His Good Opinion: A Mr. Darcy Novel (37 page)

"I would be delighted, Mr. Gardiner." The gentlemen shook hands and retreated to their own carriages.

The hunting party had now been in Hertfordshire for three full days, and no one had indicated an inclination to visit the local residents. Darcy had known Bingley would be reluctant, but now he found he was none too eager himself.

Surely I imagined the softening in Elizabeth's attitude toward me. How could she possibly forgive all the things I said about her and about her family?

Those words,
"had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner,"
cropped up once again, and he felt the full justice of their reproof.

But I may at least provide reparations for one of my faults
, he reminded himself.
Is that not why I came in the first place?

This reminder strengthened his resolve, and on the third morning at Netherfield he broached the subject with Bingley. "We have not yet paid any calls to our acquaintances in the neighborhood."

Bingley shifted in his seat. "Is that truly necessary? We are just here for the hunting; can we not remain secluded?"

Darcy shook his head. "Bingley, many in Meryton showed us kindness while we were here a year ago. We would be remiss if we did not repay their courtesy."

"Surely most of the gentlemen will come by for a visit."

Darcy set his coffee cup down
and leveled a stern glare at Bingley. "I almost think you are avoiding someone. That is most low spirited of you, Bingley." Bingley flushed, but did not speak. "Come. Let us visit the Bennets this afternoon."

"Shall I be teased into giving another ball, do you think?"

Darcy sobered. "As to that, have you heard the neighborhood gossip, Bingley?"

Bingley
leaned back in his seat. "That Miss Lydia ran off from Brighton with Wickham and is now married? Yes, I did."

"It is partly for this reason I wish to call on the family. We must show the general neighborhood that the Bennets are not beyond respectable society."

This was the truth. Bingley had not heard, or had not comprehended, the malicious nature of the gossip. Everyone knew Lydia and Wickham had lived together prior to their marriage. It would only take one perceived snub to set the whole neighborhood against her family. No matter what transpired with Elizabeth, Darcy did not wish that for her or her sisters.

Bingley straightened and said, "My word, Darcy, are things as bad is that? Yes, of course we must visit."

Once the idea was in his mind, Bingley would not be stopped. He insisted they leave immediately after breakfast, though that was far from the fashionable hour for calls. They rode over, as the weather was fine, and were admitted without delay to Longbourn.

When Darcy entered the sitting room, he could not keep his eyes from seeking out Elizabeth. She sat by the window, and he watched for a minute as the sunlight cast shadows and highlights on her rich, dark hair.

Mrs. Bennet's voice soon drew his attention, however. "Oh, Mr. Bingley, it is so good of you to visit us, and so soon after your return to Netherfield! I did hear that you had intended never to come back to Hertfordshire; I am glad to see that it was entirely false."

"Yes ma'am, I..."

"And Mr. Darcy. I am glad to see you as well."

"Mrs. Bennet." He bowed.

"My daughters, you see, are all here, except Lydia who is recently married. Jane, do stand up and greet our guests."

Miss Bennet had been sitting in the corner of the room, diligently plying her needle. At her mother's behest, she rose and offered a curtsy. "Good afternoon, gentlemen. It is good to see you after so long."

Her cheeks were rosy pink, and for the first time Darcy considered how her own reserve might be a means of shielding her emotions from her mother's perceptions.
For surely if Mrs. Bennet suspected her daughter of truly having affection for a gentleman, her effusions would be intolerable.

His gaze traveled from the eldest sister to Elizabeth, and his heart sank when he saw her intent on her work, apparently unaffected by the proceedings.
Even Jane, known for her evenness of temper, shows more reaction.

He dropped his eyes to the floor to hide his disappointment.
When we were at Pemberley together, she smiled and spoke to me with what I thought was at least a lack of ill will. Does she fear her openness might have led me to believe her feelings are greater than they truly are? Why does she not look at me?

At last, he could bear her silence no longer, and he walked closer to where she sat. "Good day, Miss Elizabeth."

She looked up from her handwork at last. "Good day, Mr. Darcy."

"Have you heard lately from Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner?" he asked, and cursed himself the next instant. He had seen her aunt and uncle far more recently than she, and if she had heard from them, it would have been regarding Lydia.
That is one topic I should know well enough to steer clear of!

Indeed, her expressive eyes questioned him, and after she answered in the affirmative, he remained silent.

A few minutes later, she spoke. "How is Miss Darcy?"

Darcy smiled. "She is very well. She bade me tell you that if you are ever in Derbyshire again, you must call on her."

He wondered when Elizabeth colored and looked down. "Thank Miss Darcy for me," she said quietly. "She is too kind."

Darcy would have pursued the subject further, but Mrs. Bennet's voice intruded just then. "It is a long time, Mr. Bingley, since you went away," she said after the tea had been brought in.

"Yes, indeed, it has been many months."

"I began to be afraid you would never come back again. People did say you meant to quit the place entirely at Michaelmas; but, however, I hope it is not true. A great many changes have happened in the neighborhood, since you went way. Miss Lucas is married and settled; and one of my own daughters."

She simpered and smirked at Bingley, and Darcy felt vaguely sick to his stomach at the performance. "I suppose you have heard of it; indeed, you must have seen it in the papers. It was in the
Times
and the
Courier
, I know; though it was not put in as it ought to be." She pursed her lips. "It was only said, 'Lately, George Wickham, Esq. to Miss Lydia Bennet,' without there being a syllable said of her father, or the place where she lived, or anything. It was my brother Gardiner's drawing up too, and I wonder how he came to make such an awkward business of it. Did you see it?"

Darcy could scarcely keep his tongue in the face of such a ridiculous ramble. Several snide remarks regarding the necessity of hushing up the marriage sprung to his mind, but a quick glance at Elizabeth showed him her mortification was great. He bit the corner of his lip to keep from responding and instead let Bingley, to whom the speech had been addressed, answer.

"I did, ma'am, congratulations," he said, all genuine joy. "Weddings are a fine thing indeed."

Though Bingley did not look at Jane Bennet when he said the last, Darcy knew where his mind went, and he kept his gaze focused on that lady. She blushed slightly, but no more than might be expected when faced with such a mother.

Mrs. Bennet was not satisfied to let the subject rest. "It is a delightful thing, to be sure, to have a daughter well married, but at the same time, Mr. Bingley, it is very hard to have her taken away from me."

Darcy barely controlled a snort. He had purposely chosen the regiment with the desire to keep Lydia and Wickham as far from himself as possible--if all his wishes came true and Elizabeth consented to marry him, he did not want to see Wickham every time they were obliged to visit Longbourn.

"They are gone down to Newcastle, a place quite northward, it seems, and there they are to stay I do not know how long. His regiment is there; for I suppose you have heard of his leaving the -shire, and of his being gone into the Regulars. Thank Heaven! He has
some
friends, though perhaps not as many as he deserves."

After the other indignities he had been subjected to in the short time they had been sitting there, this comment rolled off Darcy's back. That she referred to him was obvious, that she knew nothing of the true situation was equally so.
So the Gardiners have been true to their word--excellent.

Thankfully, though, Elizabeth chose this moment to interject. "Do you know how long you plan to be in the country, Mr. Bingley?" she asked, and Darcy felt a pang of jealousy that she had not addressed him.
Fool!
he rebuked himself.
She wishes him to marry her sister; you have nothing to be jealous of.

Bingley glanced over at Darcy, but he remained impassive.
He may get himself out of this one.

"We will stay a few weeks at least," Bingley answered after a moment's hesitation.

"When you have killed all your own birds, Mr. Bingley, I beg you will come here, and shoot as many as you please on Mr. Bennet's manor." That absurd comment could come from no one but Mrs. Bennet. "I am sure he will be vastly happy to oblige you, and will save all the best of the covies for you."

Despite his own intentions, Darcy wondered why any man would choose to connect himself with such a family. Even if the sisters were all perfectly amiable--which was doubtful indeed--or the father truly intelligent and genial, what man would desire such a woman for a mother-in-law?

Mrs. Bennet spent the whole of the afternoon fawning over Bingley in a manner that would satisfy even the Prince Regent. There was not a consideration she did not extend, not a compliment she did not offer. Indeed, he was convinced that if Bingley had indicated a liking for the chair in which he sat, she would have insisted he take it with him back to Netherfield.

Again, it was Elizabeth who calmed his thoughts. She kept her head bent over her work, but he could easily see the red flush in her cheeks. It reminded him of how he had felt when Lady Catherine interrogated her at Rosings, and he realized once again that she was not the only one in the world with relations to be ashamed of.

He bent himself back to his original object. Jane Bennet's feelings were not easy to discern, but he would not make the same mistake he had made the previous year and assume that if he could not see them at a glance, they must not exist. Bingley, he could easily see, felt the same regard he had in November. If anything, time had strengthened that bond.

Miss Bennet was quiet, but that could easily be because she was embarrassed. If she had loved Bingley before, seeing him again would be painful. Her mother's behavior would not make that any easier. Her smiles were just as sweet and unaffected, though, and he finally decided it would take more than one visit for him to know the truth.

The afternoon shadows lengthened, and Bingley rose. "I am afraid we must go. Thank you so much for your hospitality this afternoon."

"Oh, it was nothing! Nothing at all. Indeed, I was so glad to see you I... well. Now if only we could have you come and dine some evening soon. You are quite a visit in my debt, Mr. Bingley, for when you went to town last winter, you promised to take a family dinner with us, as soon as you returned. I have not forgot, you see; and I assure you, I was very much disappointed that you did not come back and keep your engagement."

"I... I apologize if my sudden departure overthrew any of your plans," Bingley stammered.

A light gleamed in Mrs. Bennet's eye, and Darcy knew exactly which plans Bingley's absence had upset. "Bingley," he said, with rather more force than necessary, "do we not have plans for hunting before we lose the light?"

"Indeed we do!" Bingley answered, relief coloring his tone.

"Well then, we will let you return to Netherfield," Mrs. Bennet said, a trifle ungraciously. "However, you will soon receive an invitation from me, Mr. Bingley, depend upon it."

"I shall await it with pleasure, madam," he said, and the gentlemen were finally allowed to leave.

The promised invitation arrived the following morning, asking Darcy and Bingley to join the Bennet family for a small dinner party the next evening. "If others are to be there, it cannot be wholly for our benefit," Bingley said, and Darcy chose not to debate the point.

He, however, was quite sure the party was given only as a means for throwing Bingley and Miss Bennet together again.
Perhaps this will give me the necessary opportunity to observe her and see if she truly cares for Bingley,
Darcy thought as they handed their coats and hats to the Bennets' servant the next night.

Darcy paused momentarily when they entered the sitting room; though he had been prepared to see others, he had not expected Mrs. Bennet to have invited four families in addition to themselves. He glanced quickly about the room and saw none of the other ladies held a candle to either of the eldest Bennet girls, and he comprehended her motives.
By offering a contrast to her daughter's beauty, she thinks to draw Bingley in once more. Does she think Miss Bennet has nothing more to offer a gentleman than a pretty face?