18. Gracechurch Street—Monday, 25 December 1809 #2
Elizabeth was heartened to see William’s warm gaze, and several people nodded in apparent agreement with her words.
She continued, “It is decidedly odd to be asked about a couple unknown to me, by someone unknown to me, from this distance down the table, at a Christmas Day dinner at an earl’s house, no less—and yet I see expressions of curiosity directed my way, so I will continue the absurdity by speaking to the entire assembly, as well.
The particulars of your question suggest that you actually mean to interrogate me about my own courtship with Mr Darcy.
If my understanding is correct, since I know the particulars of this courtship, I can easily answer you.
There were no arts involved, and certainly no allurements, as you can see.
” Elizabeth used her hands to playfully indicate herself and smiled prettily, sweeping all the diners with her eyes.
“What drew Mr Darcy to me, and me to him, were several shared interests, years of correspondence about one of those shared interests by way of my father, and—this is the magical part that cannot be readily explained—a push from destiny.”
“Destiny?” the blonde lady asked. She was blushing—and well she might, from her poor behaviour—and the expressions on the other diners varied from amused to appalled. Elizabeth could see that the countess was quite vexed, and William looked proud. They exchanged warm smiles.
William, too, spoke up, addressing the blonde loudly enough to be heard by everyone.
“Destiny played an important part, Miss Carrington. Miss Bennet and I had occasion to meet two times, with her father, regarding our correspondence on glasshouse horticulture. Then we were surprised to meet by chance several more times. We ended up discovering another shared interest. Each time I saw her, I assumed that I would never see Miss Bennet again, but then fate managed to bring us together in yet another location. Naturally, I soon realised that we were meant to be together.”
He sent a dazzling smile Elizabeth’s way.
She felt the collective stupefaction of the group, and she wondered if people were more surprised by the fact that William spoke of such an irrational force as destiny, or that he spoke at all.
She was convinced that the main reason people were stunned was because they had never before seen such a beautiful smile as his.
The countess began to speak in a low voice to the dark-haired lady to her right, and everyone emulated her by entering into the sort of lower-volume chatter common at dinner tables.
As Elizabeth spoke to the older gentlemen to either side of her, she noticed that William had turned his back to the blonde and only spoke with the raven-haired beauty to his left.
She could not feel the least bit jealous, because he sent frequent glances and smiles her way.
The blonde who had asked Elizabeth about Baron Fletcher looked miserable because she was ignored by all.
After the meal was completed and a brief separation of the sexes, the countess suggested that, on such a joyous day as Christmas, there ought to be some dancing. She asked one of the older ladies to play the pianoforte, and William naturally asked Elizabeth to dance with him.
It was their first chance to dance together, and Elizabeth felt quite grateful to her intended’s aunt for the opportunity. A Scotch reel was chosen, and only five couples participated—in part because there were far more ladies than men in attendance.
After a brief break, and with another of the older ladies now sitting to play, an English country dance was called for by the countess, and she asked the accompanist to play Christmas Eve. William asked, “Aunt, will you do me the honour of dancing with me?”
Elizabeth grinned as his aunt made a motion towards the lady to whom William had spoken at dinner, but that lady’s father had just solicited her hand, so Lady Matlock accepted his suggestion, and they headed the line.
The colonel made eye contact with Elizabeth and began to walk towards her, but the blonde lady whose question had temporarily made her a persona non grata stopped him, and he ended up partnering her.
Elizabeth laughed to see the face he pulled, and she wondered what on earth the lady could have said to produce that expression.
Georgiana had not yet danced, and Elizabeth did something she had done often at Meryton assemblies—she asked, “Can we make a little circle dance over here? We will be in nobody’s way.”
“Oh! Yes, I would enjoy that,” Georgiana said, and she gladly took Elizabeth’s hands. The music began, and they skipped about, Elizabeth leading with several of the familiar dance steps adapted to the small circle.
“I used to dance that way with my three sisters,” the raven-haired lady said. “May I join you?”
“Of course!” Elizabeth said. She smiled warmly as they included her in the small circle, but soon several other ladies joined in, as well, and Georgiana began to giggle as there were occasional missteps within the improvised dance.
When the song was over, one of the ladies called for Sir Roger de Coverley, and all of the young ladies other than the blonde gathered in a circle.
Elizabeth approached the blonde lady and invited her as well.
Returning Elizabeth’s welcoming smile with an uncertain one of her own, she did join in, and all the young ladies had every appearance of enjoying the clapping, skipping dance.
As it was getting late, people began to leave. The colonel approached Elizabeth again and squeezed both of her hands between his as he said softly, “You were brilliant tonight, Miss Bennet! I can see why Darcy snapped you up, I have barely known you, and I am half in love with you already!”
She laughed and shook her head. “You sound as if you take great pleasure in spreading disorder and mayhem everywhere you go.”
“True, true,” he replied. “But, honestly, my mother has been converted from being your biggest detractor to being a grudging supporter.”
“Thank you? I think?” Elizabeth laughed again. “I sense disorder, sir. Mayhem galore. I shall have to work on building my tolerance for such.”
The colonel laughed, and the sound boomed far too loudly even for a Christmas gathering. Elizabeth was happy that William had collected Georgiana and Mrs Annesley. The four of them soon thanked and farewelled the earl and the countess and started on their way to Gracechurch Street.