Chapter 30
Longbourn
“This way, please,” the Bennets’ butler said and guided the Netherfield party down the corridor towards the drawing room.
Darcy, pacing at the back of the group, did his best to relax.
He disliked vulgarity and garrulousness and was fearful of both, given the behavior of Lady Bennet and Mr. Collins.
However, he felt it was his duty to come and see Miss Bennet and to observe her behavior toward his friend. Was she truly in love? Not that it really mattered, as the pair were engaged to be married, but he would feel better if he was convinced of Jane Bennet’s genuine adoration for Bingley.
He was also worried about Elizabeth Bennet.
The previous night had been magical, especially those few minutes when they had stood side by side as Darcy looked through the telescope at the night sky.
It had been too dark for him to see her face, though, and while her voice had seemed calm enough, he was concerned about her.
Was she wilting under the combined outrage of her mother and cousin?
The butler opened the door into the drawing room, and Darcy winced at the high-pitched tones that flowed out into the corridor.
“Lizzy will be made to see reason, I assure you! It is her duty, and yours, to join the…”
The mistress of the house fell silent, and the butler declared, “Mrs. Hurst, Miss Bingley, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Bingley.”
He entered the room and looked around quickly. Lady Bennet sat in a chair by the fire, and Mr. Collins was standing across from her, while Miss Bennet had cast aside her embroidery hoop and was on her feet, her shining eyes fixed on Bingley.
“Charles!” she cried out. “Good morning!”
“Good morning, my dearest Jane,” Bingley replied, stepping forward and lifting the lady’s hand to kiss it. “I hope you are well today?”
“I am very well,” she replied with a slight blush, and turned her lovely face on the other guests. “Miss Bingley, Mrs. Hurst, Mr. Darcy, thank you for coming.”
Caroline Bingley, rather to Darcy’s surprise, hurried forward to embrace her brother’s betrothed. “Do call me Caroline, please, for we will soon be sisters. I am so happy for you and Charles!”
If possible, Jane Bennet’s countenance grew even more lovely, and she said, “You must call me Jane, of course, and I know that Charles and I will be very happy together. Thank you!”
Darcy’s chest eased. Miss Bennet showed every sign of being genuinely in love with Bingley, and Miss Bingley was being surprisingly gracious.
“Mr. Darcy, sir, will you not sit down in this chair by the fire?”
He turned toward the parson, who was standing some ten feet away, his expression piteous, and he suppressed a grimace.
“Thank you,” he said coolly, “but I believe one of the ladies ought to sit there. Mrs. Hurst?”
Mrs. Hurst was notorious for being cold, and she hastily made her way to the proffered chair and took her seat. Miss and Mr. Bingley sat down on a settee across from Miss Bennet, while Darcy took a seat nearer to Lady Bennet and the standing Mr. Collins.
Darcy was not surprised that Miss Elizabeth was nowhere to be found, given that Lady Bennet was obviously upset with her second daughter. On the other hand, he was disappointed, as he was worried about her, and missed her.
Lady Bennet rang the bell at this moment, and a neat maid entered presently. “Phoebe, please bring tea.”
The girl bobbed her lace capped head and departed, and Caroline Bingley said, “Jane, I realize we are surrounded by gentlemen who are likely not interested in such matters, but I hope you are willing to spend time with me and Louisa to speak of wedding clothes. You are such a handsome creature that it would be a great pity if you were not decked out in the finest gown all of London has to offer for your wedding!”
“Oh, Miss Bingley, I agree entirely,” Lady Bennet said eagerly.
“Indeed, Jane and I really ought to go to London to visit the shops there. Mrs. Simmons in Meryton is well enough for ordinary gowns, but for your wedding gown? Oh, Jane, you would look marvelous in white with silver gauze! Do you not think so, Miss Bingley?”
Two maids entered at this moment with tea, and Lady Bennet changed position to better pour, and when everything had settled, Darcy found himself outside the main circle of ladies who were eagerly speaking of gowns and gauze and lace and the like.
Bingley did not seem distressed at all to be suddenly swept into a conversation about fashion, but instead he sat quietly, his eyes fixed worshipfully on Miss Bennet’s handsome countenance.
Darcy did not mind being silent, so he focused his attention on his tea, which was genuinely excellent, and glanced at the clock on the mantel.
They had been at Longbourn for ten minutes, which would usually mean that they would leave in twenty, but then again, Bingley was engaged to the eldest daughter of the house, and thus the normal conventions could be set aside.
He suddenly wished he had not come. He was not suited for long conversations with people he did not know well, and…
“Mr. Darcy?”
He turned to his left and blinked at Mr. Collins, who was now standing nearby. As soon as Darcy’s eyes fell on the rector’s face, the man bowed deeply, and when he had risen to his full height, he said, “I hope you are well today, sir?”
“I am,” he replied wearily.
“I am so very pleased,” Mr. Collins responded, his lips stretched in an anxious smile. “I wished to inform you that everyone at Rosings, and Hunsford as well, is eagerly looking forward to your visit next spring, especially Lady Catherine, my most wise and esteemed patroness.”
Darcy was tempted to say something dismissive, but the man was already in a tiresome mood, and it might possibly be beneficial to Miss Elizabeth if Darcy showed the man reasonable courtesy.
“I am looking forward to it as well,” he said, conventionally and untruthfully. Lady Catherine was an annoying hostess, and the only reason Darcy visited her every year was because of duty.
Collins bobbed again, and Darcy said hastily, “Will you not sit down?”
“Oh, yes, thank you, sir,” the parson replied, seating himself on a nearby chair.
“Mr. Darcy, I cannot tell you how much I admire and respect your family in general and your aunt in particular. She is so wise and yet so generous. She visited me in my parsonage only a fortnight ago, you know, and was pleased to advise that I have some shelves added to one of the upstairs closets! Such condescension on her part! Such perspicacity. Indeed…”
The ensuing conversation, which lasted a full forty minutes, was incredibly tedious, but sufficiently short on intellect that he was able to murmur banal responses at appropriate moments while thinking about something else; in this case, the possibility of introducing a new breed of sheep at Pemberley.
When Bingley finally rose to his feet, Darcy stood with enthusiasm and bid a hasty farewell before fleeing the house.
As the Netherfield party climbed back into the carriage in order to return to Netherfield Hall, Darcy found himself prey to two competing emotions.
One was disappointment at not laying eyes on Miss Elizabeth.
The other was relief that the bright, merry, intelligent second daughter of Longbourn had refused Mr. Collins’s offer.
Because, Darcy mused, the man was a complete and utter blockhead.
***
Longbourn
The Next Day
Nine O’clock in the Morning
7th December, 1811
Lady Bennet looked in the mirror as she tied on a fetching lace cap and took a moment to appreciate her still handsome reflection.
She would enjoy it while it lasted, for there was little doubt that she would soon be overset by Elizabeth's obstinacy, and her natural good looks would doubtless suffer as a result.
Nonetheless, she was determined to reason with her selfish younger daughter and opened her door to step out into a corridor still quiet with an early morning hush.
Lady Bennet scowled sourly as she headed for the main stairs.
She had never enjoyed rising early and did not make a habit of it, and she had been forced to instruct Phoebe, the girl who attended her, to wake her this morning.
It was an unnatural hour to get up, but Elizabeth had always been odd and habitually rose with the sun.
She had of late broken her fast and disappeared from the house by the time her mother had risen for the day.
It was an irritating mystery; where was the girl vanishing to all day?
She was not in her room or the library. Her mother had even sent a footman to look in the old attic rooms the previous day, but the man had found only dust.
Well, wherever Elizabeth was hiding, she still had to eat, and Lady Bennet intended to stay in the breakfast room all morning, if that was what it took.
She would speak some sense into her wayward, selfish daughter!
It was true that Mr. Collins had not yet risen and put in an appearance, but Lady Bennet had begun to suspect on the previous evening that she would be more successful in persuading her own daughter without the presence of Elizabeth's prospective husband.
It was correct, Lady Bennet acknowledged fair-mindedly, that their cousin was neither a handsome man nor a sensible man, but the fact remained that he was the heir of Longbourn and would be master of the estate when Sir Thomas passed on to his eternal reward.
Surely Elizabeth could understand that these circumstances elevated Mr. Collins from a less than desirable parti as a mere rector to the perfect husband for the second daughter of Longbourn!