17. Wickham in the Garden #2
Elizabeth appreciated her discretion, as her chaperonage was required, and she welcomed both Charlotte and John.
While her friend felt the same, warm and delighted to see her, John Lucas, who had always been a reliable dance partner and friendly face at the various Hertfordshire social events, seemed stiff and mechanical, stuttering his answers and seeming to trip over his own feet.
“My dear Miss Elizabeth,” Lady Lucas began, leaning forward as if she had something of great import.
“What a pleasure to visit you at this glorious house. Sir William will be so sorry to have missed this. He is dining with friends he met at St. James and sends his warmest regards and his congratulations on your remarkable good fortune. I was saying to John only this morning, as he was dressing—and he took such care with his cravat today, as you can see—that true merit is always rewarded in the end.”
John Lucas turned a shade of violent purple that dangerously matched his mother’s mulberry pelisse. He stared fixedly at his teacup as though praying it might swallow him whole.
“Thank you, Lady Lucas. You are very kind,” Elizabeth said, her fingers remaining steady on the silver sugar tongs, though her eyes flicked to Charlotte. “And how wonderful to have you here as well, Mr. Lucas. I hope you are enjoying your stay in London.”
“Oh yes, quite,” John Lucas stammered, his eyes darting nervously between Elizabeth and his mother. “That is to say, the weather has been…fine. Quite fine indeed.”
He took a hasty sip of tea and promptly choked on it. Charlotte patted his back discreetly as he coughed and sputtered.
Lady Lucas tsked impatiently. “John, do sit up straight. And put your teacup down before you scald yourself.” She turned back to Elizabeth with a bright, calculating smile.
“You must forgive my son, Miss Bennet. He is not used to being in the presence of such an elegant and accomplished lady as yourself.”
“Oh, but John and the Bennet family are such good friends, since our youth. We have caught frogs together, and I do believe there was that incident of the acorn battle?” Elizabeth sent Lady Sophia a smirk, sharing her amusement at Lady Lucas’s transparent matchmaking endeavors.
“And John has felt your absence so keenly in the neighborhood, Miss Elizabeth,” Lady Lucas continued, entirely oblivious to her son’s impending social suffocation.
She gave a heavy, significant nod toward the young man.
“The Meryton assemblies have been quite dismal without you. John has said repeatedly that no other lady in the county understands the rhythm of a reel half so well. Haven’t you, John? ”
“I… yes… that is to say, the dancing has been very… the floors are quite large here, are they not?” John stammered, shifting his boots on the Persian rug and nearly upsetting his saucer in the process.
“The floors are indeed large, John,” Elizabeth supplied with an open, sisterly warmth. “But I assure you, the London dancers have no better manners than those in Hertfordshire. You are very welcome to Grosvenor Street.”
Lady Lucas smiled, predatory and self-satisfied. Elizabeth shivered—she knew that look. Mrs. Bennet wore it every time a wealthy bachelor crossed Longbourn’s threshold.
“Oh, John has always possessed the most elegant manners.” Lady Lucas preened, her gaze sweeping over the gilded moldings of the drawing room with the practiced eye of an appraiser.
“Sir William and I have always remarked that he requires only a grander sphere to truly shine. And with your shared history, Elizabeth—why, you two have been close since the nursery! It seems a particular gift of Providence that he should be in London during your very first Season. John does so enjoy the museums, the parks, and the theater,” Lady Lucas warmed to her bragging.
“John was just saying the other day how much he admires a lady who appreciates the arts. Weren’t you, John? ”
“I… ah… yes, quite so,” John mumbled, looking like he wanted to disappear into the upholstery. “The arts are very… artistic.”
Elizabeth bit her cheek to keep from laughing. Poor John Lucas, conscripted as a suitor. She would have to find a way to discourage Lady Lucas’s schemes without humiliating him.
“I agree, Mr. Lucas,” she said kindly. “The arts bring such joy and meaning to life. I am sure you will have no shortage of stimulating conversation on that topic with the ladies of London.”
From the music room, the Broadwood’s deep chords crashed into a complicated Handel duet, slicing through the stifling air of matchmaking.
“Yes, Miss Elizabeth.” His neck craned toward the music room. “I believe I hear someone playing Handel.”
“Indeed, Mr. Lucas,” Elizabeth seized upon this opportunity to extricate poor John from his mother’s matrimonial ambitions.
“My sister, Mary, and Miss Georgiana Darcy have been laboring over that piece for days, preparing for the next musicale. It is an exceptionally ambitious arrangement. I fear they may need a reliable page-turner. Perhaps you might oblige them? I know they would be most grateful for your assistance.”
John looked at her as though she had just opened the gates of paradise. “Of course, Miss Elizabeth. I would be happy to lend my services.” He rose hastily, bowing to the ladies. “If you will excuse me, I shall go and offer my aid to the musicians.”
Lady Lucas’s eyes widened with the avid brightness of a woman who had just learned that her hosts moved in circles she had previously only read about in the society papers.
“Georgiana Darcy. Mr. Darcy’s sister. Well.
How very fortunate for Mary. And how kind of Mr. Darcy to allow such intimacy between the families. ”
“Mr. Darcy’s kindness is not the point,” Elizabeth said. “Mary has earned the partnership through her own accomplishment.”
“Naturally.” Lady Lucas rearranged her features into an expression of maternal pride. “How good of John to be so solicitous of the musical ladies. He has always been such a thoughtful, obliging boy. Are you well acquainted with Miss Darcy?”
“She lives next door,” Elizabeth explained. “Although she is not yet out, she performed with Mary at a musicale at Lady Harewood’s salon.”
“Not out?” Lady Lucas’s teacup remained suspended in midair, her mind visibly calculating the sheer weight of a Darcy alliance.
“Well, she must be a massive prize when she is presented to the ton . A girl of her consequence—and living next door! Why, Elizabeth, the proximity alone is a grand advantage. John was just saying how much he admires a young lady of quiet, domestic habits. With his inheritance of Lucas Lodge securely settled upon Sir William’s passing, he is uniquely positioned to offer a stable, respectable establishment to a lady who prefers the country air to the chaos of town. ”
Charlotte lowered her porcelain cup to her saucer with a slow, deliberate click.
She caught Elizabeth’s eye, her expression a perfect blend of silent apology and wry, long-suffering sympathy.
She knew precisely how heavy her mother’s hand could be when it chose to drive a wedge into a wealthy drawing room.
“Miss Darcy is entirely devoted to her studies and her brother, Lady Lucas,” Elizabeth said. “Her future presentation is entirely a matter for her family, and I assure you, she is far too young to be considered an object of anyone’s immediate marital calculation.”
“Yes, of course, but Miss Mary is thriving in London amongst the stimulating society, and I have no doubt she will attract attention with such an accomplished friend by her side. How is your sister, Jane, faring?”
The last thing Elizabeth wanted was to discuss Jane and Mr. Bingley. She fanned herself. “Jane is well, but resting after a promenade. The crowds and horses raise dust that does not suit her as well as the country air.”
“Ah, your elder sister tends to be of a sickly nature,” Lady Lucas reflected. “Quite unlike the robust natures of your younger sisters and their frequent walks to Meryton. I see them pass Lucas Lodge regularly on their jaunts into town. The officers have not yet decamped to Brighton, you see.”
A dry, aristocratic cough echoed from near the hearth as Lady Sophia lowered her volume of Cecilia .
“Pray, Lady Lucas, I should like to hear about the delightful Meryton. I have a correspondent in that part of the world—a lady of excellent connections—who frequently informs me that the society in your neighborhood is remarkably vibrant. Are the militia quartered there, or is it a usual station? I would think they should be more useful at a seaside location, should Napoleon’s Navy breach the channel. ”
“Oh, I couldn’t say how troops are assigned, but Colonel Forster informs us that the young men will indeed decamp later this summer.
However, the presence of redcoats does make our small society quite merry…
what with all the card parties and assemblies—not to mention the gentlemen’s shooting and riding activities. ”
“And how are my parents?” Elizabeth asked, redirecting the conversation away from the officers her two youngest sisters were so enamored by.
“I fear I have been a negligent correspondent since coming to London. My father has not written, and you know how erratic Lydia and Kitty can be with their letters.”
“Well.” Lady Lucas settled back in her chair, a gleam of gossip in her eye.
“Your mother is in the most tremendous spirits, Elizabeth. She has been buying lottery tickets, which your father disapproves of but cannot prevent, and she has told Mrs. Long and Mrs. Philips and anyone who will listen that she intends to come to London with or without Mr. Bennet’s permission, because, she says, her eldest daughters require a mother’s guidance in navigating the Season, and she will not be kept in Hertfordshire like a prisoner while her girls are launched into society without her. ”