Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Elizabeth took particular care with her appearance that evening. As she pushed the last pin in her hair and clasped her garnet cross about her neck, her elder sister entered the room.
“I thought you were not looking for a husband, Lizzy.” Jane sat upon the end of Elizabeth’s bed and regarded her reflection in the mirror. “You look well indeed tonight.”
“I suppose, Jane, that you have never had a gentleman infuriate you so much, that you wanted to look your very best, so that you felt better armed against his boorishness?”
“Of course not!” Jane was shocked. “I only asked because I know that you met Mr Darcy earlier today, and I thought I would ask if you had any particular interest in him before he arrived.”
“If you can bear his temper, Jane, you are welcome to him, but I wish that you would not, for if he ever made you cry the way I saw him do to his sister today, I would be hanged for murder.” Elizabeth shook her head.
“Oh, please say that is an exaggeration!” Jane exclaimed, putting a hand up to her mouth.
“Miss Darcy is the dearest girl, and she admires her brother so much! When I visited her last week to spend the day in her rather dusty and abandoned still room to teach her how to make the scent I favour that she likes, she spoke of him all day. I rather wondered if she was trying to make certain that I regarded him well when he arrived.”
“He apologised to me as I left, and swore to me that he has never spoken to her thus, that he would mend it immediately. Apparently, he had just this morning experienced several unpleasant trials one right after another, and that he spoke wrongly in a fit of temper he hoped never to repeat again.”
Elizabeth then told Jane of everything that had occurred at Darcy Cottage. “I have promised to forgive him, and I will, but my own temper is not yet spent.”
“Oh! I should be quite unequal to seeing him again so soon!” Jane exclaimed. “I would sooner take a tray in my room. How will you manage it?”
“I am certain that I need not be thrown in with him,” Elizabeth reassured Jane. “I shall speak with Miss Darcy and Lady Priscilla, and I am sure Charlotte has invited Mr James and will throw me in with him, although I wish she would not.”
She accompanied Jane downstairs to find Kitty and Lydia in the drawing room with their father. Lydia was arguing bitterly with him, and he was not in the least bit amused.
“But why?” Lydia whined. “Lieutenant Wickham promised us that if we were permitted to roll back the carpets, he would dance with us!”
“Lieutenant Wickham has no right to make such promises, Lydia Bennet. He is not your father.” Mr Bennet was grave.
“Now, if you suggested rolling back the rugs so that your sisters, who are out in society, could dance with our guests, and so you might dance with your own sisters, and perhaps Miss Darcy, that would be different.”
“Lieutenant Wickham is Mr Darcy’s godson!” Lydia objected.
“I do not give a tinker’s damn if he is a monkey’s uncle!
You were informed before we came that you would not be placed to socialise with officers while you are in Ramsgate.
The fact that one often accompanies Mr Darcy does not change anything for you.
If you cannot obey me, and you must argue, you will dine in your room, and I will escort you back to Longbourn tomorrow.
Your Aunt Gardiner would certainly appreciate another pair of hands to help with your cousins.
Now be silent, before you are obliged to retire before dinner. ”
Lydia flounced off to commiserate with Kitty, and Charlotte descended with Mary, who looked well in a pale pink evening gown and Grandmama Bennet’s pearls. Charlotte is certainly doing her part to get us married.
The guests began arriving. Elizabeth was amused that with so many ladies in the house, once the Darcys were invited, there was no need at all to invite any more ladies, just a few single gentlemen to pair things off nicely.
Mr Wickham arrived with the Darcys, as he frequently did, and he gravitated towards Lydia and Kitty, which he also did often.
Miss Darcy and Lady Priscilla were standing close to Miss Darcy’s father, and Elizabeth searched her young friend’s expression from across the room for signs of distress, but found none. Georgiana caught her eye and beamed. Her brother must have kept his promise.
Mr James was one of the guests, as Elizabeth suspected he would be, and also present was Mr Lovett, who had been calling upon Jane with regularity, and Mr Painswick, who had taken Mary for a drive in his phaeton the day before.
Elizabeth smiled at the recollection of Mary riding away with the young man, the colour high on her cheeks.
It had taken Charlotte and Jane two years to soften her, but Elizabeth was happy that her sister had finally become less prickly.
Miss Darcy’s brother approached Elizabeth and bowed from the neck. She rolled her eyes as she curtsied. She did not even care if he noticed. Even if he had told her he would maintain his distance, he could have at least given her a reprieve tonight before he imposed himself upon her again.
“Miss Elizabeth.”
“Do you realise that we still have yet to be properly introduced?” she asked irritably.
“Perhaps after the introduction we had, it would be better if I just told you that my name is Fitzwilliam rather than us making a spectacle of seeking another.” He glanced around the room. “Now we are introduced. How do you do?”
“Well, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, I believe I ought to–” She was interrupted by a cacophony of squeals and laughter.
Miss Darcy and Mrs Younge had joined Kitty and Lydia in conversing with Mr Wickham. Whatever it was that the lieutenant was saying, it must be outrageous for the ladies to make such a scene.
Before she could consider going over to quiet the young ladies discreetly, like Mrs Younge ought to be doing, she noticed that Darcy’s face was like a thunder cloud just as it had been that morning when they encountered him in the hall.
I thought he hoped never to have another fit of temper like this again.
Before she could act, Darcy was across the room, growling in Mr Wickham’s ear and glaring at Mrs Younge. Mr Wickham smirked at him as he sauntered away. Darcy whispered to his sister, who quickly returned to her father and her cousin.
“Do you do that every time she makes a sound?” Elizabeth asked the horrid man when he–for some reason–returned directly to her side.
“I beg your pardon?” Darcy inquired, brow raised.
“I think that you actually wish for your poor sister to be too frightened to converse!” she exclaimed.
“What an accusation to make!” Darcy objected. “You cannot really believe it.”
“I think it would serve some men very well for their sisters to be timid and afraid of causing offence.” Elizabeth crossed her arms in defiance. “I am sure that a frightened girl who is eager to please must be very convenient for a brother who is very busy and has many concerns.”
“I wish you would not think so ill of me when I am trying to improve your opinion of my character,” he replied.
“Perhaps I would not if you were not such an ogre!”
“I beg your pardon, but I do not think it was actually my sister making that noise, nor did I admonish her, or even the other young ladies, which would not have been my place,” he defended himself. “I addressed the gentleman, who I assure you, knows better.”
“You were certainly effective at ending the conversation Miss Darcy was taking part in!” Elizabeth accused. “I did not like the tone of their conversation either, but I would never have made such a scene!”
“Well, perhaps you ought, whenever Mr Wickham approaches your sisters. You should not wish for them to be taken in!” said Darcy.
Elizabeth was struck by his words. “But, certainly he can mean no harm. He comes with your father!”
“Miss Elizabeth, I am ashamed that I must admit this to anyone, and I wish you would not repeat it. I only say it because there are so many young ladies in your family. Due to the condition of his heart, my father is very ill and ageing before his time. He clings to his attachment to a boy he once knew, and he cannot be moved from his belief in Wickham’s goodness.
But I will not suffer the cad to consort with my sister, and neither should you. ”
Elizabeth frowned as he left her to draw his sister into conversation, and the girl did not look at all distressed to converse with him.
She looked at her own youngest sisters. Lydia and Kitty were told before they came that they would not be socialising with officers, and though the older sisters had danced with a few of the redcoats at assemblies, Charlotte had invited none to dine, nor had she accepted calls from the officers in the afternoon, citing her illness as a reason she must limit her callers.
Elizabeth knew that the true reason was to prevent Kitty and Lydia from getting to know any of them well, and because Charlotte hoped that with their dowries, all of the girls would marry gentlemen with some prospects rather than an officer who needed their dowry to live on.
But they saw Mr Wickham often, for he frequently accompanied Darcy Senior, even though he quickly moved on to speak with ladies the moment they arrived anywhere.
As Georgiana spoke animatedly to her brother, Elizabeth realised that Mr Wickham mostly spoke to the younger girls and Mrs Younge, with whom he seemed to get on rather well.
He was speaking with her again now, and Elizabeth saw that Darcy had noticed.
The more she thought about it, the more she realised that Mr Wickham rarely approached her, or even Jane.
He hardly even spent time by his godfather’s side, though that gentleman watched him often with obvious affection.
But he charmed the youngest ladies endlessly, and they followed him like bees.
She decided to warn Mary and Jane, and to keep a closer eye upon Mr Wickham.
Charlotte, unsure if Mr Darcy’s son would take to either of her eldest step-daughters, but certainly willing to try, had seated Darcy between Elizabeth and Jane, with Mr James on Elizabeth’s other side, and Mr Lovett as Jane’s other dinner partner.
Elizabeth scowled at her stepmother for hemming her in.
Charlotte had no idea what had happened earlier, but Elizabeth still did not appreciate being trapped through the entire meal.
Mr Wickham was seated between Mr Darcy and Mrs Younge.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at how animatedly the two spoke.
What was astonishing about this now that she had actually taken the trouble to notice it, was how odd this was for that lady’s character.
Elizabeth and her sisters spent a great deal of time with the ladies of Darcy Cottage, and Mrs Younge was rarely in good spirits.
She objected to nearly everything Georgiana wished to do, and she disliked her charge making new friends with anyone.
Priscilla treated the woman as if she were only a necessary body required for propriety and completely ignored her.
At first, Elizabeth had thought it cruel, but she understood it was due to the woman’s personality, not her station.
Now Elizabeth realised–as she watched their conversation–that Mr Wickham seemed to be the only person of their acquaintance that Mrs Younge liked.
Elizabeth spent the night in misery, answering Mr James’s questions about the sights she had seen and what she still wished to do in Ramsgate.
Then when the company turned, she had to do the same with Darcy, and though she had much to think about regarding his revelation about Mr Wickham, she still did not particularly wish to like him.
She was grateful to escape to the tea table in the drawing room, shooing Charlotte to a comfortable chair and insisting that her stepmother save her strength, for she usually retired immediately after the meal, and Jane had been taking over as hostess when they had guests.
But Jane was speaking with Mr Lovett, Mary, and Mr Painswick about a plan for an outing to a botanical garden, and Elizabeth appreciated the occupation of serving the tea.
Eventually Mr James fell into discussion with her father and Darcy Senior about crop rotation, and Elizabeth was able to settle into a corner with Lady Priscilla and Miss Darcy.
“Miss Elizabeth, are you quite well? Will you forgive me for the abominable thing my brother said?” Miss Darcy embraced Elizabeth impulsively.
“As if you of all people should need forgiveness! Miss Darcy, I would never blame you for something done by another,” Elizabeth promised.
“I have forgiven your brother as well, but I do wish he understood that I still need time for my temper to settle. As we have all witnessed, I have one of my own to contend with.”
“Miss Elizabeth, Will is the very best of men, I swear it to you!” Miss Darcy promised.
“He has never spoken to me thus, not once! I have never even seen him properly angry about anything until this very day! It is true that he often avoids ladies, and society, but that is only because he was never ready to marry. He is not an ogre, I assure you. Only as protective as you are for his sister, and today he expressed it very badly.”
“She is not lying, or even misinformed,” Lady Priscilla added. “Darcy truly is the best of men. I was properly shocked by his conduct today. I would never have believed him capable.”
“I never thought I was capable of being so unladylike.” Elizabeth shook her head. “And in front of your father, who opened his study door and saw it all…I can only imagine what my father will say when yours tells him of it.”
“Perhaps they will be too busy speaking of the Roman Empire, like they usually are.” Lady Priscilla smirked. “Miss Elizabeth, I wish to invite you to address me informally. Please call me Priscilla, both in public and in private.”
“I would be honoured. But what gave you such an idea?” Elizabeth asked curiously.
“I consider you among my friends, and I wish for you to address me as such,” the young lady insisted.
“And I as well! I would like you to call me Georgiana, or Georgie, as my family does! All your sisters, in fact! You are all such good friends. I have no desire to be on formal terms with any of you.”
“As long as you are certain your father and brother will not disapprove. And you must both call me Lizzy.” Elizabeth smiled at her friends.
“Now, the two of you must protect me from Mr James for the rest of the evening. I forbid either of you to leave me with him. I really must speak with Charlotte. When I require her to invite a gentleman to marry me off, I will tell her so myself.”
The three ladies rose from their chairs and organised the card tables for Charlotte. They spent the evening keeping Kitty and Lydia amused and away from Mr Wickham, and ignored Mr James entirely.