Conundrums & Coincidences (Mr Darcy’s Dilemmas)

Chapter 29

29

MUSICAL MAGIC

A t Longbourn on Wednesday, between the fragrant cutting garden and the shrubbery, Kitty chatted with Elizabeth while they took turns on the swing suspended from a massive oak. The tree had been there for over three hundred years, the swing since Mary had been a young child.

Seated but not setting it in motion, Kitty said, “I did not admit as much to you yesterday when we were chatting, but I was angry and jealous when Lydia went to Brighton. Then, after three or four days of vexation and moping round the house, I felt free to do as I pleased rather than follow wherever Lydia’s fancy might take us. I did a bit of gardening and, you may be properly shocked, read an entire novel while she was gone. Lydia never has patience for either reading or needlework, but I rather enjoyed sitting by the open window, embroidering handkerchiefs and listening to Mary play the pianoforte. I even begged her to teach me a few simple tunes. Just imagine what I might have accomplished had Lydia stayed away the anticipated three months instead of one. ”

“My dear sister, I am exceedingly proud of you.” Imagine. An entire book in one month!

Kitty scuffed her feet on the patch of dirt beneath the swing and glanced about uneasily. “Lizzy, what can you tell me about that nice Mr Hadley? I understand you met him at the country house in Buckinghamshire. Your country house.” She heaved a sigh, then coughed. “How very fortunate you are to own a grand old manor and possess a huge fortune.”

Elizabeth kept to herself the fact that she had decided to use most of that wealth to provide dowries for her four sisters. “I first became acquainted with Mr David Hadley in Cheapside during the autumn of the year ten, a twelvemonth before we met Mr Bingley. Similar to his cousin in looks and in amiability, Mr Hadley is a delightful young gentleman…emphasis on young . His ambition is to become a barrister until he inherits Eastmeadow Park, a modest estate in Eton Wick, where his elder brother lives. Why do you ask about him?”

Standing behind her sister and pulling on the ropes, Elizabeth eased the swing towards herself. Then resting her chin upon Kitty’s shoulder, she whispered, “As though I cannot begin to guess at your interest.” Releasing the ropes, she watched as her sister’s legs pumped to and fro, propelling the swing higher and higher into an azure sky.

Shading her eyes, she watched as the top of Kitty’s head touched the bottom rim of the sun, which was not quite at its zenith. “In several hours you will have a chance to become much better acquainted with Mr Hadley. He and the Netherfield party have been invited to dine here this evening.”

Her sister uttered a surprised squeak. “Why was I not told of this?” Her feet flailed as they sought to gain purchase with the earth. “I must make haste! The seam on my peach muslin needs mending. And I shall ask Patty to dress my hair differently. And Lydia will be wrestled to the floor if she does not return my pale-green ribbons, and…”

Clad in her altered and embellished primrose gown—the one last worn the evening she had been trapped in Oakwood’s garret—and with all her sisters in pretty muslins, Elizabeth thought the five of them appeared to great advantage. Lydia was in white with green dots, Kitty in peach, Jane in pale blue, and Mary in cream with brown stripes.

Then Miss Darcy entered the drawing room wearing an elegant ivory satin with dainty lilac and green sprigs.

I shall purchase bolts of silk in each of my sisters’ favourite colours and have them made into lovely gowns by London’s finest dressmakers. And for Mama too. A thrill ran through Elizabeth at the thought of having deep enough pockets to do such things for her family.

Rushing over and latching on to her new friend’s arm, Lydia cried, “La, Georgiana, I just realised something. Today is Midsummer quarter day. What a laugh! You now owe me an elegant new gown, like yours, for I have not yet breathed a word about…you know what.”

Grateful that Messrs Bingley, Hurst, and Hadley were too occupied with greetings and welcomes and being seated to have heard Lydia’s remarks, Elizabeth warmly acknowledged Mr Darcy. Then, speaking barely above a whisper, she said, “Do you have any notion what Lydia just alluded to?”

“I shall tell you whenever we have a private moment. In the meantime…” From behind his back, Mr Darcy brought forth and presented to her a posy of crimson and yellow. “I picked this bouquet of wildflowers for you myself. I noticed them in a meadow on my way to Meryton earlier today. I wa s there delivering…messages. I see that, providentially, the yellow ones match the gown you wear.”

From those flowers, Elizabeth surreptitiously brushed off two ants and trod upon them with her slipper. “Thank you. Common cow-wheat looks lovely with the great burnet. But how odd you should go about our neighbourhood delivering messages. Could you not have relegated such tasks to Netherfield’s errand boy?”

For a second or two, his eyes widened with what seemed to be alarm. “Ah. Yes. But as I already had calls to make”—his look of disquiet was back—“I decided to kill two birds with one stone.”

While frowning at him in puzzlement, Elizabeth noticed Mr Darcy swallowing so hard that she suspected he might have the aforementioned stone lodged in his throat. “Calls to make? You? In Meryton? How very…” Unlike you. “Mysterious.”

Mrs Bennet bustled over. “Lizzy, why are you lingering about holding weeds? I assure you, Mr Darcy, that all my daughters know better than to keep guests standing in the doorway. How unfortunate that Mr Bingley’s sisters both should be indisposed at the same time! But believe me, with five daughters unmarried, I know how horrid headaches can be. Of course, soon you will take our Lizzy away. And I fully expect another offer of marriage soon will occur.” A pointed look was directed towards Jane and Mr Bingley, who sat with their heads together speaking quietly to one another. “What congratulations will then flow in! And have I told you, sir, about my?—”

“Mama, let us not keep our guest standing here. Apparently, he has been traipsing about Meryton all day.”

“Oh! Do come in, Mr Darcy, and rest your weary feet. Dinner soon will be served. ”

Indeed, dinner was announced almost immediately. And during the first course, Lydia said, “Afterwards we all should play Musical Magic. What a laugh we had while doing so in Brighton! My Wick— Um… One of the officer’s tasks was to remove my locket and fasten it round Colonel Forster’s neck. But it would not fit, for Harriet’s husband has such a fat—” Having placed a hand at her own neck, Lydia gasped. “Oh Lord! Wick— The officer quite forgot to return my locket. Papa,” she said, as she leant across in front of Miss Darcy, “we all must go to Brighton and retrieve my necklace. Then we must stay there for the remainder of the summer.”

“Aunt Philips is sure the salt water and air would do me a great deal of good.” Kitty added a little cough for good measure.

“Have you both forgotten,” said their father, “that we have a wedding to attend on the eleventh of July?”

To everyone’s surprise, Mr Bingley stood and cleared his throat. With all eyes upon him and everyone silent, he said, “Wedding s . Plural. I have asked for Miss Bennet’s hand in marriage, and I am elated to announce that she has agreed to be my wife.”

With lively emotion, Jane nodded and declared herself the happiest creature in the world; and the endearing smiles of the betrothed couple soon had everyone else grinning.

Mrs Bennet’s prediction had come true. Congratulations flowed forth and were received with sincere warmth and delight. Copious amounts of wine also flowed forth, and toasts were made to both happy couples.

Even Mr Hurst raised a glass to them. Then he raised a glass to his hostess and said her venison was roasted to a turn. “Never have I seen such a fat haunch as yours, madam.”

Perhaps Mr Hurst has ingested a bit too much wine.

When the happy babble subsided to a dull roar and everyone focused on their plates, Elizabeth looked round the table and saw Kitty was in particularly good spirits. Is it the wine or…

Earlier in the day, Kitty had expressed an interest in Mr Hadley, and the attraction seemed mutual.

Obviously smitten, he listened with rapt attention to every word she uttered; and rarely had the young man, directly across from the object of his admiration, taken his eyes from her during the two courses. In fact, Elizabeth had to stifle a grin and pretend she had not witnessed the moment Mr Hadley missed his mouth. Is not stabbing one’s chin with a fork the very essence of infatuation? Perhaps I, too, have had too much wine.

Prior to winning an inheritance, Elizabeth had imagined Mary, Kitty, and Lydia would marry men in a profession—the clergy, military, or law. But soon all her sisters would have ten-thousand-pound dowries.

Might they do better than one such as Mr Hadley? Good heavens! Has wealth robbed me of my senses? Am I becoming like Papa? If it was proved that Kitty and Mr Hadley loved one another and that he easily could support a wife and children, then she would be happy for them.

While Elizabeth had been wool-gathering, the topic of after-dinner entertainment evidently had been reconsidered. It had been agreed that once the gentlemen had enjoyed their port, they would join the ladies in the drawing room where anyone who wished to do so could exhibit on the square Broadwood pianoforte.

I suppose the instrument is not as grand as Miss Darcy is accustomed to, but it does have a damper and more keys than the one the Gouldings have at Haye-Park.

As the least proficient of those exhibiting, Kitty went first and softly sang ‘The Soldier’s Adieu’ while Mary accompanied her on the pianoforte.

That performance was followed by Elizabeth’s rousing rendition of ‘Old Maid in the Garret’. Sitting then beside Mr Darcy while Mary performed a concerto, she was rewarded by the touch of his bare fingers upon her wrist. She closed her eyes, savouring the sensation. Can he feel my pulse race? Is it wrong to crave more?

After a bit of coaxing, Miss Darcy agreed to take a turn at the instrument. Her audience sat in silent awe until she gracefully lifted her fingers from the keys. Then, with everyone applauding her exemplary performance of a Haydn sonata, she quickly moved away from the pianoforte and sat blushing on her brother’s other side.

Elizabeth noted how he gave his sister’s hand a gentle squeeze and whispered words of pride and appreciation for her courage, talent, and grace. He is such a loving brother. And beau! And what an excellent father he will be.

Just as she was about to slide her palm beneath his, he was approached by Mr Bingley, who requested a private word. As they quietly spoke across the room, she became increasingly suspicious, particularly when they kept stealing glances at her.

“Miss Darcy, is there some problem of which I should be made aware?”

“Oh no! I mean… There is nothing of which you should be aware.” Blushing again, Miss Darcy seemed inordinately eager to change the subject. “Since we soon are to become sisters, please call me Georgiana. Lydia already does.”

Lydia came then and, taking one of Elizabeth’s hands and one of Georgiana’s, pulled the ladies to their feet. “We are to play Musical Magic now. Papa invited the gentlemen to join him in his library for more port, but only Mr Hurst went with him. Jane and Kitty have agreed to play, as have Mr Bingley and Mr Hadley. Lizzy, Mr Darcy says he will participate only if you are willing. Dull Mary has agreed to provide the music for us, and Simon has been summoned to arrange chairs in a circle.”

After declining and refusing to be persuaded, Georgiana said she would sit by Mrs Bennet and watch.

Perhaps realising she would be a fifth wheel amongst three ladies and three gentlemen, and although the scheme had been her idea, Lydia said, “I shall keep you company, Georgiana. It can be just as much fun to watch as to play.”

Once Mary was at the pianoforte and the chairs in place, Elizabeth—having agreed to go first—left the room, closed the door behind her, and anxiously paced while the others decided upon her task.

Mere seconds had elapsed before Simon opened the door. Failing to hide a grin, the footman said, “They are ready for you, miss.”

A faint melody from the Broadwood increased in volume as she approached the circle. By the time she reached its middle, the music had become moderately loud. Gathering courage round her like a cloak, Elizabeth stepped up to Mr Darcy. The volume increased, so she placed a quick kiss upon his cheek. The result was not only loud music but an outburst of laughter from the others. Botheration! Why did I drink more than two glasses of wine?

Colour high, she stepped over to Kitty. The melody softened, so she turned back to Mr Darcy. A crescendo .

She moved towards Jane. Softer.

Mr Darcy it is, then. Standing in front of him, she bent and kissed his hand. More laughter and loud music. What do they expect me to do? Am I to sit upon his lap? Mama is watching! I shall strangle Lydia for suggesting this game.

Elizabeth reminded herself that her courage always rose at every attempt to intimidate her.

So she tweaked the gentleman’s nose.

The Broadwood could not be heard above the uproar. Definitely too much wine with dinner. Hands raised above her head, Elizabeth surrendered.

“Lizzy,” said Jane, once her mirth was somewhat under control, “all you had to do was ruffle Mr Darcy’s hair.”

I loathe this game. “Very well, what forfeit must I pay?”

Holding his sides, Mr Bingley cried, “By Jove! I say tweak Darcy’s nose again!”

“That is not what we agreed upon,” said Kitty. “Lizzy, you now must ruffle each gentleman’s hair.”

No! Not without several more glasses of wine. Raising her eyes from the floor, she stole a glance at Mr Bingley and Mr Hadley and gulped.

Sitting in front of her, arms crossed, Mr Darcy waited with a smug, expectant expression on his face. In truth, Elizabeth very much longed to run her fingers through his hair, but not in public. Oh, hang it! She ruffled the soft, dark waves as she might have done to her little cousins Edwin and Jonathan.

Then she stepped up to the next gentleman, Jane’s future husband. Elizabeth wanted to shut her eyes during the ruffle but feared she might poke out one of Mr Bingley’s. Steeling herself, she lightly brushed her hand across the grinning gentleman’s artfully tousled, reddish-gold hair.

Finally, she moved to Mr Hadley. The young man’s leg bounced nervously, and Elizabeth did not know whom to feel sorrier for, him or herself. Taking a deep breath, she plunged her fingers towards his hair .

The instant her turquoise ring became entangled in Mr Hadley’s shock of coppery, springy curls, her father and Mr Hurst walked into the room.

Elizabeth hung her head and sighed. Please, let this be the culmination of my mortification. I cannot bear any more.

Glowering at her, Kitty nevertheless came over and helped to untangle the ring. If a few strands of coppery hair were detached from the gentleman’s scalp in the process and were secreted away in her younger sister’s pocket, Elizabeth pretended not to notice.

To cap off the evening’s entertainment, the parlour game—rather like a piece of music with a loud, powerful finale—reached its own conclusion under Mr Bennet’s strident direction.