Chapter 10
Charles had once thought of Darcy as ‘top of the trees’ and tended to overlook his bad behaviour.
Since his friend was older and more experienced than Charles, he had previously kept to his own counsel despite Darcy’s frequent lapses in propriety.
But now he could no longer ignore that his friend was sometimes rude, or downright surly.
He had finally reached his limit and had called Darcy to account.
Charles had never lost his temper in such a fierce manner before, but he couldn’t be sorry that he had voiced his opinion about Darcy’s incivility. To his credit, Darcy had admitted his error and was eager to make amends.
However, as the men joined Caroline, Louisa, and Miss Elizabeth in the drawing room, Charles regretted his outburst. How hypocritical he had been to chastise his friend’s poor conduct when he had failed to correct his sisters’ horrid manners these last few years.
If he’d taken a firmer stance with them, they wouldn’t have embarrassed him on innumerable occasions in the past, and worse yet, in his new home.
Now blue-devilled, Charles declined to play cards, but Darcy and Henry agreed to play piquet. Louisa sat with them to observe their game while Miss Elizabeth worked on an embroidery project, and Caroline wandered around the room in search of her own amusement.
Before disaster had struck, Darcy had spent many evenings lost in the pages of a book.
Although Darcy was an avid reader, Charles suspected his friend had employed this tactic as a means of avoiding Caroline’s relentless attention.
Determined to follow Darcy’s example, Charles took up a book and devoted his attention to it.
While reading wasn’t his favourite pastime, he hoped for a reprieve from his inquisitive sister.
Naturally, Caroline’s need for attention compelled her to speak. “I trust Miss Darcy is well.”
“Quite well.” Despite being unaware the contents of the letter, Charles assumed that much was true.
“Louisa and I are extraordinarily fond of her. Does she send any news from town?”
Charles kept his eyes focused on the page. “Nothing to signify.”
“I’m quite in raptures with her beautiful little design for a table.”
“Hmm.” Despite not having read a single word, he turned the page.
Still, she persisted. “Will she remain in town for Christmas or will she go to Pemberley?” she inquired, allowing her skirts to brush his legs as she passed by.
Charles inhaled sharply at her overt gesture. Despite his disgust of her forward behaviour, he remained silent.
“Is it not wonderful that the holiday season is already drawing near?” Louisa inquired.
“Oh my, yes,” Caroline said in the highest spirits. “I do so look forward to the Montgomery’s Christmas ball every year. Will you be attending, Mr Darcy?”
Charles could scarcely believe that she continued to pester him when he had made it abundantly clear that he was otherwise engaged.
This, of course, should come as no surprise since she had done exactly the same to Darcy these past few weeks.
Accustomed to tuning her out, Charles had paid little heed to her in the past, but now with her encroaching behaviour brought so forcefully to his notice, he couldn’t deny that he had erred.
It was no wonder that Darcy faulted him for not taking better control of her.
“How lovely Pemberley must be in the summer.”
Charles wondered if there was some way to make himself invisible.
After all, if a fellow could change places with someone else, didn’t it also stand to reason that he could make himself disappear altogether?
If he’d been given the choice, he certainly would have chosen that option over being Fitzwilliam Darcy.
But then, hadn’t he wanted to be master of his own estate, just like Darcy? Had he brought this entire fiasco on himself by aspiring to a gentleman’s lifestyle?
Caroline passed by again. “How refreshing it is to take a turn around the room, especially after sitting in one attitude for so long. Will you not join me, Mr Darcy?”
Darcy finally intervened. “You’re quite the chatterbox this evening, Caroline. I’m sure Darcy appreciates your constant interruptions while he’s trying to read.”
Caroline released a beleaguered sigh, abandoned her exercise, and sat down. Unfortunately, her silence was short lived. “Will you play for us, Miss Eliza?”
Miss Elizabeth glanced up from her embroidery. “If you like.”
“Oh yes, you play so delightfully,” she said in a cheerful tone.
Miss Elizabeth sat at the pianoforte and played a piece from memory. With peace finally restored, Charles closed his eyes and relaxed as music filled the room. How satisfying to have a tranquil moment when Caroline was not the centre of attention.
Miss Elizabeth’s playing was not as precise as his sisters’ but still quite pleasing.
Of course, since he had no music skills of his own, he could hardly criticise hers.
He could well imagine that she must have devoted hours to perfect her skills, as all students of music must do.
At one point, she stumbled through a chord, but she persevered.
“We are blessed with such accomplished guests, are we not?” Caroline said with a serene smile.
Although perturbed by his sister’s pretentions, Charles could only blame himself. He knew what Caroline was about when he had asked her to join him at Netherfield and serve as his hostess. He ought to have known that she would embarrass him with her polite disdain.
To make matters worse, he had invited Darcy to stay with them, knowing that Caroline was keen to attract his notice. Naturally, he couldn’t have predicted that Darcy would prefer Miss Elizabeth, or that Caroline would be jealous of her.
How exhausting.
When Miss Elizabeth relinquished the instrument to Caroline and Louisa, Charles sat beside her, hoping to clear the air with her on Darcy’s behalf.
He waited until the singing began and spoke in a quiet voice.
“Miss Elizabeth, you must allow me to apologise for my intolerable behaviour at the assembly.”
Her face flushed pink, and she averted her focus to the carpet. “There’s no need, Mr Darcy. It’s better forgotten.”
“No, no, my incivility was unconscionable, and I sincerely beg your pardon. I shall not repeat the offence.”
She winced. “Of course. You must think nothing of it.”
He persisted, refusing to allow Darcy to escape accountability for his despicable actions. “I can’t bear to have sunk so low in your esteem.”
She finally met his gaze.
“You are everything lovely. Never doubt it.”
Her eyes held a lingering sorrow. “Thank you, Mr Darcy. I accept your apology, and now we may be comfortable with one another.”
“You’re too kind. I deserve your harshest reproach.”
Pursing her lips, she shook her head. “I’m afraid I must disappoint you, sir.”
“I hope we can be friends.”
“Of course,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
This would never do. “My sister would never forgive me if she knew how I behaved that night,” Charles said, searching desperately for a way to gain her acceptance.
“She’s still in the schoolroom and looks forward to attending her first assembly.
” At least he assumed that much about Miss Darcy was true.
“I’m certain she’ll enjoy dancing as much as my sisters and I do.”
This sparked an idea. “Since I owe you a dance, I’ll ask my sister to play a Scottish air.”
She furrowed her brow. “Do you mean Mr Bingley’s sister?”
Charles flinched at his unintended mistake. “Yes, if that meets with your approval.”
“I shall look forward to it, Mr Darcy.”
***
Darcy watched Elizabeth dance with Charles.
Hopefully this meant that she had forgiven him for his offence.
If he were being honest, he couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous.
He would have preferred being her partner, holding her hand, and enjoying her smiles.
But even if she had forgiven him, she was a far way off from holding him in esteem.
At least she no longer regarded him with cautious eyes.
After the ladies had retired for the evening, Charles suggested a nightcap.
“May I assume I was forgiven?” he inquired while his host poured the drinks.
“Yes. Miss Elizabeth was quite gracious about it, which is more than you deserve.”
“Thank you, Charles. I’m in your debt.”
“And I intend to collect,” Charles said, to which Henry chuckled.
Darcy took this to mean that he would be required to act in Charles’s stead with Miss Bennet.
“I can’t fathom what caused you to lose your temper that night,” Charles said as he passed the filled glasses to Darcy and Hurst.
He paused to sip his wine and contemplate this remark, but could find no reasonable explanation. “I suppose I was irritated at the time.”
Charles scoffed. “You were the only one. Everyone else had a grand time.”
“I hated having all eyes on me, with every matchmaking mother expecting me to favour their daughters with a dance,” he said, recalling his mood that night. “It was unnerving.”
“It’s just a dance, Darcy, not a marriage proposal,” Charles said in a mocking tone.
What Darcy didn’t say was that he had felt out of place that night. The crowd had been so loud and unruly. So unrefined in their country fashions. So unworthy of his attention.
He knew it was despicable, but there it was. A man accustomed to socialising in the highest circles, forced to mingle with his inferiors. He had made himself ridiculous by refusing all introductions and keeping only to his own party.
Yes, he was conceited, arrogant, superior and a host of other defects one might assign to him.
But here he was, Pemberley’s son and an earl’s grandson, in the body of a mill owner’s son, the worst comeuppance imaginable.
Besides losing his status, he had even lost his stature; Charles was at least three inches shorter than Darcy.
What’s worse, he had repulsed the only woman who had ever gained his notice.
He shook off such distracting thoughts and drained his glass. Why was he wasting time thinking about women when he ought to devote his thoughts to devising a plan to return to his true self?
Charles refilled their glasses. “What shall we drink to?” he inquired.
“Let’s drink to the ladies and the dance they all lead us through,” Hurst said with a chuckle.
“What do you mean, Henry?” Charles said. “We men lead the dance.”
Henry chuckled merrily. “If that’s what you believe, then you have no real understanding of the power women hold over us. Why else would we go out of our way to do something we deplore, just to please a woman and stay in her good graces?”
Darcy couldn’t disagree. “I suppose it’s all a dance, isn’t it?”
“Of course, and we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Hurst said, raising his glass once again.
Unfortunately, Darcy’s ability to win Elizabeth’s favour was quite impossible under the present circumstances. Nor could he even attempt pursuing her in his present form.
He waited until Hurst had retired for the night to suggest a walk out of doors. “Perhaps tonight we’ll find the answer that has eluded us.”
He called for their coats and hats, and they boldly ventured forth into the cold, moonless night. It quickly became apparent, that without the aid of torches or lanterns, this was a fruitless enterprise. “Perhaps we ought to have planned—oof.”
Charles hurtled into him, setting him off his feet, and he crashed to the ground with a jarring jolt. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his aching shoulder. “You might have warned me.”
“Sorry, old man, but I had to try it,” Charles said, then hauled him to his feet.
“I don’t blame you, but I’ve lost your hat again.”
Charles grabbed Darcy’s arm and led him back to the house. “Never mind, I’m too foxed to search for it now. One of the lads will fetch it. Let’s discuss our next plan tomorrow when we’re in better form.”
Ah yes, the plan. That evasive solution to the chaos that was now Darcy’s life. Guided by the light in the windows, they stumbled back to the house, and his thoughts turned to a lady inside. “Did she truly forgive me?”
“I think so, but who really knows? She’s unfailingly polite but may still be wary of you. You must not give her further cause to mistrust you.”
“I’ll rely on you, then, to ease her mind.”
“And you shall do the same with Miss Bennet when she finally regains her health.”
The front door opened before they reached the house. “Ah, Phillip, just the man I need,” Darcy said. “I’ve lost my hat out there somewhere. May I trouble you to retrieve it for me and bring it to Mr Henderson?”
“Certainly, Mr Bingley,” the footman said. “Give me your coats, and I’ll see to it immediately.”
“You’re an excellent fellow.” At least that was one problem easily solved. Unfortunately, the solution to his other dilemmas remained well beyond his reach.