Chapter 2 #2
He asked, “Does he not have friends with whom he plays?”
She shook her head. “He…does not stir himself enough to have friends. He rarely leaves the house, and as a matter of fact, he rarely leaves his library.”
“So he trained his daughters to play chess….”
“He trained precisely one daughter in the royal game. Me.”
Mr Darcy clicked his boots together and gave her a salute. “I understand, and I have my marching orders. I shall challenge your father today, when my sister and I call.”
“Good.”
“Oh, and Bingley is going to come along on our call as well.”
“I hope his extreme friendliness can endure my mother’s enthusiasm and my father’s lack thereof.” Elizabeth smiled into his warm gaze and then said goodbye as she turned to take a step towards Longbourn’s manor house.
Mr Darcy called softly, “Miss Elizabeth.”
She turned to see that he was holding out her gloves.
“Thank you!” she said, reaching to take them.
Mr Darcy captured her hand and kissed it before relinquishing the hand and the gloves. He murmured goodbye, and she had meant to say it back…. But, it turned out, she was unable to speak because of the tumult she felt over the sensation of his lips on her bare hand.
She felt as if Mr Darcy had branded her with his kiss, as if the kiss itself was searing and the result was a visible mark that would last her lifetime, a mark that indicated that she was the object of Fitzwilliam Darcy’s affection.
Later that morning, Elizabeth and Jane finally had time for a nice, long chat.
“I am sorry I went to sleep so early last night,” Elizabeth said.
“All the excitement of getting home, introducing Mr and Miss Darcy to you all, and then that addlepated nonsense Papa dished out to Mr Darcy…. Well, I think the emotionality of it all made me quite tired.”
Jane squeezed her hands with both of her own, and she said, “Of course you were tired. I was not the least bit upset; after all, we will have many opportunities to speak with one another.”
“Yes, we will.”
“Besides,” Jane said, “you wrote so many long letters, I feel that I am already quite well informed of your life. It has been so wonderful to meet the Darcys, and to see that your glowing descriptions of them are true.”
What remained unspoken was that Jane wrote many letters, but they were short and very light on the newsworthy announcements. “Now” said Elizabeth, “please tell me your news, and Meryton’s news.”
Jane spoke for a while about the Longs, the Gouldings, the Lucas family, and of course their Aunt and Uncle Philips.
She related things that were not very interesting: the Longs had dismissed a maid, saying that she had stolen a pair of earrings; the Gouldings lost two lambs, likely to a red fox; Charlotte Lucas turned five and twenty, and Lydia had been scolded for calling her a spinster in front of Lady Lucas.
Elizabeth could not feel guilty for thinking “how dull,” because Jane kept interrupting herself to say, “Oh, my, all of this is so dull compared to the concerts and balls you wrote to us about.”
“You should consider going to the Gardiners for a while, Jane. Truly, being in London has its delights. And you can meet a great many people.”
“I would like to meet some new people,” Jane said. Her voice was a sweet whisper, but Elizabeth sensed an edge of pain, too.
“I should think, given the fact that you are now twenty years old, that you would like to meet an eligible gentleman.”
Jane met her eyes, but she seemed startled, as if Elizabeth’s thought was so unlikely a scenario, she must have had occult powers to surmise it.
“Oh!” Elizabeth crowed. “I just thought of something. Mr Darcy informed me that, when he calls today, he will be bringing his friend, Mr Bingley. That is the young man who is leasing Netherfield Park. He was raised as a gentleman, although his father and both grandfathers were in trade, and he is supposed to buy an estate with a massive fortune that was left to him. He is very friendly and seems quite sweet. To be honest, I know him very little, but I have an impression of him being everything good. Perhaps you will like him. I am certain he will like you.”
Sure enough, Mr Bingley arrived that afternoon in the Darcy carriage.
Just as Elizabeth had predicted, he seemed very taken with Jane.
His eyes went straight to her, and his smile grew enormous as they began to talk.
Elizabeth noted the demure smile on her sister’s face, but she also noticed that Jane was looking down at her own lap rather than looking into Mr Bingley’s eyes.
She wondered if Mr Bingley saw Jane as responsive or, perhaps, if he thought she did not care for his attentions.
Elizabeth had seen many men display immediate partiality for her elder sister, but Jane had never had callers, let alone a courtship or proposal.
Elizabeth worried, now, that Jane’s shyness was interpreted by men as lack of interest.
She decided to discuss it with Jane that night.
Elizabeth put all her heart into being responsive, herself.
She and Georgiana had hugged as they greeted one another, and Mr Darcy responded to her smiles with a warm smile that crinkled his eyes.
She was surprised—and delighted—to see Mr Darcy present her mother with a small bouquet of damask roses.
“Madam,” he said, “thank you for allowing my sister and I to trespass on your hospitality again.”
Elizabeth saw that the kind action and respectful words drew a calmer response from her mother than she had expected. She had always thought that her mother’s excesses were attempts to gain attention. I must try harder to acknowledge and even celebrate Mama, she told herself.
She was pleased to see Georgiana asking Mary questions, and the two young ladies soon abandoned the parlour for the music room and the pianoforte.
“My friend seems to be enjoying getting to know your eldest sister, and my sister to learn more about your next youngest sister,” Mr Darcy said. “So, should I just knock on the door and then challenge your father to a game of chess?”
“I suppose so. Good luck, sir.” Elizabeth tried an impish grin in hopes that it was encouraging.
“Good luck bearding the lion in its den?” He flashed his dimple-displaying smile her way as he rose to his feet.
“I was just wishing you could approach my father like the rugged Russian bear, the armed rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger. I believe this approach is quite common for suitors?”
Nodding, he responded, “Not only common, but a matter of no difficulty whatsoever.” And he left the room with his head held high. Elizabeth hoped that, win or lose, Mr Darcy would return with a report of progress with her father.
Watching her mother’s gaze lock onto Mr Bingley and Jane, Elizabeth could almost see the schemes twirling through Mama’s mind, plots and plans to forward a match. She was so grateful that her own romance had begun in London, far from any other Bennet.
She stood and moved into the music room, where she was soon deeply involved with playful six-hand music with Mary and Georgiana taking the bench and the bulk of the melody. The three ladies laughed even more than they played, and Elizabeth treasured building stronger bonds with her sisters.