Chapter 10 #2
“I must confess I can hardly wait to return to London. I have had enough of Meryton and this dreary county. Louisa, do you remember when Mrs Bennet claimed they were dining with four and twenty families? And she was so proud of her successful social life!” Caroline said sarcastically.
“I wonder to how many of those families she had sent Jane on horseback on a cloudy day hoping for rain,” Louisa added.
“To as many as have unmarried sons, I am sure,” Caroline answered, and they started cackling together.
“I see nothing to laugh about, Caroline,” Bingley interjected. “As far as I know, all young ladies and their mamas, in London or in the country, are in search of husbands — you included!”
“Charles, how dare you?”
“How dare I what, Caroline? State the obvious?” Bingley answered with unexpected severity.
“You cannot compare us with the Bennets, Charles!”
“And why not? Are you afraid of coming up short?” Bingley challenged his sisters. “Mr Bennet is a landed gentleman of several generations, which places the family above ours! Am I wrong, Darcy?”
“You are not wrong,” Darcy replied curtly.
Caroline and Louisa were both appalled, almost panting with indignation.
“Is that so, Mr Darcy?” Caroline replied, the ire shadowing her reasoning.
“Only a month ago you were disgusted to even be in Mrs Bennet’s company!
And you were the first to stress that their connections would prevent them from finding decent husbands.
Not to mention when you mocked Eliza’s beauty by equalling it to her mother’s wit! ”
“Miss Bingley, we have already carried on this debate several times. As ungentlemanlike as it was, I admitted my past judgment and I expressed my regrets for being too hasty in voicing it. I hope you will allow me the benefit of changing my opinion.”
“Yes, but there is a reasonable doubt that you are merely blinded by some misguided gratitude for Eliza Bennet!” Louisa interjected. “You and Charles are treating her like a hero when you should better consider the complete and undisguised truth!”
The footman and the two maids serving the second course entered and approached the table, so Darcy signalled to Bingley to cease the conversation. He tried to intervene, but his sisters seemed oblivious to everything else around them, carrying on their strong yet unreasonable resentment.
“If Elizabeth Bennet was there, did you not wonder why? How could she happen to be there at that exact moment, unless she had a previously established meeting?” Caroline continued, regarding them closely.
“And since she was obviously not meeting Mr Darcy, she surely was planning to meet that officer,” Caroline concluded triumphantly.
“What?” Bingley asked so loudly that the servants glanced at him.
“That would be the only logical explanation, you must admit,” Louisa interjected, ready to second her sister’s conjecture. “Everybody in the neighbourhood was aware of her friendship with that Wickham man. Remember Charles — even Jane asked you about him on her behalf, you told me as much!”
Bingley glanced from one sister to the other and then around the table incredulously, trying to speak but stunned speechless; his sisters’ claims were so absurd that he was at a loss to reply.
“Think, Charles!” Caroline continued snidely.
“As much as Mr Darcy feels he is in her debt, Eliza Bennet must have had a reason to be there! No woman in her right mind, let alone a lady, would walk alone all that distance so early in the morning on a cold day in winter if she did not have something to hide!”
“And how did this Mr Wickham, a stranger in this county, albeit an officer, know about that place? And why would he ask Mr Darcy to meet there instead of somewhere closer to Meryton? No, there cannot be any other explanation,” Louisa concluded, satisfied.
“It is crystal clear,” Caroline declared.
“Eliza Bennet was having an assignation with Mr Wickham there. And now that he is dead, she is trying to gain some advantage at your expense. She must have a plan involving either you or Mr Darcy, and you are both too na?ve to recognise it,” Caroline uttered, her voice loud and spiteful.
The rattle of the dishes and glasses as Darcy’s fist smashed forcefully against the table silenced her, while Darcy shouted, “Enough!”
The servants startled, and one of the maids let out a cry of fright, then they scurried out of the room.
Around the table, all eyes turned to Darcy in consternation, while he repeated, “Enough! I cannot bear hearing a single word more of this stupidity! Your accusations are as ridiculous and nonsensical as your resentment towards a family you met only two months ago. And they certainly do not change the fact that yes, in terms of social conventions, the Bennet family is above the Bingleys.”
Caroline and the Hursts struggled to recover from the shock of Darcy’s reaction, as they had never seen him behave in such a manner in almost five years of acquaintance.
“Bingley, I apologise for my rude behaviour, although I do not regret it! I have tried to rein my temper in and to bear all this foolishness for too long. I see no reason to punish myself further. Since I have thusly offended your sisters, I shall remove myself from the house presently,” he stated, then immediately rose from the table and walked determinedly towards the door.
Bingley remained still, watching him quitting the room, then looked sternly at his dumbfounded sisters, his expression mirroring Darcy’s.
He stood up and proclaimed, ready to follow Darcy, “I warn you! I shall not lose my friend over your stupid speculations and accusations or your poor choice of a subject for dinner conversation. Nor shall I ever hear anything offensive against the Bennets in this house again! Starting this moment!”
Caroline attempted to reply, but Bingley silenced her harshly.
“Never again, Caroline! Just as it is likely that, after tonight, you will not be invited to Pemberley ever again. Now, excuse me, I shall leave you to your meal. You may continue dinner without me. I shall ask for a tray to be sent for me and Darcy.”
With that, he shut the door, leaving in search of Darcy. He did not miss the servants whispering and trying to hide in corners or behind doors, just as he did not doubt the scandal had spread through the entire household like wildfire and would probably be all around Meryton by the next day.
Darcy’s man had indeed started to prepare his trunks but was stopped by Bingley’s arrival.
Embarrassed apologies were exchanged again, and Bingley pleaded with his friend to remain and continue with their plans.
Darcy was reluctant, feeling uncomfortable for having behaved so rudely in his friend’s house, towards his sisters who were acting as his hosts, and at the dinner table no less, something he never imagined himself doing.
“But I cannot accept all this, Bingley, and I am sorry to say I have no intention of apologising to them.”
“Nor would I expect you to, Darcy. And I promise you will not be importuned for the rest of your stay at Netherfield. But I would truly appreciate your support, as we discussed. I need you to come with me tomorrow!”
“I am not certain what to do, Bingley. I have rarely been so angry as to lose my control in company. But to accuse Miss Elizabeth of illicit assignations with Wickham! It might harm her reputation forever if anyone were to repeat it!”
“I have forbidden Caroline from speaking of this again. Besides, nobody would believe her, I am sure. Such a ridiculous assumption only lies in Caroline’s mind, and Louisa, I am sorry to say, always supports her.
I cannot imagine why they despise Miss Elizabeth so deeply. They are completely irrational!”
“They are. And I fear they will be no kinder to Miss Bennet either, regardless of her being your betrothed or your wife.”
“I shall not allow that to happen, Darcy. I promise. Will you please stay? Just for two more days?”
Darcy looked at his friend and gulped the drink in his glass. The shadow of a grin formed on his lips, “Only if you order some food. I have barely eaten anything and I am starved,” he said, while Bingley’s face brightened with contentment.