'Come with you?' she asked in surprise.
'Yes, come with me, Belle. You cannot stay here. The carriage is waiting. We can go to Scotland together. Oh! Not to marry, but to have an adventure and get away from this dreary place. We will yet grab some pleasure from the day.'
She was undecided and then, suddenly picking up her skirt and climbing into the carriage beside me she said, 'Aye, what do I have to stay for?'
We were soon away, and before very long we had decided that we could be just as happy in London as in Scotland, and for a lot less expense, and so thither we went.
It was not what I expected from today, but what is the use of repining? Something will turn up, I am sure of it, and for now I have Belle to keep me company.
Besides, there is always still Anne de Bourgh.
4th November 1799
Our money has at last run out. Belle has invested what little she had left in a boarding house, and we have reluctantly decided to go our separate ways.
I am thinking of enlisting. One of my acquaintances happened to recommend his regiment to me this morning, and as I have nothing better to do I believe I will join. It will get me away from London, where my creditors are once again pressing me, and take me into Hertfordshire, a place where I am not known. Then I can begin again, and at the very least, run up some new bills.
And at the most... There will be impressionable young women in Meryton, no doubt, and they will all be susceptible to a charming and handsome young man in a red coat.
Who knows? I might meet my heiress in Hertfordshire, and by this time next year I might have eloped!