards persuade her to, it was not on her side a scheme of infamy." (1)
Scheme of Infamy
1 – Leaving Longbourn
Elizabeth obeyed, and running into her own room for her parasol, attended her noble guest downstairs.
It was an unusually warm day for the middle of May and in an attempt to escape the heat of the sun Lydia had retired to her bedroom on the shady side of the house. To move the stale air from the room she opened the window and lingered there as it was her habit to look down the road for visitors. She could detect her father's voice from the library below and upon hearing her own name mentioned she determined to know what was being said.
"Lydia will never be easy until she has exposed herself in some public place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstances."
"If you were aware," said Elizabeth, "of the very great disadvantage to us all which must arise from the public notice of Lydia's unguarded and imprudent manner—nay, which has already arisen from it, I am sure you would judge differently in the affair."
"Already arisen?" repeated Mr Bennet. "What, has she frightened away some of your lovers? Poor little Lizzy!"
Was Lizzy trying to dissuade Father from allowing her to go to Brighton? Public notice? La. What do I live for but to be the centre of everyone's attention! Frightened away some of your lovers? Why, no one has ever courted Lizzy, not even Mr. Collins tried courtship, only a ridiculous proposal.
"Our importance, our respectability in the world must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia's character."…
Lydia's thoughts then turned toward Lizzy's arguments and her anger was roused. Does anybody really care about my character? It is not as if there are such great expectations for any of the Bennet girls. With little dowry and no connections there is nothing but looks and happy disposition to capture a suitor's attention. All of Mama's hopes and dreams are pinned upon Jane making an eligible match. And Papa only takes pride in Lizzy's supposedly quick wit. But they both have yet to secure their futures.
Having such pride and attention invested in and so many expectations of the older two daughters, Mr and Mrs Bennet had let their guard down concerning the youngest of the brood. They had overlooked the upbringing of Kitty, Lydia, and to a lesser extent Mary, having left to Jane and Elizabeth the role of 'their brother's keeper' – or in this case, their sister's keeper. Of course it is the younger child's obligation to resent this officious authority and therefore to defy the domination of elder siblings as much as possible. Lydia had perfected this act. The constant exuberance in her air and manner - not often united with great sensibility of character, was purely a result of her upbringing, or rather lack thereof.
"We shall have no peace at Longbourn if Lydia does not go to Brighton. Let her go then. Colonel Forster is a sensible man, and will keep her out of any real mischief..."
Lydia's attention was recalled to the conversation below and thus assured that she would still be going to Brighton she then sent her thoughts toward packing. "Yes, Papa, you shall have your peace and I shall have a grand adventure!"
As youngest of the five daughters, Lydia had her fill of hand-me-down dresses, shoes, toys, books and everything else. All the special attention and shopping for new clothes due to her impending trip fuelled her vanity and sense of self-importance. And after all, it was only her fair portion as special companion to Mrs Forster. Jane and Lizzy had often been to London with the Gardiners. She only wanted to be able to do something first, before any of her sisters.
The days remaining before her departure passed quickly with final fittings for gowns and hasty trimming of bonnets. Mrs Bennet bought things for Lydia's trunk with little regard for the family's means and the unwitting approval of Mr Bennet. To all this extravagance, the outrageous sum of fifty guineas was secretly shared with her favourite daughter to spend during her holiday and the promise of more if she needed it.
Despite the multitude of purchases to update her fashion for the Brighton society there were a few items that were still needed. Before closing up the trunk Lydia decided to collect what she could from her sisters' wardrobes. From Jane she begged to borrow three handkerchiefs, for hers had the best embroidery. Mary willingly spared her long gloves since there would be few balls at which to wear them and she had little wish to attend such functions. Kitty was most reluctant to part with anything to aid her spoiled sister but did finally consent to lend a silver hair comb and some shoe rosettes.
Since Lizzy was off on a long ramble it would not be possible to gain permission till later but that would not stop Lydia from looking through the room and taking what she wanted. The most sought after object was a silk parasol, gifted to Lizzy by Aunt and Uncle Gardiner, which would be most useful to prevent freckling of a delicate complexion when strolling along the seashore.
Whilst searching through the room Lydia paused to admire Lizzy's pale yellow ball gown, a crisply ruffled pelisse and various slippers. She passed over those items knowing that they would not fit her figure. A curious nature caused her to peek inside a bandbox stored on a high shelf in the closet and what she found within completely distracted her from her purpose. Lydia never did remember to borrow Lizzy's parasol and thus it would still be there when Lady Catherine demands to walk in the garden.
Notes:
(1) Throughout the story, there are several lines of text original to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and the characters are her creation. This story uses the relevant bits of text to tell a 'behind-the-scenes' version of Lydia's elopement.
The story is complete in six short chapters. Rated teen for the elopement theme and mild innuendo (later).