Chapter 43
Mr Bingley arrived at the house on Connaught Place the next morning at the start of visiting hours.
While he was not the only suitor looking to call on Jane, he was the most ill-favoured by their mother.
Elizabeth also had callers, but like Jane, she had not felt any real interest in any of the many young gentlemen she had danced with.
Mr Bingley had more than one major issue to overcome in trying to court Jane.
Firstly, he had to try to undo the harm he had caused by leaving Netherfield without a proper farewell, having raised the expectations of all in the neighbourhood that he would be seeking a courtship.
Secondly, he had to try to mitigate the ill-judged comments by his sister at Lady Matlock’s ball, and, more particularly, towards the modiste.
No one, not even Jane, was willing to aid him in either endeavour.
He sat stiffly on the settee, holding a posy of roses, watching as another suitor provided her with a rare orchid and compared her beauty to the flower.
Elizabeth could see Mr Bingley looking at his pink roses with dissatisfaction, but Elizabeth knew that Jane was unlikely to be swayed by this piece of flattery.
Elizabeth’s own suitor had come with a mixed bunch of wildflowers, an unconventional choice, which showed he had some inkling of Elizabeth’s personality, as well he should, for she had told him about her love of nature and walking.
Percy Merville was the first son of Viscount Worthington, and he had a lively air and features which were engaging, if not exactly handsome.
Elizabeth liked him and thought she would not mind getting to know him better.
Jane’s caller was a viscount in his own right; his father having passed away two years previously.
Viscount Williamson was tall and handsome, and Elizabeth thought, entirely too full of his own importance.
Jane had danced with him the previous evening, and she had told Elizabeth that she felt more like a decoration than a person.
Elizabeth could see what Jane meant, for the way he looked at her held nothing of interest and everything of avariciousness.
When the Viscount and Mr Merville had completed their allotted time, Mr Bingley and another gentleman whom Elizabeth had danced with, but whose name she could not recall, took their places.
Elizabeth hardly had any attention left for her caller, because she was interested in hearing what Mr Bingley would say to Jane.
There was also another reason she was interested in Mr Bingley.
She hoped that there would be an opportunity to ask after Mr Darcy.
She felt it would not be either improper or unusual to ask after him, given that they had all attended a ball at his aunt’s house the previous evening.
The opportunity came at the end of his visit, as both gentlemen rose to withdraw from the drawing room.
Mr Bingley turned to Elizabeth and expressed joy at seeing her again, and wished her well.
Elizabeth replied similarly but explained how surprised she had been that Mr Darcy had not been in attendance the previous evening.
Mr Bingley explained that Mr Darcy had decided to return to Derbyshire, wishing to spend some time with his sister, Georgiana.
Such a reply was neither completely true nor wholly false, but it was the answer Mr Darcy had told Mr Bingley to give to anyone who questioned his unexpected absence from the season.
It was an answer that explained nothing and satisfied Elizabeth not at all.
Jane and Elizabeth attended many more balls and soirées during their first season in London.
Mr Merville continued with his attentions to Elizabeth until she felt he was beginning to feel some affection for her, after which she hinted delicately that her heart was not engaged.
He took her rejection easily and seemed gratified that she had not allowed his interest to continue unmatched.
Jane continued to have many callers, one of whom was Mr Bingley, but she remained guarded in her encouragement to him.
As the season drew to a close, neither Jane nor Elizabeth wished to continue any interactions with any of the gentlemen who had expressed an interest in them.
Mrs Bennet remarked that it was all well, as it was only their first season and they did not need to be in any rush to choose husbands.
Such sentiment recalled Elizabeth to the time before Jane’s first being out in Meryton, when Mrs Bennet had said the complete opposite.
And so the Bennet family arranged to leave London and return to Longbourn, knowing that they had made some valuable connections which would ease their next season in town.
Mrs Bennet was well pleased with this first step into London society, but it took Elizabeth some time to understand her own dissatisfaction with the season.
It was only as the carriage wheels clattered over the entrance to Longbourn that Elizabeth knew it was because Mr Darcy had not been there.