Chapter 23 Darcy Interferes Again
DARCY INTERFERES AGAIN
It was exceedingly vexing that the dance before the supper was a reel, too fast to even speak to Elizabeth much less flirt with her. Darcy had not been unduly dismayed by it, telling himself he had all of supper to enjoy her presence.
When they sat down, surrounded by many of her friends and relations, he was disappointed to find her abstracted and pensive.
She was not dull, but inasmuch as she tried for her usual engaging friendliness, it was clear her mind was elsewhere.
Happily, Bingley soon asked for some of the young ladies to exhibit for them before the dancing resumed.
The resulting noise afforded them the opportunity for private conversation.
“I hope you are enjoying yourself?” Darcy said in a low tone.
Elizabeth forced a bright smile. “I am, very much, thank you.”
“You seem a little distracted,” he pressed. “I am only hoping it is not me who displeases you?”
“You? Oh, no! Forgive me.” She gave a little shake of her head. “I did not mean to allow my distraction to overwhelm my enjoyment of the evening. I only had a very strange conversation with a friend—Mrs Collins—and it’s left me unsettled.”
“You would honour me if you wished to confide in me about it.”
Her eyes searched his. “Her marriage is an unhappy one,” she said at length. “And alas, having made her bed, she is finding it difficult to lie in.”
“You worry she has chosen poorly.”
Elizabeth reached for her wineglass and took a little sip. “She chose prudence, as many do.”
“But not you.”
Her eyes darted to meet his gaze.
“I understand Mr Collins had offered for you as well.”
That made her laugh and then cover her face.
“Yes, you understand correctly. The day after Mr Bingley’s last ball, in fact.
My mother was not pleased with me for refusing him, although Charlotte evidently saw it as a triumph.
She said some bit of nonsense about triumphing over me and how all women competed with one another.
It was utter rot, and I despise that she thinks of it thus. I surely do not.”
“You are a unique creature,” he said. “I daresay many women feel as does your friend, like they are at war with one another with the prize being a husband.”
“The prize might be in earning the husband, but what one does with him afterwards is perhaps less so,” she said with a little laugh. “I know that love matches are rare, perhaps too much so, but nevertheless, I hope to marry someone I respect, someone I like. Someone I could someday love.”
She did not look at him as she said so, her eyes suddenly fixed on her wineglass.
He opened his mouth to speak, unsure what he wished to say.
Something that would assure her that he would offer his love and that he, too, would hope one day to earn hers.
Alas, once again, the increasingly pesky Sir James intruded, a loud scrape of a chair announcing his presence.
His friend Goddard was right behind him.
“This seems a very serious conversation, and we cannot have that at a ball,” Goddard announced cheerfully.
“No, indeed!” Sir James echoed, the bland smile on his face doing nothing to allay Darcy’s suspicion that he had interrupted them with purpose.
Darcy had asked her for another dance before she left the supper room.
“That would be three, Mr Darcy,” she said with a smile. “So unless you purposely aim for scandal, I should think it inadvisable.”
“I do not mind a little scandal for the right reasons,” he had said, but she only laughed and left him.
The rest of the evening moved very slowly from there. Darcy danced two sets, one with Miss Bingley and the other with Miss Bennet who inadvertently told him that Elizabeth’s last dance was to be with, again, Sir James.
Not if I have anything to do with it.
He knew he had at least one or two more sets until the last dance was upon them.
Thus after he took Miss Bennet back to Bingley, he turned from the company and made his way towards the doors leading to the balcony.
The evening summer air was a welcome respite from the warmth of the ballroom, but he was in search of more than fresh air.
Several gentlemen stood in small groups, puffing on cigars and idly discussing the concerns of the day. Darcy’s eyes swept over them, finally discovering, with satisfaction, the forms of Sir James and his friend Goddard.
Not wishing to seem like he was charging them, he strolled over, hoping it seemed like he was merely interested in contemplating the view. “Sir James,” he said once he had arrived. “Goddard.”
“Ho there, Darcy,” said Sir James. “Would you like a cigar?”
Darcy waved off the offer. “Thank you, but no.”
“We were just discussing Netherfield,” Sir James told him. “I daresay if Bingley did not wish to purchase it, I just might! A charming place!”
Darcy chuckled. “Bingley’s situation, as you might have supposed from his attentions to Miss Bennet, is changing quickly, so who can say what he will do. But I daresay when you have finished with all your plans for Hadleigh Hall, it will be its equal.”
“If I ever manage to complete them all, then yes, it will be a wonder!” Sir James waxed eloquent then, discussing his many schemes and plans for his home.
In the midst of it, Goddard excused himself, no doubt having heard it many times over; it suited Darcy very well.
Some of the other men drifted inside as well, and Darcy was left in relative privacy with Sir James.
Darcy listened attentively, mentally totting up figures as his companion went. Sir James absolutely required a wealthy bride. It was the only way, he decided with satisfaction.
When Sir James was through, Darcy let out a low whistle. “It will be magnificent,” he assured him. “One of the foremost homes of the region, if not all of England, to be sure.”
“Do you think so? Thank you, Darcy; that means a great deal coming from the master of such a place as Pemberley,” said Sir James warmly.
“Cost you a pretty penny, though.”
“Trust me, I am well aware of that!” Sir James chuckled. “I am off to Nottinghamshire tomorrow on my mother’s request to speak to the architect. We have not yet begun, and costs are already run rampant!”
“The costs do tend to do that. We redid the kitchens at Pemberley two years ago, and it was almost twice the original estimate.”
To this, Sir James could only groan.
“A wealthy bride will solve that problem,” Darcy said easily. On the other man’s look, he said, “As I am sure you have already considered.”
“I have, and my friends as well. I believe Goddard might have brought me to Ashworth with an eye towards seeing if Miss King and I suited one another.”
“Miss King is a sweet girl,” Darcy said agreeably. “Of course you must know that Bingley’s sister has twenty thousand?”
“She is a very handsome girl,” Sir James remarked in a carefully benign way.
“That she is,” Darcy agreed.
There was a short pause then while Sir James finished his cigar and looked as if he meant to return to the ballroom. Darcy stopped him, saying, “You also must realise that Miss Elizabeth Bennet, charming as she is, has no fortune?”
“I do know that, yes. I also know that to be married to Miss Elizabeth Bennet would likely make a man far happier than marriage to a lady like Miss Bingley.” Sir James cocked his head and regarded Darcy thoughtfully. “I suspect you think the same.”
Darcy gave one tight nod. “Shall I conclude, then, that you have serious intentions towards the lady? The expectations of a country neighbourhood, you know, are quick to rise.”
“You need not tell me that, sir. After all, it is not I who danced with her twice this evening.”
“My intentions are honourable,” Darcy replied evenly, his gaze fixed on Sir James. “And yours?”
With great geniality, Sir James said, “You wonder if you have a rival?”
“Do I?”
“If I am being perfectly honest with you, I must determine whether it can be managed.” Sir James took a deep breath and looked off into the distance for a long moment.
“It sounds so terribly mercenary to speak so but yes, I must think of the practical considerations. I am to travel to Hadleigh tomorrow in which I hope to gain clarity on that very point.”
“Do you mean to be gone long?” Darcy enquired, hoping he sounded benign.
“Likely not long enough to suit you, I am sure.” Sir James chuckled. “But what about you? Can you afford for Pemberley to suffer the loss that comes with a bride of no fortune? Your sister, I understand, has a dowry of thirty thousand. No doubt you would have liked your wife to have the equal.”
Darcy shrugged. “I am not worried about it. Georgiana will not have her fortune for five years, and I am confident in my investments.”
Sir James merely inclined his head.
“Might I ask you one thing? For her sake, not mine,” said Darcy.
“What is it?”
“If you are not certain of your own intentions towards the lady, I beg you would not ask for a second dance of her. The neighbours will talk, and that talk will be embarrassing to her if you are perceived to have decided against her.”
Sir James scoffed a little. “Surely it would not be as bad as all that.”
“Have you spent much time in country society?”
“Enough to know the country is not Almack’s or, for that matter, London.” He shrugged. “Do you truly imagine it would be so bad?”
“I know for a fact it would.”
Sir James nodded thoughtfully. “But I have already asked her. I would also not wish to embarrass her by—”
“Leave that to me,” said Darcy.