Chapter Six
Hertfordshire
Elinor and Marianne walked with their mother and their Bennet cousins into Meryton, for Mrs. Bennet had heard not one but two exciting pieces of news from Mrs. Hill that morning, and was in a mad state of haste to hear both rumors confirmed.
The first was likely true – that the new colonel had indeed arrived in the village. This had been expected.
The second tempting morsel was that Netherfield had been reopened, for Mr. Bingley’s return was imminent.
When Mrs. Bennet recovered from a fit of delight on behalf of her eldest daughter, she bid all the girls make haste in putting on their outerwear and hurrying into the village to consult the fount of all gossip, her sister Mrs. Phillips.
Elinor and Marianne had been amongst their relations long enough to acclimate themselves to their Aunt Fanny’s silliness, and while it had mortified them for the first fortnight, they now only laughed at the cheerful frenzy of their cousins.
“I imagine he shall be rather like Colonel Brandon,” Marianne mused. “I like the colonel, and respect him very much, for he was better conversation than anybody else in Devonshire, but he was not a very inspiring admirer. I hope for Kitty and Lydia’s sake that this new colonel is livelier.”
Elinor gave an affectionate shake of her head. “For Kitty and Lydia’s sake? Perhaps he shall take a shine to you, Marianne.”
A few paces ahead on the snowy lane, Kitty looked back over her shoulder and laughed. “Or you, Elinor!”
“Or me,” cried Lydia.
“Of course he shall,” their mother agreed at once before frowning at her nieces. “And since you are only visiting, and do not reside in the area, there would be little sense in his choosing either of you over a local girl.”
Mrs. Dashwood raised her brows, her expressive eyes conveying her frustration at Mrs. Bennet’s selfish incivility.
“I am in no great hurry for my girls to marry and leave my home, Fanny. I should certainly never part with them to a soldier who could scarcely support them better than the circumstances we have been reduced to at Barton.”
“Oh! What a dreadful pity Henry’s son should be a miserly, greedy fellow, and his wife even worse! If only Longbourn were a little larger, and had another thousand a year in income, I am sure we should have taken you in.”
Marianne smiled wryly at Mrs. Bennet. “And then we would be local girls.”
Mrs. Bennet wagged a finger at Marianne. “You may flirt and smile with Mr. Wickham, but he wanted my Lizzy first.”
“And he wanted Miss Mary King second, I hear,” Elinor observed with a gamely smile.
“Oh! Do not remind me! What mischief that we did not know of the girls’ fortunes sooner, for it pains me to think of how many suitors have slipped through their fingers since Michaelmas!”
With a flutter of her handkerchief, Mrs. Bennet fell into step beside Mary, fussing over her.
Marianne had coaxed Mary into altering the style of her hair, and purchasing a new frock in a more feminine floral pattern.
Though Mary insisted that she cared little for impressing anybody whose opinion was so superficial, she was beaming now as her mother adjusted her hair pins and ribbons.
Elinor was as happy as any of the other ladies to meet with the officers; a large group had congregated on the square, not far from Mrs. Phillips’s home.
Mrs. Dashwood had made it clear to her daughters, several times over, that she did not consider the officers as realistic prospects, and Elinor was proud of her mother for thinking practically despite her romantic nature.
Even so, the Dashwood ladies were in perfect accord that after the difficulties and heartbreaks of the last year, they were certainly entitled to be flirted with.
Marianne had not been entirely herself since meeting with Colonel Brandon after Christmas.
Elinor had seen her sister’s romance blossom and then suddenly collapse, and when a second chance had given her some renewed hope, the man whom Marianne was prepared to offer a true and faithful heart had been painted a villain before her eyes.
Though she was indifferent to the other officers, Marianne had liked Mr. Wickham. Elinor could see her sister searching for him in the group of officers as the ladies approached and sought out their favorites. But Mr. Wickham was not amongst them.
Mrs. Phillips was already hastening from her house to greet them, and she proudly introduced the new colonel of the regiment, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam. Elinor hung back and observed her aunt putting Mary and Kitty forward; Lydia did not require any assistance.
The colonel was not classically handsome, but he was of a fine complexion and a strong build, and his manners instantly struck her open and jovial.
He had a deep laugh, and the accompanying smile did wonders for his countenance.
He swiftly charmed the Bennet ladies, but often glanced toward the Dashwoods until Kitty presented them to the colonel.
“These are our cousins who have come to visit us at Longbourn. Our aunt, Margaret Dashwood, and her daughters, Miss Elinor and Miss Marianne Dashwood.”
“Dashwood?” The colonel’s gaze flashed with something Elinor could not understand. “Are you of the Sussex Dashwoods?”
Mrs. Dashwood stiffened a little; she did not like to speak of her step-son and his rapacious wife. “Not any longer. Since the passing of my late husband, we have resided near relations in Devonshire.”
The colonel seemed to perceive her discomfort, and turned the subject. “And how are you and your lovely daughters enjoying Hertfordshire, Mrs. Dashwood?”
Marianne paid him little heed, for she was still looking about for Mr. Wickham. The colonel made a droll face at Elinor. “Miss Marianne seems to find it fascinating, and I am already inclined to agree. Your aunt had informed me candidly that Meryton is the finest little village in England.”
“I know when it is best not to disagree with her,” Elinor said. “I like it here very much, and I hope you shall as well.”
“Well, I shall like it a vast deal tomorrow, for I have been invited to a Twelfth Night masquerade hosted by the Gouldings at Haye Park. Are you ladies fond of dancing? Mrs. Dashwood, I hope you are not past your dancing days – with so many officers, beautiful partners may be in short supply, and my men shall never respect me if I am obliged to sit out a set.”
Mrs. Dashwood’s mouth fell open into a surprised smile, and she swatted at him, but he caught her hand in his and roguishly kissed it. Mrs. Dashwood looked at Elinor with bemusement, and Elinor decided that she liked this colonel very much.
“My dancing days are over, and I believe you underestimate your popularity, sir.”
“Am I an object of curiosity to the neighborhood? Pray, I do hope so!”
“Of course you are,” Elinor and her mother cried in unison.
Marianne finally abandoned her fruitless search, and asked the colonel directly, “Sir, where is Lieutenant Wickham?”
Colonel Fitzwilliam’s cheerful expression hardened. “He has been imprisoned under guard for dereliction of duty. The day after next, he will be reprimanded before being sent to a regular military unit on the continent.”
Marianne let out a guttural breath. “What?!”
“I am sorry if his delinquency is a shock to you, Miss Marianne.”
Marianne glared up at the colonel. “What has he done? Delinquency? Reprimanded? I am sure I have seen him every day!” She turned to give Elinor a look of horror, and worse, disappointment. “We were to dance the first tomorrow.”
“Allow me to open the ball with you, Miss Marianne; I will give you an account of the matter and make every amends.”
Marianne grimaced. “I suppose I cannot refuse you and sit out all evening.”
“Marianne!” Once again Elinor and her mother spoke out at once.
Marianne gave a tight nod of her head, and the colonel bestowed a dashing smile on Elinor. “And if you would save the supper set for me, Miss Dashwood, we shall hopefully speak of happier things than George Wickham.”
“Thank you, yes,” Elinor said, hoping her smile made up somewhat for Marianne’s petulance. She was aware of the distinction he bestowed on them, and she intended to remind Marianne of her manners when they returned to Longbourn.
After another quarter hour, the ladies began to talk of doing just that, after they had looked into a few shops. As they moved away from the group of soldiers, they passed Lady Lucas and her two daughters, who approached the square from High Street.
Lady Lucas looked between the officers and the ladies from Longbourn, then shook her head and curled her lip into a sneer as she addressed her daughters.
“We may depend upon the Bennets to seek the officers and the new colonel out as fast as they could! They merely leave us their scraps, if they think of us at all. If there are no officers left to ask you to dance, girls, I am sure we shall know why!”
Mrs. Dashwood’s face clouded with distress, and she laid a hand on Mrs. Bennet’s arm to prevent the lady from flying at her rival.
Mrs. Bennet loudly addressed her daughters, as Lady Lucas had done.
“We hardly need to purchase any more new finery, girls, after all the shopping we have done – and you have always been considered the beauties of the village!”
Miss Maria glanced between her mother and Lydia with a look of anguish, but Charlotte Lucas mirrored her mother’s expression of cold hostility as she spoke. “I daresay they shall waste all their fortune as they attempt to chase eligible suitors around the village, or pursue them to London.”
Elinor gaped at the woman, who had once been her cousin’s dearest friend.
Marianne balled her hands into fists and stepped toward the Lucas ladies.
“Is this how you behave to your neighbors, your friends? They have loved you and comforted you in your time of grief, and have had nothing but the highest praise of you! But I am amazed that they ever thought it warranted.”