Chapter 17
The day of the ball was decidedly grey. The sky looked ready to burst, to pelt the ground with buckets of rain, but, hour after hour, the sky never gave up even so much as a spritz of water.
So, the ball would go on as scheduled, and the Bennets readied themselves and soon climbed into their carriage.
The moment the carriage turned out of Longbourn’s gravel drive, it joined a long line of carriages moving towards Netherfield.
It appeared that every family who had been invited was setting off at the same time.
Elizabeth was excited to see her betrothed, whom she had only seen for half an hour, on her early-morning walk, which was interrupted the moment her mother had looked out a window and began hollering for her to come straight inside.
Her mother was certain a deluge was in the offing.
Now, even though there had been no rain at all that day, Elizabeth’s mother could not seem to restrain herself as the overstuffed Bennet carriage crept along in the three-mile-long queue.
“Oh, dear, if it should rain, poor Jane will not have any curls at all!” she said more than once.
“Thank goodness, your hair will stay curly, Lizzy!” Most often repeated were the words, “Oh, if it should begin raining, whatever shall we do?”
“I suppose we should use an umbrella, dear,” Mr Bennet said placatingly. Several times.
But his attempts to soothe were waved off. “You know that the damp still gets to us, even with an umbrella. Oh, if only you were already wed, Jane.”
Elizabeth said, “As you know, Mama, Jane is everything lovely. Even if some of the curl should come out, Mr Goulding thinks too well of her to repine. He certainly will still call her the handsomest woman in attendance!”
“Thank you, Lizzy,” Jane said calmly.
When they arrived, a footman approached to lower the step, but Elizabeth was surprised to see Darcy smiling and saying something to the footman, who hurried to the next carriage; Darcy handed out each of her sisters and her mother; being the farthest from the door, Elizabeth was last, other than her father, and she thanked her beloved.
He waited to ensure that her father had comfortably exited as well, and then he offered Elizabeth his arm and swept around the line of guests, saying in a low voice, “We are the guests of honour. We need not stand in line. Besides, Georgiana and I have something for you.”
Georgiana was waiting in a small parlour out of the way of the guests streaming towards the reception line. Elizabeth hugged her and complimented her on her lovely pink gown.
Georgiana said, “You look truly spectacular, Elizabeth. By the bye, I cannot dance, of course, but did you know that I arranged with your father and Lydia to sit with them and critique the clothing and manners of everybody else?” She laughed and blushed and said, “I mean, that is what Lydia said we would do, but of course we will only say positive things.”
“I dearly hope that Lydia will not insult anyone. I am certain that you will not!”
Darcy reached into his pocket and offered Elizabeth a dark red velvet bag with a pull-string closure. “Georgie and I wanted to bring some of the Darcy jewels for you to wear tonight. We thought the diamonds would suit no matter what colour you were wearing.”
Into her hand he poured a choker, a bracelet, and a pair of earrings. Elizabeth had never seen such beautiful jewellery before. The settings were simple enough and the stones modest enough that the set made a statement of, not just wealth, but also taste. Each piece was truly lovely.
“Thank you both ever so much!” Elizabeth did not have the words to convey how much she felt. Darcy helped fasten the necklace, and Georgiana helped with the other pieces.
“Now, let us greet our hosts,” Darcy said, offering an arm to each lady.
When Elizabeth saw Mr Bingley, after a fortnight of not seeing him, she was reminded of what a well-mannered, good-humoured man he was. He was much more friendly and full of fun than Mr Goulding, and a part of Elizabeth regretted that he would not become her brother.
“There is the blushing bride-to-be, looking even more radiant than ever!” Mr Bingley said. “It is so nice to see you.”
“Mr Bingley, Miss Bingley, Mr and Mrs Hurst,” Elizabeth said with a nod to each person. “Fitzwilliam and I are so very grateful that you have honoured us in this way.”
Miss Bingley’s eyes were riveted on the diamond necklace, and she was unable to say anything at all until Georgiana, Darcy, and Elizabeth moved past her.
Elizabeth thought the ballroom was quite wonderful, although a bit excessive—but still, with the entire event in their honour, she should concentrate on the wonderful part.
Swaths of green tulle decorated the pillars, and evergreen boughs and holly branches capped all the windows.
The beeswax candles were plentiful, and clusters of red hothouse flowers filled every vase.
Mr Bingley was crossing to the musicians, and Elizabeth squeezed his arm as he went by. “You and your sisters have outdone yourselves. This is lovely!” she said.
His smile was wide and happy, although it dimmed a bit as Jane and Mr Goulding passed near. But he said, “Thank you,” with such steadiness, she could not help but admire his good attitude. “And, actually, come with me, you two.”
Darcy steered Georgiana to Elizabeth’s father, and then he and Elizabeth joined Mr Bingley on the dais in the musicians’ gallery.
A few notes were played, and Mr Bingley asked the crowd to quiet.
He said, “Thank you all for braving the ominous skies and coming to the Netherfield Park ball. I wished to hold a ball for all the neighbourhood, as a thank you to all of the good folks of Meryton and beyond who have welcomed my family into your homes for the past two months. Even as I contemplated an appropriate date for the ball, my very good friend asked for the hand of a wonderful woman, and she agreed to his proposal. I know everyone here has already heard the news, but it gives me great pleasure to announce the guests of honour, Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy. I know you will join me in wishing them every possible happiness.” He led the group in applause, which ended up sounding quite thunderous.
Darcy led Elizabeth to the head of the lines forming for the first set of dances. “In my excitement to see these heirlooms gracing your neck and wrist and ears, I neglected to tell you that you look beautiful, Elizabeth.”
“You are quite beautiful yourself, sir. And somehow you have managed to look so without diamonds.”
“I hope you realise that the jewels are enhanced by your beauty, not the other way around.”
“Oh, my goodness, how am I to believe such flattery?”
“Consider the source, madam. I am known for honesty to the point of bluntness. I only speak the truth tonight, as always.”
The music began, and the two danced as if there were no others at the ball. Even when the steps separated them, and they were required to interact with another, they only had eyes for each other.
There were a good many murmurs that passed through the crowd during the dancing, and they continued as the first dance ended and the dancers waited to begin again, but Elizabeth and Darcy paid the whispers no mind.
During the second set, Elizabeth danced with Mr Bingley, and Darcy danced with their hostess.
Elizabeth had a good time chatting with Mr Bingley, but she noticed that Darcy continued to stare at her and did not seem to answer any of Miss Bingley’s chatter.
During the third and fourth sets, he stood against the wall and watched Elizabeth dance with neighbours and friends.
His face was calm, but his eyes were as intense as usual.
During the fifth set, which Elizabeth had claimed was to be saved for a family friend, Darcy and Elizabeth went to the spot where Lydia and Georgiana sat next to Mr Bennet.
The girls were whispering and giggling, and Elizabeth thought that Georgiana only looked a bit reticent rather than deeply shy.
Darcy seemed even more proud of his sister than usual, and Elizabeth was pleased to feel proud of Lydia, as well.
The supper dance found Elizabeth back in Darcy’s arms again, to their mutual delight. As they moved into the supper room, Elizabeth heard a few surprising words amongst the low-voiced chattering and gossip: “I have never seen him upset before, let alone so upset.”
“Nor her. He always smiles, and she always smiles. But not tonight!”
Elizabeth pulled Darcy into the two chairs nearest them and whispered, “Pray, find your sister and I will save a seat for her, if you would.”
He moved away promptly, but his eyes looked uneasy, and she wondered if he had heard the same words.
Somehow, she felt certain that the chatter had been about Mr Bingley and Jane— definitely a leap of imagination, given the paucity of evidence.
Still, in all of Hertfordshire, the words ‘never seen him upset before’ seemed only appropriate to Mr Bingley, and ‘she always smiles’ seemed only appropriate to Jane.
Elizabeth looked around to see if she could spot their host or her elder sister, and she could see neither.
Mr Goulding was wandering about, looking a bit concerned, as if he had mislaid his betrothed.
Miss Bingley sat at the table at the front of the room, next to her sister and brother-in-law, and the seat next to her was empty.
When Georgiana and Darcy returned, Elizabeth gave her soon-to-be sister a hug and asked how she had enjoyed the ball. She was happy to see the girl’s eyes dance as she said how much she had enjoyed her father’s humour and her sister’s fashion sense.
“And I believe you are going to host Lydia upstairs after supper?” Elizabeth asked. “Do you suppose that either of you will get a few minutes of sleep?”
“Actually, we will be accompanied by my maid, and my companion will be sleeping in the next room, so I have a feeling that we will, in fact, sleep…but not, perhaps, right away.” She giggled again and said, “I feel so blessed that you have come into our lives, Elizabeth.”
As Georgiana addressed her food, Elizabeth leant towards Darcy. She whispered straight into his ear, “I am a bit concerned about some chatter I heard, and the absence of Mr Bingley and Jane. Have you noticed anything?”
“I have noticed exactly what you have noticed. But I suppose they are adults, and we should attempt to enjoy our evening rather than take on responsibility for search and rescue, yet again.”
Elizabeth could not prevent laughter from bubbling over. She said softly, “I suppose we do tend to take on more responsibility than we ought.”
“We both act the saviour, at times, to our credit, but we must allow others to make mistakes.”
“I wish you could kiss me right now.”
“Not as much as I wish I could kiss you.”
When people were done eating, the sound of so many conversations swelled in volume, and Elizabeth was relieved to see Mr Bingley enter the room and say, “I believe we are ready to resume dancing?”
Darcy and Elizabeth kissed Georgiana’s forehead and wished her good night, and Elizabeth squeezed Lydia in a tight hug, as well; Georgiana’s companion had come down to escort the girls upstairs.
Darcy said, “Miss Elizabeth, allow me to introduce you to Mrs Annesley, Georgiana’s companion. Mrs Annesley, this is my betrothed, Miss Elizabeth Bennet. “
The women smiled and curtseyed; as they uttered polite words of acknowledgement, their eyes met. Elizabeth felt very good about what she saw of the woman, who would, after all, soon be a part of her own household.
That thought took some time to process, but Elizabeth was whisked off by Mr Goulding for their promised dance, and she immediately forgot about Mrs Annesley when he asked her, “Do you know where Jane is?”
“Oh! I looked for her when the supper began, but I did not see her. I found myself so busy, I did not attempt to find her, but you must admit that the supper room was quite a crush.”
“It was,” he agreed. “I hope she is well. Might we interrupt our dance, and you could look in the retiring room for me?”
His expression was pinched with concern. Originally, Elizabeth’s thoughts about Jane being missing was that she might be arguing with Mr Bingley. But the host was back and dancing with Sarah Long, so she supposed that Jane might be in the retiring room.
“Certainly we can do that,” Elizabeth said. She allowed Mr Goulding to escort her out of the dance formation and, once they were in the hall, she said, “If you stay there, I will come right back to tell you if I found her.”
“Please do,” he said. Mr Goulding had never been a favourite of Elizabeth’s; when they were young playmates, he had been bossier than a child ought to be; and when they were older, he had remained more judgemental than she liked—there had been that time he called her a hoyden!
—but she felt quite happy that he showed his concern for her sister.
Elizabeth hurried into the retiring room. Jane was indeed there, crouched over a basin, retching.
“Oh, Jane! Was it something you ate or drank?”
Sounding miserable, Jane said, “I fear it is. I hope nobody else becomes ill.”
“I left Mr Goulding out there, worried sick for you; I will tell him you are indisposed, and have him fetch Mama and Papa to take you home.”
“Thank you!”
Mr Goulding was grateful to Elizabeth and concerned for Jane, and he hurried off to find the Bennet parents and to arrange for their carriage to come.
When Elizabeth told Darcy what had happened, he said, “Mr Bingley arranged a special surprise for us, for the last dance, so if you please, I should love you to remain until the end, with me, and then I will take you home to Longbourn in my carriage.”
Elizabeth felt a jolt of excitement, mostly for the possibility of having a bit of privacy with her intended during the carriage ride, but also for whatever the surprise might be.