Chapter Seven #4
“My name is Marianne Dashwood, and I know exactly who you are, sir. You are indeed the very worst sort of villain, to trifle with a heart so gentle and eager. What makes you think she would have you back again, if she had not left Meryton? She is the heiress to Longbourn, now, and has twenty thousand pounds from her uncle; no doubt you shall often hear it spoken of by the gossips here tonight, and I do hope it torments you.”
“I care nothing for these things! That is, I am glad for her – but whatever happened to Mr. Collins?” He shook his head in confusion, his eyes glistening with tears in the candlelight. “I loved her even when I believed her to be penniless.”
Marianne gave a snort of derision. “Love is not cruel, Mr. Bingley.”
“Well, it is not easy, either! I was convinced by my sisters, I will admit it – they persuaded me of Jane’s indifference.”
“How could you have believed it? How could they know better than yourself what had passed between you?”
“I… I do not know,” he stammered. The tiny, satirical looking woman he had called Lady Rebecca stalked over, grinning boldly at their altercation.
Already, murmurs of curiosity rippled through the crowd around them, but Marianne cared not a whit what the good people of Meryton thought at such a moment.
“Charles, whatever is the matter? Miss Marianne, I presume? Whatever have you done to my brother?”
Marianne grimaced at the woman. “I suppose you are one of the horrid sisters who persuaded him to abandon and humiliate my cousin Jane?”
Elinor and Colonel Fitzwilliam broke away from the other dancers and joined the scene of the fracas. Elinor took Marianne’s hand and looked at her with alarm, while the colonel performed a proper introduction.
“Miss Marianne,” the colonel said. “Allow me to present my sister – she is the sister by marriage to Mr. Bingley, and the chief promoter of his plan to return to Netherfield. Rebecca, do forgive Miss Marianne’s wrath; I fear I am responsible for causing her some dismay by informing her of what awaits Wickham tomorrow. ”
Lady Rebecca gave the colonel a ravenous grin. “I do wish you would allow me to observe his ordeal; I should like to see your men eat that scoundrel alive.”
Her brother scowled at her. “Must you be so bloodthirsty?”
“Yes. But it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Marianne. I share your disdain of the horrid sisters; whatever may displease them shall be my delight – forgive me, Charles, but I know you truly feel the same. It is high time you say so. But I thought you had meant to wear your mask until you dance with Miss Bennet?”
Mr. Bingley’s voice was strained. “She is not here. She went to London four days ago. I… I believe my sisters may know of it. They must have concealed it from me.”
Lady Rebecca rolled her eyes. “What a disaster. I suppose you deserve to be taken to task by her stalwart cousin, for letting your sisters rule you! I ought to leave you to it.”
“Thank you, for I had not quite finished,” Marianne said with feeling, though she was not as heated as she had been before the lady’s intervention.
“Marianne,” Elinor said gently. “Think of where you are; it is hardly fair to the Gouldings, nor to Mary and Kitty. You recall yesterday’s debacle.”
“And once again the magistrate is not here to keep the peace,” the colonel tutted. “But I would also be inclined to let you have at him – another time, perhaps – privately.”
“I… I should like to speak with Mr. Bennet,” Mr. Bingley stammered. “Another time, privately.”
Marianne sneered at him, wishing he would approach her uncle directly, for Mr. Bennet had been in quite a temper amidst the chaos at Longbourn, and he was not pleased that attending a ball was a better alternative than remaining in his home.
He would be just as keen to vent his spleen upon Mr. Bingley as Marianne had been.
Elinor stared at Mr. Bingley with confusion. “We did not expect to see you, sir.”
“I put it about that I was returning next week; I thought it would be a jolly surprise to unmask myself tonight – I thought Jane would be so pleased.”
“Utterly idiotic,” Marianne hissed under her breath. Elinor squeezed her hand.
Mr. Bingley’s shoulders sagged. “Yes, I suppose. I will go – I will return to Netherfield. You shall enjoy the occasion better if I depart at once.”
Nobody protested; the colonel wooed his friend on the shoulder and nodded, while Lady Rebecca murmured that she would speak to him on the morrow, and then turned an assessing gaze on Marianne.
“Brava, my dear! I daresay he had that coming; I am only chagrined that it did not come from me. Charles is an endearing sort of fellow, but I fear his friends – my relations – have been afraid to say what we really think of his sisters, and the decisions they are prone to make on his behalf.”
“Rebecca!” The colonel shook his head at his sister, but she held a defiant pose.
“I shall speak as candidly as I choose to Miss Marianne; she does the same, it seems, and I am trying to say that I respect her for it. But by all means, go and coddle Charles – what a world of good it shall do him.”
Elinor shifted uncomfortably. “It must have been painful for him to be berated for what was already a disappointment to him.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam smiled sadly at her.
“I am inclined to agree with you, but with my sister as well. He is not accustomed to such brutal honesty, though perhaps those closest to him have done him a disservice in that regard. You do not know his sisters, but Miss Marianne spoke accurately of them – I can only imagine the picture your cousins painted of the pair of them. To put it bluntly, their interest in their brother’s concerns is borne chiefly out of social aspiration. ”
Lady Rebecca fairly purred with mischief.
“I have a great curiosity to hear everything your cousins told of my in-laws, Miss Marianne. Will you take a turn about the room with me? I should like to know you better, and through you, these excellent and perceptive cousins of yours, who are inconveniently absent.”
Marianne agreed, and after several circuits of the ballroom, the two women sat drinking wine together near the hearth, for they had a great deal to say to one another. Marianne’s temper cooled, and she began to regret her outburst, if only because she had mortified her sister.
She gave Lady Rebecca a complete account of what Elizabeth had told her had passed between Jane and Mr. Bingley, and did not hesitate to interject her own opinions.
Lady Rebecca was an avid listener; even masked, she managed to convey a great deal in her expressions.
At the end of Marianne’s information, Lady Rebecca declared her brother-in-law was a comprehensive blockhead.
“Though I think him a great coxcomb, I do wish to make it known that he is, in his heart, a very good man. He is generous, kind, and eager to please; his failure is only that he has capitulated to his sisters since they lost their parents at an early age. His late brother, my husband, was ill for many years, and it was during this time that Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst began to think of Charles as their plaything, whose sole purpose is to elevate their own standing in society. They had hoped to gain more from calling me a relation, but I seldom see them and have given them no assistance in the first circles. Now that I think of it? Perhaps in this aspect I have done Charles a disservice, for they have constantly pressured him to think of Miss Darcy so that Mr. Darcy will think of Caroline – you said your cousin Lizzy came to the same conclusion.”
Marianne felt a modicum of pity for Mr. Bingley but quickly tamped it down.
“Why should he require anybody to come to his aid? My half-brother is entirely governed by his pernicious and vindictive wife, who turned my mother and sisters and I out of our home as soon as my poor father died. He might have stood up to her and insisted on treating us as family and letting us remain at Norland, but he did not, and I have considered this to be entirely his own failing.”
Lady Rebecca wrinkled her nose. “What a coward!” But then her countenance altered, and she sat up straighter. “Your brother is… Mr. Dashwood of Norland?”
“Do you know him?”
“No, but I have heard his name mentioned – my brother told me that he is a reckless gambler.” A small smile played over Lady Rebecca’s lips.
“I hope you will forgive my brother Richard for burdening you with the bad news about Mr. Wickham, who is able to pass himself off as better than the cad he is. And do not think less of Richard for having a friend who broke your cousin’s heart; I am sure he shall be as eager as I am to help put it all to rights. ”
By now Elinor was dancing the supper set with the colonel, and the pair seemed to be chatting happily together.
Though the day had been a complete disaster for Marianne, she was glad to see that Elinor was enjoying herself.
“Your brother made a favorable impression on my relations yesterday. If my sister has any enjoyment in his company, I am glad of it. She has had her own heartaches.”
This was more than Marianne had meant to say, and Lady Rebecca seized upon the revelation. “Has she? I hope she was not as ill-used as your cousin Jane.”
Marianne considered this as she watched her sister dancing. At least Mr. Bingley had not made love to Jane while secretly engaged to the worst person Marianne had ever met. She sighed as she looked back at Lady Rebecca. “I shall only say that I think it rather worse.”
She had scarcely spoken to Edward on Christmas Eve, and Elinor had revealed nothing of what she and Edward had discussed.
Marianne felt certain that if he were there at present, she would speak to him just as she had done with Mr. Bingley.
“I hope the colonel shall prove to be a worthy acquaintance, Lady Rebecca. I begin to fear the entire male species will only ever vex me.”
Lady Rebecca smiled brightly. “Ha! Then we have each chosen wisely in our present companions; any time you feel such sentiments as these, Miss Marianne, you must always sit and drink wine with me.”