Chapter 1 #2
Elizabeth found Jane was better than she had feared. While she did have a fever, it was not overly high. Mr. Jones had been and gone and had left some draughts for the patient. It was heartening to see her dearest sister was not as ill as she had been when suffering with colds in the past.
“I should not have ridden, Lizzy, but I had accepted the invitation and did not want to cancel. I hope Mr. Bingley does not think I contrived this to see him after he and the gentlemen returned from dinner with the officers,” Jane coughed after her long speech, and Elizabeth brought a glass to her lips to allow her sister to drink to lubricate her dry scratchy throat.
“You could have cancelled, Jane, but it is not who you are. And there is naught to do about it now, so get better and I will see you on the morrow,” Elizabeth gave her sister a kiss on the forehead.
“Lizzy, please do not leave me,” Jane begged.
Elizabeth could never deny her sister anything, even though the man she detested was in residence.
She was about to go find Mr. Bingley to convey her sister’s request when the man obliged her by knocking on the door.
After making sure Jane was adequately covered, Elizabeth allowed Mr. Bingley entry.
As soon as he heard Jane’s request, Mr. Bingley extended an invitation to Miss Elizabeth without delay. When he relayed the information to his sister, Miss Bingley was most ungracious in receiving the news, though a groom was quickly dispatched to Longbourn to have a trunk for each sister sent.
After eating her dinner on the tray which had been sent up, Elizabeth made her way to the library once she was assured Jane was asleep.
She found a book and was about to leave, when none other than Mr. Darcy walked in.
While she was cursing her bad luck, he was admiring her pleasing face and figure.
Elizabeth gave a quick curtsy and took off before he could react or speak.
Darcy was further impressed. Rather than try and take advantage of them being alone, Miss Elizabeth had immediately left to preserve propriety. He was certain had it—heaven forbid—been Miss Bingley, she would have screamed compromise to the skies, not that it would have helped her.
Elizabeth escaped as fast as her feet would carry her as she could not countenance spending any more time in the company of the dastardly Mr. Darcy than she was forced to do. She thanked her lucky stars she found a book before the man entered the library.
Jane was more than well enough to return home by Wednesday and denied Mr. Bingley’s entreaty to remain another day.
Even Jane, who chose to ignore someone’s faults, could not overlook the duplicitous side of Miss Bingley, and realised she was no friend.
She was also aware of Elizabeth’s distaste of being in Mr. Darcy’s company, so she was unwilling to subject her dearest sister to suffering him further.
A note was sent to Longbourn requesting their father send the carriage, and three hours later, it was waiting for the sisters in front of the manor house.
The Netherfield party were all present to see them off, even Mr. Darcy.
Elizabeth knew Miss Bingley was happy to see the back of them, and she was reasonably sure the same was true for Mr. Darcy, who never ceased looking at her to find fault.
She had done everything in her power the night before not to give him a set down when the proud man had mocked her when he had listed extensive reading as a requirement for an accomplished woman. Insufferable man!
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Even Kitty and Lydia were in front of the house to welcome the returning sisters home. It was good to be home and away from the objectionable people at Netherfield Park.
Charlotte visited that afternoon, and Elizbeth was not happy when her best friend told her that in her opinion she was wrong, Mr. Darcy had not mocked her, and men did not look at a woman to find fault.
If he thought something along those lines, he would not look at her at all.
Charlotte posited it was the opposite reason he stared at Elizabeth.
“Are you foxed, Charlotte? What nonsensical drivel! Mr. Darcy admires me? I would sooner call Miss Bingley a wit!” Elizabeth tried to claim.
“Normally you like to consider all sides of an argument, so why is it you refuse to do that with Mr. Darcy? Remove his insult and the residual resentment you refuse to release, and then tell me honestly, would you see things the same way? You pride yourself on honesty, Eliza, so be honest now,” Charlotte challenged her friend.
Elizabeth, at some level, knew Charlotte was correct. Her ego had been bruised by Mr. Darcy’s comment, and if she allowed herself to acknowledge it, she would have to admit she went out of her way to discover any information which reinforced her bad opinion of the man.
A seed of doubt started to creep into her mind as far as Mr. Darcy was concerned. As much as she disliked being proven wrong, she was starting to see the possibility of it; she continued to fight against the inclination to admit she was wrong—yet.
“Mayhap Mr. Wickham’s disclosures were not appropriate, but does that mean they were not true?” Elizabeth asked, trying more to convince herself than Charlotte.
“Eliza, you are too intelligent to ask such a question. All you have is one side of the story. Neither you nor I have any idea about the truth of Mr. Wickham’s assertions, but you, my friend, accepted them as gospel because you wanted to!
Until you have heard Mr. Darcy’s side, you simply do not know,” Charlotte asserted.
“You always were the sensible one among us, Charlotte,” Elizabeth admitted.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
While the two friends were talking, Bingley reached a decision. “We will hold a ball to thank our neighbours for welcoming us to the neighbourhood so graciously,” Bingley stated.
“You cannot be serious, Charles!” Miss Bingley screeched. “You would invite a bunch of country bumpkins with no fashion and who are far below us to our house?”
“I say, Darcy, since when are landed gentlemen and women below tradesmen’s children? I must have missed that lesson at Oxford,” Hurst drawled.
Miss Bingley went purple and was seething with rage, now directed at her brother-in-law. Normally, the drunken lout was asleep, but he just happened to be awake and not only pointed out their damnable ties to trade, but in front of Mr. Darcy no less.
“Things have not changed, Hurst. Landed gentlefolk are definitely above those from trade,” Darcy replied evenly. He was too polite to highlight Miss Bingley’s pretentions directly to her. In this case he was only answering a question put to him, it would have been rude not to answer, after all.
“As I said, we will plan a ball for a fortnight hence. I am sure there will be enough white soup by then,” Bingley decided.
“But Charles, you know some of our guests may not enjoy a ball,” Miss Bingley looked at Darcy as her colour started to return to her normal pasty pallor.
“If you mean Darcy, he may stay in his bedchamber if he does not want to participate,” Bingley waved his sister’s concern away. “You are always talking about your skills as a hostess; is this not the perfect time to show one and all that you are, in fact, a good hostess?”
Miss Bingley decided she would put on the best ball ever seen, and then Mr. Darcy would finally see she was the ideal person to be the mistress of Pemberley and Darcy House.
“Yes, I suppose it would be good to show these country mushrooms how a real hostess puts on a ball. Come Louisa, let us go make our plans,” Miss Bingley preened.
After the ladies departed, the men retired to the billiards room and enjoyed their brandy as they challenged each other.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
George Wickham was thankful he had chosen not to attend the dinner with the gentlemen of the neighbourhood, as Darcy had attended. So far, he had seen his nemesis a few times, but had not been seen.
How he had enjoyed plying Miss Elizabeth Bennet with his tale about Darcy; whatever the prig had done made her susceptible to his story, he neither knew nor cared. It had not taken him long to see she was far too intelligent to be seduced, but her flirtatious younger sisters were another story.
Wickham was sure he would be able to bed the youngest Bennet, and her sister who followed her like a lamb, without too much trouble.
Miss Lydia would believe anything he told her, which he suspected meant so would Miss Kitty.
His tried and true ‘if you love me, you will not make me wait until after the wedding’ line had worked on many a young, impressionable maiden.
As they were gentleman’s daughters, he would have to be careful. From what he could tell, the Bennets were well respected in the neighbourhood. They would be ones to pluck just before he left, which would be once there were demands for payment of his debts, already high.
If only Darcy had not arrived in Ramsgate early, he would have plucked mousy Georgiana Darcy and had her fortune of thirty thousand pounds.
Damn Darcy for spoiling his plans yet again!
Rather than turn him over to his cousin, Darcy had sent him on his way with a flea in his ear, warning him never to speak of Miss Darcy again.
Darcy had added some nonsense about both he and his cousin the colonel having to approve ahead of time the release of his sister’s dowry.
The cousin was a man Wickham truly feared.
He was more than frightened of Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, as he knew that the Colonel would run him through without hesitation.
Luckily, Richard Fitzwilliam was in the Dragoons, so he was on the Continent; Wickham was safe here in England to do as he pleased.