Chapter Thirty-Four
When Elizabeth finally returned to the manor, she had just enough time to put on a new frock and tidy her hair before she was required downstairs.
The Fitzwilliam carriage had been spotted approaching the manor, and Elizabeth felt all the significance of Mr. Darcy wanting her at his side as he welcomed his relations.
She was immediately delighted with both his cousin and his sister.
The colonel was affable and gregarious, rather like Mr. Bingley, though his good humor was paired with a hawkish look of intelligence as he surveyed his new acquaintance.
Georgiana Darcy, a widow and mother at seventeen, was timid and reserved despite her consequence in the world, but there was an affection for her brother in all her looks, and Elizabeth was relieved to witness such a happy reunion.
Miss Bingley was standoffish as her brother warmly greeted his guests.
Colonel Fitzwilliam only laughed at her waspishness and fell into easy camaraderie with Elizabeth and Charlotte as they all shared playful looks at their hostess’s affected hauteur, but young Mrs. Darcy seemed to shrink into herself whenever Miss Bingley eyed her with disdain.
Mr. Bingley wanted to give his guests a tour of the manor directly, and when the Hursts expressed their disinterest in the idea, Mr. Darcy encouraged the others to go through the public rooms of the house and then move outdoors to explore the grounds together.
As much as Elizabeth wished to grow better acquainted with his relations, whom she hoped would soon be her own, she could sense an unrest in Mr. Darcy’s attitude; she could easily imagine he was in some want of reassurance that all was finally well between them.
She conspired with Charlotte and contrived to afford Mr. Darcy some chance to walk with them – and to say whatever was needed to be assured of their reconciliation.
Charlotte agreed to distract Mr. Bingley by encouraging him to speak to her of Emma, for since the events of Box Hill, he had grown even more voluble in praise of his lady.
Mr. Bennet retreated to the library, and Elizabeth was left to walk in the garden with Miss Bingley.
The harpy seemed determined to be noticed by her brother’s guests, to both put herself forward and be admired for her triumphant boasts, while also converting her own thinly veiled contempt for Mr. Darcy’s kin. Elizabeth would not allow it.
Elizabeth’s deft maneuvering was not enough; she was resolved to take a more drastic approach, and she recalled what Jane had told her of Miss Bingley’s viciousness at Donwell.
She felt herself perfectly capable of confronting the harpy directly, for Miss Bingley was far too vain to let any offense pass unanswered, and thus Elizabeth kept her occupied.
“You must be looking forward to the week ahead, though I am surprised you chose a Saturday for your wedding; I had rather expected you to select a Tuesday,” Elizabeth mused.
She kept a light and cheerful tone, refusing to seem at all affected by how much she loathed the woman at her side.
“You know the old saying, Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth… what is it they say about Saturdays? No luck at all, if memory serves. Well, I believe we have seen that I shall give you no trouble that cannot be overcome.”
Miss Bingley sneered at her. “I had not expected you to admit defeat so easily, Miss Eliza. I suppose you have made your conquest and now comprehend that your father’s affairs are none of your concern.
You might have accepted what I warned you of when first we came to Surrey, and spared me all the little vexations you have contrived with your friends.
But you have done your worst, and I remain unbothered.
I suppose you are wiser than your sister, in seeking to get back in my good graces, but giving me a week of reprieve from your mischief before my wedding is hardly sufficient to appease me after all your wickedness. ”
Elizabeth had guided them down a path that ran along the side of the manor, and she came to a stop just beneath the open window of the library.
“I see now that only a woman who actually desires a happy marriage might have been deterred by the obvious disapproval of those most intimately connected with her betrothed. In such cases where the incentive is only pecuniary, one might put up with a great deal to rise from tradesman’s daughter to wealthy mistress of a manor. ”
“I might say the same of your own aspirations in matrimony,” Miss Bingley sniffed.
“You can say whatever you like; I have never objected to you exposing your character in such a way. Given your interest in my father’s wealth and status as a gentleman of property, you must care little for his good opinion.”
Miss Bingley gave a haughty laugh. “Oh, I did a great deal more than you might imagine in order to secure his good opinion, when I sought his addresses in London. But now that he has given his word, it is true that I do not feel especially moved to court the good opinion of his ward, or anybody else connected to him. Perhaps you do not comprehend him as well as I do; I have moved more in society than you, and I believe I understand what your idealistic little mind can fathom.”
“Oh, really?”
Elizabeth grinned, lingering beneath the library window, hoping her father might soon overhear his betrothed say something egregious enough to stir him to action.
“A man like Mr. Bennet shall care as little for his bride as she might care for him, and he shall hardly distress himself about that. I will give him the heir he desires, and he will leave me in peace to spend his fortune and entertain myself in his home. I shall have all the consequence of a gentleman’s wife, and ere long a wealthy widow.
He will allow it and hide away in his library, for I have already taught him the price of my displeasure.
You have no need to fret, for it will be nothing to you when Mr. Darcy and his insipid sister and plaguing your heart out at Pemberley. ”
Miss Bingley had likely never willingly obliged anybody so well, but Elizabeth was perfectly satisfied, and she could only hope that her father was not too lost in a book to overhear Miss Bingley speculating on his death.
It was beyond anything Elizabeth had imagined she might say, an ire boiled in her veins.
She spoke through gritted teeth. “Still, it is a pity that neither of you cares much for domestic felicity.”
“I know what you have been about, Eliza, is pushing your father at that bland old woman, whom I daresay is really your mother. And perhaps my dear Mr. Bennet is fool enough to see some pathetic measure of allure in her, but I shall be the one to keep his home and enjoy every benefit such a union has to offer, for he is too much the gentleman to break it off. He has not the same depth of feeling that some fools value – I have chosen wisely in that respect, and I have been careful in dropping little hints at my fear of never marrying – he will feel far too guilty to break it off. You have even been of some use to me, for he cannot expect you to remain at home and unwed, and that is one less difficulty that might have persuaded him to break it off.”
“Well, at least you are not a sore winner,” Elizabeth said cheerfully. “Nor a romantic.” She would not inflict any further vitriol on her father, and she resumed a sedate walking pace with her wicked companion.
“No, and I shall not apologize for my lack of delusion,” Miss Bingley scoffed.
“To marry for love is the greatest gamble, and I am proud of having resisted the temptation of such folly. How many women have pledged themselves to a man who impresses their tender sentiments, only to discover him prone to any number of vices, dependent on his charms to recommend him? Had you not been so determined to make yourself my enemy, I might pity you for falling into such a trap. Your pitiful sister may find more happiness than she deserves, but you shall undoubtedly find yourself bound to a man of great fortune than honor.”
Elizabeth wanted to laugh in the woman’s face and saw little reason not to do so. When she had indulged her whim, she shook her head and smiled.
“But by your own logic, Miss Bingley, fortune matters more than any hopes of true felicity, so perhaps my triumph shall be far greater than your own, in the end. However, if it is Mr. Darcy to whom you refer, I have no doubt of his merits. There are some who might slander his character, but a discerning woman would consider the source carefully and question the motives of anybody who would besmirch the good name of a man whose integrity is so evident.”
Miss Bingley blanched and stammered, and Elizabeth took this opportunity to bob into a perfectly civil curtsey. She had satisfied both of her motives in listening so long to Miss Bingley’s pernicious poison, and she would entertain it no longer.
As Miss Bingley retreated back into the house, Elizabeth might have been content to wander by herself, for Mr. Bingley had finally seen to an elegant manicuring of the garden.
But as she drew nearer to Mr. Darcy and his relations, the colonel parted from his companions and offered Elizabeth his arm.
“You look entirely too cheerful after such company as you have endured, Miss Bennet.”
“Then perhaps your cousin has not informed you that I am an impudent creature who takes delight in the foibles of others.”
“Oh, no, Miss Bennet, he has boasted at length of the fine influence your mischief has worked on him; I confess I had never imagined a constitution so impish that even a lady who despises my cousin could delight his dearest friend.”