“Would you have avoided me, sir, if you had known?”
“No, but I would have asked you to dance at the assembly, thereby avoiding your censure.”
“But you had an opportunity to dance with me at Lucas Lodge, but chose not to. Did you not risk the same result?”
“I think not. You now know me better and understand that my comments at the assembly were not malicious, merely thoughtless and inaccurate.”
“And the dance?”
“A lost opportunity, not to be repeated.”
“Does Mr. Bingley plan to have a ball at Netherfield? He spoke of it when he first arrived. If so, you may yet claim your dance.”
“Yes, there will be a ball, and the date has been set for the first night of the full moon. Bingley will soon be sending his cards around, and after the ball, his sisters will return to London.” Looking at her to make sure she understood the importance of what he was about to say, he added, “but Bingley will remain at Netherfield. Unlike his sisters, who have tired of the country, Bingley has found much to admire here.”
Lizzy’s assessment had been correct. Mr. Bingley would not yield to his sisters on the matter of whom he should marry, and because of that, she smiled, letting Mr. Darcy know that she had understood his meaning.
“Who will keep house for Mr. Bingley if both of his sisters leave?” Lizzy asked.
“Most likely it will be his eldest sister, Diana Crenshaw. If she comes to Netherfield, you will know of it. She has a large family, actually more like a tribe, on the order of the Red Indians of America. Her two eldest are twin boys, impossible to tell apart and equally inclined to mischief. Mrs. Crenshaw was greatly influenced by Rousseau’s concept of the noble savage in rearing her children. The savage part of the equation has been achieved. However, I have seen no evidence of anything noble in their behavior.”
“Do you mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy?”
“No, but I do mean to warn you as one of their favorite entertainments is to dig up repulsive creatures from stream beds and share them with the ladies. And they are fearless. Do not be surprised if you find them in the top branches of your apple trees throwing fruit at your servants and laborers.”
“When I hear of the Crenshaws’ arrival, I shall send up a hue and cry to alert the population. And your plans, Mr. Darcy? Will you stay at Netherfield and provide the neighborhood with some protection?”
“No,” he answered looking away from her. “After the ball, I shall return to London as I have important business to attend to, and it is likely that I will not come back to Netherfield at all.”
“Lizzy, Mr. Darcy likes you,” Jane said to her sister upon her return from her walk.
“And I like him.”
Although she was sorry that he would be leaving the country for good, she had enjoyed their short time together. But someone of Mr. Darcy’s elevated rank would have no interest in the daughter of a gentleman farmer, so that was that.
“What I mean is that he admires you.”
“Jane, if you are inferring that Mr. Darcy has a romantic interest in me, let me disabuse you of such a notion. Mr. Bingley will have his ball, and immediately afterward, Mr. Darcy will permanently return to town. However, I confess that I will miss him as Mr. Darcy possesses a fine wit, although he definitely uses it in moderation. But I do not wish to speak of Mr. Darcy, but of Mr. Bingley, and I have news to share.”
Jane was elated when she heard that Mr. Bingley would definitely remain in the country, especially since, by his own admission, he frequently succumbed to his need for movement and would abandon the city for the country, and vice versa, at the spur of the moment. So this was very good news indeed.
With the exception of Jane and Bingley, who were clearly enjoying each other’s company, supper proved to be a somber event. The sisters were still upset at Charles’s announced intention of marrying whomever he pleased as they knew full well that it would please him to marry Miss Bennet. Mr. Hurst, as usual, had nothing to add as his only interests were in food, wine, and cards, and the engaging Mr. Darcy of the morning was missing. He was distracted and made no effort to converse with anyone. After removing to the drawing room, he once again chose to write letters, but even so, Lizzy found that he was often glancing in her direction, but in an abstracted manner, as if he were looking past her to things he must do when free of Netherfield.
Mr. Darcy was thinking of Elizabeth. During their walk in the grove, he had found himself so attracted to her that he had decided that it would be best if he left Netherfield immediately and not to wait for the ball. What purpose would be served by remaining? He was enchanted with a lady whose position in life was so beneath his own that any possible alliance was out of the question. Besides, he was not of a nature to toy with a woman’s affections, and he had already made overtures to Letitia Montford. It would indicate a deficiency in his character if he were to alter his course now. He just wished that Elizabeth had not chosen to wear her hair down for supper as he could think of no other sight that brought him more pleasure.
Although Jane Bennet had been gone from Netherfield for only one day, Charles informed his sisters that he intended to ride over to Longbourn to see her. Unsurprisingly, Louisa and Caroline were unhappy with his plans and launched a two-pronged attack.
“You are being ridiculous,” Caroline began. “There cannot possibly be a change in her health in such a short time.”
“You do not want to give the appearance of being a love-struck adolescent, now do you, Charles?” Louisa added.
“I do not care if it was only an hour ago that Miss Bennet left. I am going to Longbourn, and since I am in love with the lady, if people wish to call me a love-struck adolescent, so be it.”
“And what of Mr. Darcy, who came here to shoot?” Caroline asked. “You have neglected your duties as host as he has done no shooting at all because you have been distracted with other matters.”
“Do not trouble yourself on my account, Miss Bingley,” Darcy said, quickly jumping in. “I think it may work to our advantage. The birds will be lulled into a false sense of security thinking that there will be no shoot this year, and they will get careless and expose themselves.” Seeing the look of bewilderment on their faces, he continued, “Or we may find ourselves with too many birds as the pheasants will flock to Netherfield from adjacent properties seeking sanctuary from the shooting going on all around them.”
Louisa and Caroline stared at Mr. Darcy. Was it even possible for birds to understand the concept of a sanctuary?
“Darcy, what a cutup you are!” Charles said, laughing. “I am glad you are willing to find humor in the situation because you have come from London to shoot, and despite the fine weather, we have not had the guns out.”
“You have had other things on your mind, and speaking of the weather, since it is such a beautiful day, may I accompany you to Longbourn?”
“Of course. I was just about to ask you to join me.”
“Then I shall go change my clothes and meet you at the stables.”
Caroline waited for the servant to close the door behind Mr. Darcy before lashing into her brother. “If you persist in continuing with this ill-advised courtship, Louisa and I shall return to London.”
“Caroline, you have already said that you were going back to town after the ball,” Charles answered, refusing to back down.
“Then it is settled, and I shall write to our sister, Diana.”
“I thought you already had.”
On the ride to Longbourn, Charles thanked Darcy for lending him his support. “I saw Caroline and Louisa looking to you for assistance, but since you did not express any objections to the match, they may yet change their minds, especially Caroline, who looks at you as if you were the Delphic oracle. They truly mean well. It is just that they have become obsessed with status and ignore everything else.”
“You have no need to thank me,” Darcy answered, ignoring the comment about Caroline. He tried to say as little as possible about the lady because h
e would be hard-pressed to find anything positive to say about someone so petty and mean. “It was impertinent of me to attempt to impose my views on you. Like your sisters, I, too, was eager for you to make a good match, but since I have observed how greatly Miss Bennet and you complement each other, I can comfortably say that you are, in fact, marrying well.”
Darcy realized his withdrawal of any objections to the match was a complete about-face from his earlier position that such a marriage would greatly harm his friend’s chances to advance in society. But then Darcy thought back to the most recent season. Although he never missed a ball, his friend had avoided the more intimate card parties and dinners because most of the conversations were laced with spiteful comments from those ladies who were not yet married and replete with sexual innuendo from those who were, and Bingley had shared with Darcy that he had found London’s closed society to be repressive, almost suffocating.
As Bingley had said, he was not a Darcy, the grandson of an earl, and as such, he was not shackled with preserving a line that went back to those who fought with the Conqueror. His obligation to all of those Darcys who had preceded him required that he produce a male heir or Pemberley would pass to his cousin, David Ashton, and it would no longer be Georgiana’s home. So Bingley would marry Miss Jane Bennet, and they would remain in the country at Netherfield and have a house filled with laughing children while Darcy would return to London and Miss Montford. If he could not marry for love, then why not Letitia?
“Do you have a particular date in mind when you will make Miss Bennet an offer?” Darcy asked.
“Oh, it will be very soon. Very soon indeed,” Bingley answered, grinning from ear to ear.
“Bingley, are you saying that you are on your way to Longbourn for that very purpose? If so, I shall turn back immediately and not interfere with such important business.”
“Yes, I am going to Longbourn to propose, but I wanted you there because you are my closest friend and because it is a house full of women. I need more than Mr. Bennet’s presence to balance the equation. And speaking of engagements, how do things go between Miss Montford and you?”
“Slow but steady.”
“I only met her the one time, but she seems to be quite pleasant. She even meets Caroline’s definition of an accomplished lady.”
“She is very pleasant, truly accomplished, and according to my sister, paints tables like no other.”
“Will there be an announcement soon?” Bingley asked, but found his friend lost in thought, and his question went unanswered for many minutes.
“If only she was less serious. If she had more… If she was able to…” Darcy finally gave up searching for words to cushion Miss Montford’s defect: She wasn’t very funny. “It is the humerus that is supposedly responsible for our sense of humor, and like Adam and his missing rib, Miss Montford lacks a funny bone.
“You would think with all the ladies out in society,” Darcy continued, “I could find one woman of marriageable age who is attractive, accomplished, and witty. Is that too much to ask? Apparently, it is. And I absolutely refuse to consider the eighteen-year-old girls who have recently debuted.”
Most of those young ladies were friends of his sister, and Darcy shook his head at the memory of a procession of debutantes, all dressed in white, who were being paraded before London’s eligible bachelors for the purpose of marrying them off as quickly as possible.
“Georgiana, who protested when I enrolled her in Mrs. Bryan’s Academy because of its arduous curriculum, thanked me for doing that very thing after listening to the conversations of her peers. Unlike my sister, these ladies were coached by their governesses on the few topics that they might safely engage in while talking to a prospective suitor: the weather, the number of couples in attendance, the splendor of their surroundings, et cetera, et cetera.”
“Darcy, is it necessary that you look for a wife exclusively from among the aristocracy?”
“Yes, of course. Every decision must now be made with my sister in mind. If I do not marry well, it may adversely affect her prospects.”
“Are you saying that someone as lovely, intelligent, accomplished, engaging, and, I might add, wealthy as Georgiana will be ostracized if her brother marries, say, a gentleman’s daughter?”
“Again, yes. The women, the select few, who rule during the London season are unforgiving of those who deviate from their rules. Besides, I paid Miss Montford sufficient attention so that she is entitled to think that an offer will be made, and once I return to London, I will get about the business of making it. And no more about me, Bingley. You are about to become betrothed, so let us pick up the pace so that we might arrive at Longbourn before dark.”
Shortly after breakfast, Lydia and Kitty announced they would be going into Meryton to buy ribbon to trim their bonnets. Mary indicated she would like to visit the circulating library, and the idea proved attractive to her two older sisters. The sun was shining, and even some of the deepest puddles were finally drying up after weeks of rain and gray clouds. Because of the break in the weather, the streets were crowded with people from the village as well as many of the militia officers and their families.
When Mary, Lizzy, and Jane emerged from the library, they found their younger sisters talking to Captain Denny and his friend, Lieutenant George Wickham, who had recently joined the regiment. In a few minutes of conversation, the handsome Mr. Wickham had succeeded in impressing upon his company that he was well educated, self-assured, and quite charming. His arrival in Meryton would definitely make Lydia and Kitty happy as they were becoming bored with seeing the same faces at the dances and dinners and had expressed a desire for some new blood to be added to the mix.
It was Lizzy who first sighted Mr. Bingley and gently tapped Jane on the arm. When Jane saw him, she broke out into a broad smile, prompting everyone to turn around to see what she was looking at. Lydia, who was only interested in men in a smart, well-tailored uniform, announced the obvious: The two men, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, were not officers.
Both gentlemen had dismounted before they recognized the man who was with Captain Denny. After bowing to the ladies, Darcy excused himself and quickly retreated into the bootmaker’s shop. It was an uncomfortable few minutes before Wickham and Denny departed, and although it seemed as if an explanation was in order, Mr. Bingley said nothing. When Mr. Darcy returned, he too made no comment.
“Miss Bennet,” Charles finally said, ending the impasse, “Mr. Darcy and I were coming to Longbourn to inquire after your health.”
“I am well, sir. My sister’s excellent care and your attentions resulted in a quick recovery, and I am free of all complaints.”
With the two lovers staring at each other, Lizzy turned to Mr. Darcy. “Sir, we were just making our way home after visiting the library. Will you join us for tea?”
This offer was met by protests from Kitty and Lydia, who declared that they were not ready to return to Longbourn.
“Lydia, it would be helpful if you went ahead to tell Mrs. Hill that we will be having two visitors for tea,” Lizzy said in a voice that made it clear it was not a request. Kitty, who was somewhat more mature than her sister, tugged on Lydia’s sleeve, indicating they needed to return home, and together with Mary, they made their way toward Longbourn.
As they had done at Netherfield, Mr. Darcy walked beside Lizzy leading his horse by his reins. Unlike their previous encounter, the gentleman was not in the mood for conversation, and they walked side by side in silence. When they finally reached the house, Lizzy let out a sigh of relief.
With Mr. Darcy accompanying his friend, no one had guessed the purpose of Mr. Bingley’s visit, but after tea and cake, Charles could wait no longer and asked Mrs. Bennet if he could have a word in private with Miss Bennet. The question catapulted Mrs. Bennet out of her seat. She had been running about the room, urging everyone to leave as quickly as possible, when Lizzy suggested that the couple should go across the hall to the parlor, and everyone again sat down. Mr.
Darcy continued to say nothing, but the chaotic scene had caused his mood to lighten, and it appeared to Lizzy that he was struggling not to laugh.
Everything played out as expected. Jane and Charles returned to the parlor to announce their engagement, with Charles quickly leaving to ask his future father-in-law for his daughter’s hand. Mrs. Bennet was beside herself with joy at Jane making such an advantageous marriage and ordered Mr. Hill to open a bottle to toast the occasion, and a spontaneous celebration ensued.
“I believe, Mr. Darcy, it will prove to be an excellent match as they are well suited to each other,” Lizzy said. “Is life not full of surprises? A gentleman from London signs a lease on a property in Hertfordshire, and the result is my sister will shortly be married.”
“Everyone seemed to be surprised by Mr. Bingley’s sudden proposal, except you. I attribute that to your keen powers of observation.”
“You give me too much credit, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bingley’s joyful countenance revealed his purpose in coming to Netherfield. Most people are more difficult to read than Mr. Bingley.”
“Am I one of them?”
“Yes, on most occasions, you show very little.”
“You say ‘on most occasions.’ I imagine I was less difficult to read today in Meryton.”
“I believe you are referring to Mr. Wickham. Do you know the gentleman?”
“Yes. When Wickham was about six years old, both of his parents died, and the steward at Pemberley and his wife adopted him. He is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making many friends here in Meryton, but I would caution you to be wary of anything he says.”
“With regard to you, Mr. Darcy?” Elizabeth asked, puzzled by his ambiguous statement.
Darcy hesitated, unsure of how much should be said. The previous autumn Wickham had tried to arrange an elopement with Georgiana, and even with the passage of a year’s time, it was a subject that caused his blood to boil.
“Miss Elizabeth, you have had sufficient time to sketch my character, and since I shall soon depart for London, I shall leave you to judge the truth of any assertions he may make regarding me. I believe I can safely rely on your justice.”
A Wife for Mr. Darcy Page 3
