Chapter 9
Netherfield Manor appeared lonely and too silent for the two gentlemen, despite the warm reception from the staff.
Therefore, they changed and, around half past seven in the evening, they headed towards Longbourn. From time to time, Bingley glanced at his friend, still shocked by the alteration in his manners.
“I hope the Bennets will not consider my appearance as rude, given that I said I would not come,” Darcy said.
“I am sure they will be pleased to see you. So did you really propose to Miss Elizabeth?”
“Of course I did. Why else would I have said so?”
“And she refused you?”
“She did, but I expected it. My behaviour was rather questionable last time I was here.”
“Indeed. Do you remember that you refused to dance with her? You said she was barely tolerable…”
“I do remember. It was your fault, you know… if you had not bothered me so much that evening, I would not have been so uncivil,” Darcy said, half in jest. His apparent good disposition was the complete opposite compared with the morning.
“So it is my fault now?” Bingley challenged him.
“It was. You are annoying at times when you force me to do things I loath.”
The conversation was a friendly and teasing one and continued until they arrived at their destination.
The servant invited them into the dining room, where the family was already gathered.
At their entrance, Jane smiled at Mr Bingley with apparent delight, but all the other eyes were fixed upon Darcy.
He briefly looked at Elizabeth, then at Mr Bennet, until Mrs Bennet's voice startled him and a moment later he felt trapped in a most unexpected embrace.
“My dear Mr Darcy, let me kiss you!!! You are the best of men, indeed! May I kiss you? And to think how much I hated you until recently! Nobody has ever done such a wonderful thing for me! The revenge you granted me I shall never forget! Oh dear, you are such a brave man! And so tall and handsome!”
“Mama!” cried Elizabeth, flushed with mortification. “Mama, what are you doing?”
“Oh hush, child, I am talking to Mr Darcy!”
The gentleman appeared completely lost; much taller than the lady, she did not succeed in actually kissing his cheeks, but she attempted several times.
She insisted on embracing him, though, so he had no other choice but to accept the affectionate gesture, opening his arms. He cast a quick look at Bingley, who shrugged, equally confused, then sat near Jane.
“I never remember Mrs Bennet expressing her gratitude so eloquently, in five and twenty years of marriage,” Mr Bennet said, with an expression of utter compassion for Darcy.
It was exceedingly diverting to see the severe gentleman who had barely spoken to any of them only a fortnight before, forced to accept Mrs Bennet’s sentimental effusions.
“Oh, you speak nonsense, Mr Bennet,” the lady interrupted her husband. “Come, Mr Darcy, sit here, at the head of the table,” she insisted.
“Mrs Bennet, I thank you for your generosity, but I am lost as to why you are thanking me.”
“Why? Why? My sister, Mrs Phillips, told me what you did! If only I could have seen their faces when you called them stupid!”
“I beg your pardon, ma’am, but I did not say such a thing.”
“No, no, you said someone must be stupid to believe those lies about Lizzy! That is pretty much the same! And those infuriating Lucases! Oh, I beg you not to be upset with Lizzy for refusing your proposal! I know you were not serious, nobody would expect you to really marry Lizzy. But she is a little bit wild and she is still upset with you for calling her tolerable.”
“Mama!!!!” Elizabeth cried, crimson and irritated.
Darcy also felt his cheeks burning. Until that moment, he was unaware that Elizabeth had heard his offensive remark at the assembly.
“Mrs Bennet, Miss Bennet, I deeply apologise. That evening, at the assembly…” Darcy began an excuse, but Mrs Bennet stopped him.
“My dear Mr Darcy, after what you have done for my revenge this evening, you may call all of us, anything you please!”
The statement disconcerted Darcy completely and he abandoned any opposition, choosing polite silence.
“Oh, what a pity that you did not tell me which is your favourite dish! Will you come to dine with us again tomorrow? Let me know what you prefer. Oh, and you too, Mr Bingley, of course!”
“Mrs Bennet?”
“Yes, Mr Darcy?”
“We are both quite hungry and I have no doubt that any dish you have prepared will be delicious.”
“Oh, Mr Darcy! How silly of me to keep you waiting! Let me call for Hill to bring the first course!”
Darcy tried to say something, but Mr Bennet signed to him to cease any effort.
“Mrs Bennet must be allowed to exhaust herself in such moments of utter excitement,” the gentleman said, offering Darcy a glass of brandy that he happily accepted. “You are most welcome in our home, sir, and we are indeed grateful and honoured to consider you our friend.”
“I am happy and honoured to be here too, sir,” Darcy responded in complete earnest.
“I am glad such a horrible situation appears to have moved towards a fair ending,” Mr Bennet concluded.
“Likewise, sir!”
Over the dinner table, Darcy’s eyes briefly crossed with Elizabeth’s. Both were distressed, anxious, confused, but content to end the day in a much better spirit than they had started it.
Then Elizabeth smiled and her eyes sparkled with mirth. Darcy understood that, for the first time, she was smiling at him only—and he could easily tell the difference.
∞∞∞
Despite the general exhaustion caused by the tumult of the last few weeks and the gentlemen’s long journey, the dinner lasted a long time.
Bingley seemed unable to move away from Jane—who was flushed most of the evening—so the gentlemen did not separate, choosing to enjoy their drinks in the ladies’ company. Mrs Bennet spent every other moment paying special attention to Mr Darcy, until her husband discreetly addressed her.
“Mrs Bennet, please keep in mind that Mr Darcy is a private man. He enjoys his solitude and peace, as much as I do. I am begging you, let him breathe a little. He certainly appreciates your gratitude, but let us not frighten him away.”
Mrs Bennet was ready to oppose such a notion.
She knew too well that any man was delighted to be the centre of attention, especially one as proud as Mr Darcy.
She would have continued with her attention if she had not happened to notice the gentleman speaking somewhat privately with Elizabeth in a corner of the room.
Watching their faces, a strange, daring and extraordinary thought crossed her mind and stopped her heart for a bit.
She knew she could not and should not hope for something so impossible, but she realised that her husband might be correct.
Perhaps Mr Darcy needed to be left alone and choose his own partner for conversation.
Therefore, she moved near to Jane and Mr Bingley, asking the gentleman about his time in London and expressing her joy at seeing him back at Netherfield.
Darcy was pleased to see Elizabeth moving towards him. He did not dare approach her, but he was anxious to hear her opinion about his impromptu and barely proper actions.
Her smile became brighter and he found himself smiling back at her.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Why would you thank me? I have done nothing but clear a misunderstanding that had affected both of us.”
“Thank you for your brave action. I know you are a private man and such a public exhibition must be more difficult for you than fighting a war.”
“Well, yes… but I admit to you only that I was unexpectedly satisfied in the end.”
Her eyes laughed at him. “This is unexpected indeed. As unexpected as your admittance that you proposed to me and I refused you. I imagine the entirety of Meryton was shocked as never before.”
“No, I believe they were even more shocked when I suggested Sir William might keep a mistress at St. James’s. I truly do not know where that comparison came from.”
Elizabeth laughed loudly and quickly put her palm over her mouth. Her joyful laughter warmed Darcy’s heart and aroused hopes higher than ever in Mrs Bennet.
“When Mrs Phillips told Mama, I thought she would kill me,” Elizabeth jested. “But luckily, not even my mother believed that you truly intended to marry me.”
Her entire face was brightened by amusement, but his expression turned serious.
“Miss Bennet, I made that proposal in complete earnest. I would never have said it if I did not intend it to happen. It is also true that I did not expect you to accept, since I know your opinion of me.”
“Oh…” Surprise turned her serious too. “Sir, we had no time to speak after the ball, but please rest assured that I have long realised how ill-grounded my opinion had been and it changed from the moment I discovered the truth. I have blamed myself many times since then and, even without these dreadful circumstances that brought you here today, I hoped for an opportunity to apologise.”
With every word, he was more incredulous and more delighted. He did not doubt her honesty and was astonished to receive more than he had expected.
“I am glad to be here, regardless of the circumstances. I trust those rumours will fade forever and will be forgotten soon.”
“Do you expect Mr Wickham to confront you? Could you be in danger from him?” she asked, with genuine concern.
“He is not a man to face a problem. As for me being in danger, it is not unlikely that he would use some devious ways of seeking revenge. But I expect him to leave Hertfordshire very soon now he has been exposed. Even his best friends will question his claim, in the face of my offer to reveal proof.”
“Unless his best friends are as foolish as I have been.”
“I believe you have blamed yourself enough, Miss Bennet. Wickham has deceived the best of men, my father included. One with a kind and honest heart could never guess his ill-nature.”
“You are more generous with my faults than I am, Mr Darcy.”
“That might be because I hope for your forgiveness for my past rudeness at the assembly,” he replied.
Her eyes laughed at him again.
“That is long forgotten, Mr Darcy. As my mother said, after your timely intervention, you may call any of us anything you want,” she teased him.
“Thank you, Miss Bennet. And Mrs Bennet, of course,” he said with mock seriousness.
There was a moment of silence, then he addressed her in a grave tone.
“Miss Bennet, I will return to London in a few days, as I wish to be with my sister. There is a favour I would like to ask of you.”
“Of course,” she answered, surprised and saddened by the news.
“Until this entire situation is settled…would you promise me you will abandon your habit of walking alone far from home? It would be better to always have company when you are out of sight of Longbourn.”
Her surprise grew and his worry warmed her inside.
“I did not think of that before… but indeed, lonely walks in the winter might be dangerous. A stroll in the garden will suffice until spring.”
“My point exactly,” he concluded, pleased with her easy acceptance.
“I hope Miss Darcy’s health is not grave?”
“We are not certain. She has not been herself lately and I fear I have not been attentive enough to her. That is why I wish to stay with her for a while.”
“I am sure your presence will be beneficial to her.”
“I only hope Bingley will not feel too lonely here. His sisters do not seem inclined to join him.”
“Mr Bingley has many friends in the neighbourhood,” Elizabeth smiled. “If he decides to remain longer, he will certainly find a way to entertain himself.”
Both glanced toward the couch where Bingley was speaking animatedly with Jane and Mrs Bennet. His delighted expression revealed that he was far from feeling bored or lonely.
“Yes, I am sure he will,” Darcy said.
Observing their looks, Bingley waved to them.
“Darcy, I was telling Mrs Bennet that I would like to host a dinner at Netherfield in two days' time.”
Darcy and Elizabeth approached the group, joining the conversation.
“Mrs Bennet said their relatives from London will arrive tomorrow and stay for Christmas. Even better—the more, the merrier,” Bingley added. “I hope you will stay two more days too?”
All eyes turned towards him and he felt Elizabeth’s stare.
“Of course,” he agreed, and immediately the conversation resumed, more loud and animated than before.
The two gentlemen returned to Netherfield close to midnight, due to propriety’s demands, against their desire to stay longer.
Once home, they shared another drink, discussing the extraordinary events of the day, and they eventually fell asleep almost at dawn.
Before abandoning himself to tiredness, and induced by another glass of brandy, Darcy eventually wrote to Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
In the letter, he expressed his disappointment at her lack of consideration for Georgiana’s well being, reinforced his decision—so many times discussed in person—to take care of Anne for the rest of his life but not marry her, as well as his upset against Mr Collins, who he considered responsible ‘for spreading false reports and for all the consequences that might result from his actions.’
At Longbourn, the Bennets welcomed their first peaceful night in almost two weeks.
They returned to their chambers, some of them with great hopes for the future of the two eldest daughters, some with joyful thoughts about attending parties again, some with distressing yet pleasant reflections about a certain gentleman.