Chapter 3
In the middle of September 1811, rumor circulated Meryton that Netherfield had been let and the new occupant was to take possession by the end of the month. Netherfield was a large manor house with a large, attached park, including some hunting grounds, but the estate lands that used to belong to it had been sold off to surrounding estates and to individual farmers.
It was the largest house in the area and one of only two houses with a dedicated ballroom, so no matter who leased the place, it was always news. In this instance, however, the news was even better, for the leaseholder was young, single, and of large fortune.
Mrs. Phillips, who quite doted on her nieces, since she was unable to have children of her own, was the first to tell the sisters at Longbourn.
“To think, my dears, that he might fall in love with one of you and marry you,” said Mrs. Phillips. To Jane’s ear, she sounded much like Mama had once sounded. The thought was both nostalgic and painful, because while it reminded her of her lost mother, it also reminded her of all her failed attempts at attracting a husband.
Attempting to be diplomatic, Jane said, “He might, but it is just as likely, if not more, that he will join our society for a few months then scamper off back to London in the winter.”
Kitty piped up, “Jane, why do you have to be a spoilsport? I think it would be most romantic to fall in love with such a man.”
“Jane is right,” said Mary. “I think the most we should hope from the man is that he will make a good neighbor. At the very least it will be nice to add a new face to the neighborhood.”
“There is no harm in hoping for the best,” said Elizabeth. “I think I am with Kitty on this one, although I expect he will fall in love with Jane at first sight since she is miles prettier than any other lady here.”
“I certainly hope not,” popped out of Jane’s mouth before she could prevent it. Attempting to correct her sudden statement to be more genteel, she said, “I mean I would hope he was not the kind of man prone to suddenly falling in love, since that kind of man is also prone to falling out of love.”
Mrs. Wilson nodded her head in agreement, but she said nothing.
By the time Mr. Bingley moved into Netherfield, Jane was quite tired of hearing about him. Every mother of an unmarried lady hoped he would fall in love with her daughter. Every man hoped he would be an avid sportsman. Every young lady hoped he loved to dance and secretly harbored a desire to attract his attention, even though no one yet knew his personality or even if he was tolerably handsome.
Sir William Lucas was one of the first gentlemen to call on their new neighbor. Sir William was a newly made knight who had made it his sole purpose in life to be civil to all the world. His frequent parties, though not lavish, were often the most pleasant of any in the neighborhood.
Sir William’s oldest daughter, Charlotte, was a good friend to both Jane and Elizabeth, and she arrived at Longbourn the day after Sir William’s visit to Netherfield to share what little information she had received from her father.
Charlotte was greeted with great anticipation by Kitty and Elizabeth and with kindness by Jane. Mary was practicing piano at the time, and since she had expressed no interest in Mr. Bingley, Jane thought it unnecessary to disturb her.
Once the ladies were settled, Elizabeth asked, “So, what have you discovered about our newest neighbor?”
“According to my father, he is pleasant enough to look at, though I don’t know Papa can be counted on to measure how handsome he really is. Papa also said that Mr. Bingley seemed quite pleasant, and he likes to hunt,” said Charlotte.
Kitty asked, “Does he like to dance? I hope he does.”
Charlotte smiled. “I am afraid Papa did not ask him if he likes to dance, but he did invite Mr. Bingley to the assembly which will be held in a few weeks. Mr. Bingley said he has some business in London, but he expects to be back in time to attend.”
“Did he say what kind of business?” asked Elizabeth. “It is rather surprising that he would go back to London so soon after moving here.”
“I assume he is going to London to bring a party of friends or relatives. It would be very odd, after all, for a single gentleman to spend an entire season in such a big, isolated house all by himself,” replied Charlotte.
Jane said, “You assume, but you do not know?”
Charlotte shook her head. “I don’t know for certain. I only assume so, because that is what makes the most sense.”
“I hope he brings plenty of gentlemen back with him,” said Kitty. “It would be pleasant if, for once, we had more gentlemen than ladies at one our assemblies.”
“It would be pleasant, indeed,” said Elizabeth. “But that is precisely why I expect Mr. Bingley to bring more ladies than gentlemen. Such would be consistent with our lot in life.” She laughed.
Jane did love to hear Elizabeth laugh, but she sometimes thought that Elizabeth’s constant search for humor in life led her to make snap judgments simply for the sake of having something to laugh at.
Jane was not surprised a few days later to hear a rumor that Mr. Bingley had gone to town to fetch a group of friends that consisted of twelve ladies and seven gentlemen. After all, she had seen and heard the birth of that rumor in person.
Upon seeing Netherfield for the first time, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy was pleased. The house seemed well-built and reasonably elegant, and it was surrounded by extensive grounds. There was even a small, forested area suitable for hunting birds and rabbits.
Darcy enjoyed hunting, but he enjoyed riding his horse even more. The grounds seemed to offer plenty of space for exercising his horse, and the roads in the area were smooth and straight enough to safely get a good gallop going.
For the first time, Darcy felt completely at peace with his decision to accompany Bingley to this area.
When Bingley had first invited him, Darcy had hesitated to accept. He wasn’t particularly fond of going to new places and interacting with people he didn’t know. Logically, he realized that never meeting new people or going to new places would be stultifying, but it didn’t change his natural dislike.
Darcy also wasn’t overly fond of Bingley’s younger sister, Caroline. She was pleasant enough most of the time, but lately she had taken it into her head that Darcy’s friendship with Bingley was merely there to disguise his courtship of her, a supposition that patently untrue since she was the last lady he would choose to court.
Darcy had taken great pains to avoid the lady, trying to dislodge such an assumption from her head, but so far, he had not been successful. She was bound to make a nuisance of herself while Darcy lived under the same roof as her.
When Darcy had hesitated at Bingley’s invitation, however, Bingley had pointed out that it was the only way he could pay back all the generous invitations to Pemberley that he had received from Darcy. At this, Darcy caved in. He would not wish for his friend to feel indebted to him.
Now, standing in front of Netherfield, Darcy had a feeling of hope that the visit would not be as bad as he had feared.
It was as bad as Darcy had feared, perhaps even worse. The very day they all arrived at Netherfield, Bingley suddenly remembered he had been invited to the local assembly, which was to be held that very evening. With a combination of charm, wheedling, and pure willpower, Bingley insisted that they all attend. In the end, Bingley got his wish.
Thus, that evening, Darcy, Bingley, Miss Bingley, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Hurst, all piled back in the coach and made their way into the town of Meryton to join in the local celebration.
Darcy had been to so many balls and parties in London, always hosted by well-mannered, elegant people, that he had forgotten what a country assembly was like. Walking into the assembly room was like walking into a wall of sound and smell. After a few steps, he could go no further. His senses were overwhelmed.
It took maybe a minute or two to become accustomed enough to be able to make sense of what he was seeing. Dozens of ladies, each wearing their finest gowns, swarmed the room in little clusters. Instead of speaking in low, cultured tones, many of the ladies were loud and sometimes rather crude. There were about half as many men as ladies, but they were easy to spot with their darker clothing.
Darcy assumed the ladies were wearing their finest simply based on the fact that they were at an assembly, but upon examining some of the dresses, he realized that many of them were so simple they would not even be appropriate gardening wear for most of the ladies of his acquaintance.
When Darcy turned his attention back to his party, an older gentleman was greeting and bowing to Bingley, and Bingley introduced him to the rest of the group as Sir William Lucas. Sir William led the group around, introducing them to various families in the area.
The first group Sir William introduced them to was his own family. Apparently as a gesture of gratitude, Bingley asked the gentleman’s oldest daughter to dance the first dance with him. Miss Lucas was on the older side, just past the first blush of youth, likely in the second half of her third decade.
There were a few more groups to be introduced, mostly older married couples. After a couple of these, Darcy tired of the exercise and left Bingley and his sisters to the attention of Sir William. Darcy had no need to be further introduced, for he had no intention of dancing with anyone other than Bingley’s sisters, not that he had a particular desire to dance with Miss Bingley or Mrs. Hurst, but it would be the polite thing to do.
Darcy followed through with his intentions. He did not dance the first dance. He danced the second with Mrs. Hurst and the third with Miss Bingley. Despite the fact that it should have been obvious that he was only dancing with Miss Bingley out of politeness, she kept batting her eyelashes and making coy remarks as if he had singled her out for both the first and supper dances.
When Miss Bingley’s interminable dance was finally over, Darcy headed for the edges of the room and proceeded to simply stand there, watching the proceedings and praying to God that they ended soon.
He kept a close eye on Miss Bingley as he stood there, however. Any time she appeared as if she was trying to make her way toward him, he sidled away and kept just out of reach. Fortunately, she was dancing with the local men most of the evening, so it wasn’t a problem often.
At one point, about two thirds of the way through the evening, Bingley interrupted his dance to come speak to Darcy. Apparently, Bingley had been enjoying himself too much and could no longer stand to see Darcy not as happy as he was. Bingley insisted Darcy join the dance, but Darcy would have none of it.
He tried to shake his friend off by declaring there was no one suitable to dance with, but Bingley had the temerity to offer to introduce him to a young lady who was sitting down behind him. Darcy took one look at the lady, taking in the simplicity of her clothes, her less than perfect face, and the fact that she was sitting down instead of dancing.
He said, “I suppose she is tolerable, but I’d rather not dance with her. There must be a reason she has not been claimed as a partner by someone else. Look, Bingley. You are wasting your time here. Go back to your partner.”
Bingley retreated, and Darcy was grateful.
When the evening was over and the group traveled back to Netherfield, Miss Bingley’s complaints about the assembly, the neighborhood, and the people in it flowed loud and long. While Darcy did not approve of the lady complaining so much out loud, he could not disagree with her sentiments.