Chapter 16
Comings and Goings are Decided
“Shall we walk to Meryton today and ask Aunt Philips if she requires our assistance for her card party this evening?” Jane said to her sisters and Mr. Bingley in the drawing room.
“I prefer you stay home. I will take the carriage to Meryton and determine if I might be of use to my sister,” said Mrs. Bennet.
“I would like nothing more than to walk the gardens with you, Miss Bennet, but I will soon return to Netherfield,” said Mr. Bingley.
“Darcy will have informed his sister he is for Kent, but I would not have her worry. She is a sweet, dear girl. Mrs. Bennet, Miss Darcy requested Miss Mary return with me, if that might be amenable. I did accept the invitation to Mrs. Philips’s gathering when we saw her in Meryton. ”
It was a common enough scene for others, Jane and Mr. Bingley together on one settee.
But the moment had become far more. Jane felt the slightest pressure of his arm touching hers.
She did not move away, though she knew she should.
And she was unwilling to continue in this manner, knowing she had not shown Bingley more of her feelings for him to show she did not require a courtship.
She would far prefer that they might marry so soon as the following day!
Elizabeth mentioned her conversations with Mr. Darcy, suggesting that Mr. Bingley might require encouragement to take action.
In such cases where there was affection, a lady should not leave her whole future to chance and silent hopes.
“You may go if you wish, Mary. We will see you this evening at your aunt’s house,” Mrs. Bennet said, lifting her cheek for Mary to kiss. “Give my regards to Miss Darcy and Mr. Bingley’s sisters.” She patted Mary’s cheek in turn.
“Thank you, Mother. Do take care if you see Mr. Collins,” Mary said, moving toward the door.
“I shall not encounter him. Your father verified he caught the post coach and is not staying at the inn. And now Mr. Darcy goes to speak with his aunt. He is certain to discuss his displeasure at the parson who thought to compromise genteel ladies and lives so near Miss de Bourgh. Mr. Darcy claims he does not intend to marry his cousin, but he is fiercely protective of his family.”
“That is a relief. Might I join you on your trip to Meryton, Mother?” Elizabeth asked.
“I see no reason why you should not. Do you still wish to walk to Meryton, Jane?”
“I shall prefer collecting the rosehips and berries Mary intended to pick this afternoon. Would you like to join me in the gardens, Sisters?”
“I would like to very much,” Lydia said, setting aside a ribbon she had been matching to her bonnet.
“I will collect our baskets,” Kitty said, following Lydia from the room.
Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth Walk Along the Lane
When Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth set out, there was a protracted silence. At length, Mrs. Bennet looked at her daughter. “Ten thousand a year, Lizzy? Can you even comprehend it? The carriages and the jewels. The pin money!”
“It does sound most intimidating. Shall I beg off?”
“But you like him. Or, I thought you liked him.”
“I do like William Darcy quite well, Mama. But I would ask if we keep this news to ourselves until he returns. Mr. Darcy might change his mind.”
“I will have Mary give him some Belladonna should he do so. I will not see you unhappy.”
“After the settlements are drafted, Mama.”
“That is very Charlotte-like of you. I know you have not a mercenary thought in your head, Lizzy. If you wish to wait until he returns, I must agree. It all seems a dream to me as well.” Mrs. Bennet patted her daughter’s hand.
In Meryton, Mrs. Bennet surveyed two young men who spoke with the Goudlings’ nieces. Once the young ladies were inside the drapers, the smirks and gestures the gentlemen exchanged caused Mrs. Bennet's eyes to widen in surprise, then narrow in disapproval.
“Do you know who they are, Lizzy?” Mrs. Bennet whispered, leaning to her daughter.
“The one in uniform is Lieutenant Denny. I have not met the man he is with. He is fearful handsome.”
“Do not speak to him unless you must,” Mrs. Bennet said. “Watch them, not the girls.”
Elizabeth looked horrified by the sly expressions and gestures the men made to one another. Mrs. Bennet’s stomach turned over when the one Elizabeth had called handsome focused on the youngest girl, who was the same age as her Lydia, mayhap a year younger.
“Thank you, Mother. I know now to be much more on guard for myself and my sisters.”
Mrs. Bennet knew her second daughter well enough to recognize anger blooming in Elizabeth’s cheeks.
“I do not mean to say men do not talk of women,” said Mrs. Bennet as she crossed the street.
“Some of it a lady should never hear. Just the same, we would not always want them overhearing our conversations about them. But such open disrespect? Can you imagine your Mr. Darcy or Jane’s Mr. Bingley making such gestures when you turned your back?
You are right to deny it, and I agree neither would. We will interrupt them.”
“Mrs. Bennet,” the older of the two Gouldings’ nieces said in alarm.
“Good afternoon,” Mrs. Bennet greeted the group. “If you are done with your errands, I suggest you make your way home.”
Mrs. Bennet watched the girls start off. She saw them look over their shoulders at her, no doubt worrying what she would tell their aunt.
“Mrs. Bennet,” Lieutenant Denny said in the same jovial manner he had affected when speaking with the younger ladies.
When the other gentleman stepped closer to Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet’s shoulders tensed in the same way the hackles on a cat rose when cornered by a dog.
“Denny, would you please introduce me to these two beauties?” The unknown man’s words were said with charm as false as Miss Bingley’s had been at the assembly.
“This, Wickham, is one of the greatest and respected ladies of Meryton, Mrs. Bennet. With her is one of the jewels of the county, her daughter, Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” Lieutenant Denny said.
“Ladies, may I introduce to your society Mr. George Wickham, who will, come the morrow, take orders in the regiment. He will give us much distinction, I daresay.”
“Impossible. You must have the very secret of life, Mrs. Bennet. You look far too young to claim Miss Bennet as your daughter, though it is easy to see from whom she was granted her beauty.” Mr. Wickham bowed with exaggerated courtesy.
“Sister, I did not expect to see you come with Lizzy today,” Mrs. Philips interrupted the conversation.
“We were on our way to you,” said Mrs. Bennet.
“Oh, I would like your opinion on the seating arrangements, Lizzy,” Mrs. Philips said to her niece. It was impossible to miss that the young man standing next to Elizabeth continued to observe her with great interest.
“I know I am one of many who are looking forward to attending this evening, Mrs. Philips,” Lieutenant Denny said, glancing at Mr. Wickham.
“Yes, it is only tea and some cards, but we should have a pleasant gathering. Your friend is welcome to be one of the party,” Mrs. Philips said.
The offer was accepted with haste. “Thank you for the gracious invitation. I shall look forward to seeing you ladies this evening.” When Mr. Wickham glanced at Elizabeth, he was met by frowns. “Do not despair. We will see one another again in a few short hours.”
“Come, Sister, there is much to do. No other in Meryton has the eye for arranging tables so well as you,” Mrs. Philips said, wrapping her arm with her sister’s.
Mrs. Bennet asked Elizabeth on their walk back to Longbourn later that afternoon, “You will be on your guard?”
“And we will watch over my sisters, Mother.” Elizabeth wrapped their arms together.
Well satisfied in knowing her daughters would always look out for one another, Mrs. Bennet felt her pride in them swelling in her breast.
Tempering herself, Mrs. Bennet told Elizabeth how she had once thought herself a favorite of a young officer she had known many years ago. And she confessed her shame at being so foolish as not to have suspected the same truths they had witnessed that day in Meryton.
“I am certain you were favored, Mama. You are a beauty that my father was fortunate to catch,” Elizabeth said.
“One’s appearance changes with great frequency, Lizzy. You are intelligent and quick-witted. Mr. Darcy chose a true gem in you, daughter. I do hope you find you are suited.” Mrs. Bennet patted her daughter’s hands.
“This evening, I shall make certain none of my sisters speaks with the handsome yet insincere Mr. Wickham. But we must put them on their guard. It is time they know not all men in uniform are uniform in good intentions. With what they have witnessed in Mr. Collins, they will be receptive to the advice.”
“I am confident you will not lose your head over his handsome looks.” Elizabeth’s blush said all Mrs. Bennet needed to know. “Ah, your heart is engaged. I will only say I hope your wishes will be realized, Lizzy.”
“Please, Mother, we cannot speak of it. My affections, foolishly placed or not, may come to nothing. A courtship is not a betrothal. Nothing is yet certain.”
“Perhaps. But he is a very good man, your Mr. Darcy. Though he is of the first circles, and we are not. I hate to think your heart is to be broken if he left you with disappointed hopes.”
“That is why I beg you keep this news betwixt only those in our family. We will cross paths again, often if Jane and Mr. Bingley accept how well suited they are. I would hate the unnecessary awkwardness, because I do consider him a friend.”
“True, and he thinks very highly of you. It seems you have chosen the best path and have no need of me.” Mrs. Bennet stopped before the drive of Longbourn and cupped her daughter’s cheeks.
“When you need to cry, do not hold it in nor laugh it off as you are wont to do. You deserve such happiness. I am more sorry than I have words that you are without a dowry or better connections. Your father and I failed you.”