Chapter Nine #8
“Well, you always look lovely, but pink suits you and Mother is quite wrong. It brings out some of your natural colour and sets off your eyes.”
“Really?” Jane asked.
Moving to the mirror, she began to examine herself. As Elizabeth watched, she fussed with her braid, retied the ribbon and pinched her cheeks.
Elizabeth, who had never known her sister to have any concern beyond pleasing their mother when it came to how she looked, was intrigued as to the cause of this new attentiveness, which she suspected.
However, she feared enquiry would cause embarrassment as she was not convinced Jane even knew that she might be trying to impress or gain the notice of one gentleman in particular.
And though there were three potential candidates for her sister’s interest, Elizabeth was fairly confident in her guess as to who her sister preferred presently.
Just before two o’clock, the sisters were ready, and each satisfied in their own appearance, they made their way to the parlour to meet the others.
They were nearly the last to arrive. Mr. Hurst sat in the corner, possibly asleep.
He held a glass of port against his side that seemed destined to tip over.
Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst were on either side of Mr. Darcy.
They were passing sheets of music back and forth and soliciting his opinion on which pieces they should perform that evening after dinner.
Georgiana and Colonel Fitzwilliam were in the corner engaged in a chess match.
It was to this pairing that Elizabeth led her sister.
“Good afternoon, Miss Elizabeth, Miss Bennet,” the colonel greeted them.
They offered their greetings to both opponents and asked to watch them play.
“Of course you may,” Georgiana answered. “I am afraid we are rather dull, though.”
“You see, Miss Bennet, my cousin and I are too evenly matched for the game to progress in any meaningful way.”
“You have been playing together for a long time?” Jane asked.
“Yes, both in years and in this game,” Georgiana answered as she moved her knight. “William and my father taught me to play when I was quite young.”
“You are still quite young,” Stephen teased with a wink at his cousin.
“Perhaps.” Georgiana stuck her tongue out at him before turning to Elizabeth and Jane. “Lizzy, will you take my place and show my cousin what it is to lose?”
“I will take your place. As to a victory, I have not had enough opportunity to assess your opponent to say whether or not I can deliver.”
“I am confident you will triumph,” Georgiana assured her friend. She rose and Elizabeth took her seat. At that moment, Mr. Bingley arrived. He offered a general “good afternoon” and scanned the room. When his eyes landed on Jane, he smiled and moved in her direction.
“Jane, will you assist me in convincing Mr. Bingley and my brother to make up a whist table with us?”
“I shall not be difficult to persuade,” Bingley assured them. “But I am not certain about my friend.”
They looked at Darcy, and at least Bingley and Georgiana seemed ready to make an argument.
However, before they had the chance, he stood and offered his apologies to Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst. “You will excuse me, I trust, so that I can answer my sister’s wish?
” Without waiting for an answer, he bowed to them and led the others to one of the card tables.
Though observing these manoeuvrings, Elizabeth’s focus was primarily on the board in front of her, attempting to form her strategy.
She was generally able to best Georgiana on the rare occasions they played, but this was more due to the fact that her friend would grow bored if the match went on for any length of time.
Therefore, she could not adequately judge the colonel’s skill based on the game thus far.
“I hope you will not hold back, Colonel. I know I shall not.”
He looked surprised for a moment but then offered her a mischievous smile. “Very well, Miss Elizabeth, I shall do my best.”
It took half an hour, but Stephen finally declared, “Checkmate.”
Elizabeth conceded with a smile, “Well done, sir. I thank you for a good match. Well-played.” She offered her hand over the board.
“I return those sentiments. You are a good player.” Stephen shook her hand, and they both stood.
“But not good enough,” Elizabeth said, a slight hint of frustration in her voice. “I hope you will allow me a rematch.”
“You name the time and place. I am at your disposal.”
Before Elizabeth could respond, Miss Bingley came to stand next to the colonel.
“You would not find it tedious to play against someone you know you can beat?” Miss Bingley asked.
The sisters had been watching the others play whist, and Mr. Hurst continued to doze on the sofa.
“That is one of the joys of chess,” Stephen answered.
“Every time you face an opponent, you have a new opportunity, and neither knows the outcome until the match begins. Of course with those who play against one another often, one can make certain assumptions, but that is not the case with Miss Elizabeth and myself. I look forward to seeing what she is made of when next we face one another.”
“That sounds fascinating,” Miss Bingley gushed. “I have never learnt to play. It was not considered proper at the seminary Mrs. Hurst and I attended. Perhaps it would not be inappropriate for me to learn now. If gentlemen like yourself find pleasure in playing, perhaps you could teach me.”
“I do find great pleasure in it. I would not be a good teacher, however. I have not the patience nor do I comprehend the strategies a new player should be introduced to,” Stephen said evenly.
Then, with a thoughtful quirk of his head, he added, “Darcy, however, is an excellent player and would be a fine teacher—he is all patience and strategy. What say you, cousin?”
“I thank you for the compliment, though I might take issue with your self-assessment as I believe your most recent letter of commendation from the war office indicated you had a rare gift for strategy which, and I quote, ‘contributed directly to the victory at Nivelle.’”
“I am touched you remember it so precisely,” Stephen laughed.
“We are all quite proud of you,” Darcy said.
The two looked at one another for a moment, then, with a nod, the colonel picked up the thread of the original conversation.
“Regardless, you would be an ideal teacher for Miss Bingley. I suggest you begin forthwith.”
While Miss Bingley expressed her delight at this idea and turned to her sister to insist on her doing likewise, Darcy shot his cousin a look of furious dismay.
Stephen winked at him and suggested he and Elizabeth take a turn in the garden.
She readily agreed, inviting Jane and Georgiana to join them. Bingley chose to go along as well.
An hour later, at their request, Georgiana called the carriage to bring the Bennet sisters back to Barlow Hall.
“I wish you two would stay longer,” she told them. “But of course we mustn’t be selfish—your family need their share of you too, I suppose.”
“Indeed, it has been wonderful to meet you both after hearing so much about you,” Bingley eagerly agreed. “I hope we will see much of you during our stay.”
“Of course we shall,” Georgiana declared.
As she, Elizabeth and Bingley spoke of potential outings, Elizabeth observed Jane and Colonel Fitzwilliam.
Several times, Jane looked away from whoever was speaking to the colonel, who stood silently beside Bingley.
He did not look at Jane once, but somehow Elizabeth was sure his attention was entirely focused on her.
At one point, he caught Elizabeth observing him, and when he smiled, she thought perhaps he knew he was caught.
This was confirmed when he moved around the other three to come to her side.
“Miss Elizabeth and I will step outside and let you know when the carriage arrives,” he said. She followed, though of course it was unnecessary as Pemberley’s efficient staff would let them all know the minute the carriage came.
“I feel you have something you wish to say to me?” Stephen began when they had reached the bottom of the stairs.
“I am a bit surprised we seem to understand each other so well on so brief an acquaintance,” she hedged.
“It is unusual, this is true. However, I imagine we both had two of our favourite people telling us of one another for some time now. Perhaps that has helped make it possible.”
“Perhaps,” Elizabeth conceded.
“And now you wish to warn me away? I assure you I will not be offended. I am certain in the information regarding me communicated by my family my need for an heiress was canvassed. It makes me a less than desirable candidate.”
“I am strangely comforted by the knowledge that you cannot in fact know me too well by learning about me from others. And that you actually do not even know your own relatives as well as you might think.”
“Meaning?”
“Mr. Darcy and Georgiana did not discuss your circumstances with me. They have told me much of your heroism, your kindness, your humour and your unwillingness to concede defeat at any game you play, but no heiresses were mentioned.”
“Miss Elizabeth, please accept my apology,” he said, his sincerity evident.
“I have perhaps become a little jaded and possibly not quite as sanguine about my own prospects as I have led myself to believe. At least not when confronted with a possibility so very different from what I have come to expect and which I am surprisingly invested in after so short a time.”
“I accept your apology, and I suppose I must say that is likely as explicit as this conversation should become.”
The colonel looked slightly guilty at this, but she went on.
“But before placing that boundary, I will say that if you are seeking a flirtation while on holiday, please look elsewhere. I hope you will not be offended, but some of my loved ones are so willing to see the good in others they do not always look to their own interests, so I feel I must.”