Chapter 4
Assembly Hall
Meryton
That Evening
Fitzwilliam Darcy blew out an irritated breath and took a step backward so that he was standing by a large potted plant.
He had expected this evening to be a pleasant and relaxing one, with perhaps a few glasses of wine and a game of billiards followed by an early night in his comfortable guest chamber.
Instead, he had been informed only three hours previously that Bingley wished to attend a local assembly.
Although Miss Bingley had offered to stay at Netherfield with Darcy for the evening, that would be significantly worse than holding up the wall here in this little rustic assembly hall in the middle of nowhere.
The last thing he wanted was to encourage his friend’s sister to assume that there was some level of intimacy between him and her.
He sighed and looked around with jaded eyes.
It was, he supposed, very much like the assemblies in the village of Lambton near his estate of Pemberley, but he had never attended such dances, and never would, and why did he have to be here?
He appreciated Bingley’s friendliness and ductility of temper, but really, there was such a thing as being too amiable.
As he brooded on his ill fortune, his eyes found his friend on the dance floor, where he was dancing with an exquisitely beautiful blonde-haired lady for the second time.
Darcy wrinkled his nose with disapprobation.
It was unwise of Bingley to dance with a lady more than once, as it would raise expectations in the neighborhood, but the younger man had always had a particular attraction to blonde-haired, blue-eyed ladies…
The music came to a flourishing end, and the dancers clapped before breaking ranks.
Many of the dancers made their way toward the table of refreshments on the back wall, while others wandered over to join the matrons who were arranged along the edge of the room.
Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst were seated side by side on chairs near the entrance door, and Mr. Hurst had disappeared, probably having found a room for the gentlemen wishing to play cards.
He wondered where Bingley had got himself to… .
“Darcy!” his friend’s familiar voice cried out from his right, and he suppressed an urge to cringe behind the potted plant itself.
Doubtless he wished for him to mingle, and he did not want to!
He straightened his back and turned to face his friend, his chin lifted, his countenance set with determination.
“Bingley,” he acknowledged.
“Come, Darcy,” Bingley said, his handsome face flushed with pleasure, “I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance.”
“I certainly shall not,” Darcy returned.
“You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. I already danced with your sisters, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.”
“I would not be so fastidious as you are,” cried Bingley, “for a kingdom! Upon my honor, I have never met with so many pleasant girls in my life as I have this evening, and there are several of them, you see, uncommonly pretty.”
“You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,” said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet, who was standing next to an older woman who was, based on their similarity in countenance, almost certainly her mother.
“Oh, she is the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.”
“Which do you mean?” he asked, and then he turned around and looked at a young, dark-haired woman seated on a chair some feet away.
After a brief inspection of her face and person, turned back and said, “She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me, and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.”
Bingley looked startled and then frowned. “Well, in that case, I will ask that she honor me with the next dance.”
“As you wish,” Darcy said coolly.
***
A Few Minutes Later
“I hope you are enjoying your time tonight, Mr. Bingley,” Elizabeth said as she and her partner came to a halt at the end of the line.
“I am, very much,” Bingley replied with an exuberant smile. “I declare that I have never met pleasanter people in my life. Everyone has been most kind and attentive to me, and I appreciate the lack of formality and stiffness.”
“Our community is, perhaps, a small one,” Elizabeth said, “but we are friendly and very pleased to have Netherfield occupied at last.”
“As for me, I cannot imagine finding a more suitable estate for my purposes,” Bingley replied.
It was time to begin dancing down the line again, and the pair whirled and twirled in perfect amity.
The gentleman was all that was charming and delightful, and the only thing Elizabeth could hold against Mr. Bingley was that he was friends with the proud and arrogant Mr. Darcy.
She had already heard from Lady Lucas that the man was master of a great estate worth some ten thousand pounds a year in income, which was, without a doubt, most impressive.
It did not excuse his poor manners, though, not at all.
***
Jane’s Bedchamber
Longbourn
Later
Elizabeth unbuttoned her elder sister’s gown, helped Jane out of it and into a nightgown, and then took her sister’s robe, which was warming near the fire, and handed it to her.
“Thank you,” Jane said gratefully as she inserted her arms into the sleeves and then tied the belt around her waist. “Do you wish to go to sleep now, or would you like to talk?”
“I would like to talk,” Elizabeth said, making her way over to the small settee drawn up by the fire. She had already changed into her night attire, but while she was physically tired, her thoughts were still racing after the assembly.
Jane sat down beside her and said, “I am sorry about Mr. Darcy’s cruel words, Lizzy. He was both rude and stupid, as you are very pretty.”
Elizabeth shrugged and said, “I am irritated by his remarks, but no more. He is obviously disagreeable and too proud for his company, which makes me wonder why he attended at all. But enough of Mr. Darcy; what do you think of Mr. Bingley?”
Jane smiled and said, “He is just what a young man ought to be; sensible, good-humored, lively; and I never saw such happy manners, with so much ease, and with such perfectly good breeding!”
“He is also quite handsome,” Elizabeth said with a grin, and Jane’s cheeks darkened in the soft light of the fire.
“He is,” Miss Bennet agreed softly. “Not that I am expecting that we will make a match of it, but at a minimum he will be a pleasant neighbor. I only hope that Mamma does not chase him away by speculating about a potential marriage between the two of us!”
“I hope so too,” Elizabeth said and then reached out to take Jane’s left hand in her right. “At least we will always have a home and income from Emerald Island, so regardless of what happens, none of us will be reduced to penury.”
“That is a definite relief,” Jane acknowledged.