Chapter 4
Elizabeth and Jane’s arrival at Longbourn was received differently by their parents. Mr. Bennet was relieved to see them, while Mrs. Bennet showed her disapproval. Only Mr. Bingley’s presence gave Mrs. Bennet some comfort for the distress caused by her stubborn daughters.
“It was truly rash to hurry home, while you are still ill,” Mrs. Bennet scolded Jane.
“Mama, I assure you I am perfectly fine,” Jane whispered.
“Mr. Jones assured me that Miss Bennet is fully recovered. Otherwise, I would not have allowed her to leave the house,” Mr. Bingley confirmed.
“That is very generous and kind of you,” Mrs. Bennet replied. “Jane was fortunate to be under your protection. I am sure she thanked you. Did you thank Mr. Bingley, Jane?”
“Mama, please!” Jane’s cheeks were red with mortification, but Mr. Bingley found them exceedingly charming.
“It was a pleasure to have Miss Bennet at Netherfield. Not a pleasure that she was ill of course, just a pleasure to have her presence. And Miss Elizabeth. We were delighted to have her too. Darcy finally had someone to argue with. Miss Elizabeth seemed to be a worthy opponent for him,” Bingley mumbled.
Mrs. Bennet was stunned and Mr. Bennet exceedingly diverted.
“Lizzy argued with Mr. Darcy? Is it true, Lizzy? Well, he is unpleasant enough, but you cannot argue with the friend of the master when you are a guest in his house!” Mrs. Bennet admonished Elizabeth, easily succeeding in embarrassing both her eldest daughters.
Bingley was extremely distressed at the unexpected effect of his words. He attempted to please and calm Mrs. Bennet, but he failed in each attempt.
“Mama, please rest assured that Mr. Darcy and I had nothing but a few interesting debates on perfectly proper subjects,” Elizabeth interjected.
“True,” Bingley supported her. “Darcy actually told me he enjoyed his conversations with Miss Elizabeth.”
“Well, I doubt Mr. Darcy truly enjoys anything, but I am content to know he was not upset.”
“Not at all, I assure you. In fact, he asked for permission to join me the next time I call on you.”
The news astonished and silenced Mrs. Bennet, enough for Mr. Bennet to interject.
“Mr. Darcy is the sort of man to whom I could not deny permission for anything he would ask of me,” the gentleman said with mockery. “We would be honoured by his visit.”
“Mr. Darcy will come with you, you said? Will you stay for dinner? It is vital to know so I can prepare the appropriate number and variety of dishes,” Mrs. Bennet asked with increasing agitation.
“No… I mean–I am not certain. But please do not trouble yourself, ma’am. We do not want to distress you,” Bingley responded, glancing to Jane and Elizabeth in a desperate request for help.
“Mrs. Bennet, I am sure Mr. Bingley will inform us if he wishes to come to dinner. Now you will excuse us, as I would like to have a drink with my guest,” Mr. Bennet finally took pity on his younger companion.
They moved to the library together, while Elizabeth and Jane returned to their chamber.
Right behind them, Mrs. Bennet uttered in a voice low enough to not be heard, “See Lizzy–I was right to send Jane to Netherfield on horseback. How else would she have stayed there for so many days? Mr. Bingley is so kind and so amiable and so preoccupied with Jane! He is completely smitten with her, I am telling you!”
“Mama!” Jane whispered nervously. “Please do not say such things! I would be devastated if Mr. Bingley heard us and believed that we had used some scheme against him!”
“What scheme? There is no scheme; you were just caught in the rain. Nobody can blame you for that! Now, what concerns me is Mr. Darcy’s intention to call on us.
This must be either very good or very bad for us, I am certain.
And I am never wrong,” Mrs. Bennet continued, then suddenly turned and called for Hill.
Elizabeth and Jane glanced at each other to find comfort for their shared embarrassment. There was nothing to be done with their mother, so they retired to their chamber. Mr. Bingley left half an hour later, and Jane watched him through the window. It was still raining.
Elizabeth’s preoccupation grew unexpectedly after her mother’s distressing words. Yes, his intention to call on them could be a very good or a very bad sign. Or perhaps a mere gesture of politeness and she was not one to become silly by musing too much over things of no consequence.
∞∞∞
“Well, it is such a relief to have the house to ourselves again,” Caroline Bingley declared during dinner.
“And how precisely did Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth disturb you, Caroline?” her brother asked sharply.
“They did not bother me, but it is different to have the comfort of just the family,” Caroline responded.
“Then I shall prepare my luggage to leave in the morning,” Darcy interjected in earnest.
“Oh, come now, sir. You are only teasing us–you must know you are part of the family already,” Louisa replied.
“We have been intimate friends for so long, that we can hardly imagine dinner without you,” Caroline added. “But you are rather silent tonight, sir. Do you miss Eliza Bennet’s impertinent arguments and stubborn opinions, perhaps?”
Darcy tried to ignore the insolent tone and reply properly.
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet is a passionate reader and the knowledge adds to her wit and sharp mind. Therefore, she can easily come to decided, and at times contradictory, points of view. It is quite refreshing and I appreciate a good debate with either men or women.”
“I would not suspect you of all people might agree with and encourage insolence in a woman’s behaviour,” Caroline said ironically. “I wonder if you would like Georgiana to conduct herself in the same manner as Elizabeth Bennet.”
Darcy glared at her, before sipping some wine and responding calmly.
“I would like very much to see my sister a strong, confident, educated young lady, to not abandon her beliefs to gain anyone’s approval.
A few days ago I might have answered differently, but there have been several details that changed my opinion. ”
“Well, I am sure Mrs. Bennet and her younger daughters’ lack of decorum contributed to this change of mind,” Caroline concluded mockingly.
Her offensive remark coloured Bingley’s face while Darcy’s eyes narrowed in restrained anger.
“Miss Bingley, what on earth has Mrs. Bennet to do with the subject of our conversation? Is there anything particularly that you want to point out? I am at a loss to understand your intentions and I find this habit rather unappealing.”
The straight address and his scolding voice disconcerted Caroline, as it was the first time that Darcy had rebuked her so directly. He had always been polite and reserved in showing his feelings and suddenly he was openly expressing his displeasure.
“I surely do not like having guests who do not contribute to our entertainment,” Mr. Hurst declared. “I have never met a woman who prefers reading to cards and I certainly hope not to meet one again. It is enough to ruin everybody’s mood.”
“If she could choose, I am sure Elizabeth Bennet would divide her time between being locked in the library and wandering across the fields, her gown dirty with mud,” Louisa quickly added, laughing together with her sister.
Red-faced and offended by his sisters’ rudeness, Bingley interfered hastily, trying to settle things rightfully.
“She would not have locked herself in the library if the doorknob was not broken. That was certainly not her fault! As for wandering in the fields, surely you cannot fault her for being loyal and caring for her ill sister!”
“Well, a proper lady would have taken a carriage,” Louisa replied, while Caroline stared in silence for a moment.
“Eliza Bennet locked herself in the library? When did this happen?” Caroline eventually enquired.
Bingley immediately paled and glanced at Darcy, who frowned.
“Errr…the evening before they left. Hurst broke the doorknob and Miss Bennet went to search for a book and she closed the door by mistake,” Bingley mumbled an explanation, filling his glass with wine.
“But I broke the doorknob late after dinner. What on earth was a woman looking for in the library in the middle of the night?” Hurst asked, shaking his head in disapproval.
“She was looking for a book, obviously,” Bingley said.
“So how did she get out?” Caroline continued. “In truth, Eliza Bennet is an endless source of entertainment.”
“I unlocked the door,” Bingley confessed.
“But I do not understand, what were you doing in the library at that hour? Did you know she was there?”
“No, I was looking for…” He stopped with panic, glanced at Darcy again, and finally said, “I was looking for a book to read, as I could not sleep.”
Both Louisa and Caroline glared at him doubtfully. Hurst suddenly started to laugh so hard that he spilt his wine and began coughing while speaking through the laughter.
“What a coincidence! We know you are not as great a reader as Eliza Bennet and yet, you both happened to be in the library in the middle of the night. Singular, I might say. And quite a bit of gossip for the neighbours. Just imagine if her father finds out! He might consider that you were in a compromising situation and demand you marry the sister of the woman you admire. And just wait until her mother finds out. She will drag you to the church! What a joke! This is better than a silly comedy of errors! You could put this on the stage.”
He continued to laugh until he choked on his wine but still did not cease.
Caroline watched the scene with great concern and suddenly she hit the table with her palm, demanding silence and attention. Her gesture came as a shock and Hurst finally stopped.
“Mr. Hurst, for God’s sake, mind your words!
What is wrong with you? This is not something to jest about!
Do you not realise that it is not a joke?
The Bennets could indeed take this seriously and force Charles to marry one of their daughters!
That would be the end of the world, indeed!
And all because of some foolish coincidence.
Do not ever speak of this again! Ever! If a single servant should hear you, it would be a disaster! ”
“Indeed husband, that was unwise and indecorous of you!” Louisa admitted. “This is no way to amuse yourself–at the expense of my brother!”
“You have all lost your minds,” Bingley cried. “Can I not have a moment of reasonable conversation with you? How can you even consider that someone would force me to marry Miss Elizabeth because I unlocked the library door? I was not even alone–Stevens was with me!”
In his attempt to defend himself, save Elizabeth’s reputation from offensive gossip, and distressed by the mere thought of being forced to marry the wrong sister due to a simple mistake, Bingley looked to Darcy begging for support, as the dangerous words slipped from his lips.
Caroline did not miss it and the question came immediately. “What was Mr. Darcy’s valet doing there?”
Bingley’s face turned white; defeated and anguished, all he could do was to look at Darcy while he abandoned any attempt at clarification.
“I sent Stevens to bring me a book,” Darcy interjected coldly. “I had just had a bath and I was already undressed, so it would have been inappropriate to walk like that through the house. Should I provide more details about my state at the time?”
Caroline and Louisa blushed, staring at him in disbelief; in their long acquaintance, they had never heard Mr. Darcy say something so outrageously private.
“Well, it is good you did not happen to meet Elizabeth Bennet – both so improperly attired,” Hurst laughed again.
Darcy took his glass and gulped some wine, then turned to Hurst.
“Of course, this unpleasant situation would have been entirely avoided if some of us possessed enough self-restraint to stop drinking before they lost control of their movements, breaking furnishings around a house where we are guests.”
The harshness of his words was increased by his severe, reprimanding tone and the coldness of his expression. He knew he had been unacceptably rude, but Darcy had had enough of Hurst. He could not continue to answer stupidity and vulgarity with feigned politeness.
“Forgive me, I will retire to my room now. Have a pleasant evening,” he said and left, leaving the others in complete astonishment.
With disbelief and puzzlement, they followed him with wondering gazes. In their long acquaintance, they had never witnessed Darcy behaving with such a lack of decorum.
It was as if he had somehow acquired bad manners from Mrs. Bennet and her younger daughters. But none of them dared to mention anything of the kind, and the evening came to an end earlier than ever before.
∞∞∞
At Longbourn, the first evening of their return should have been peaceful and restful for Elizabeth; but it proved to be quite the opposite.
To her surprise and distress, her interest in Darcy did not seem to diminish. Each time someone mentioned his name, her curiosity and attention were aroused, much to her own embarrassment.
Elizabeth had been courted several times in her young life and she had felt a slight inclination towards some gentlemen before.
But she could not recollect a single circumstance when she had been so preoccupied with a man that she utterly disliked, a man who had offended her on the first day of their acquaintance and who was abhorred by everyone among her family and friends.
He surely loathed them just as much and only had been kind to her due to his education and long-studied manners; yet despite all those considerations, the focus of her thoughts would not disappear.
Some time after midnight, the rain stopped, but Elizabeth’s musing lasted. In the night, lit by shining stars and a bright moon, Elizabeth remained awake until the rooster’s first song, praying in vain for sleep to finally take her.