Vol 1, Chapter 2 #3
Darcy went up to his chambers where Carstens was waiting for him.
He soaked in the tub and then his valet assisted him in dressing.
When he arrived in the drawing room, Bingley informed him of their social obligation that night.
Darcy was none too happy when his friend revealed that an invitation to the local assembly had been accepted on behalf of the whole party.
At first Darcy claimed he was too tired, but as soon as Miss Bingley heard that Darcy would not be attending the assembly, she offered to stay at Netherfield with him.
Bingley was not surprised when Darcy suddenly found the assembly attractive enough to want to attend.
As was her wont, Miss Bingley descended the stairs almost an hour late, and in the most hideous, burnt orange gown with unseemly ostrich feathers included in her headdress, the pungent, and repugnant, scent that she had applied liberally preceding her.
It took all of Darcy's self-control not to cover his nose.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At Longbourn, the five Bennets were ready a little more than ten minutes before the scheduled departure time, and Mark was on hand to see his parents and sisters off, understanding that the ripe old age of eleven was slightly too young to join them for such an event.
The Hills and his governess, Miss Jones, would look after young Master Bennet while the family was away.
The Bennets arrived early and were happy to speak to their friends until the assembly commenced.
Priscilla Bennet sat with Lady Lucas, Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Goulding, and Mrs. Long, discussing their fundraising efforts.
Lady Sarah Lucas and Hattie Phillips were the only ones outside of the Bennet family who knew that most of the anonymous donations to the committee came from the Bennets.
As much as Lady Lucas and Mrs. Phillips both enjoyed gossiping, with regards to the Bennets nothing would induce them to break their silence or reveal their true situation.
Over the years the Bennets had confided in the Lucas parents, who were close friends.
Each lady could not help but smile inwardly when they heard the number of two thousand five hundred spoken about the Bennet girls’ dowries when they knew the true number was around fifty thousand pounds each.
Bennet was in a discussion about the war against the little tyrant with Sir William Lucas and Mr. Phillips, which had commenced after Phillips had confirmed that the message to the Bingleys had been delivered in a way that left no room for misunderstanding.
The three Bennet sisters were talking to Charlotte and Maria Lucas, Mandy and Cara Long, and Annette Goulding.
Most of the talk centred around the party from Netherfield and the numbers of men and women that would be in the party.
The number varied greatly depending on who was telling what they had heard from which particular reliable source.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
George Wickham was in a gambling hell in a rather seedy part of London.
He was down to his last five pounds, as the cards had not been in his favour.
Just when he was about to despair, he noticed a man in the scarlet coat of the militia and recognised him from the Lambton area.
Tim Denny would still have positive memories of him as he had not ruined Denny’s sister and did not owe the man money.
Wickham made his way across the smoke-filled hall and was pleased with the reaction he saw the moment Denny recognised him.
“Denny, when did you join the militia?” Wickham asked as they shook hands.
“That is Lieutenant Denny to you, Wickham,” Denny ribbed.
“How is life with—which unit are you with?” Wickham pressed.
A plan was forming. It could be worse; militia officers did not go to war, and he would get three square meals a day and be paid on top of it.
Besides, he was sure that there would be many suckers like Denny who he could relieve of their property and purses.
“The Derbyshire Militia is my unit. I am actually here on a recruiting trip. You were born in Derbyshire, so you would qualify if you were interested,” Denny informed Wickham.
“What is the cheapest commission?” Wickham asked.
“An ensign, seven and a half pounds. Do you have it?” Denny enquired.
“Sadly no, my friend. It is a long story, but I was cheated out of a clerical living, so I have but five pounds to my name.” Fearing the retribution that Darcy promised, Wickham omitted his name from his litany of woes.
“This is what I will do. I will put your name down and purchase the commission for you. We will be in the Town of Meryton in Hertfordshire in three weeks, so meet us there.” Denny shook Wickham’s hand again and was off.
Wickham would have to forego most of his usual activities until he left for Hertfordshire in order to make the last of his funds stretch.
At least he was staying at Mrs. Younge’s boarding house on Edward Street for free, for the stupid woman still fancied herself in love with him.