His Good Opinion: A Mr. Darcy Novel (4 page)

Soon after, Bingley joined him in between the dances of a set. "Come, Darcy, I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance."

Darcy crossed his arms. He should have known Bingley would not let him sit quietly. "I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this it would be insupportable." He frowned. "Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with."

Bingley's jaw dropped for an instant before he snapped it shut. "I would not be so fastidious as you are for a kingdom! Upon my honor, I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life as I have this evening; and there are several of them you see uncommonly pretty."

Darcy gave a cursory glance around him and found nothing to contradict his own opinion. He nodded at the eldest Bennet girl, a graceful, fair-haired maiden. "
You
are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room."

"Oh! She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld!" The beatific smile on his friend's face was a familiar one--Bingley was in the habit of believing himself in love with every pretty woman. "But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you."

"Which do you mean?" Darcy turned around and leveled a disinterested gaze at the young lady seated behind him. Where her sister was fair, she was dark--plain brown hair, brown eyes, and skin he could tell received too much sun. Her features altogether lacked symmetry, but above all, it was her eyes that bothered him. They caught his gaze, and something in her expression discomfited him. He turned back to Bingley and said, "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt
me;
I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men."

Even as Darcy said the words, he knew they were ungenerous. There were far more ladies present than gentlemen, and every young lady had taken her turn without a partner. Eager to end the conversation, he said, "You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me."

Bingley laughed and returned to Miss Bennet, and Darcy finally gained the peace he desired. With the exception of a few remarks from Miss Bingley, no one spoke to him. The evening drew to a close a short while later, to Darcy's relief and Bingley's dismay. The carriage ride back to Netherfield was short, and soon they were comfortably ensconced in the drawing room.

"Was that not a most delightful evening, Darcy?" Bingley said. "I never expected to find such pleasant people in the country. It was so nice to be in company lacking all the stiffness one so often finds in town."

"And equally lacking in manners and taste," Darcy countered.

"Indeed, Charles, Mr. Darcy is correct." Miss Bingley's derisive tone was equally ill mannered.

Bingley was momentarily taken aback by this evaluation, but he quickly shrugged it off. "Darcy, I do not understand why you sat by yourself all evening. You say you will not dance with ladies not of your acquaintance, but everyone was so personable, I soon felt that I had known them for quite some time."

Darcy knew his friend well enough to know that he could state his own mind without fear of giving insult. The ability to be honest was one of the things he valued most about Bingley's friendship. "I am afraid I saw none of that. There was little in their manner to be admired, and nothing in their fashion. It was entirely as I imagined a small country assembly to be."

Bingley pursued the conversation with dogged interest. "And the young ladies were quite pretty. Miss Bennet especially, of course."

"She is pretty," Darcy conceded, "though she smiles too much."

"Smiles too much! My word, Darcy, is there nothing or no one you do not find fault with? Next you will be complaining because her eyes opened too widely, or she blinked too often."

"Do not be ridiculous, Bingley. I merely pointed out the complacency of her temper makes it difficult to tell what she is really feeling. She seems a pleasant enough young lady, however, not as insipid or silly as her two younger sisters."

"Yes, indeed," Mrs. Hurst agreed. "Caroline and I talked with her for a time, and we can say that Jane Bennet is a sweet girl."

"Indeed. I should not mind getting to know her better," Miss Bingley chimed in.

Whatever reply the gentlemen might have given was cut off by a loud snore from Mr. Hurst, and the evening was at a close.

As a visitor in Bingley's home, Darcy did not feel obligated to take part in the round of social calls, which must needs follow their arrival in the neighborhood. With concern for Georgiana heavy on his mind, he took advantage of his freedom and avoided everyone but Bingley for the next few days.

Regrettably, there were some modes of polite society he could not avoid. Dinner invitations followed the social calls, and Bingley announced on their fourth morning at Netherfield that they would dine with the Bennet family that evening. If Darcy had a remote hope of the Bennets' behavior being more modulated at home, they were put to rest the moment the Netherfield party arrived at Longbourn.

The modest, two-story home spoke of good sense and taste that were entirely lacking in most members of the family. The lady of the house fluttered around them, her effusions almost too much to bear. "Mr. Bingley, it is so good to see you! You are most welcome, sir, along with your fine sisters."

She then half turned and looked at Darcy over the tip of her well-shaped nose. "And good evening to you as well, sir."

In the blink of an eye, she focused attention back on Bingley. Darcy was not sure how he should take being so summarily dismissed.
Does her disapprobation bother you?
he chided himself.
You have at last achieved your goal.
With five daughters, Mrs. Bennet was exactly the kind of woman Darcy sought to avoid.

Bingley, he observed, was not lucky enough to escape Mrs. Bennet's attentions; when they moved into the dining room, she seated him on her right and monopolized his attention. "It was so good of you to accept our dinner invitation, sir, and with such short notice. I did wonder if we should wait a few days, but my Jane would not hear of it. 'We do not want Mr. Bingley to think we do not understand the courtesies of Society,' she said. But then, Jane has ever been my sweet, wise girl."

Darcy set his lips in a firm line.
Does she mean to imply her daughter actively seeks gentleman callers?

He could not tell if the sudden pink tint in Jane Bennet's face was simply a reflection of the candlelight, or if her mother's comment embarrassed her. However, when he heard her sister's quick indrawn breath, he guessed it to be the latter.

"Mama, that was not at all what Jane meant." Miss Elizabeth smiled at Mr. Bingley. "My mother was fretting over the courses, and Jane simply said that she could not imagine you would mind mutton."

The grace with which Miss Elizabeth jumped to her sister's defense unfortunately proved to be the only pleasant moment of the evening. Once the courses were laid on the table, the two youngest girls joined in the conversation. "Mama, do you know what we learned from our Aunt Philips today?"

"Tell me, Lydia, my love."

Miss Lydia's light brown curls shook as she trembled with unrestrained excitement. "The Militia are coming to Meryton!"

Darcy's eyes widened when Mrs. Bennet clapped her hands like a giddy schoolgirl. "The militia!"

"Yes." Miss Catherine placed her elbows on the table and leaned into her cupped hands. "They are to remain here for the whole winter."

Sighs of delight followed this intelligence. "Oh my dears, what an exciting thing for you. Officers in Meryton!"

Darcy glanced down at Mr. Bennet.
Why does he not step in to check this idle prattle?
That gentleman watched the proceedings with an amused smile. He seemed to positively delight in the ridiculous behavior of his wife and daughters, and Darcy's disapproval of the family was firmly set.

The evening left Darcy in a foul frame of mind, and it did not end when they left Longbourn. Even in the comfort of the Netherfield drawing room, he could not escape mention of the Bennet family. Miss Bingley dismissed her brother-in-law's suggestion of cards--"For we have far too much to talk of to pay attention to what we are playing," she explained.

Unperturbed, Mr. Hurst sat in the far corner of the room, and Mr. Darcy took the seat nearest him, not even minding the draught he felt when he sat down.
The less I hear of the Bennets, the better.

Alas, the room was not large enough for him to miss the conversation between his companions. "The more I meet with Jane Bennet, the more I take a liking to her," Miss Bingley said, a self-satisfied smile on her face.

"Indeed, she is a very sweet creature." Mrs. Hurst wrinkled her nose. "But her family."

"Oh yes, the mother and those two younger sisters; so unrefined! Miss Mary Bennet was described to me as accomplished, so imagine my surprise to discover she can neither draw nor paint. Her one skill seems to be playing the pianoforte."

"Do not forget quoting from Fordyce's sermons." Their merry laughter grated on Darcy's nerves.

Bingley frowned at them both. "You do not give enough credit to the Bennet sisters, I think. They have not had all the advantages of town and education that you have, and yet they are all pleasant, genteel girls."

All of them pleasant, Bingley?
Darcy shook his head, and from Miss Bingley's smirk and barely muffled giggle, he knew he was not the only one who doubted this statement.

The room was quiet for a moment, and Darcy thought perhaps they had left the subject of the Longbourn family behind them. Then Miss Bingley spoke again. "I have heard Elizabeth Bennet referred to as one of the great beauties of the county."

"Elizabeth Bennet?" Darcy at last lost all patience with the conversation. "I should as soon call her mother a wit."

Both sisters tittered at this pronouncement, but Bingley was not amused. "Darcy, you are too harsh. Perhaps Miss Elizabeth is not quite the standard beauty you see in town, but I vow, there is something about her which draws the eye."

"Oh no, not quite the standard beauty at all," Miss Bingley said snidely. Her brother turned to glare at her, and she quickly modulated her answer. "However, Miss Eliza too is a pleasant, well-bred girl. I would not mind getting to know her better."

"Nor I," agreed Mrs. Hurst.

To the dismay of everyone but Bingley, becoming better acquainted with the elder Bennet girls came at the cost of time spent with the entire clan. Over the following weeks, they dined with the Longbourn family three times. By the end of the fortnight, Darcy was quite out of patience with the entire family, with the singular exception of Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

His good opinion of her took him quite by surprise. At the second dinner between the two families, he noticed a blush of mortification creep across her face after one of her mother's more brazen attempts to attach Bingley to her older sister. Darcy found himself in sympathy with the lady, who obviously did not approve of scheming for a husband.

The third time the two parties met, he paid more attention to Miss Elizabeth and noticed the many glances she exchanged with her father. While Darcy still believed the gentleman should stir himself to control his family, he found himself on this occasion more struck by how uncommonly intelligent Miss Elizabeth's eyes were. When lit with laughter as they so often were, they were quite fine indeed.

Fine? Was it not just last week that you expressed yourself unmoved by her supposed beauty, Darcy?
That thought followed him throughout the next week, until they once again dined at Longbourn. He watched Elizabeth for some minutes, trying to see the flaws in her appearance which he had so recently disapproved of, but he could not. When the Bennets joined them at Netherfield a few evenings later, he admired the easy, graceful way she carried herself and realized he could deny his attraction to Miss Elizabeth Bennet no longer.

Mortifying though such an attraction was, it did make future social obligations less odious. They were promised to a party at Lucas Lodge, an engagement Darcy had not looked on with much pleasure; however, as he scanned the room when he arrived, his gaze soon lit on the lady in question and he found it difficult to look elsewhere.

This will not do, Darcy.
Despite the stern reminder to himself, he found his way near her. She was in conversation with Colonel Forster of the local militia, and though Darcy wished to join in, he knew not what to say. He had never been very good at speaking with those he did not know; he faltered and stumbled as he attempted to find a subject that would please them both. In truth, he had never been bothered enough to learn, but for the first time, he wished he possessed greater skill in conversing with young ladies.

Elizabeth smiled up at the Colonel, and her charm dazzled both men. "Colonel Forster," said she, "I believe it quite shameful that you have not entertained yourself."