Chapter Seventeen #3
Their aunt had already admonished them for monopolizing the company of the gentlemen, who ought to take notice of her own daughters, though Mrs. Dashwood in turn observed that this sounded very like Lady Lucas’s recent remarks.
Mrs. Bennet threw up her hands in a great huff and declared that if her nieces had any glimpse of the gentlemen, they ought to take every chance to speak well of Kitty and Lydia.
Elinor and Marianne were grateful to be away from the disorder of Longbourn, for there had been no peace since Lydia was invited to Hampshire, and despite his sister’s efforts, Mr. Bennet seemed likely to capitulate, if only to restore order in the household.
For the first hour of their visit at Netherfield, the three ladies took tea and refreshments together and conversed idly, and Lady Rebecca began to take the same interest in Elinor as she had shown Marianne.
The fete was not discussed until Mr. Bingley came to join them, and then an animated discussion ensued.
The Dashwoods had enjoyed little society with other young people at Norland, and even less since removing to Devonshire; they both listened with relish as Mr. Bingley and Lady Rebecca described some of the lavish events they had attended in London and at various country estates belonging to their acquaintance.
Though Elinor listened with sedate appreciation, Marianne was soon enthralled by so many grand notions for their celebration. She and Mr. Bingley became increasingly animated, gesturing wildly and talking over one another as they expounded upon their ideas.
Elinor enjoyed their mad speculation, though she shook her head to admonish their outlandish plans.
“Ice skating, a lavish luncheon, cards and parlor games, musical performances by every talented lady in the county, a poetry reading – really, Marianne – and to cap it all off, a night of dancing? My goodness, we shall be very well entertained. Tell me, Mr. Bingley, shall you hire tumblers and jugglers, and send abroad for some elephants and zebras to complete the circus?”
Mr. Bingley pretended to give this some serious consideration, and Marianne gave him a playful shove before recollecting herself; she swiftly withdrew her hands and moved away from him on the sofa, and entreated Lady Rebecca to ring for more lemon cakes.
They leisurely enjoyed their refreshments, distracted for a time by the wistful notions of how they might arrange a full-day pleasure party if only it were summer, when all their pleasant pastimes may be done outdoors.
“Imagine a ball, if the ballroom were out of doors,” Mr. Bingley said, spreading his hands wide as if to illustrate the notion.
Lady Rebecca gave him a dubious smirk. “I think you are just describing an open field.”
“No, no,” cried Marianne. “The dance floor a bed of soft moss, trees in every golden shade of autumn gathering at all sides, lanterns suspended from the branches – like something from a faerie kingdom.”
“How very pagan,” Lady Rebecca cried. “Whatever gothic romance you have been reading, you must let me borrow it!”
Marianne raised a hand to Lady Rebecca’s ear and whispered something that caused her friend to blush and sputter with laughter, and Mr. Bingley begged to know the secret, to no avail.
Elinor thoroughly enjoyed the hours they spent together, though more than once she caught herself privately lamenting that the colonel was not present, for he seemed to belong to their little set.
The four merry companions occupied themselves very gaily, making lists of who to invite to the Netherfield fete and negotiating how many activities they could reasonably delight their neighbors with before they would all collapse in merry exhaustion.
The hour grew late, and Elinor was privately lamenting that she and her sister must return to Longbourn without having seen the colonel, when the man himself arrived.
Elinor did not believe for an instant that Lady Rebecca had truly forgotten their dinner engagement, for she fixed Elinor with such a smile as she invited the sisters to stay for dinner, that Elinor felt as if her own secret wishes had been laid bare before the cunning woman.
Marianne accepted the invitation to stay for dinner before Elinor could express any hesitation, and Lady Rebecca grinned brightly.
“Excellent. Charles, would you kindly send word to Longbourn, so their relations do not worry for them. We shall send you home in my carriage after dinner – unless you had better stay the night? No? Well, we shall decide later. But come upstairs with me, for we are all of a near enough size, and I shall lend you each something to change into. Have no fear, I shall not dress you as wickedly as I did Miss Lucas!”
Upstairs, Lady Rebecca showed Marianne into a guest room and then led Elinor to her own chamber.
She selected a fine blue gown that would suit Marianne well, and sent a maid to attend her.
When they were left alone, Lady Rebecca gave Elinor leave to borrow whichever of her frocks she liked best, and Elinor selected a simple ivory silk.
When Elinor went behind a screen to change, Lady Rebecca’s cheerful chatter turned serious. “My brother is quite afraid of you, Miss Dashwood.”
Elinor flinched as she pulled the gown over her head. She attempted to recall whether he had looked displeased by her staying for dinner, and her mind was awhirl with panic that perhaps her aunt was correct, that she had erred in putting herself forward with the colonel.
She made no response, for she could scarcely get her fingers to work as she dressed herself. Lady Rebecca seemed to require no reply. “He told me intended to speak to you yesterday about a matter of some delicacy.”
“He was very civil yesterday, though I fear I rattled on about Norland,” Elinor said, beginning to feel herself an absolute simpleton for having now wept twice in front of the colonel.
“Yes, Norland – I imagine you had a great deal to say. I hope he expressed himself well. But it is really the strangest coincidence!”
Elinor wanted only a few buttons in the back to be fastened, and she came out from behind the screen at last. “What coincidence?”
Lady Rebecca tipped her head to one side. “What do you mean? You talked about Norland with him?”
Elinor turned around as Lady Rebecca fastened the buttons and made a few adjustments to the way the elegant garment hung about Elinor, who was a little larger in the bust. “Yes – I suppose Marianne told you that our foolish half-brother gambled it away. She and Mamma took the news rather hard.”
When she had finished her ministrations, Lady Rebecca spun Elinor around so quickly she nearly lost her footing. “But am I sure I heard him say something to you of resigning his commission, of acquiring some property.”
“Yes,” Elinor said dubiously. And then something lurched in her stomach. “Oh, no. Surely not.”
Lady Rebecca thinned her lips into an apologetic smile. “So, he did not tell you.”
Elinor shook her head in dismay. “Not… Norland?”
The pained expression on Lady Rebecca’s face was answer enough. “Perhaps you ought to sit down – allow me to explain….”
But Elinor instead began to pace the room. “No, no, it is impossible.”
“It is improbable, to be sure. Truly, we came into the country with no notion we should encounter any Dashwoods. Even after our first meeting, I am sure it never occurred to him that you may be kin to that beastly fellow.”
Elinor looked at Lady Rebecca with despair, and still she paced. “But he is not such a man! Your brother – he would not do such a thing, surely!”
“All men play cards,” Lady Rebecca said with a little shrug. “It gives them something to do, if they cannot accomplish any pursuit that requires intelligence.”
“But he would not take a man’s home – and so soon after John and Fanny suffered the death of their child! It is too cruel – he cannot have been the man to take advantage of John in such a way.”
“Please sit down, Miss Dashwood – you are making me dizzy!” Lady Rebecca gestured to a chair by the fire, and Elinor was so bewildered that she did as she was bid. She stared wide-eyed at Lady Rebecca, desperate to hear something that could make sense of it all.
“If Richard had intended to swindle your brother, he would have taken possession of the estate at once, in November; he would never have taken the post with the regiment here in Meryton.”
Elinor was still too stunned to say much of anything. “In November?”
“Yes, he and Phillip – our brother, the viscount – were at their club, and by Phillip’s telling, your half-brother was well in his cups and determined to make an ass of himself.”
“He was grieving his child, his only son.”
“He was taunting my brothers, gambling more than he ought, and losing a vast sum, despite the good advice of his own friends and companions. He continued in such a fashion, ever determined to win it all back, and insisted upon wagering the deed to his estate. Perhaps Richard might not have accepted it if your brother had not taken a swing at him – my brother, my step-mother, and my young cousin can all attest that his eye was purple for a fortnight afterward!”
Elinor shuddered, and began to hug herself in distress.
Lady Rebecca perched on the arm of her chair and laid a hand on Elinor’s shoulder.
“I shall not pretend ignorance – your sister has painted quite a picture of John Dashwood’s character.
Even if she has exaggerated somewhat, I believe he must be a very unpleasant fellow.
He broke his word, given to your father on his deathbed, when he promised to look after you. ”
“Yes,” Elinor sighed. “I have long been resigned to the certainty that his wife wishes nothing to do with us, and will impede any effort of his on our behalf. But I cannot say that he deserves to lose his home.”