Chapter 3
Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth entered the assembly rooms with feelings that refused to settle into any single direction.
As always, there was something to recommend the occasion.
The rooms were well lit, the company numerous, and the promise of music and dancing carried with it the expectation of an evening at least tolerably pleasant.
Under other circumstances, she might have given herself up to it entirely.
At present, she could not.
The weight of her father’s absence did not yield easily to distraction.
The noise of the room, the brightness of the candles, and the easy laughter of those around her served only to remind her how little of it she could enjoy without reserve.
She had hoped that the evening might offer some relief from her thoughts, but she suspected now that any relief would be imperfect at best.
Then, too, there was another consideration which she could not set aside.
Elizabeth still fumed to remember the two gentlemen who had peered at her so inquisitively, as if a young woman speaking to a land manager in a field was a creature as strange as any one might see in a zoo.
Then, to cap it all, the darkly handsome gentleman with a commanding, lordly manner had tossed her a coin, as if she were a servant or a beggar.
Only the wish to keep the scene from becoming yet more humiliating had kept Elizabeth from throwing it back at him.
And after such a meeting, it was all but inevitable that they must see each other again tonight.
There could be no doubt that the gentlemen she had encountered in the field must be the new tenant of Netherfield and his friend.
There were no other strangers in the neighbourhood who might so obviously have the air of gentlemen, and the description she had heard since of Mr Bingley only confirmed it.
If it were indeed so, she would surely meet them again that evening.
It was not a prospect she welcomed.
Her mother, however, felt no such reluctance. Mrs Bennet entered the room with an eagerness that made no attempt at concealment, her attention already fixed upon the object of her ambition.
“My dear Jane,” she said, in a voice that carried farther than she appeared to realise, “you must be very particular to secure an introduction to Mr Bingley this evening. It would be quite unpardonable if we were to miss such an opportunity, when he has taken a house so near us.”
Jane, who had already begun to blush, replied with gentle composure, though her voice was considerably lower. “I am sure there will be an opportunity, Mama. There is no need to be anxious.”
“No need to be anxious?” Mrs Bennet said in disbelief. “I do not know what you mean by that. When a young man of fortune comes into a neighbourhood, it is the business of every mother to be anxious. I am certain Lady Lucas will contrive to be introduced to him first, and then where shall we be?”
Despite standing some paces away, Elizabeth could hear every word. She suppressed a sigh. That her mother should speak so freely in so public a setting was not unusual, but familiarity made it no less mortifying.
“If Mr Bingley will marry the first woman he meets, whoever she may be,” Elizabeth told her mother in an undertone, “perhaps it is for the best that he should not wed Jane. I am sure my sister deserves a man of greater sense, not to mention more discriminating tastes.”
But her effort at making her mother see sense was for nothing. “Little enough you know about it, Miss Lizzy,” Mrs Bennet retorted crossly. “I should not quarrel about finding such a husband for one of my daughters, nor worry about whether his taste was discriminating enough.”
Not wishing to make the argument louder, Elizabeth only nodded. She withdrew as soon as she could do so without attracting notice, making her way through the room in search of more sensible conversation and of a friend who would listen as well as speak.
Her object was easily found. Charlotte Lucas stood near the edge of the room speaking quietly to her sister Maria, her expression measured and observant as always.
Charlotte turned as Elizabeth approached, her face brightening with immediate recognition. “You have arrived at last. I was beginning to think you meant to avoid the evening altogether.”
“I was strongly tempted,” Elizabeth replied, with a smile that carried more meaning than the words alone. “But I find myself here despite my better judgement.”
“Then I hope the evening will prove you wrong.”
“I shall be content if it proves to be so much as tolerable. At present, I have little reason to expect more.”
Charlotte regarded her with mild curiosity. “You speak as though you expect unpleasantness.”
“I expect to meet a particular gentleman,” Elizabeth said, lowering her voice slightly. “Or rather, two gentlemen I have already had the misfortune of encountering under circumstances that do not recommend them to my good opinion.”
Charlotte’s interest sharpened at once. “You must tell me everything.”
Elizabeth required little encouragement. “You will never credit it,” she began, leaning closer, “but I have already had the pleasure of meeting the gentleman from Netherfield.”
Charlotte’s eyebrows rose. “Indeed? And you did not mention it until now?”
“It was not something I wished to speak of in front of your mother, or indeed, in front of my own. I was in the lower field, speaking with Mr Hill about what must be done before winter, when two gentlemen on horseback approached. Very fine gentlemen, Charlotte, on very fine horses.”
“Mr Bingley and his friend, I assume?”
“So I have since concluded. Though at the time, I was more concerned with the fact that one of them, the tall, proud-looking one, addressed me as though I were a servant.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened with delight. “He did not.”
“Oh, he did. ‘You there, girl,’” Elizabeth said, deepening her voice in imitation. “’What is the nature of your business here?’ As though I were trespassing on my own land.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him we were determining how to prepare the soil for next year’s crops. Very calmly, very properly. And do you know what he did?”
Charlotte shook her head, clearly trying not to laugh.
“He tossed me a shilling for my trouble. As though I had been engaged in some particularly industrious employment for their benefit.”
Charlotte could not suppress her laughter. “Lizzy, no!”
“I assure you, yes. I stood there with a shilling in my hand while he rode away, perfectly satisfied with his own magnanimity.”
Charlotte could not suppress her smile. “And you accepted it?”
“I had no opportunity to refuse it. The gentleman in question had already decided the matter, and I was left only to consider it afterward.”
“And what conclusion did you reach?”
“That he is very much inclined to think he knows everything on the basis of highly insufficient information. Though, I suppose, one must at least grant that he is generous.”
As she had intended, Charlotte laughed heartily at that, and Elizabeth joined her, feeling a little more of the sting go out of the memory as she did.
At last, Charlotte managed to stop laughing, though she was forced to wipe tears of merriment from her eyes. “All the same, Lizzy,” she said more seriously, “I am very glad I was not present to witness it, for I should not have known whether to laugh or be offended on your behalf.”
“You may safely do both now,” Elizabeth told her lightly. “I have determined that it is more amusing than disagreeable, though I reserve the right to alter that opinion if the gentleman proves equally insupportable this evening.”
Charlotte was about to reply when her attention shifted toward the centre of the room. “You may have an opportunity to decide sooner than you expect.”
Elizabeth followed her gaze. The dancers were already gathering at the centre of the room, the music rising with a lively steadiness that drew the eye. Elizabeth’s gaze moved over the figures, more from habit than intent, until it caught on a familiar face.
Jane stood among the dancers, her countenance animated by a quiet pleasure that could not be mistaken.
Opposite her stood a gentleman whose manner, even at a distance, spoke of ease and good humour.
Judging by the delight with which Mrs Bennet was looking at the pair, Elizabeth had little doubt it was Mr Bingley.
Charlotte, who had followed her gaze, observed the dancers with interest. “There is no need to inquire further. Your mother’s wishes have already been gratified.”
Elizabeth could not help but smile. “Then she will be satisfied for at least five minutes, which is more than I had hoped.”
“And your sister?”
“Will be pleased if she has reason to be so, and not otherwise,” Elizabeth replied. “Jane does not form opinions quite so rapidly.”
Charlotte inclined her head. “She appears very well disposed toward him.”
“His manner was pleasant, and I know no ill of him,” Elizabeth said after a moment’s observation. “If he has sense enough to value Jane as he should, I suppose I must forgive him for the offences of his companion.”
Charlotte glanced at her with a look of quiet amusement. “You are determined, then, not to extend that forgiveness further.”
“I see no immediate necessity for it,” Elizabeth replied. “Though I will not deny that I am curious to observe whether his friend improves upon acquaintance.”
“Or worsens?”
Elizabeth laughed. “Perhaps that would be more likely, after all. I suppose we will see.”
The dance continued, and Elizabeth watched with interest and even some enjoyment.
There was something in the sight of Jane, so evidently at ease, that softened her earlier reluctance toward the evening.
Whatever her own apprehensions, she could not be insensible to her sister’s happiness, even so newly formed.