Chapter Nineteen #2
Elinor shook her head, though she knew her censure meant nothing in the face of Lady Rebecca’s encouragement. “Marianne, you cannot destroy everybody’s post – perhaps Lizzy might wish to forgive her friend.”
Lady Rebecca let out a peal of wicked laughter.
“Miss Lucas ought to pay her respects to Caroline Bingley while she is in London, for they are both as determined fortune hunters as I have ever encountered. But Jane and Elizabeth are expected in time for our festivities at Netherfield, are they not? They shall not have to suffer Miss Lucas for long in London.”
The subject of the party at Netherfield cheered Mrs. Bennet’s surliness, and when Lady Rebecca issued the inevitable invitation for Elinor and Marianne to return to Netherfield with her, Mrs. Bennet began to insist that Kitty should be included.
Lady Rebecca was unruffled. “Are you certain you can spare her for so long? I had intended to keep your nieces overnight, Madam, if you and Mrs. Dashwood would permit it. There is so much to be done to make the manor ready – we shall be more laborers than ladies of leisure. Charles is quite occupied in estate matters – some fallen trees at the edge of the property or some such excuse.”
Kitty wrinkled her nose at this. “Mamma, might I call on Maria Lucas instead? If we are really to be friends again….”
“Why, Kitty, you shall offend Lady Rebecca,” Mrs. Bennet cried. “Who cares for Maria Lucas when there are better friends to be met with?”
Marianne nudged Mary forward; Mary wrung her hands in front of herself, but said, “I will go with you to Lucas Lodge, Kitty.”
“And if the Lucases wish to keep you overnight, so much the better,” Mr. Bennet drawled.
“Well, that is settled, then,” Lady Rebecca said before Mrs. Bennet could protest. She turned to Elinor and Marianne with a bright smile.
“Go in haste and pack a trunk before your uncle changes his mind, for I really mean to keep you for two or three days. But Mrs. Bennet, I must defer to your judgement on a particular matter of no small importance. Are you truly and completely reconciled with the Lucases? Ought I invite them to the fete at Netherfield?”
Mrs. Bennet had a great deal to say on this matter, which afforded Elinor and Marianne a chance to make their escape upstairs and pack a small trunk with a few days’ worth of clothing.
As they set about their task, Marianne looked at Elinor with a mischievous smile.
“I have a suspicion that with our cousins soon returning to Longbourn, Lady Rebecca may conspire to keep us longer at Netherfield.”
Elinor made a droll face at her sister. “If anybody is bold and fanciful enough to make such an assumption, it is you, dearest.”
“It is not so unlikely,” Marianne insisted. “Perhaps I know Lady Rebecca a little better, but I know you comprehend her penchant for schemes and intrigue.”
Elinor only laughed and shook her head as she set about removing the garments Marianne stuffed wildly into the trunk, and folding them properly.
Marianne heaped an armful of undergarments on the bed and made an attempt at arranging them neatly.
“I have been very good and kept my word – I have made no insinuations about anything interesting happening between my sister and a certain person – and I shall even refrain from doing so now – but you cannot be unaware of Lady Rebecca’s assumptions and intentions in that quarter. ”
“I am not unaware,” Elinor said, flushed with the recollection of their last overnight visit at Netherfield. Lady Rebecca had spoken plainly and passionately, and so too had the colonel.
Determined to turn the subject, Elinor gave Marianne an affectionate nudge. “As wise as you have grown, apparently, I wonder how you could think your friend has no grand plans for you.”
“For me? Oh, no indeed. She and I have a pact to disdain men forever, she as an old widow and I as a spinster. We shall give our siblings and their spouses a great deal of trouble, but no man shall ever trouble me again.”
Elinor looked incredulously at her sister. “Really? Never?”
“You know I do not believe in second attachments, Elinor – that is, not for myself. I should never wish you to adopt my philosophy.”
“It is hardly a question of your philosophy,” Elinor said drily.
“I merely supposed that Lady Rebecca had something else in mind, for I believe she is as fascinated by the art of making matches as Mrs. Jennings. It will not be long before she is persuading you out of your contempt for some lucky gentleman.”
When Elinor and Marianne had their trunk taken down and returned to the parlor, Lady Rebecca was holding court. She had joined the younger girls at the large card table, and had even coaxed Mr. Bennet and his wife and sister to join in.
“Oh! Oh! Thunderation,” Mrs. Bennet cried, pointing excitedly at her husband. “You cannot have a queen – I have all four!”
“Why Mrs. Bennet, how very clever – I was prepared to believe him, for he was only pretending to be bluffing in the last round.” Lady Rebecca turned around in her chair and waved her friends over. She grinned, displaying only one card left in her hand. “What do you think – shall I carry it off?”
Kitty coughed a little and laid a card face down on the pile. “One king.”
Rebecca laid her trump card face up on the table and stood, talking a triumphant bow. “I believe I have won! I do enjoy it when things work out so perfectly.”
The girls applauded, and even Mr. Bennet reluctantly echoed his congratulations. “What a surprise that you should excel in such an absurdity, very well done, Lady Rebecca.”
As Mrs. Dashwood gave Elinor and Marianne a parting embrace and kiss on the cheek, Lady Rebecca was beset by Mrs. Bennet’s compliments.
When the three young women were in the carriage and making their way to Netherfield, Marianne burst out laughing as she asked how Lady Rebecca had charmed her aunt and uncle so thoroughly.
“Nothing so easy,” Lady Rebecca said brightly.
“I told Mrs. Bennet that her daughters can certainly do better than Richard and Charles. Given the reports I have heard from London, it is likely that Jane Bennet will marry my brother Phillip, heir to the earldom, and Miss Elizabeth will marry Darcy. Then, I told your aunt, her daughters shall often be in company amongst the first circles, but they shall not enjoy having a season in London and the luxury of choice, if they are pushed at the first men they meet!”
Elinor gave Marianne a pointed look, though her words were for Lady Rebecca. “But you and Marianne shall never wed, I suppose.”
“Ha! I have the singular security of becoming a widow so young – I cannot imagine ever giving up such a rare gift and putting my fate into the hands of a man again, for they are generally useless and ill-informed creatures who lack the sort of wit and imagination I prefer in a companion. But I have had ten more years of experience to reach such a conclusion – ten more years than you, Marianne! I wish you a happier fate than my cynicism, dear friend.”
Elinor took little pleasure in being proven correct, though she could not but smile as comprehension alighted on her sister.
Lady Rebecca would surely endeavor to make a match for Marianne eventually, but Elinor found that she could not object to the notion, for her sister’s heart was formed for affection, just as her friend's was formed for repartee and presumption.
It was but a few hours into their visit when Elinor’s suspicions were confirmed.
The ladies got on very contentedly, sewing little golden silk flowers to be used in the party decor, when Mr. Bingley concluded his business and came to join them.
Lady Rebecca swiftly invented a reason to divide their foursome.
“Charles, I am sure that much of what we require for the ice-skating portion of the party can be found in the attics. Benches and extra chairs, a large tent to erect beside the frozen pond, braziers for fire to keep us warm – Marianne understands my vision exactly. Take some red ribbon and mark anything you find in the attic that will be useful; the footmen will carry it all down.”
When Marianne and Mr. Bingley had gone, Lady Rebecca smiled conspiratorially at Elinor. “And now I shall make you privy to a sensational secret, Miss Dashwood. Do follow me to the ballroom.”
Elinor did as she was bid, and she was not disappointed by Lady Rebecca’s revelation. She laughed as she took in the sight of the ballroom. “What Marianne described of dancing out of doors….”
“It was Charles’s idea to make her fancy manifest,” Lady Rebecca said, looking a little smug.
The arrangements were far from complete, but Elinor comprehended the general effect of the magical forest. The felled trees on the property that Rebecca claimed were occupying Mr. Bingley’s time had been brought indoors, fixed in place at intervals around the room.
Their branches had been trimmed and tamed into a very pretty arrangement, winding up the walls and along the high ceiling.
“I may require your assistance in pasting our golden silk flowers on the branches, in place of leaves. And then I have servants dying raw sheep’s wool in shades of green to create a mossy effect about the bases of the trees.
I have already sent to London for two hundred candles – half to be suspended from the branches in lanterns, and the rest wherever they look best.”
“I am sure Marianne will be enchanted,” Elinor said, looking around the room in earnest amazement. “Nobody has ever done so much for her – for any of us.”
“That is a terrible shame,” Lady Rebecca said, taking a few feline steps toward Elinor. “I believe there is someone who wishes to do a great deal for you….”