Mrs. Bingley’s Sister (The Austen Novels)

Chapter 27

Elizabeth rose from bed at a rather early hour, as she usually did when at she was home. She had to admit though, the comfort of such a room as hers—with her bed so large and warm—tempted her to remain and doze a little longer. But she did nothing of the sort. She was up and calling for Sarah very soon after waking.

"Ready for the day, Miss?" Sarah asked brightly. Elizabeth smiled weakly.

"I suppose I am as ready as I ever could be," she said. They had talked the night before, analyzing the dinner and how things had gone.

"It was lamentable, Sarah, for I didn't speak to the man, not even once," Elizabeth had said rather wearily, "If this is to be the entire stay, why, I am in a for a trial, indeed."

"'Tis only the first evening, Miss," she had reassured her, "There will be plenty of time for you to renew your acquaintance with the man. Besides, talk to you or not, I'm sure he couldn't take his eyes off of you."

"Your styling was quite attractive, I will admit; I did see him look at me, along with even another man."

"Another man? And who might he be?"

"Mr. Swann. I believe he is Mr. Fitzwilliam's brother-in-law. A widower."

"Is he handsome?"

"I wouldn't say so, no. But he is very kind and polite. He escorted me to dinner, and we sat near each other. He is melancholic, though—his wife died only last year."

"Oh, how dreadful!"

"Indeed."

"Would he be looking for a new wife?"

Elizabeth had laughed. "Sarah!"

"Sorry, Miss. Just curious, is all. You are quite the lady, and maybe he noticed you and is looking for a new wife."

"Well. I don't know about any of that, but you know as well as I, I am not interested in marriage..."

"Unless it's Mr. D—"

"Sarah."

"Sorry, Miss."

And that had been the end of that; though she did expound a little more on the beauty and youth of the young Misses Llewellyn and Swann, to which Sarah merely rebuffed with a declaration on Elizabeth's superior beauty, which Elizabeth discounted by saying, "You're my maid; of course you believe that."

Sarah readied her that morning to go down for breakfast, and as Elizabeth made her way down, she wondered whom she might see. Would Darcy be there? He rose early at Netherfield so many years ago. Maybe he was still an early riser.

She made her way into the breakfast parlor and found none other than the Fitzwilliams dining, Mrs. Fitzwilliam eating and Fitzwilliam reading a newspaper. Fitzwilliam stood and greeted her, "Good morning, Miss Bennet."

"Good morning, Mr. Fitzwilliam, Mrs. Fitzwilliam."

Mrs. Fitzwilliam smiled and returned the greeting. Elizabeth took a seat near the lady, and she began talking nonstop.

"We were just discussing my sister," the lady said conspiratorially to Elizabeth, "As I do believe a certain eligible gentleman prefers her, but Mr. Fitzwilliam disagrees with me, of course."

Elizabeth remained silent, unable to converse on such a painful subject. Having listened to Mrs. Llewellyn last night was bad enough; now Elizabeth supposed she was to endure another round, this time with Mrs. Fitzwilliam.

"Mr. Cole is the man for your sister," Fitzwilliam said in a rather disgruntled tone, "I do not see the incessant need to entertain other such lofty ambitions for her. She is taken with Mr. Cole, and Mr. Cole with her. I see no preference for her on Darcy's side of things."

At this, Elizabeth glanced up and noticed he had given her some sort of a look as he said this, but then he went back to looking at his newspaper. Mrs. Fitzwilliam waved a hand dismissively.

"You know I cannot think Mr. Cole at all a fit match for my sister," the lady said, "and considering the alliances which the Swanns have made already, she has no right to throw herself away. I do not think any young woman has a right to make a choice that may be disagreeable and inconvenient to the principal part of her family and be giving bad connections to those who may not be used to them. And pray, who is Mr. Cole? Nothing but a country curate. A most improper match for Miss Swann, of Faringwell Abbey."

"Now you are talking nonsense, Isabella," Fitzwilliam said with some annoyance, tossing his paper down on the table, "It would not be a great match for your sister, I suppose, but if I recall from your brother, Mr. Cole has a very fair chance of getting something from the Bishop in the course of a year or two, and you will please remember, that he is the eldest son; whenever his father dies, he steps into very pretty property. He will never be a contemptible man. No, no, Henrietta might do worse than marry Mr. Cole."

At this speech, Elizabeth watched Mrs. Fitzwilliam's reactions. She said nothing, but a look of displeasure had subtly climbed over the lady's countenance. Fitzwilliam made to exit, leaving his wife behind, and as soon as he departed, the lady turned to Elizabeth and cried:

"Mr. Fitzwilliam may say what he pleases, but it would be shocking to have my sister marry Mr. Cole; a very bad thing for her and still worse for me , and therefore, it is very much wished that Mr. Darcy may soon put him quite out of her head, and I have very little doubt that he has. She took hardly any notice of Mr. Cole yesterday—"

This was a statement that Elizabeth resisted raising her eyebrows to, having seen, firsthand, that Miss Swann and Mr. Cole were congenial enough before dinner yesterday evening. The lady went on:

"—I wish you had been here to see her behavior before you and the Bingleys arrived, Miss Bennet. Meanwhile, Georgiana says Mr. Darcy likes Miss Llewellyn, but she would say such a thing, wouldn't she? I'm sure she's already told you her suspicions. But as to Mr. Darcy's liking Miss Llewellyn as well as my sister, why, it's nonsense to say so! For I am sure, Mr. Darcy certainly does like my sister a great deal the best. But Georgiana is so positive! I wish you had been with us before, for then you might have decided between us, and I'm sure you would have thought as I did."

Elizabeth had nothing to say to such a proclamation, and she let Mrs. Fitzwilliam monologue on some more on the subject, while quietly pondering to herself what she may have very well missed before arriving at Pemberley. His cousin sees no preference but the wife assuredly does; and Mrs. Llewellyn sees a preference for her own sister-in-law.

It was too much.

Elizabeth felt a headache coming on at the mere idea of being the listening ear to these women and their speculations about which young lady Darcy prefers. She was unsure how well she might handle it all. The pain of discussing such a thing as Darcy's preference for another was acute, and she finished her breakfast rather quickly to avoid such subjects. But just as she rose to exit, none other than Darcy himself entered the room. Mrs. Fitzwilliam flushed and greeted him loudly, while Elizabeth kept a more subdued way about her.

"Good morning," he said to both, his eyes lingering on Elizabeth as he turned and addressed Mrs. Fitzwilliam, "I have missed my cousin, I suppose."

"Yes, he left some time ago. Miss Bennet here has been keeping me company. She listens quite well—I do like her very much."

The lady rose to her feet and said, "I believe I must fetch him, now that you bring it to my attention. Good day to you both."

Elizabeth watched the lady exit the room, leaving her and Darcy alone. Darcy, who had watched Mrs. Fitzwilliam exit, turned back to Elizabeth and cleared his throat.

"Miss Bennet, do you suppose your party would object to a tour of Pemberley today?"

Elizabeth smiled at the idea of this, for she very much wished to explore Pemberley. She wondered who else might be on the tour, but she hoped she might get to spend some time with Darcy today.

"That sounds delightful. I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Bingley might very well enjoy such a tour. I know I would like to explore more of this grand estate, myself."

This brought a pleasant smile to his face, and she was struck with how handsome he was when he appeared so relaxed and at ease. She blushed and looked away, worried that she might stare at the man with such obvious affection. Mrs. Fitzwilliam's statements about Darcy preferring Miss Swann entered her mind and she asked cautiously, "Would the entire house party be joining us on such a tour?"

He shook his head. "No, actually, the rest of the house guests have already had the tour. This would be a small group, just the Bingleys, you, and me."

Oh, this sounded perfect. Careful not to show too much enthusiasm or any other evidence of her excitement, she merely nodded and said, "That sounds very well, then."

As they stood there alone, looking at one another, Elizabeth was unsure how to break the silence. She shifted, and he coughed a little. Finally he said, "Were you leaving?"

Elizabeth froze, as originally she was leaving, but now that Mrs. Fitzwilliam was gone, she didn't necessarily need to leave anymore, and now that Darcy was here, she didn't want to leave, either.

Her pause was long as she thought on this, and Darcy must have read meaning into it because he said further, "Please do not let me stop you from going about your morning business—"

"I can stay a little while."

He reddened but nodded, and soon they were seated at the table together. Elizabeth felt herself grow nervous at being alone in the room with the gentleman. Yesterday, he had been so congenial when they had arrived, but then as the other house guests were around, he was reserved again, so distant. She felt as if she would never be able to speak to him comfortably again, now that she had seen the young women vying for his affections here.

But as they sat at the table, the discomfort slowly began to dissipate, and she said lightly, "Your sister is a charming young lady. I'm so very glad to have finally gotten to meet her."

He smiled. "Georgiana is very dear to me, so it pleases me to hear you give such praise."

"What is there not to praise about the young woman? She is everything that is goodness, I can tell. She was a little shy last night, but she warmed up to me well, I daresay."

He chuckled. "She used to be quite painfully shy. She has grown in overcoming that, I would say."

"Shyness is not a bad trait, to be sure," Elizabeth observed, then, somewhat daringly, added, "She is much like her older brother."

He raised an eyebrow while keeping the smile on his face. "Much like me?"

"Well, in being rather shy."

"You think I am shy?"

She laughed and gave him a look. "You are very reserved, sir! Even here in your own home, your sister mentioned it to me, you are very shy around your house guests. Your sister says you are normally more open and relaxed here at Pemberley."

He merely looked at her, so she added, "As you seem to be now, I daresay: quite relaxed. Unlike yesterday evening, however."

His brow furrowed for a moment, and Elizabeth felt a stab of regret for making things uncomfortable, but then to her surprise, he laughed and replied, "Is it that obvious?"

Relieved, she smiled and shrugged sheepishly. "Your sister pointed it out to me: 'I think hosting guests is a bit of a trial for him,' she said to me , pointing out your dour look.”

This caught another chuckle, and he shook his head. "You have often noted my 'dour look,' Miss Bennet."

"Have I? I do not recall ever noticing such a look."

She was teasing him.

"And I do not recall ever noticing your impertinence."

She gaped at him, feigning offense; he laughed. Then they both laughed and were exchanging smiles, and this was how the Bingleys found them.

"I knew Elizabeth would already be down here breakfasting long before us, my dear," Bingley said jovially to his wife, who smiled at Elizabeth before looking to be greeted by Darcy.

"Good morning, Bingley, Mrs. Bingley."

Darcy gestured for them to sit, and he then invited them to the tour he had discussed with Elizabeth. As she predicted, Bingley was very excited to embark on such a plan, and it was settled. Then some time after everyone had eaten, Bingley looked at Darcy and said, "Shall we take a morning ride across the grounds, and leave the sisters to themselves?"

Darcy glanced at Elizabeth for only a moment before nodding and responding to Bingley, "Yes, let us take a ride. It's been many a year since you've seen the grounds of Pemberley."

"Indeed!"

And so the men left, and Jane and Elizabeth rose to depart as well. Jane took Elizabeth's arm and leaned in, speaking softly as she asked, "Did mine eyes deceive me, or where the two of you laughing over the breakfast table when we arrived?"

Elizabeth blushed and smiled slightly at her sister. "Mr. Darcy and I are friends. That is all."

"Merely friends?"

"Just friends, yes. Do not you think any more of it. Aren't you glad we are friends?"

"Of course. But Lizzy?"

"Yes Jane?"

"You would tell me, wouldn't you? If there was something more?"

Jane looked at her with her large blue eyes, and Elizabeth felt some stab of guilt for having kept her feelings for Darcy all to herself these many years. She had a feeling Jane sensed that there was some distance between them now that used to never be there.

Elizabeth put on a smile and nodded.

"Of course, I would tell you. You are the closest person in the world to me."

Jane seemed satisfied with this, and they spoke on it no longer. Elizabeth and her sister enjoyed the hour that morning, talking together and seeking after the children sometime soon after.

Elizabeth couldn't remove Darcy from her mind, however, and she was counting down the minutes until their tour of the house.