Chapter 10
Darcy half-wished they had never held a supper party at all, for even days later, Georgiana remained disturbed by the social undercurrents that had swirled through their dining room.
She raised the subject yet again as they sat in the drawing room one day, shortly before Miss Bennet and Mrs Gardiner were to arrive for tea.
“I thought Miss Bennet played well the other night,” Georgiana said cautiously, after expressing her excitement to see her friend. “I hope that Miss Bingley did not make her feel as if she did not.”
“Indeed, she did,” Darcy said. No wonder Georgiana was still thinking of it, for he could not seem to get Miss Bennet out of his thoughts since the night of the supper party.
She was such a mixture of sweetness and wit, strength and gentleness.
With true propriety, she held her own against Miss Bingley’s sniping, all without causing greater conflict or awkwardness.
To balance so many concerns so adeptly was no simple task, yet she had done it as though it were nothing.
“Miss Bennet does not have the refined skill of a young lady who has practised often and had the advantage of Town masters,” Mrs Annesley said judiciously, “but she played with spirit, I thought. Sometimes, that is preferable to skill. Particularly a skill tainted with arrogance.”
“Quite so,” Darcy agreed. Mrs Annesley was a woman of impressive taste and judgement, not to mention a vast and kindly heart.
She had been of immeasurable assistance in helping Georgiana regain her confidence and improve her judgement after the disaster of Ramsgate.
Was it foolish of him to be pleased, just a little, by how she seemed to approve of Elizabeth?
Mrs Gardiner and Miss Bennet were soon announced. In their cheerful presence, the room took on almost a festive air. Georgiana sprang up from her chair and trotted over to greet their guests. Darcy and Mrs Annesley rose from their seats as Georgiana brought the ladies over to the sitting area.
Darcy willed himself not to notice how his heartbeat quickened at the sight of Miss Bennet.
It could not be that he was allowing himself to become infatuated with her, could it?
He knew perfectly well she was not a suitable candidate for a wife.
His parents would have been appalled by the suggestion that he might marry a woman with no connections or dowry. He could never consider it.
Now, if he could only convince his racing pulse of that.
“Miss Bennet, I have happened upon a new book, and I wonder if you might give me your opinion on it?” Georgiana asked as they waited for tea to arrive.
Mrs Gardiner and Mrs Annesley sat down near him, and Darcy forced himself to let the younger women alone for a time. He turned to Mrs Gardiner and tried to engage her in conversation, if only to take his mind off her niece for a moment. “How are things at Gracechurch Street, Mrs Gardiner?”
“Oh, they trundle along as always. As a mother of four, I have time to think about little else save for their upbringing. But you know how quickly the years pass, do you not?” She sighed and looked over at Miss Bennet and Georgiana, who had gone off to the corner of the room where the pianoforte was kept.
Georgiana had brought down the book she had found a few days prior while they had been out and about London, shopping on one of the rare clear mornings that London had to offer.
“The days go slowly, but the years go quickly,” Mrs Annesley sighed. “I have never had children myself, but my nieces and nephews seem to change so drastically anytime I have occasion to visit. How old is Mary now, Mrs Gardiner?”
“She will be eight this summer. It boggles the mind to think she will soon be coming with me to the dressmaker!” Mrs Gardiner shook her head. “It seems impossible, and yet it is so.”
Georgiana and Miss Bennet soon returned to them so that tea might be served.
Miss Bennet sat next to him, a choice that Darcy reproved himself for noticing.
Surely it meant nothing. She had done it without the slightest display, and had not singled him out in conversation, but had spoken to the group.
In any case, he had no business hoping that she had chosen the place next to him deliberately. He would do better to prefer she did no such thing.
“Well, what does the spring hold for the Darcys, I wonder?” Mrs Gardiner asked. She took a sip of her tea. “I hope we shall be able to have you over for supper? We should greatly like to return your civility.”
“We should like that very much, Mrs Gardiner,” Darcy answered. “However, it shall have to be within the next month. Georgiana and I will be returning to Pemberley for the spring. I have much business to attend to, you see.”
Mrs Gardiner’s face fell, as did Miss Bennet’s. “Ah, how sad we shall all be parted!” Mrs Gardiner said.
Miss Bennet nodded. “I shall miss these meetings sorely. I suppose we should have known — of course you shall want to go to the countryside for the spring, for I am sure there is nothing more beautiful. And yet I confess I had not thought of it.” Measured as her words were, Miss Bennet’s eyes seemed to convey great regret at losing them.
Or at least, of losing Georgiana. He could not be sure that she felt the same about losing his company.
He could only flatter himself that she might also miss him.
With an internal start he hoped he could conceal, Darcy reminded himself that he should feel no such thing.
Georgiana was looking rather downcast. “I will be glad to return home, for you are quite right — there is nothing I like better than springtime at Pemberley. But I shall miss you terribly, Miss Bennet. I do hope you will write to me?” she asked.
Miss Bennet smiled at her. “I should like that very much. And I shall miss you as well. I think London will be all the more grey with you gone from it.” She raised her eyes to his, and he felt it all the way to his toes.
Darcy looked away. What was the matter with him?
He was allowing his heart and emotions to run away with him.
Perhaps it was for the best that they would soon leave London.
He was sorry for Georgiana, of course, who would be reduced to relative boredom when they returned to Pemberley and became busy with the running of the estate.
Yet the sacrifice might be an essential one, for he feared he was becoming dangerously infatuated with Elizabeth Bennet.
“Though we shall miss your company, I am delighted on your behalf,” Mrs Gardiner told them. “Surely there is nothing more lovely than late spring in Derbyshire! Will you stay long?”
“Yes, we have no plans to return to London at present. Perhaps late next autumn.” Though he had no thought of changing their plans, Darcy hated to see the disappointment in Georgiana’s eyes. It would invariably be a long spring and summer for her, without her new friend.
Perhaps seeing her disappointment, Miss Bennet asked Georgiana a question about her reading, and soon led her attention into happier channels.
It was not long before they were discussing the importance of having a well-stocked library.
After listening to them with pleasure for some moments, Darcy could no longer resist the urge to comment.
“I am glad to hear you so engaged in discussing literature. If you continue so in your interest, Georgiana, I think you must soon join me in selecting the books we wish to add to the family library.”
Georgiana gave a rather embarrassed smile. “I thank you, Brother, but I think I should be rather frightened to do it. I would not wish to choose foolishly and lessen the quality of the books you select, or waste your funds.”
“Funds spent on books surely would not be wasted,” Miss Bennet told her bracingly. “And I am sure the Pemberley library could only benefit from the addition of your taste, Miss Darcy.”
Darcy watched in satisfaction as Georgiana smiled at the compliment, growing in confidence almost before his eyes.
How different Miss Bennet was from Miss Bingley!
She had not given the compliment to recommend herself to him, and followed it up with a sidelong glance, as Caroline Bingley would have.
Quite the contrary. She had not so much as glanced at him, but merely resumed talking with Georgiana.
No, that friendship was not constructed for his benefit.
From the beginning, it had been entirely real.
Even then, Georgiana was speaking eagerly to her friend. “I do hope you enjoyed yourself at the supper party? It was so nice to spend longer than the usual half-hour.”
Miss Bennet nodded. “I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And I think I can speak for my aunt and uncle, that the evening was so well planned and the conversation so pleasant, that the time seemed to fly by. It was a surprise that it was so late when we realised we should probably make our exit and leave you all to retire. The company was so delightful that we could have gladly stayed half the night.”
“I am glad to hear it. We felt the same, did we not, Fitzwilliam?”
“Yes, indeed.” Privately, Darcy thought that the next time they had a supper party would be better scheduled when the Hursts and Miss Bingley were unavailable.
How could he have ever thought them elegant and well-mannered?
Their behaviour towards Miss Bennet and the Gardiners, people he had declared worthy of being his guests, was entirely rude.
He hardly knew what was worse — Mrs Hurst’s disinterest, which seemed to border on contempt, or Miss Bingley’s jealous sniping.
On second thought, it was most certainly the sniping. It was a shame that it was all but impossible to exclude Miss Bingley from any party without excluding her brother as well.