Chapter 1 #2
“My sister, Caroline, is engaged to my friend Darcy,” Bingley said as he continued the introductions. “My other sister and her husband, along with Darcy’s cousin, should be arriving soon in another carriage.”
“Welcome to Meryton,” Mrs. Bennet said, though Caroline had noted the disappointment on her face when Bingley mentioned that she was engaged to Darcy.
“I hope you are enjoying your time here?” Mrs. Bennet continued.
“Yes, very much,” Caroline replied with a smile. “We are grateful for the opportunity to dance and also to meet some of our neighbors.”
The eldest daughter present, Miss Elizabeth, was a beautiful girl with auburn curls and dancing dark eyes, and she said, “I assure you that we are all very pleased to welcome you into the neighborhood. Netherfield has been unoccupied for too long.”
“Darcy,” a new voice said from their right, and Caroline turned as Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam halted two feet away. “The Hursts and I have finally arrived. Will you do me the honor of introducing me to your new acquaintances?”
Darcy did so, and Richard, after bowing, promptly asked for each of the Misses Bennet to dance with him. Oddly, this provoked an expression of anguish on Mrs. Bennet’s countenance, though the explanation was not long in coming.
“Mr. Fitzwilliam,” she said, looking around frantically, “I hope you will allow me to introduce my eldest to you this evening as well. I ought not to boast, but I believe you will find her one of the most handsome women you have ever beheld.”
This provoked blushes of embarrassment from Miss Elizabeth and her next sister, Miss Mary, but Richard was a courteous man and said, “I look forward to meeting her, Madame. If she is as beautiful as her sisters, she must be remarkable indeed.”
A few notes sounded from the musicians at the end of the dance hall, and Richard said, “It seems the dance will begin shortly. Miss Elizabeth, shall we?”
The lady walked off arm-in-arm with Richard, and then three young local men hurried up to collect the other Bennet girls. Caroline glanced at her betrothed and, recognizing the rigid look of discomfort on his face, decided to have mercy.
“Fitzwilliam, might you be willing to escort me to my mother?” she asked.
“It would be my honor,” Darcy said with obvious relief, and guided her over to the corner where Lady Bingley sat on a comfortable chair.
Darcy bowed to the older woman and said, “Might I have the honor of fetching you both some punch, Madame, Caroline?”
“Yes, please, Mr. Darcy,” Lady Bingley replied, and Caroline murmured her assent as well. Darcy walked toward the refreshment table, and the older woman turned to look at her younger daughter. “Sit down, my dear.”
Caroline obeyed and allowed her gaze to wander with interest around the room.
She had not often been permitted to attend assemblies in the Bingleys’ small hometown of Cynclade, for her mother, society-minded from her youth, had sent her daughters to a fancy finishing school in London.
Still, Caroline had fond memories of the old hall from the few parties she had attended there while on holiday from school.
Though the mild rolling fields of Meryton bore little resemblance to the wilder Yorkshire lands of her nativity, the town itself reminded her forcibly of the home she loved.
The people, too, were much like the neighbors she had missed as she wept into her thin pillow at Miss Fishburne’s Excellent School For Young Ladies.
Caroline had detested the school, which she had endured, not enjoyed.
Her soul ached for the other merchants’ daughters in their neighborhood and her friends from Scarborough, where her father plied his trade.
She had spent many dull and arduous classes wondering where they were, how Sophie was keeping, if Margaret was still the prettiest girl in their social circle.
At long last, she had graduated and had greeted with joy the prospect of returning home to Yorkshire.
Instead, her mother had persuaded Sir John to purchase a London residence, determined that her two daughters, now polished young ladies and well-dowered with their father’s fortune, would join the ranks of the haut ton.
Caroline still missed her home and wished that she had been permitted a chance to return and visit before being thrust into society.
In truth, if she had had her way, she would never have left Cynclade, but that ship had long sailed.
Darcy returned with punch for both ladies, and Lady Bingley patted an available chair at her right and said, “Do please sit down. I know you do not wish to dance with anyone in this room aside from my daughters.”
Darcy obediently lowered himself onto the chair, and his future mother-in-law continued, “Do tell me what you think about Netherfield Hall, will you not? For my part, I think it was a great mistake for Charles to lease it on a whim. It is obvious that the company is beneath us all, and we would be far better off in London.”
This was said in a sufficiently loud tone that a well-dressed matron nearby turned to stare at the trio, and Caroline winced with embarrassment.
To her relief, Mr. Darcy said coolly, “I do not agree, Madame. It is true that the inhabitants of this hall are likely not found in the ballrooms of the haut ton, but at this time of year, the nobility and gentry generally retreat to their country estates, anyway. The land here at Netherfield seems good, and the distance from Town makes it agreeable if there should be a need to visit.”
Lady Bingley was a determined and confident woman, but she well knew that Darcy had far more experience than she with high society and estates, and thus she merely pasted on a smile and said, “Those are excellent points, Darcy. At least Charles did not choose an estate in Scarborough, several days journey from London! I daresay we can return to London in a mere morning!”
“Yes,” Darcy agreed shortly, and the group lapsed into silence.
Caroline turned her attention back to the dance floor as the next set began and found herself tapping her toe in time with the music.
She adored dancing, and it was a pity that she would likely not dance much more tonight.
There were not enough gentlemen in residence, which was no surprise, given that the war with the French had drawn many men into the military, and her mother and Darcy were both looking so forbidding that it would be a brave young man who would approach her.
Caroline was aware that Darcy’s expression was habitually solemn, and thus he was not deliberately discouraging others from approaching, but her mother looked as if she smelled something unpleasant, and that was deliberate.
Well, if she could not dance, she could at least watch the dancing. The musicians playing at the end of the room were not the most skilled she had ever heard, but they were doing their best, and the dancers themselves were light and skilled on their feet.
There was a blonde young woman dancing across from a dark-haired, shorter young man, and Caroline took a moment to watch the pair.
The lady was staggeringly handsome, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and dressed in a blue gown with lace at the neck and short sleeves.
The dress was not a particularly expensive one, but with a figure like that, the lady did not need gossamer and silk!
It occurred to her to wonder if this was the missing Miss Bennet; if so, she was indeed one of the loveliest ladies she had observed, and her mother had every reason to be proud.
A minute later, her eyes slid down to the end of the hall, where her brother Charles was standing protectively near his young wife.
Caroline still did not know how that marriage had come to pass, not at all!
Georgiana was a sweet creature, but had only turned sixteen a few weeks ago.
Something had happened a few months previously while Caroline and Lady Bingley were spending a month with the Hursts at their family estate in Oxfordshire, something which resulted in a rush to the Scottish border and a marriage in Gretna Green.
Caroline was a curious creature, but she was forcing herself not to meddle. There was doubtless a good reason for the sudden wedding, though she worried that Georgiana was really too young for marriage. But the deed was done, and Charles would be a protective and loving husband to his bride.
The music came to an end, and the dancers halted and clapped, and then ladies and gentlemen surged off of the dance floor, some in search of refreshments, some to enjoy a chat with friends.
Caroline stood up, eager to stretch her legs, and then turned and smiled as her brother, with Georgiana on his arm, stepped into her field of view.
“Mother, Caroline, Darcy,” he said genially, “would you be kind enough to allow Georgiana to stay with you? I can fetch a chair for her.”
“Of course, my dear,” Lady Bingley gushed, smiling up at the girl. “Darcy, perhaps you could find a chair for your sister?”
“You can take mine, Georgiana,” Darcy offered, standing up and moving away from his seat. “I will fetch you some iced lemonade, if you like?”
Georgiana was flushed, both from heat and inherent shyness, and took the chair with a mumbled thanks.
“It is rather hot here, is it not?” Caroline said.
“Indeed,” Lady Bingley said, rapidly waving the ivory fan in her hand in an attempt to cool herself down.
“The lemonade will help,” Darcy remarked and walked off.
Caroline was not particularly surprised to see her brother following him; he was a cheerful soul, and did not like listening to complaints, and their mother had been complaining a great deal in the last weeks, ever since Charles had leased an estate without his mother’s guidance or permission.
Caroline compressed her lips and leaned back in her chair. She would be one and twenty soon and free from her mother’s dictatorial demands.