Chapter Thirty-One #2
Jane had moved nearer to Mr. Knightley when he spoke to her, and out of sheer indignation she had remained close to him during Frank’s insolence.
Mr. Knightley had not shied away from her proximity, but rather seemed to relax into it.
Jane did not wish to alter her present giddy contentment, even to escape Frank’s behavior and oblige her sister.
Emma stood, holding her puppy’s leading string. “I am sure Miss Chief is wishing to explore; I will gladly walk with you, Lizzy.”
Mr. Bingley reached for Emma’s hand, and she allowed him to kiss it. “I daresay you must have secrets to confide, or some new scheme to plot and plan together, and so I shall not trespass.”
Emma laughed, glanced over at Frank’s sulking pose, and then tapped one finger on Mr. Bingley’s nose. “As if you are not quite in league with us, sir.” She winked at him and then flounced off with Elizabeth.
Mr. Weston and Miss Taylor also left the group to wander about on their own, and those who remained could hardly be easy together. Frank stared at his father until he and his intended disappeared beyond sight, and then he gave a loud scoff.
“Well, I daresay we must envy my father, to have found such a suitable bride in his own village! You have had some success in London, Miss Bingley, and I can think of some couples of my acquaintance who have made a match at Bath or Weymouth, or some other watering place. Well, those of them who are happy – I should call them peculiarly lucky, for as to any real knowledge of a person’s disposition that any public place can give, it is all nothing.
It is only by seeing women in their own homes, among their own set, just as they always are, that you can form any true judgment.
Short of that, it is all guess and luck, and will generally be ill-luck .
How many a man has committed himself after only a short acquaintance and rued it all the rest of his life! ”
Jane felt the censure in his words, and anger swelled in her chest, for she had done little to deserve it…
or at least far less than he had done. After his behavior toward Emma, Jane had certainly rued her hastily formed attachment, but she could not imagine why Frank would make such a claim and mortify her before her friends.
He could not know the doubts and disdain that had plagued her, the treachery she had skirted when in company with Mr. Knightley.
She stared evenly at Frank. “Such things do occur, to be sure.” She might have said more, but a cough overtook her.
Mr. Knightley swiftly offered Jane a handkerchief, gazing warmly at her, and with no little significance, though his words were for the group.
“I suppose Mr. Churchill comprehends one might do better to form an attachment in one’s own locale, as some amongst us have been so fortunate to manage.
I think it is astonishingly prescient counsel. ”
Jane felt her heartbeat quicken, but she held Mr. Knightley’s gaze with a shy smile.
It was not in her nature to be as bold as Lizzy was with Mr. Darcy, and she could not countenance flirting with Mr. Knightley in Frank’s presence, even if she was furious with him.
She finally looked away from Mr. Knightley with a blush, and she caught herself hoping she might soon be at liberty to return his ardent looks.
Frank fixed a steely gaze on Jane. “I believe Miss Fairfax had something to say on the matter?”
Jane sighed, wondering if perhaps it might be best to be done with the worst of what she feared facing.
“I was only going to observe that a hasty and imprudent attachment may arise in such circumstances as you described, but there is generally time to recover from it afterwards. Time is a great credit to those who have the wit to comprehend the advantage. Only capricious, weak, and irresolute characters, whose happiness must be always at the mercy of chance and whim, will suffer an unfortunate acquaintance to be an oppression forever.”
Mr. Knightley nodded his agreement. “I am reminded of what you said at the unveiling of all the paintings – that one might certainly begin to reconsider an ill-advised and hastily made attachment when met with someone imminently more suitable. You are a wise young woman, Miss Fairfax.”
Frank made no answer and Miss Bingley took the chance to boast of her own fortunate alliance, and her fond wish that Miss Eliza would soon make a match; she cared not if it was of short duration, and in fact rather preferred it should be thus.
Mr. Bingley laughed. “I am reminded of what you once said, Miss Lucas – that it is better to know as little as possible about the defects of the person you are to marry! Ha! Well, my own marriage shall be one formed of a short acquaintance, but I am sure I shall never repine. I have been wooing my Emma most assiduously, have I not, ladies?” He beckoned to Charlotte and Jane for their agreement, which they both eagerly gave him.
Jane could not resist treating Frank to a little taste of his own wickedness. “You must be astonished, Mr. Churchill, to return to Highbury and find my friend and her betrothed as thick as thieves, but we have been so merry that it seems the most natural thing in the world to their intimates.”
Frank ignored her and turned his bitter grimace upon Charlotte. “What interesting advice you gave Miss Woodhouse, encouraging such blind affection. But I suppose it is just what a spinster might say.”
Mr. Darcy had been sitting at a little remove from their group, more intent on watching Elizabeth from afar than listening to their chatter.
But he must have heard them, for her turned to look at Frank with a thunderous expression as he said, “As often as you are flitting about from one place to another, sir, I should think you stand more to benefit from Miss Lucas’s advice than anybody else present.
But I have always found Miss Lucas to speak as a sensible and clever young woman, whose jests may perhaps not be to the taste of those who have not been amongst our party long enough to form any rational opinions. ”
Here was the imposing fellow Elizabeth had first written of in her letter to Jane, and she could see that such umbrage came naturally to him.
She could never have spoken so harshly herself; anybody would have seen at once how she struggled to affect such ferocity, but Mr. Darcy’s severity was, she supposed, as much a part of him as the levity that Elizabeth had affected in him.
“As amusing as Miss Lucas is, I should rather seek your advice, Darcy,” Mr. Bingley said.
“You have shown your serious side so well that I must have your counsel – but I always meant to seek it. I am doing a fine job of paying Emma my addresses, but I begin to wonder how one might know when one is in love, and I daresay you have arrived at some singular insights on that score. Come and advise me, and then we shall catch up to our fair ladies.”
Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley stalked off together, and then Mr. Knightley stood, offering one hand to Jane and the other to Charlotte. “Will you walk with me? I should like to take in the scenery, and perhaps we ought to find our chaperones; we have fallen into inadvisable mischief without them.”
Indeed they had. Jane was happy to take Mr. Knightley’s arm, and pleased beyond measure to see him offer the same gesture to her friend.
Charlotte seemed more amused than offended – she was likely dying to tell Elizabeth all about it – but Jane took everything Frank had said to heart.
She had told herself that she would let his behavior guide her ambivalence about their secret betrothal, and she knew very well what she must do.
***
The next day, the same friends gathered at Donwell Abbey to pick Mr. Knightley’s strawberries. Mr. Woodhouse, his eldest daughter, and all her children were also in attendance, and their gracious host made every effort to ensure their comfort in his home.
When they all made their way to the garden, they fell naturally into pairing up amongst themselves.
Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy seemed hardly aware of their companions as they laughed and flirted together, Emma once again appeared perfectly content with Mr. Bingley, and Miss Bates and Mr. Bennet showed every sign of appreciating the outing, which was designed to recreate a similar experience from their youthful courtship.
Frank had not yet arrived, and Jane knew not whether he would, for he had gone back to London after they left Box Hill.
A part of her wished to seek out Mr. Knightley, and he gave every appearance of wishing she might rescue him from Mr. Woodhouse’s strictures on the unhealthiness of too much fruit.
But Jane felt a pang in her conscience; she did not wish to presume too much where Mr. Knightley was concerned, and certainly not before she was free to do so.
She was on the point of seeking out Charlotte when Miss Bingley accosted her in the garden.
“You must think yourself very clever, Miss Fairfax – you and your sister have contrived to reunite your guardians, and I see what you are playing about. But it has taken you nearly a fortnight to coax Mr. Bennet into merely conversing with your aunt , and time is not on your side. Your sister has had the good sense to attach herself to the first gentleman she met, though he is hardly deserving of the word. I wonder what will become of you when the time runs out and my wedding date approaches? I suppose your sad little life in Highbury will continue on, as lowly and lonely as it ever was.”