Chapter 5
Elizabeth Brings Miss Darcy to Longbourn
Upon reaching the house, Elizabeth gave Miss Darcy a choice: “You can keep the carriage in the drive for a quick escape or send it back to Netherfield. I promise, I will hide you in the gardens if you become overwhelmed.”
“I will send it back. There is nothing to fear when you are with me.”
Elizabeth led Miss Darcy to the breakfast room.
She poured a cup of coffee, inviting Miss Darcy to tea or coffee and to fill her plate.
Miss Darcy sat down next to Elizabeth. She was surprised when Mr. Bennet came in and sat down.
He smirked at his daughter and winked at Georgiana when opening the newspaper, then relaxed back with his coffee.
“Good morning,” Jane dropped a kiss on the top of Elizabeth’s head, then, in the same absent way, did the same for Georgiana.
“She has not had coffee yet. Please forgive her the overfamiliarity,” Elizabeth whispered to Miss Darcy.
“La! My aunt is the same. She once kissed the cat that was on the table before my cousin’s chair, calling it Richard, though my cousin had been on the continent for four weeks with the Regiment.
Which she only remembered after enjoying half a cup.
When she looked up, the cat sat there with its tail swishing, and, I think, smirking. ”
Jane made her selections from the sideboard, yawning. She then sat on the other side of Miss Darcy and reached to take her sister’s hand, the same as she did every morning when she said her grace. The hesitancy startled Jane.
“Do forgive me! I thought you were one of my sisters.”
“Oh, do please, forgive me. I know you did not expect me to be seated here,” Georgiana said in equal haste.
“No, it is a pleasure to find you here this morning. I feared we had hoped for your arrival too early for those who keep Town hours. If you would, Lizzy?”
“Jane, Father, may I introduce Miss Georgiana Darcy? Miss Darcy, our father, Mr. Thomas Bennet. And this is my dearest sister, Jane.”
“It is a great pleasure to meet you,” Miss Darcy said to Mr. Bennet when he folded down the corner of the paper, his easy manner glimpsed before he returned to his reading.
“I had a very pleasing dance with your brother at the assembly,” Jane said.
“And two very pleasant dances with Mr. Bingley,” Elizabeth said, nudging Miss Darcy impishly.
“Lizzy.” Jane blushed and looked into her teacup.
“Oh, but from my brother’s account and what Miss Elizabeth has told me of you, you and Mr. Bingley are quite alike. I hope his coming for tea this afternoon gives you the opportunity to become better acquainted,” Georgiana said.
“And now you know Miss Darcy also has a favorable opinion of your Mr. Bingley, Jane,” Elizabeth said, leaning a little forward that she might catch her sister’s eye to be certain of the significance noted.
“It is one I do value, of course.” Jane squeezed the hand of their new friend, then released it.
“Would anyone like more tea or coffee?” Mr. Bennet set his paper aside and stood.
He refreshed Elizabeth’s coffee, added nothing to Jane’s, and topped off Miss Darcy’s teacup, then made a plate for himself before returning to his seat. Not long after, Mary joined them and was introduced to their guest. Five minutes later, Miss Darcy started when Mrs. Bennet walked into the room.
“Jane, I want you to look your best today. Mr. Bingley might very well come to call. I am certain he will be unable to stay away two days together,” Mrs. Bennet said in a rapid succession of words.
“Thank you, Mother.”
Hearing Jane sigh, Elizabeth extended her hand behind Miss Darcy’s chair to touch her sister’s side in support.
Lydia and Kitty ran into the breakfast room already talking over everyone, laughing, and making sport of Mary for looking so dull.
Mary did not respond except to purse her lips.
Miss Darcy’s unease seemed to grow while Elizabeth’s youngest sisters rattled on about their dancing partners and Mary’s one.
“Is this her, then? She looks nothing at all like her brother,” Lydia said, drawing all attention to Miss Darcy.
“We look little alike,” Mary said, censuring Lydia in some measure.
“Mother, Kitty, Lydia, allow me to introduce Miss Georgiana Darcy, who has come to Hertfordshire with her brother. I mentioned yesterday that she would spend the day with us, Charlotte, and Maria. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley will come to tea, at which time we shall return with them to Netherfield Park. I daresay she might escape us sooner if we continue to scare her off with such clamor,” Elizabeth said.
“Oh, Mr. Bingley comes this very afternoon? What a compliment to you, Jane, dear. I must tell the cook to make her best cakes.” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed. “Five thousand a year, and he is to have tea with Jane.”
“Mama, perhaps we could ask Miss Darcy what her favorite cakes are and what might please our new friend, which would better please any gentleman acquainted with her,” Mary cut in.
“Instead of their wealth, we should speak of our lack of dowries in front of our guest, so they know we suit none of the expectations of those in the higher circles.”
Mrs. Bennet was startled by her middle daughter. Elizabeth saw that her next younger sister had accomplished what she had always thought impossible: to silence their mother. And Elizabeth saw that Mary was not yet done.
“It is very good of you to join us today, Miss Darcy. Your brother said you are accomplished on the pianoforte,” Mary said, filling a plate from the sideboard.
“I do enjoy playing,” Miss Darcy whispered, though Elizabeth thought only Jane and she could hear her.
Jane asked, “Mary, what are you concocting in the stillroom this morning?”
“Oh yes, I do have something brewing, but I suppose your stillroom would be full of every ingredient and enjoy your own.” Mary worried her lip, turning her head to look at Miss Darcy.
“I do not know that I have ever seen it,” Miss Darcy said.
Elizabeth wondered if Mary could read the words, or if her hearing was truly so good that she could hear the words their new friend spoke.
“It is one of our favorite places. Mary owns the greater portion of such skills amongst us,” Elizabeth said, hoping the stillroom might be of interest to their young guest.
“She does not want to do that, for it would be dreadful dull. We should walk to Meryton and see the officers,” Lydia protested.
“I would very much like to see the stillroom, Miss Mary,” Miss Darcy said, looking to Elizabeth.
“You need not seek permission. Mary would take great joy in showing you ours, Miss Darcy,” Elizabeth said reassuringly.
“Indeed, I would. Once we have broken our fast, I will take you. Just now, I have a scented water I am extracting oils for, and it is a delicate process.”
“You will not be disappointed. We shall walk in the gardens after you see Mary’s work,” Elizabeth said to Miss Darcy.
Her two youngest sisters talked of the officers they had spoken to the day before.
Mrs. Bennet eyed Miss Darcy, now uncertain how to speak of Mr. Bingley, though she was desperate to give further advice to her eldest on how she might capture the man’s attentions.
But Jane, dearest Jane, asked Miss Darcy questions she knew would engage their guest. They spent the remainder of the meal comparing what their aunt Gardiner had shared of her memories growing up in Lambton to what Miss Darcy most enjoyed about the small market town.
“Do not rush, but please let me know when you are finished, Miss Darcy?” Mary said, then took her plate to the sideboard and refilled her tea before sitting in wait.
“I should like to go whenever it is convenient to you,” Miss Darcy said, pushing her plate away. “Forgive me, I am fond of Lambton and was carried away.”
“It is wonderful to love one’s home,” Jane said, the reassurance making Miss Darcy smile.
“Then, if you will refill your tea? I am certain Elizabeth and Jane will join us soon. You will want to enjoy the gardens before we sew, and they are both fond of morning walks amongst the beds and hedges,” Mary said, guiding Miss Darcy from the room.
Once they were gone, Mrs. Bennet all but exploded with her continued expectations for Jane to follow.
Elizabeth felt the greatest of relief. Her family seemed intent on showing themselves in the worst light that morning.
She and her sisters dutifully followed Mrs. Bennet to the drawing room so that she might finish all she had to say about the gentlemen who were to come that afternoon.
“If that is how a young lady should act, I must accept that you and Jane are right to correct me and Lydia, Lizzy. I wish I might have had some of the schooling Miss Darcy enjoyed,” Kitty said, forlorn until Lydia demanded she hush and declared Kitty’s dance partners had been less handsome than her own.
Elizabeth was pleased that Kitty’s assertion had caught their father’s attention.
“You would have wanted to attend school?” Mrs. Bennet stared at her fourth daughter.
“Of course. We all regret not having done so. Miss Darcy and her brother are of the highest social circles. Miss Bingley herself spoke of it to Mrs. Goulding whilst I conversed with her nieces. You claim we would be a credit to any drawing room or ball, but Miss Darcy’s reaction to our exuberance corroborates Lizzy’s and Jane’s claims that we do not behave the way we ought.
Our friends have begun to visit one another without inviting us. ” Kitty spoke to Lydia in particular.
“It matters not a jot. Mother does not mind her neighbors excluding her and Aunt Philips when they gather for tea once a week,” Lydia argued.
“My neighbors gather once a week?” Mrs. Bennet looked to Jane.
“Yes, my dear, many of the ladies do. Do not fret, I understand they wish to speak of more than Jane’s beauty and Longbourn’s entail,” Mr. Bennet said sardonically from the doorway. “Do let me know when the young men come to call. I should not wish to miss it, Lizzy.”