Chapter Nine #6
Mr. Bingley turned to his friend for a moment, a look of confusion on his face. He quickly turned back to Elizabeth and offered her a warm smile and a bow before saying, “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Elizabeth. I have heard so much about you.”
“I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Bingley, and I, too, have heard much of you.”
“Apparently, she has intelligence on all of us,” the colonel offered amiably. “May I fix you a plate, Miss Elizabeth?”
“You think you could guess my favourites when you failed so miserably with my name?” she teased.
“I am wounded,” he declared with one hand on his heart and the other his forehead. “I must be allowed to redeem myself.”
“Very well, I would not want to be responsible for your premature demise. You may attempt to make a plate for me, but be advised if I am not pleased, it may result in a hex.”
Georgiana laughed. Though not quite sure what much of their conversation meant, it was clear two of her favourite people were getting on quite well.
“I have been warned,” he said, then proceeded to the sideboard.
Everyone else resumed their seats.
“How long have you known Colonel Fitzwilliam?” Bingley asked Elizabeth.
“Just met an hour ago,” the colonel answered matter-of-factly before placing a plate in front of Elizabeth and taking a seat beside her. It had most of her favourites and none of the things she disliked. The others resumed their seats and their eating.
“What is the verdict?” he asked.
“I will allow you to live,” she said. Then after swallowing her first bite of croissant, she added, “For now.”
The colonel was still laughing when the other guests appeared in the doorway.
The gentlemen rose as the three newcomers moved into the room.
“Mrs. Hurst, Mr. Hurst, Miss Bingley, may I introduce Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn, Hertfordshire. Miss Elizabeth, Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst are Mr. Bingley’s sisters,” Darcy said in his most formal voice.
Elizabeth had risen from her seat in between Colonel Fitzwilliam and Georgiana and now made her way to where the others stood.
She offered her curtsy. “It is a pleasure to meet you. Miss Darcy has told me much of your meeting last summer.”
“Miss Elizabeth, you are Miss Darcy’s friend?” Miss Bingley asked, the same incredulity in her voice as had seemed to be present on the expressions of both the colonel and Mr. Bingley when they met.
“I have that honour,” Elizabeth answered.
“We met many years ago,” Georgiana put in.
Elizabeth made her way back to her seat, eager to partake of the food the colonel had procured for her. The Hursts went to the sideboard and began selecting their fare without a word. Miss Bingley took the seat next to her brother.
“Yes, I remember, Darcy seemed to believe you were quite the heroine that day, Miss Elizabeth,” Bingley said, looking between the two.
“Certainly not,” Elizabeth demurred.
“I, too, have been treated to the tale, and I assure you, you were assigned the role of saviour by both my cousins,” the colonel agreed.
“You are determined to embarrass me, so I am determined not to give you any such satisfaction,” Elizabeth said, aiming a wide smile at the colonel.
“You are correct, of course. I must be credited with the heroic rescue of a young girl who but for me would have surely solved her own problems and likely with far less chatter and bother.”
“Certainly, she would not have,” Georgiana declared with a firmness she rarely displayed in front of those she did not know well. “You might exclaim at the term hero or saviour, but can we all agree that we are thankful you were in the woods that day?”
“I suppose we can, but might I be equally thankful you were there?”
“You may,” Georgiana answered with a regal nod and then a sincere smile for her friend. Under the table, she squeezed her hand before saying, “We might not have become such dear friends if either of us had not chosen to walk that path at that time.”
“True, and your brother would have missed out on being criticised in his own home by a young girl he had never seen before in his life.”
“What is this,” the colonel asked, “a part of the story you have withheld?” his accusing glance slid to Darcy.
But Darcy was looking at Elizabeth, a look of mischief in his eyes.
He had been so different since their first encounter yesterday that she was thankful to see this familiar expression.
She knew what it portended. Darcy was about to tease her.
Before he could prove her right, Miss Bingley spoke.
“I wonder what a young girl could have found to criticise in the master of Pemberley at any time, never mind upon first being introduced. You must have been full young indeed.”
“Not quite so young that I should not have known better,” Elizabeth admitted, but wanting to return to whatever Darcy had planned to say, she turned back to him. “What say you, sir, did you deserve the reprimand you received from me that day?”
“I am not certain I can recall everything, as you know I was already quite advanced in years when we met and by now I am quite hopelessly senile, but I believe I was not so much reprimanded as gently guided to see the error of my ways.”
It was such a kind interpretation of her impertinence. Their meeting was not an occasion Elizabeth could look back on without blushing at her own forwardness and presumption.
“I also must correct your statement,” Darcy added.
“Of course you must,” Elizabeth sighed dramatically. “It would not be a conversation between us if you were not correcting me on something.”
Bingley and Colonel Fitzwilliam laughed and expressed some commiseration at this before Darcy responded.
“You said that you criticised me the first time we saw each other.” He paused and let her see where she had erred.
And she did. That day in garden was their first meeting but not the first time they had seen each other. That had been a much more embarrassing situation. She could hardly believe he was alluding to it. Her sharp expression must have told him as much.
“Regardless, you have been a patient and diligent instructor, always willing to show me the error of my ways.”
“Just what you need, old man,” Stephen laughed.
“It must be strange indeed to be constantly upbraided by your younger sister’s friend,” Mrs. Hurst said, doing an admirable job of imitating the congenial tone of the conversation, but Elizabeth heard the judgement she injected into her words.
“I can see why you would think so, Mrs. Hurst,” Georgiana said, smiling at her guest. “But Elizabeth has been a dear friend of our whole family for many years, and she and William tease each other quite mercilessly at times. It can seem acrimonious if you don’t know how much they care for each other.
My father and I could never quite decide who more often bested the other. ”
“You knew old Mr. Darcy?” Miss Bingley hastened to ask.
“I did,” Elizabeth said softly, then glancing at Georgiana and Darcy, she explained, “he was the best men of men, and I am thankful I had the chance to know him, even if I wish it had not been so short a time.” As she spoke, Elizabeth was unconsciously running her thumb over the ruby heart that rested just above her collar.
“He felt the same about you,” Darcy said, his gentle tone matching hers.
The conversation moved on after this, with Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst directing it.
They talked of the people they had seen in London, whom all present but Elizabeth knew.
They also peppered Elizabeth with questions about her family, both those at Barlow Hall and those at Longbourn.
It soon became apparent that they had believed she was a poor relation whom her Derbyshire family took in each summer as an act of charity.
Elizabeth did not feel the need to disabuse them of this notion—it would have no effect on her, but Georgiana insisted on clarifying certain things such that by the time Jane appeared in the doorway a half hour later, they were aware that she was a gentleman’s daughter and that her family’s estate, though nothing to Pemberley (Elizabeth had offered this), was prosperous and situated in a part of the country nearly as lovely as Derbyshire (Georgiana felt she could speak to this as she had seen many vistas through Mary and Jane’s sketches).
“Good morning, Jane,” Elizabeth greeted her sister.
“Jane, you look lovely in that colour,” Georgiana declared.
She rose from her seat and offered it to her guest, “Please sit here once you have fixed your plate. In the meantime, please allow me to present my cousin Colonel Stephen Fitzwilliam and our friends, Mr. Charles Bingley, Mr. Hurst, Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley. Miss Jane Bennet is Elizabeth’s older sister and also a friend.
We have known her almost as long as we have known Elizabeth. ”
“It is a pleasure to meet you all,” Jane said in her soft, lyrical voice. “We are delighted that our stay coincided with your visit for at least one day that we might get to know you a little before we return to Barlow Hall.”
After the obligatory bows and curtsies were exchanged, the conversation resumed, and Jane fixed a plate, taking the seat Georgiana had offered her beside Darcy at the head of the table, with Elizabeth next to her.
Elizabeth noted that two of the gentlemen could not keep their eyes off her sister.
Of the other two, Mr. Hurst had immediately given his attention back to his food after acknowledging the introduction.
Mr. Darcy, after bowing in greeting, let his gaze travel over the room, settling on his sister before asking her of her plans for the day.
“Elizabeth and I plan to ride after breakfast. If anyone would like to join us, we have several mounts to choose from.”
“Will you be riding as well, Miss Bennet?” Mr. Bingley asked.