Vol 1, Chapter 9
Darcy was fighting a war with himself. What should he do about Wickham? Could he do anything without potential harm to his beloved sister? It was bad enough seeing the libertine, but to see him talking to Miss Elizabeth Bennet made his blood boil.
Why should he care about a woman that could never be anything to him?
Why was it that she invaded his dreams nightly?
He would never admit it to another living soul, but many of the dreams were decidedly ungentlemanly.
If it were only while sleeping and in a dream state that she came to him it would be one thing, but whenever he was not occupied with a task, his mind started to think about her—on its own volition, to be sure, but it happened far too frequently now to ignore.
He often found himself wondering where she was, what was she doing, and with whom was she doing it?
If only she were not so far below him there would be a possibility of offering for her, but that was not the case.
He could not betray all he believed he had been taught was important in such a way.
As he thought about his parents and their love match, a memory he had long suppressed invaded his mind.
He was eleven and his mother was near her confinement with what turned out to be Gigi.
“William, I know you are young yet,” his mother had said as she patted the bed next to her as she rested.
She seemed to be very tired every day and William could not understand why.
“You have heard my sister Catherine try to arrange a match between you and your Cousin Anne, have you not?” William had nodded.
“Neither your father nor I will countenance an arranged marriage for you, my son. No matter what your aunt tells you, we never agreed to any betrothal between you and Anne. I want you to promise me something.”
“Anything Mama,” William had promised.
“Follow your heart, William. I want for you what you father and I have, a love match.”
Darcy sat up straight as he remembered the promise that he made to his mother. At the same time he remembered his father speaking of duty and upholding the honour of the Darcy name. How was he able to reconcile those two competing messages?
Thankfully for Darcy’s equanimity, it rained for four days in a row, and he did not see the libertine Wickham or his tormenter during that time. He knew it was unfair to term Miss Elizabeth his tormentor when she was oblivious of the effect she had on him.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The rain was welcomed by the residents of Longbourn, most especially Jane and Elizabeth.
Mr. Bingley had called once prior to the start of the rains but was told that Miss Bennet was not at home.
Mr. Wickham, who thought Elizabeth was in his thrall, called twice, and both times he was turned away and not permitted admittance to the house.
Bennet had informed the family that the citizens of the area had been warned, and they had in turn cautioned their daughters, gentlefolk, and tradespeople alike.
The three Bennet sisters were gratified that Charlotte had admonished Maria about officers and that she too was being circumspect when in their company.
A letter was received from Tom saying he and his good friend and distant cousin Robert Jamison would go directly from Oxford to Broadhurst where Robert would spend part of the holiday with Tom before returning to his family estate, Ashford Dale, in Bedfordshire.
Since the original Tom Bennet had married Karen Jamison all those years past, there had always been a strong family connection between the Bennets and the Jamisons.
The two days before the Netherfield ball were rain-free. Thankfully for Jane Bennet, Bingley was busy supervising the clean-up of his park before his ball, so he did not attempt to call at Longbourn again.
The day before the ball was a warm day for November.
The ground was fairly dry, allowing the three Bennet sisters and their younger brother to give their horses some much-needed exercise.
A groom and a footman accompanied the four of them, as their father was busy with his steward.
Once in the open field that bordered Netherfield, the siblings allowed their mounts to run free as they raced across it.
Darcy had felt very much confined during the interminable days of rain, especially as he had to hide from Miss Bingley’s unwanted attention much of the time.
He had just slowed Zeus to a walk so he could cool down from a long gallop when he saw four horses racing across the field opposite with two escorts following behind.
He could see that the Miss Bennets had allowed their hair free of restraints.
He was about to criticise them when he stopped himself, realising that would be hypocritical, for when he and Gigi rode alone on their estate, his sister rode with her hair down sometimes and he had never censured her for it.
As he watched, he saw them approach the fence line, but they made a wide turn and headed back toward the manor without seeing him, or at least without acknowledging that they saw him.
They had slowed to a canter then had given their mounts the chance to walk after their exertion as he turned Zeus back toward Netherfield’s stables.
Another thing he could not puzzle out, other than the fact that the behaviour of the Bennets was above reproach, was that he had expected himself and Bingley to be the object of fawning here in society just as they were in Town.
At first, he told himself that Miss Bennet was playing ‘hard to get’ in order to reel in Bingley.
He was now in doubt of that judgement. If he did not know better, he would say that Miss Bennet was decidedly not interested in his friend, regardless of his fortune.
On the few occasions he had been in Miss Elizabeth’s company, she had never fawned.
If he were to be honest with himself, she never sought him out at all.
He settled on the answer that she was sensible enough to know she was too low for him to offer for her, so she herself was making sure she did not reach too high.
That was an admirable trait so he would not be forced to reject her publicly, which would be uncomfortable.
With this rationalisation accepted as fact by Darcy, he handed Zeus to a groom and asked him to water and then feed his stallion some oats.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
In order not to be crushed together, given their overly portly cousin was one of the party, the Bennets, wishing to maintain the illusion they were not wealthy, took their two oldest carriages when they departed for Netherfield.
As much as he did not want to admit it to himself, Darcy was watching the arriving carriages to catch a glimpse of her.
He would allow himself this one surreptitious look, but he would not dance with her.
He had asked her to dance that night at Lucas Lodge and she spurned his offer, so his ego would not allow him to request a set from her again.
Darcy was determined he would not dance, not even with the overly perfumed Miss Bingley or her sister.
He would be a passive observer this night, nothing more.
Darcy was also aware Bingley had not spoken to his sister as he had requested.
Her pursuit of him had not lessened; if anything, it had become more desperate.
A night or two before, Carstens had been awoken by the chamber’s handle being repeatedly jiggled.
As a precaution, Darcy had his man sleeping on a cot blocking the door.
Carstens had heard an invective in a female’s voice, which he was sure was Miss Bingley’s, when the person found the door well and truly locked.
Bingley had informed his friend that he was to go to London for a few days starting on the morrow.
He had decided he would follow Bingley to Town and have a hard conversation with his friend away from his sisters.
He would give Bingley a choice between making sure that his sister was informed of the repercussions of her pointless pursuit of his person or being given the cut direct.
His decision would either maintain their friendship or lose it altogether.
His plan was to stay at Darcy House for a few days, and then he and Gigi would make for Pemberley and remain there until his return to Town before his hated annual pilgrimage to Rosings Park for Easter in order to discharge his familial duty to his aunt.
Darcy’s attention was pulled back to the window when he saw the carriage he recognised as the Bennet conveyance, which was closely followed by another.
As he watched, the parents, an unknown corpulent man, and he assumed the youngest daughter alighted from the first vehicle.
To his surprise, he realised the second carriage belonged to the Bennets as well when Miss Bennet and then Miss Elizabeth exited.
She was a vision of loveliness; her hair piled on top of her head with some of her enticing curls cascading down along her neck.
She wore a warm coat so Darcy could not see her gown as yet, but it would not be long before he would.
She looked up toward the window where he was standing and quickly returned her attention to her sisters, so he was sure she had not seen him.
‘How is it that a poor country squire had two carriages? Even if they are older, to be able to maintain the servants needed, and horses—yes, the horses—must be costly. Those are not farm horses, but matched pairs! How is it that the Bennets own so much quality horseflesh?’
Before Darcy could divine an answer, he saw that both Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth were looking directly at him. He whirled away with as much dignity as he could muster, irritated that she had spied him when he had been certain she had not.
“What do you think Mr. Darcy means by staring at us so, Lizzy?” Jane asked as they walked up the steps towards Netherfield’s doors.