Chapter Five #3
The only story Elizabeth wished to tell Edward Ferrars was the woeful tale of how Elinor had wept for him, or perhaps she might give an account of the avaricious gleam in Lucy Steele’s eye when she spoke of her betrothed.
But Jane was ready with a polite answer, and she told him of spraining her ankle and nearly being run down by a carriage, as well as meeting the mysterious gentleman who had such a charming mother and sister.
He nodded appreciatively. “Such gentlemen as that, you ladies must certainly be wishing to encounter everywhere; very dull fellows such as myself must rouse ourselves to compete with spontaneous acts of heroism.”
“Surely you do not think yourself a dull fellow,” Jane gently admonished him.
“Indeed,” Elizabeth agreed. “You must have some fascinating secret, or perhaps a talent of some kind.”
He chuckled ruefully. “My mother believes me entirely without talent, though she wishes me to distinguish myself somehow. I do not suppose living a quiet but happy life would be up to her standards of distinction.”
Jane gave him a tight smile. “Then I suppose you must seek to please yourself.”
“You must have indulgent parents, if you do not live in terror of your mamma. I hope your cousins are therefore enjoying their time at – pray, what is your estate?”
“Longbourn,” Elizabeth replied. “I believe my cousins will be very content there with our other sisters. They had meant to come to London with us, but decided that a month in the country was infinitely preferable.”
Mr. Ferrars nodded stiffly. “I see. Yes, well, I am always glad when I have the chance to visit friends in the country. I thought Devonshire very fine, when I visited Barton in the autumn. Yes, the country is very pleasant; my friend Darcy has one of the most magnificent estates in the country.”
Mr. Darcy turned away from his conversation with his sister and Mrs. Gardiner and came to join them. He gave the ladies a courteous bow before taking a seat near Elizabeth, who instinctively drew a little closer to Jane.
Mr. Ferrars greeted him warmly. “I told the Miss Bennets that you have a very fine estate in Derbyshire.”
Elizabeth offered Mr. Darcy a bright, wicked smile. “We heard a great deal about it from his friend Miss Bingley, when Mr. Darcy was lately in Hertfordshire.”
“Were you? I had no idea you were acquainted.”
Mr. Darcy nodded at his friend. “Bingley let a house there in the autumn.”
Jane flinched, and Elizabeth grimaced. “I do not think Mr. Bingley cared much for the place, for he quit it after only two months; the neighborhood was sorry to see him go, though his sister has hinted that this sentiment is not at all mutual. However, I begin to comprehend his enthusiasm for London – Jane and I mean to divert ourselves very well while we are here.”
“Mrs. Jennings quite insists upon it,” Jane agreed with a timid smile as she looked between the two gentlemen.
“Mrs. Gardiner told me that you both were often in town before losing your uncle. Forgive me – I hope your family is presently in good health.”
“They are, Mr. Darcy, thank you,” Elizabeth said with a nod.
“My cousins, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, were meant to come to London with Mrs. Jennings, but we have all agreed between us to a little exchange – they are diverting themselves with my sisters at Longbourn while Jane and I have come to London in their place.”
“We have visited my aunt in London before, but this is to be our longest stay in town, and I believe we may grow spoilt by the experience.” Jane gave a shy smile, almost entirely concealing the anguish on her eyes from the man whose feckless friend had caused it.
“A sprained ankle is not a very auspicious beginning, but that only leaves room for improvement,” Mr. Ferrars said.
Jane was obliged to repeat her tale to Mr. Darcy, who listened with raised brows.
“I would thank you not to repeat that to my sister; she is a fanciful creature, and I shall be obliged to prevent her from attempting to have some similar mischief befall her, that she might encounter a handsome stranger. She will be seventeen in August, and she is enjoying a limited exposure to society.”
Mr. Darcy looked over at his sister with such emotion in his gaze that Elizabeth was too stunned to breathe for a moment.
His eyes shone with affection and his lips curled into a gentle smile; infuriatingly, this only rendered him more handsome.
Miss Darcy laughed at something Mrs. Gardiner said, actually giving a little bounce of excitement in her seat.
Then she perceived her brother watching her, and hastened to join him.
“Miss Bennet, your aunt is utterly charming! She and I have been speaking of Derbyshire – she grew up in Lambton, William, not five miles from Pemberley! And Miss Elizabeth, I am so glad to finally meet you properly – how mortifying to arrive late, but my cousin’s daughters were all in an uproar.”
“Jane and I have lived all our lives in a house almost always in uproar, and likely more so now than ever before. My four female cousins are staying with another aunt – with my three sisters and Mamma already as energetic as a small army, I have told my aunt I believe my poor Papa must be running mad.” Elizabeth grinned, her eyes darting to Mr. Darcy as she silently dared him to think her family absurd.
Instead, he smiled again. “Can you imagine Pemberley so full of sisters and cousins, Georgie?”
She smiled timidly before giving a soft laugh.
“I should like to, for it sounds very merry.” She hesitated and glanced to her brother for encouragement before looking back at Elizabeth, who gave her a playful wink.
“I wonder you should be in London when your home sounds like a female paradise at present. Our cousin Richard has gone to command the militia in Meryton. Is that not a strange coincidence?”
Miss Darcy was definitely not what Elizabeth had imagined, and she was delighted to find the girl not at all like her great supporter Miss Bingley.
She exchanged a look of interest with Jane.
“We have heard there was to be a new colonel arriving after our departure. Well, no doubt when you hear of his visiting a local madhouse, you shall know that he is referring to Longbourn!”
“He departed yesterday,” Miss Darcy said.
Again she hesitated, as if it were an effort for her to speak more than a few words.
“Perhaps I shall have something interesting to tell him, after the ball tomorrow evening. Your aunt has invited me to take tea with you the day after next. She says it is always your custom to compare your impressions of the evening, on the morning after a ball.”
“It is, indeed. There was a particularly interesting assembly in Meryton last September that gave us ample fodder for amusement for weeks to come.” Elizabeth again looked askance at Mr. Darcy as she referenced the scene of his egregious crime against her.
Why did the man look so content, when she wished to nettle him and his friend?
Mr. Ferrars was soon summoned away by his mother, who did not press him to once more recommend himself to Miss Morton, but instead whispered to him with alacrity, glancing often in Jane’s direction. A minute later, Mrs. Ferrars beckoned for Jane to join them.
Miss Darcy still wore a shy smile for Elizabeth.
“I do hope we are to be friends, for I have heard so much about you. Ever since William wrote to me of how you walked three miles through the mud to tend to Miss Bennet when she fell ill, I have desired to meet the spirited young lady my brother enjoyed debating with, and the angelic sister who inspired so much devoted care.”
Elizabeth gaped at Mr. Darcy, who had turned rather pink.
“Debating? Your brother perhaps wished to spare you the dismay of knowing that he was, in fact, very often beset by an impertinent country miss who took every opportunity to quarrel with him. I thought Miss Bingley would faint away when I threatened to laugh at him.”
Mr. Darcy gave a husky chuckle and shook his head, as if he and Elizabeth shared some private jest about her determined impertinence toward him. His sister looked panicked. “But why should you always wish to quarrel with my brother? No, I cannot believe it of you!”
Mr. Darcy pursed his lips in a rather saucy expression. “Miss Elizabeth has a penchant for professing opinions which are not her own.”
“My goodness, Mr. Darcy shall teach you not to believe a word I say, when I had hoped to pass myself off credibly here in London!”
“Oh! Our cousins are just the same,” Miss Darcy said with a giggle. “Richard and his sister Lady Rebecca are wickedly clever, and our cousin Phillip has pledged to give William just as much trouble while they are in Hertfordshire.”
“The colonel’s sister accompanied him?”
“Yes, she is staying at….”
Mr. Darcy spoke at the same moment. “Lady Rebecca takes delight in meddling in her brothers’ affairs, for she is a widow and quite at leisure to debate with all her friends and relations as much as she chooses.”
Elizabeth smirked at Mr. Darcy. “Will you repine the loss of such contentious company?”
He smiled broadly at her. “I shall not have to, if I may look forward to more of your clever banter while you are in London.”
This was very nearly a compliment, which Elizabeth could not allow, when she was not at all willing to cease despising the man.
“Perhaps I will grow clever directly, and give your sister an account of how you behaved in Meryton. Prepare yourself for something utterly scandalous, Miss Darcy. I first met your brother at an assembly where gentlemen were scarce, and he danced only with Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst.”
Miss Darcy gasped and looked at her brother aghast, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I had not at that time the honor of knowing any lady at the assembly beyond my own party.”