Chapter 28 #2
In July, although the Season was essentially over, Elizabeth received an invitation to one last ball.
It was unlikely she would see Mr. Darcy or even the Bingleys at this time of year.
She had evaded them quite well in the months since Jane had returned to Longbourn.
Elizabeth would have declined the invitation, though, had Aunt Gardiner not intervened.
The ball was hosted by an old friend, and although Aunt could not go so soon after Joseph’s birth, she wished Elizabeth to attend so arranged for Edith’s mother to chaperone her.
Mrs. Cage was only in town for a few more days, due to her husband’s business, and she was elated to appear at one more ball.
After arriving at the private residence and greeting her hostess, Elizabeth immediately found a couple of friends who would be leaving town a few days later.
Soon, she was dancing, although she did not feel as energetic as she had with Priscilla and Edith beside her.
She must be honest. Even now, she experienced the resurgence of her feelings over losing Mr. Darcy’s friendship, which hurt more after an excess of a year than any harm Mr. Cage had done a month ago.
Fearing she was not good company at present, when the set ended, she made her way to another room where she found a convenient alcove and leaned against a wall to regather her cheerful demeanor.
As voices approached, she almost revealed her hidden presence until she recognized the speakers.
“Darcy, come with me to King’s Place tonight after this dreadful ball,” she heard Mr. Bingley say. “I have heard Mrs. Hayes has a luxurious home in St. James’s.
“Do you know what that place is?” Mr. Darcy chuckled.
“Of course I do. It is a place of entertainment and exercise for gentleman.”
“Bingley, you make it sound like Gentleman Jackson’s, but I assure you, a boxing match is far more gentlemanly than the activities of a brothel.
” Mr. Darcy’s humor had turned to disgust, and Elizabeth barely stifled a gasp to hear of Mr. Bingley’s plans.
He was courting Jane, and he would…he would.
Elizabeth’s cheeks warmed, though she did not truly know what went on at a brothel.
“You cannot tell me you have never been there yourself,” Mr. Bingley said.
“I certainly can! And how can you think of it when you are courting Miss Bennet?”
“Really, Darce! She has returned to the country and will never know. I have finally taken my degree and mean to celebrate. Tell me you will join me before you take your sister back to Pemberley on Thursday; if you do not care for King’s Place, tell me of a brothel more suited to your fine tastes.
I had heard Mrs. Hayes owns perfectly respectable establishments, but—”
“Bingley, no brothel is respectable, and that is hardly a way to celebrate your great achievement at Oxford.”
“So you go to widows, then? Or do you have a mistress? I cannot believe we have never discussed this before. Is this why you are satisfied to be in the country for so long?”
Elizabeth had long-since outstayed any accidental eavesdropping, but she could not escape now without drawing their notice.
She was not sure she wanted to hear Mr. Darcy’s answer.
He was an arrogant man who had used her friendship ill.
She realized in this moment, though, that she had not lost all respect for him.
Would she lose it now? That depended entirely on this conversation she only partially understood.
“Bingley.” Mr. Darcy sighed heavily. “We have not discussed it, I suppose, because there is nothing to discuss.”
“You really will not tell me?” Mr. Bingley sounded as though he was getting upset. He also sounded as though he may be in his cups.
“Because I have nothing to tell, man!” Mr. Darcy also sounded annoyed but perfectly sober. “I have never…My father taught me to guard a lady’s virtue, not take it.”
“But widows and whores are not virtuous, Darcy.”
“Perhaps not, but they are still women, and I will maintain my own virtue.” Elizabeth was impressed by the conviction in Mr. Darcy’s voice.
“Look, Bingley. I realize many gentlemen feel differently, but as I said, my father gave me stricter principles, for various reasons, and I will not treat women as playthings. If that is all Miss Bennet is or will be to you, then I suggest you cease courting her—”
“Surely—”
“—or at least discover what her own views on the subject are. Some wives, I know, turn a blind eye…”
“Very well, Darcy. I will think upon it.”
“And tonight? Perhaps you should retire. You are too far gone to celebrate more than you already have, I fear.”
“I will go home. You need not worry. You have ruined my chance for diversion tonight.”
The rest of their words were muted, and Elizabeth realized they had moved away.
She knew not how long she remained where she was.
She was appalled by Mr. Bingley’s intentions, sick for Jane, grateful Mr. Darcy had stopped his friend from betraying her cousin.
Though they were not engaged, it would still have been a betrayal.
Had Mr. Darcy been honest in all he said?
He had no reason to lie, and he had sounded earnest.
Oh, why did she have to learn something good of him when she was determined to dislike him?
Something good? She scoffed at herself. To find a man of no more than common decency should not raise him in her opinion.
Surely his views were the norm. Neither Uncle Bennet nor Uncle Gardiner were unfaithful to their wives.
Mr. Darcy was not a pillar of virtue; it was only that Mr. Bingley, who had briefly been as a brother and who she hoped would be again, had very nearly sunk himself in her opinion.
She could not long fool herself that Mr. Darcy’s virtue was as common as it should be, however.
How could she when she spent so many hours each week at the Foundling Hospital and saw the results of the lack of virtuous behavior?
She herself was such a result. She could not help but be proud of Mr. Darcy, because he had once been her friend, for not contributing to the number of children at the hospital.
Should she tell Jane what she had overheard? It sounded as though Mr. Darcy had exerted his influence over his friend, so perhaps she need not intervene.
Elizabeth soon had cause to wonder what else Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley had discussed before the former went to his northern home. Not three weeks passed before Jane wrote that Mr. Bingley had visited Longbourn after all. They were engaged.
Darcy and Georgiana rode out together most mornings since their return home two months prior.
They ate most of their meals together, and she played for him whenever he had no outside engagements.
He absorbed her chatter about schoolmates and her studies contentedly.
They discussed the possibility of her leaving school after one or two more terms. He also appreciated the permission she gave him to remain silent more often than not.
Foremost in his mind was Elizabeth, as usual.
The Bingleys and society in general had also occupied too many of his thoughts of late.
Between Miss Bingley spreading lies about Elizabeth and her brother having to be reprimanded into choosing virtue, he wondered what their parents had taught them.
They had been younger than he had been when losing their second parent, but they had been old enough for core principles to have been planted firmly.
He prayed Bingley, who had written of his engagement a month earlier, would be faithful to Miss Bennet.
If he learned otherwise, he was unsure he could stomach a continuation of their friendship.
Not all of his friends made choices like his own, but not all of his friends would be in the position of near-brother to Elizabeth.
As in years past, Darcy once again worked side-by-side with his tenants to make repairs to their small homes.
He had always shared a camaraderie with these men that he did not feel for other people of birth so far below his own.
This summer, however, he caught himself daydreaming as he worked.
Mr. Hall was a fine father and a hard worker.
His daughter, who was twelve, was modestly and neatly dressed.
Darcy had seen Miss Hall teaching her younger brother and sister to read.
He could not help but see Elizabeth in such a situation.
Would it have been so bad for her to grow up in this way?
The Hall family was among the happiest he had ever known.
Mrs. Hall supported her husband and cared for their children.
She was industrious and kind. As he spoke more to them while assisting with extensive repairs on their home, Darcy found he respected both Mr. Hall and his wife far more than most of the people he had interacted with in London this Season.
He shook his head and laughed at himself. He had alternately been trying to deny or justify his love for Elizabeth for almost eighteen months. This would not do. He could not pretend tenant farmers were his equals.