Page 19 of His Pride and His Prejudice

Charlie sighed. “Yes.”

Elliot reflected that Mr. Lucas would not be the only parent trying to catch an alpha of ten thousand a year. Mrs. Bennet however was now an exception. She was still outraged that Mr. Darcy had dared to slight one of her children and ceased any plans she might have made in that direction.

“It is strange that he is so unpleasant when Mr. Bingley is splendid,” Charlie said. “Did I tell you that I overheard Mr. Robinson asking him how he liked our Meryton assemblies, and whether he thought there were a great many pretty eligible males and females in the room, and which he thought the most handsome? He answered immediately to the last question.”

“He said Jack?” Elliot asked.

“Of course,” Charlie said. “There could be no competition there.” He shot Elliot a smile. “I do wonder how Mr. Darcy might have answered that question. If indeed he would have answered it at all. Mrs. Long told me last night that he sat close to her for half-an-hour without once opening his lips.”

“A half hour?”

“Eventually she asked him how he liked Netherfield, and he could not help answering her, but she said he seemed quite angry at being spoke to.”

“Miss Bingley,” said Marc quite out of nowhere, “told me that he never speaks much, unless among his intimate acquaintances. With them he is remarkably agreeable.”

“You asked about this?” Elliot said, fervently hoping that Marc had shown some tact in his conversation with Miss Bingley.

“We were dancing at the Meryton assembly,” Marc said. “Mama insisted.”

“And you asked about Mr. Darcy?”

“I was curious as to why he stood alone,” Marc said. “Conversing with no one. That would be my preference, of course, but mama would never allow it.”

“And Miss Bingley called him agreeable?” Charlie shook his head. “I do not believe a word of it, Marc. If he had been so very agreeable, he would have talked to Mrs. Long. But papa suggested that he is so eat up with pride and perhaps had heard somehow that Mrs. Long does not keep a carriage and had come to the ball in a hack chaise?”

Elliot frowned, thinking abruptly of their very odd conversation at the end of the Netherfield visit, and not for the first time. Mr. Darcy had not seemed angry, at least not until the very end. But then how long had they spent together, a mere handful of minutes? And what could anyone know about anyone after so short an acquaintance?

“Would Mr. Darcy be the type to concern himself with such a thing?” he said after a moment.

“I do not know,” Charlie said. “But I do know that I would not wish to attract him! He is excessively prideful it seems, but his pride does not offend me so much as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it. One cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of himself. He does have a right to be proud, but he does not express that pride very well!”

Elliot turned slightly so that the crowd across the room came into his view. Mr. Darcy could be easily seen, given he was so tall. He was not talking to anyone in the crowd. Was not even talking to his party. He stood to the side, aloof, self-contained, almost expressionless. He had not looked that way at the end of their conversation.

Elliot shivered. He still couldn’t quite believe that he had spoken to an alpha in such a way, but he had not been able to resist. Mr. Darcy deserved it, did he not? And Elliot did have a small amount of pride of his very own!

“He does seem to have been blessed with many of the qualities that are conducive to pride,” Elliot eventually said. “Perhaps I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine?”

Charlie knew all about the overheard conversation at Meryton. He had sympathised with his dear friend, as no one wanted to hear themselves described thus. “Elliot…”

“Pride,” observed Marc, who had suddenly piqued himself upon the solidity of his reflections, “is a very common failing, I believe, and by all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed.”

“Is that so?” Charlie asked and though Elliot loved his brother he wished Charlie had not encouraged him.

“Human nature is particularly prone to it, and there are very few of us who do not suffer,” Marc continued, smoothing down his very dark waistcoat as he did so. “Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used as though they are the same. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves. Vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

Charlie nodded. “Interesting.”

“Very useful reflections, Marc,” Elliot said, and Marc nodded in satisfaction before returning to his silent musings.

Elliot and Charlie shared a grin. The dancing had started now, and the crowd were dispersing. Elliot was not surprised to see Mr. Bingley leading Jack on to the dancefloor. They were smiling at each other, Bingley beaming in fact, though Elliot could see a clear reserve in his brother’s actions, as was always the case with Jack. He mentioned this to Charlie and Marc, meaning it as a compliment, but Charlie sighed.

“It is sometimes a disadvantage to be so very guarded,” he said. “If an omega conceals his affection with the same skill from the object of it, he may lose the opportunity of fixing him. And it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark. There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to chance.”

“Affection might not have had sufficient time to grow yet,” Elliot said, though remembering Jack’s words the night after the Meryton assembly he did not quite believe that.

“Affection is either there or it is not,” Charlie said, “that is not the point. And it is true that frequent exposure will help it to deepen but it is not always enough, not when we are considering an alpha-omega relationship. There are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement. In nine cases out of ten, an omega had better show more affection than he feels. Bingley likes Jack undoubtedly, but he may never do more than like him if Jack does not help him on.”

“But Jack does help him on, as much as his nature will allow. If I can perceive Jack’s regard for him, he must be a simpleton indeed not to discover it too.”

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