Chapter Twenty Six #2
“Your cousin believes that in such a setting as this, the constant society of our companions is the mathematical equivalent to many months of acquaintance in ordinary circumstances. She made a strong argument, as must surely astonish you – I will shock you again by admitting that I rather stubbornly refused to see her view. But to hear Mr. Tilney and Miss Smith arrive at the same conclusion, without motive or artifice, moved to see the truth of it. There are many people present whose characters I have sketched so thoroughly that I feel I have always known them.”
He gave her one of his brilliant smiles, the kind that she was always trying to inspire in him.
“I am of the same opinion.” As he reached for his wine, his hand brushed hers, and she felt a shiver thrill through her at what had certainly been deliberate.
“I am glad to hear you profess such an opinion, Miss Elizabeth, for I expect my sister to join us ere long, and I would like nothing better for the two of you to become intimates.”
She let out a girlish giggle. “Really?”
“I wrote to her a few days ago; I hope to hear from my aunt, with whom she is staying, by tomorrow or the next day.”
“Your aunt?” Elizabeth nearly choked. Lord, if she should come to her senses only for Lady Catherine to descend upon them! Perhaps then she would have to send for her mother!
“Richard and Rebecca’s mother, the Countess of Matlock. Bingley is quite terrified of her, which is some recompense for being obliged to bear witness to… what I understand you might take credit for.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Ought I to be frightened, too?”
“She will throw a feast in your honor for getting Rebecca to see sense at last. Rebecca is her favorite child – they are very similar – and so I quite depend upon her taking the same interest in you. Georgiana will be eager to call herself your friend – she is very like Miss Bennet, gentle and reserved, though she is sometimes prone to the same effusions as Miss Lydia.”
Elizabeth felt all the distinction he paid her, yet she could not resist pressing her advantage. “And when my youngest sister comes to Brighton, if she should visit while Miss Darcy is here….”
“I hope she does,” Mr. Darcy said emphatically.
Elizabeth could have kissed him, as the last lingering trace of anxiety about her sister’s imminent arrival finally ebbed away.
She happily spent the rest of the night talking with Mr. Darcy of his sister and hers, and how well they might all get on.
Gone was all his disdain for her relations, as if it had never been.
The next day passed just as wonderfully.
The whole party took up paints and brushes, their canvases set up on easels along the vast lawn of the estate, and the Gouldings brought in masters to give them expert instruction.
Jane, Anne, and Miss Dashwood all took the activity quite seriously, wishing to amaze the whole party.
Lady Rebecca made a great secret of her painting until presenting Mr. Bingley with a picture that made him turn scarlet and take it into the house directly.
Elizabeth knew she would not impress anybody with skill alone, and so rather than attempting a good, serious landscape, she instead painted a delightfully horrific portrait of her wickedest friend.
Lady Rebecca declared that she adored it, and told Mr. Bingley that it must be hung beside her own picture, which Elizabeth comprehended to be something scandalous.
Mr. Darcy was full of praise for her handiwork, and suggested she take his likeness next.
Her second attempt was doubly abysmal – Lady Sophia pronounced it be very modern; the masters looked pained.
After this, another blissful day followed, and Elizabeth felt that she had lost all sense of time, and the world beyond Richmond Cove.
After more than a fortnight of digging in her heels, she surrendered fully to the experience of the house party, and she was lost to what now blossomed between her and Mr. Darcy.
Their next outing as a collective was to a costume ball in Brighton. On this occasion they were not obliged to wear their Shakespearean outfits; the Goulding’s provided several trunks of costumes for their guests to choose from., promising that alterations could be made in haste, if needed.
Lady Rebecca was determined that she and Mr. Bingley, and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy must all have a shared motif, and she best liked the idea of dressing as Greek gods and goddesses.
Jane and Captain Wentworth dressed as Vikings, looking very fearsome indeed, while Anne and Colonel Brandon made a very romantic Guinevere and Lancelot.
Miss Bingley and Sir Walter styled themselves as Antony and Cleopatra, provoking Lady Rebecca to wish them all the same happiness.
Henry Tilney wished to divert and amaze them all.
He persuaded his sister, Miss Dashwood, Harriet, and Captain Benwick to join him in bedecking themselves as characters from gothic novels – a damsel in distress, a highwayman, a vampyre, a pirate, the ghost of a tortured duke.
There was a great deal of raillery as they decided who should take which role, for all of them wished to be the vampyre, and they all had a turn of playacting before it was agreed that Miss Dashwood was born for such a role.
The Goulding ladies had their share in diverting the guests as they presented their own costumes.
Along with the Crofts and Mrs. Jennings, they would present Henry the Eighth and his six infamous wives.
The admiral was as keen as the young people to make a good showing; he had padded his belly beneath his doublet and wore an inordinate amount of gaudy jewels on his person – and threatened the gallows to anybody who did not dance every dance.
Elizabeth had little difficulty in meeting this demand.
Henry Tilney had claimed her first dance, when next the occasion presented itself, within an hour of meeting her – but she was glad that this meant she could give Mr. Darcy her supper set, and the final set of the evening.
By this time, they were both exceedingly merry, swept up in their own amusement, even if it was a little ridiculous.
It was like this every night, Elizabeth realized, excepting the times that she had been determined to deprive herself of the pleasure – but she was done with that.
She could no longer fight what she felt for Mr. Darcy, and she let it shine out of her as they ended the evening with a waltz. She knew that to let him see her feelings would be to give him hope, but she felt the very same hope in her own heart and it was growing stronger every day.