Pride and Prejudice : Elizabeth Becomes a Maid

part one: the debt

The Bennet family spent a lot of money to pay for the upkeep of their home. After a series of unwise decisions, they had to lay off their help.

With no source of income, the family had to find other means to pay for their living. That meant raising chickens and goats. However, the strain which financial debt often has on a person eventually took Mr. Bennets life, along with the high cholesterol diet he had been eating.

Mrs. Bennet decided that the beat thing to do for her daughters was to find a place for them. After all, their home had now gone to Charlotte Lucas's husband, who disgusted all the members of the Bennet family.

The stressed out Mrs. Bennet solicited everywhere and the Gardiners, their relatives, agreed to take the youngest of the sisters under their wing. Not all, because they simply could not afford it. Jane would go to London with her mother and search for a job, presumably in the textiles. As for Elizabeth and Mary, they had been offered jobs in a mansion just between Hertfordshire and Cheapside.

Thus there they were the five sisters, Elizabeth, Mary, and Lydia, and Kitty, and Jane and their mother traveling to a permanent home of which they had no clue how they were to cope. Lydia did not like having to give up society. She would never see a soldier again, she thought. As for Kitty, like all the girls, she dearly missed her father. Elizabeth and Mary were thinking to the future and wondering what sort of life would lay before them. Mrs. Bennet had stopped crying about the ordeal but exclaimed:

"Oh what misfortune! How I despise to see my daughters cast out by the Collins! Why did we not have a son, Oh dear!"

"Mother, we must think to the future, there will be a life for us together even if we are apart." Elizabeth tried to assure her.

"Oh I hate leaving Longbourne like this, what will all my friends think of me now!" cried Lydia.

The family continued to talk like this until they reached Cheapside where they were embraced by the Gardiners and their many children. Lydia and Kitty would be raised up and given a proper education by their generous aunt and uncle.

After a nights rest, a carriage arrived to take Elizabeth and Mary an hour away to Derbyshire where the girls would be taken on as maids. After a long and bumpy ride the girls arrived at a splendid mansion. Elizabeth could hardly believe that it had not come out of a novel. Mary examined the structure of the classical architecture.

A kind lady came out to greet them and a series of attendees helped them get situated into their rooms. Their living situation consisted of two separate spaces, one for each girl, and a small bath house outside. They would eat in the morning together and go about their chores.

That night the girls slept together, sobbing about their unfortunate circumstances and promising each other to make the best of what they've got.

"We shall save up, and buy a proper home for the family to live in." Mary said.

"Surely we shall not save much from pennies a week, we must start a company!" Elizabeth said.

"What kind of company?" Mary asked.

"I've not the slightest idea" replied Elizabeth and to this they fell to sleep.