Chapter 31 Meeting
To Darcy, time slowed down, and the room seemed to fall absolutely silent, although, in actuality, Richard was still gasping a little for breath and trying to control the impulse to laugh again. In that odd moment of silence, nothing made sense and, at the same time, everything did.
Finally, he spoke. "Are you certain? I thought Miss Elizabeth Bennet was a strawberry blonde."
Richard snorted. "Whatever gave you that idea? None of the Bennets could be considered strawberry blonde."
"Every time I have seen Miss Jane Bennet, she has been with a young woman with strawberry-blonde hair and the two appeared to be interacting as sisters might."
Richard shrugged. "She must be a friend or relative I do not know.
You have seen for yourself that Jane's hair is a light golden color, and I think Lydia's is very similar.
Kitty's hair is darker, but definitely tends to brown, not red.
Elizabeth and Mary both have dark brown hair.
Trust me, I know that necklace you described and where it came from.
It, along with the matching earbobs, would only be worn by Elizabeth Bennet. "
"Oh," said Darcy, looking a bit deflated as he tried to make sense of what Richard had said. "Hmm, that must have been Miss Mary that I saw with Miss Elizabeth the time at Hatchard's. Bingley never described her to me, so I assumed she was a blonde like Miss Bennet as well."
"What does Bingley have to do with this?" Richard asked, genuinely confused by the comment.
Darcy explained a little sheepishly, "Bingley has been calling on Miss Mary since he met her at the same ball where I last saw Miss Elizabeth.
Since he knows the subject of the Bennet family is a sore one for me, he has told me very little about his calls except for his growing attraction to the young woman.
He is joining her and her London family for dinner at their home this evening," he added.
"Oh, this is rich!" his cousin chortled. "Yet another lost opportunity! Well, no more. There is time for a visit before standard dinner hours, and you really should meet the Gardiners anyway. We will get there fastest by horse, so go put on your riding boots."
"Right now?" Darcy asked, his surprise at the suggestion. It was hardly good manners to just drop in on the family, especially when he knew they were having a dinner party.
"When better?" Richard asked. "You do not want to give her a chance to disappear again. Have no fear. The Gardiners are excellent people. I have known them for years and consider them almost a part of my family. Courage, man. Faint heart never won fair lady, and all that."
Darcy made one more attempt to stall. "But…what will she think of me for arriving uninvited?"
With another chuckle, Richard said, "Seriously, Will, I think you should be far more worried about changing whatever it is she already thinks of you. She loves her family fiercely and you did not make a good showing by publicly insulting them or trying to drive a suitor away from her sister."
"Miss Bennet and Sir Barnaby are betrothed, by the way," Darcy said. "The wedding is in May."
"Well, good for Sir Barnaby. He is a lucky man, as are you. Had you succeeded in pushing him away from Jane, you would have no hope of ever gaining Miss Elizabeth's good opinion."
"Do you actually think I may have a chance with her?"
"Put on your riding boots, call for your horse, and we shall go find out," Richard said, standing and pointing to the door. "Now, Will, or we actually will rudely interrupt them at table."
~o~
As he rode beside his cousin on the way to Gracechurch Street, Darcy tried to make sense of his roiling emotions.
He should be absolutely elated. He had finally found someone who not only knew Miss Elizabeth, but he also knew where she was.
After all these months, very soon she would be standing in front of him again.
Her identity as a Bennet did not bother him much, although it certainly made things more complicated between them.
That, of course, was primarily his own doing, and he would have to find a way to make amends.
It also explained a great deal. She must have been both confused and angry that night at the assembly.
He could understand simply retreating rather than making a scene had he been in her place.
But would he have let the confusion go on for months?
The more he thought about it, the more he was willing to admit that, in her place, he might have.
After all, she had never claimed to be anyone else.
The mistake regarding her name was all on him.
However, that did not explain why no one else had been willing to enlighten him, particularly Viscount Rand.
Uncle Peter had to know. Even if he had not recognized the description, Darcy had mentioned the necklace that Richard thought was a sure indicator of her identity.
That meant his uncle had deliberately misled him, and Darcy wanted to know why.
He felt slightly sick realizing the whole situation could have been cleared up months ago and without the need to attend all those social events. Had he known, he would have gone to the Damask home while the Bennet sisters were still there and apologized to them in person.
On thinking about it, though, Darcy had to admit he should have gone to make his apology to the Bennet sisters whether one of them was his Miss Elizabeth or not.
He had failed in courtesy yet again. The apology he made through Mr. Damask had been a sad, paltry thing, barely worthy of the name.
That might explain why Miss Elizabeth had been unwilling to speak with him the night of the Parkhurst ball.
Would she be willing to speak with him now?
He was so lost in thought that he did not notice when Richard stopped his horse in front of the house on Gracechurch Street. His cousin had to yell twice to get Darcy's attention. Shaken out of his thoughts, he stifled the impulse to just keep riding and instead turned back to join Richard.
They dismounted and Darcy held the horses while Richard took the short flight of steps to the door.
The servant who answered appeared to know him, and a moment later a boy in servant's garb came outside to take the horses.
Darcy joined Richard in the entryway as they waited for the maid to let the Gardiners know they were there.
While not as large as Darcy house, the entry was clean, neat and well-decorated. From a distance, they could hear voices engaged in conversation. Darcy thought he could pick out Bingley's voice among them.
It was only a few minutes before a door opened and a man stepped out into the hall. He came quickly towards them, offering a greeting as he did.
"Colonel Fitzwilliam! Welcome back to England! It is good to see you safe and well." He offered his hand.
Richard returned the handshake enthusiastically. "Gardiner! I am glad to be home. It is good to see you as well."
"Will you introduce me to your companion?" Edward said, looking at Darcy curiously.
"I know you have guests, so please forgive the intrusion. Will, may I present Mr. Edward Gardiner of Gardiner Imports? Mr. Gardiner, this is my cousin, Fitzwilliam Darcy."
The two men exchanged bows and the customary greetings.
"I will not pretend your cousin's name is unknown to me," Edward said, looking at the two men with what could best be described as suspicion. "May I ask what brings you here this evening?"
"We do not mean to stay long. My cousin was merely hoping to have a few words with Miss Elizabeth," Richard said, adding quickly, "I mean a few polite words, like an apology, for instance."
"Ah, so the incident of mistaken identity has finally been cleared up," Edward said, smiling.
"Less than an hour ago, yes," Richard told him. "On hearing that you were in this evening, since we knew Bingley is having dinner here with you, we decided to come right over so my cousin could clear the air with Miss Elizabeth. I should like to see her for a moment as well. It has been too long."
Edward nodded. "I hate to disappoint you both," he said.
"Lizzy returned to Longbourn with Jane last week.
They are preparing for Jane's wedding to Sir Barnaby Linton next month and you know my sister.
She wants this to be the biggest event Meryton has ever seen.
The girls are hoping to keep their mother from going too far with her plans. "
Darcy said nothing, but he felt completely crestfallen and, in some slight measure, unaccountably relieved. Even the mix of feelings confused him. He remained silent, and Richard answered for them both.
"My cousin had told me of the betrothal. I wish them both joy. Since our errand cannot be completed tonight, I will stop by another day to catch up with you and your wife. For now, we should probably be going and allow you to return to your guests."
"Please, Colonel, it is just family and Mr. Bingley here. We would be delighted to have you both join us for dinner this evening."
Darcy could tell the invitation was sincere, so when Richard looked to him, he nodded and answered, "Thank you, Mr. Gardiner. I would be happy to accept if you are certain we would be no trouble. I know I have not necessarily made the best impression upon your family."
"Let this be a chance to start again. If you have revised your previously professed opinion about my nieces, I think we can all manage to get along together for the space of an evening. Please do join us."
Darcy smiled, "The opinions I previously professed were not my own. I made the mistake of accepting my aunt's opinions as truth without asking the proper questions to confirm the facts. I hope I have learned better since."
"Very good," said Edward. "I will just have the boy take your horses around to the mews and see that they are cared for." He slipped past them both and stepped outside for a moment to speak with the boy who held the horses.