Chapter 2
The warmth of the crowds in the assembly rooms was pleasant after the chill of the autumn evening outside.
The weather had only recently shifted from the warmth of summer to the coolness of autumn, and Elizabeth had forgotten to dress for the cooler weather, making the assembly rooms’ warmth a blessed relief.
Once the Bennet ladies entered the room, they separated. Mama went to speak with her sister, Mrs. Phillips, and some of her friends. Lydia and Kitty went to the side to watch the gathered gentlemen and to gossip and giggle about everything they saw.
Mary headed to the back of the room, ostensibly to hide the fact that she had brought a book with her. Mary was usually asked to dance even less often than Elizabeth, but since she brought that on herself by her prickly, awkward behavior, Elizabeth often wondered if she preferred it that way.
Jane was the only one that stayed by her side, but even that lasted for only a minute. Soon, they were greeted by Miss Charlotte Lucas, a close friend of Jane’s. Not long afterward, the two of them drifted away, and Elizabeth was left alone in the crowd.
Elizabeth looked around to see if she could find anyone she was even moderately friendly with. She spied Miss Mary King and went over to her.
Miss King had only arrived in the neighborhood last year. Elizabeth had felt sorry for her when it became obvious that the other girls were taking too long to warm up to the new young lady. The situation was not helped by the fact that Miss King was cripplingly shy and plain as well.
Elizabeth reached out a friendly hand, which Miss King gratefully returned.
Though she was two years younger than Elizabeth, Miss King was the closest friend Elizabeth ever had.
Even when Miss King managed to make other friends in the neighborhood and it became obvious she knew of Elizabeth’s background, she still maintained a friendly relationship with Elizabeth.
“Oh, Miss Elizabeth, isn’t it all so exciting?” asked Miss King. “I have heard that Mr. Bingley will be bringing seven gentlemen with him tonight. Won’t it be wonderful to have so many new gentlemen to dance with?”
“It would be, except for the fact that I have also heard that he is to bring twelve ladies with him,” said Elizabeth. “Whatever will we do if Mr. Bingley’s friends only dace with each other?”
“Oh! I hadn’t thought of that,” said Miss King. “But wait. Why would he bring so many friends to our little neighborhood? We shall be quite overrun. Do you think there will be room for that many at our assembly?”
Elizabeth chuckled. “Never fear,” she said. “I have it on good authority that there are only eight bedrooms at Netherfield. Even if he assigned two guests to a room, he can’t bring more than fourteen guests.”
“That’s still so many,” said Miss King, dismayed. “What if they are all ladies? Then there shan’t be any new gentlemen to dance with at all.”
“If Mr. Bingley has a house full of ladies and no gentlemen at all, I don’t think he’s the sort of gentleman we should be acquainted with,” said Elizabeth. “However, I have heard from my father that he seems to be a friendly, good sort of man, so I am certain all will be well.”
A moment later there was a disturbance at the entrance to the room. “It appears we shall not have to wait with our curiosity much longer,” said Elizabeth. After a few moments, the crowd cleared just enough that she and Miss King could see who had arrived.
She recognized Mr. Bingley from the time she had seen him leaving Longbourn after visiting her father. He was of average height with blond, curly hair and a cheerful expression.
With him were only two ladies, one taller and one shorter. They bore enough resemblance to him that Elizabeth suspected they were his sisters.
There were also two additional gentlemen. One was slightly shorter than Mr. Bingley with large sideburns and a slightly rotund figure. The other was like no one Elizabeth had ever seen before.
He was tall, well over six feet in height. His figure was trim yet still strong. His dark hair and dark eyes accentuated an almost grim countenance. Despite his expression, however, Elizabeth thought she had never seen a more handsome man. She wondered who he might be.
She watched as Sir William Lucas greeted Mr. Bingley and was introduced to the other people in the group. He then proceeded to introduce Mr. Bingley’s group to various members of the local society.
Almost immediately, the tall, grumpy gentleman peeled away from the rest and headed for a dim corner of the room. Not long afterward, the portly gentleman headed for the refreshment table to get some punch.
Mr. Bingley and the ladies, however, proceeded around the room, meeting and greeting all those that Sir William introduced to them.
It took a while for information to trickle through the room and reach Elizabeth’s ears, but by the end of the second dance, she had learned that the ladies were, indeed, Mr. Bingley’s sisters.
The older, shorter one was married to the portly gentleman, Mr. Hurst. The younger one, Miss Bingley, was keeping house for her brother.
The tall, grumpy, but exceedingly handsome gentleman was Mr. Darcy. Apparently, he owned an estate in Derbyshire that was worth at least ten thousand a year.
When she wasn’t dancing, Elizabeth kept an eye on this gentleman. It was partly involuntary. He was very eye-catching, after all. However, she was also curious. Why would a man who so clearly had everything be so apparently unhappy?
Mr. Darcy kept to himself the entire evening, except during the two dances he danced with Mr. Bingley’s sisters. Since Elizabeth was only asked to dance a handful of times, she had plenty of opportunities to observe him.
At first, she was annoyed by him. He seemed to be proud and above his company. A few times, she observed one of the local gentlemen attempt to speak with him, and he always replied with short, terse statements that tended to halt the conversation rather than promote it.
Over time, however, she began to revise her opinion.
He was unhappy, even uncomfortable. She did not know whether it was due to his being among strangers or whether it was because he was used to more elegant surroundings and better-behaved people, but it was clear that he did not feel as though he belonged here.
By the time about two thirds of the evening had passed, Elizabeth had come to the shocking conclusion that Mr. Darcy was shy.
It was unbelievable from a man so tall, a man with such a commanding presence, but she was nearly certain that this was a significant part of the reasons for his behavior.
Perhaps pride did play some role, but it was mostly shyness.
Shortly after Elizabeth had come to this conclusion, she decided to rest her feet for a bit.
Though she had not danced as much as she wished, she had still been on her feet quite a bit.
She sat down in a chair which was pulled a little away from the others.
Someone had moved it to provide themselves with a particularly good position to watch the dancers.
She was aware when Mr. Darcy’s slow wandering brought him near her. As he watched the dancers, she watched him out of the corner of her eye.
She could also see that Mr. Bingley was dancing with Jane for the second time that evening. It was no surprise to Elizabeth, nor to anyone else in the neighborhood. Not only was Jane accounted to be quite a beautiful lady, she was also the kindest person Elizabeth knew.
To be honest, with Jane’s dowry of five thousand pounds and her lovely appearance, not to mention her innate kindness and gentle nature, Elizabeth was surprised that Jane was not married already.
When there was a pause in the dance as the dancers lined up to prepare for the next set of movements, Mr. Bingley stepped away and came toward Mr. Darcy.
“Darcy, you must dance. I hate to see you moping about like this. A little dancing would cheer you up enormously,” said Mr. Bingley.
“I shall not,” said Mr. Darcy. “You know I dislike doing so in a room full of strangers.”
“Come, Darcy, there is nothing to fear from such friendly people. I have never felt more welcome in my life. Besides, there are quite a few very pretty ladies. Are you not tempted to dance simply to be near some of them?”
A pause followed, and Elizabeth could almost hear Mr. Darcy rolling his eyes, though she could not see his face.
“Bingley, you are being silly. I see little beauty and no breeding in this crowd,” said Mr. Darcy.
His censure chilled Elizabeth. She had spent the evening making excuses for his poor behavior, but here he was, speaking with his friend, with whom he must be comfortable, saying that he was clearly far above everyone around him.
“You only say that, because you have not taken the trouble to get to know them. Look, there, behind you. That lady is sister to my dance partner. She is pretty enough. Let me get my partner to introduce you,” said Mr. Bingley.
Elizabeth shrank in on herself, bracing herself for rejection. If Mr. Darcy had avoided everyone all evening, why would he change his mind now?
She deliberately looked away from the gentlemen, giving the impression she had not heard them nor was she interested in them. Even so, she could feel when Mr. Darcy’s gaze landed on her.
He looked at her far longer than she expected. Eventually, he turned back to his friend. “Very well, Bingley. I believe I shall take you up on your offer.”
Elizabeth felt her jaw drop, though she just barely managed to keep her lips together so that she did not look like a gaping fish.
Mr. Bingley seemed to be surprised as well, for there was a moment’s hesitation before he said, “Truly? That’s wonderful! Let me just go get my partner.” He rushed over to Jane, who was quite surprised as well, though she willingly followed Mr. Bingley back over to where they stood.
Jane came over to Elizabeth and whispered, “Apparently, Mr. Darcy wishes to be introduced to you,” as though Elizabeth didn’t already know what was happening.
Jane then proceeded through the introductions. When she was done, she and Mr. Bingley went back to the dance floor.
“I am glad to meet you Miss Elizabeth,” said Mr. Darcy. “Would you prefer to join this dance or perhaps wait for another in which we can enjoy the entire dance?”
If she selected this dance, she would be able to dance with him immediately, but if she delayed, she would have more time with him.
Not knowing which was the better choice, she said, “I have no preference, sir. Of the three dances remaining after this one, I have only promised one, so I shall leave the choice up to you. I am simply surprised that you wished to be introduced.”
Mr. Darcy looked at her curiously. “It is only that you remind me of someone, a good friend of my father’s who helped me a great deal when my father passed five years ago. I don’t suppose you are familiar with the Duke of Essex.”
“I am not,” said Elizabeth. “I am sorry to disappoint you.”
“You did not disappoint, for I did not expect you to know him. It is only odd that you resemble him so much,” said Mr. Darcy. “Well, shall we join this dance, then?” he asked as he held out his arm to her.
“Yes, thank you,” she said. She briefly wondered if he would have selected a later dance in order to spend more time with her, if she had actually known the Duke of Essex, but she discarded the idea. Truthfully, it made no difference. A man of Mr. Darcy’s standing could do as he liked.
The dance was almost half over when they joined it. Even so, it was the highlight of Elizabeth’s evening. Mr. Darcy was an excellent dancer, and they chatted easily about the horse trails and walking trails of the surrounding area.
As the dance was coming to a close, Mr. Darcy introduced the subject of books, which caused the conversation to continue even after he had accompanied her back to the seat where he had found her.
It was magical. As they continued to chat while sitting together for the entire next dance, Elizabeth began to feel a connection to Mr. Darcy unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
Of course he was attractive, but it went far, far beyond that. They spoke so easily on an ever-growing range of topics. Even when they disagreed, they seemed to have so much in common in their thought process that it was easy to discuss the subject further.
The following dance separated them, for she had promised it to John Lucas, Charlotte’s younger brother, and a longtime friend of her family.
When she returned from that dance, Mr. Darcy was nowhere to be found.
She tried not to feel disappointed. She had received his attention through one and a half sets, far more than she deserved.
She would have to be content with that. Besides, she was certain to see him again.
After all, he would be staying with Mr. Bingley for at least another month.