Chapter 5
WHERE MR BINGLEY PERSUADES MR DARCY.
Two days after Mr Ellis arrived in Hertfordshire, Darcy returned from a meeting with his solicitor to find Charles Bingley lounging before a blazing fire in his Brook Street home, enjoying a cup of tea.
“Bingley,” he said warmly, shaking his friend’s hand before claiming the chair opposite him.
“I am surprised to find you in London. I imagined you were far too focused on lovemaking to leave Netherfield for any length of time. I am glad for your company, however. Tell me, how much time do you plan on spending in town before you return to the country?”
Bingley grinned. “I cannot deny that I have been most agreeably engaged in Hertfordshire, but after I received your letter, I realised I could not possibly put off meeting with my solicitor any longer. There are some matters of business I should see to and would prefer to take care of them now, so I will not have to attend to them on my honeymoon. With any luck my business here will be concluded in a se’nnight. ”
Darcy’s face fell. “So long?” He had been hoping he could leave for Hertfordshire within the next forty-eight hours.
“I will be the first to admit it is rather longer than I would otherwise wish, but as it happens, I have another reason for being in town.” He gave Darcy a look—half laughing, half nervous.
“I intend to prevail upon Caroline to return to Netherfield. I have a desire to entertain my neighbours and return the hospitality they have shown me. I also wish to hold a dinner in honour of Miss Bennet before our wedding. I can hardly do so without my sister to help me plan and to act the part of hostess.”
Darcy regarded him with some scepticism.
“Miss Bingley will hardly be happy. You know she will attempt to dissuade you from your course and, if that fails, will likely refuse to accompany you at all. From what I gathered from your letters, she was by no means pleased with your forming such an intimate alliance with the Bennets.”
“No, she certainly will resist, but I do have something up my sleeve. I plan on using your residence at Netherfield for leverage so that I might have her agreement sooner than later, and with far less exertion on my part.”
Upon seeing Darcy’s look of indignation, Bingley laughed.
“Oh, come now, man! You certainly owe me at least this much. Besides, you do not have to stay at home, you know. You can go out shooting and riding from dawn until dusk if you so choose. There is also excellent company to be had, for I have recently made the fortuitous acquaintance of Sir William Lucas’s nephew, Mr Ellis. ”
“You are under no obligation to entertain me while I am in Hertfordshire. I will find my own amusement, at very little inconvenience to you.”
Bingley laid his teacup and saucer upon a richly lacquered table and sighed. “I have no doubt of your abilities, Darcy. I ask only that you have faith in my own. Mr Ellis happens to be a dear friend of the Bennets. I like him prodigiously.”
Darcy frowned, never having heard the name before in his life.
“I know,” Bingley said, holding up his hand, “and because I know you, you need not say one word in protest. I am intimately acquainted with your thoughts and opinions regarding the Bennets and the society they keep, and Mr and Mrs Wickham particularly. Believe me when I assure you that Mr Ellis is one gentleman whose manners and credentials will garner even your staunch approval.”
“Bingley,” Darcy began, embarrassed as he recalled his previous poor behaviour and ill opinions of his friend’s soon-to-be relations, but Bingley ignored him in favour of promoting Mr Ellis.
“He has spent the last fourteen months in America, and the three years preceding those at Oxford. For so young a gentleman, his experience and knowledge of the world is impressive. He is also rich, having inherited a sizeable sum of money from a distant relative on his father’s side, which he then invested quite wisely.
He is a very industrious gentleman, not to mention extremely good-natured and agreeable. ”
Darcy rubbed his chin thoughtfully, suitably impressed. “America, you say. In addition to being industrious, your Mr Ellis must be quite an adventuresome gentleman as well. How did he find America? Was it to his liking?”
“You can ask him yourself, but I believe he liked it very well. He is but four-and-twenty, yet he has not only forged the Atlantic, but has plans to go all the way to Constantinople someday, perhaps even to the Orient. Now that is what I call an adventure.”
“Indeed,” Darcy agreed, his interest piqued by the prospect of conversing with such an interesting, well-educated, and well-travelled gentleman. “I look forward to an introduction, if you would be so kind as to arrange one.”
“Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to introduce my newest friend to my oldest,” Bingley replied, rubbing his hands together with a pleased smile.
“Good. Good.” He reached for his cup with an expression of undisguised congeniality and took a sip of tea.
“I should probably forewarn you. Not only is Mr Ellis an excellent conversationalist, but he also happens to be a champion of my future sister and her pert opinions. I understand from Miss Bennet that he and Miss Elizabeth were nearly inseparable when they were children. In fact, they have managed to entertain the rest of us with the most amusing stories of their youthful adventures. As you can imagine, it causes Mrs Bennet no insignificant degree of vexation to see one of her daughters carry on so with any gentleman who could be the answer to all her hopes, but I find Miss Elizabeth’s attitude refreshing. I daresay so does Mr Ellis.”
Darcy started at the inclusion of Elizabeth’s name.
While he had hoped to glean some intelligence of her from his friend, he was ill-prepared to hear such a disturbing recitation.
Gone was the picture he had formed in his mind of an amiable, well-read, industrious gentleman with whom he could possibly forge an equal friendship.
Instead, Darcy imagined a clever young man whose wit, intelligence, and easy manners might not only gain Elizabeth’s interest, but perhaps even secure her heart.
Oblivious to his friend’s distress, Bingley prattled on about his new neighbour’s abilities and achievements.
Jonathan Ellis was an expert horseman and a first-rate scholar; he was eligible, handsome, and rich.
Darcy’s jealous mind revolted as all sorts of unsavoury scenarios formed: Elizabeth, laughing at something Ellis had said.
Elizabeth, completely smitten. Elizabeth in love.
The idea of Elizabeth being in love with any man other than himself made Darcy feel ill.
Eventually, the rational portion of his brain began to prevail over the fantastical.
Mr Ellis had only just returned to the area after many years away; therefore, it was impossible that such a deep romantic attachment had formed in so little time as two days.
On the other hand, this was a young man whom Elizabeth had apparently known her entire life.
What if an attraction between them had existed before Mr Ellis had gone away?
What if their attraction had been of long standing?
What if their admiration of one another had been rekindled? What if…
Unable to sit still a moment longer, Darcy abandoned his chair and strode to the window.
He ran one hand across his mouth in an agitated manner before placing both upon his hips.
Like a child who wanted his own way, he was suddenly impatient to go to Hertfordshire; but Bingley had only just arrived in town and had yet to conduct his business. What Darcy wanted was futile.
“Whatever is the matter with you?” Bingley enquired with much apparent puzzlement. “Are you feeling unwell?”
“Not at all,” Darcy replied crisply, standing with his back to his friend as he glared at the street below. “I am well, thank you.”
“Good. Then I trust you will be in fine form come Saturday next. There is to be an assembly in Meryton, and I sincerely hope you will dance at least a few dances. I cannot countenance your standing around in your usual stupid manner. The people of Hertfordshire have been very gracious to me, despite the inconsistency in my behaviour to them over the past year. I am determined to give them no further reason to think poorly of me, or of any member of my household. I will brook no opposition, Darcy. I will have you dance.”
“I shall endeavour not to disappoint you.”
“See that you do not, for I will not take kindly to anyone slighting my future sisters, and that includes you. Perhaps you might even consider humbling yourself enough to ask Miss Elizabeth for a set. I daresay you owe her as much. You slighted her at the first assembly, you know, though I doubt you even recall it now. In any case, it would be a wonderful opportunity to make it up to her.”
Master of himself once more, Darcy faced his friend. “You are quite right. Throughout our acquaintance, I have done nothing but occasion pain to Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Perhaps I will ask her for the honour of the first set.”
Bingley chuckled. “You do not have to go that far. Besides, I am quite certain she is already engaged for those dances or will be very soon. You would do better to ask Caroline to stand up with you for the first two and be done with it, so that you might enjoy the rest of your evening in peace. Miss Elizabeth can wait.”
But Darcy could not. He frowned, and while Bingley likely misinterpreted his churlish demeanour as an aversion to dancing with his sister, the hard set of his friend’s jaw should have been a telling indication of far more.