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Elliot attempted to edge away from Mr. Collins as he recalled his cousin’s insistence on two dances but did not think he could tolerate another so soon after the first. Charlie Lucas came to his rescue, happily greeting Mr. Collins, exchanging pleasantries, and then whisking Elliot away to the refreshment room where Elliot quickly told Charlie all he knew of the Wickham and Darcy situation.
“But it makes no sense,” Charlie said. “For we have had Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy to dinner three times and on the third time Mr. Darcy became quite pleasant.”
“Pleasant?”
“Yes,” Charlie said. “I have thought upon this, Elliot, and I believe that he is so very prideful because he does not enjoy interactions where he does not know the people he is interacting with.”
“Nobody knows the people they interact with until they actually do,” Elliot said.
“Yes,” Charlie said. “So you can understand why it would be so difficult for Mr. Darcy.” He passed across a lemonade unlike any Elliot had tasted, likely because there were actual ripe lemons in there. “I found him very prideful at first, as well you know, and I was most uncomfortable with him given my papa’s insistence on making his acquaintance and…pushing me in his direction.”
“They have ceased?”
“Yes,” Charlie said. “They know it is for nought and have begun considering other candidates for me.” He sighed. “But that is by the by, we were talking on Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham and whether we can believe that Mr. Wickham’s account is factual.”
“Why would he tell it if it were not?” Elliot asked.
“I do not know,” Charlie said. “But it is worth some consideration, perhaps it is something you could ask Mr. Collins about?”
“Mr. Collins?”
“Yes, I understand that Lady Catherine de Bourgh has very lately given him a living?”
“This is true,” Elliot said. “But?—”
“We spoke about it at a recent dinner,” Charlie said. “I hardly know how Mr. Collins was first introduced to her notice, but he is profuse in his praise of her, and it was through him that I learned that Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Lady Anne Darcy were sisters. Consequently, she is aunt to the present Mr. Darcy.”
“I had no notion,” Elliot said, turning to look at Mr. Collins who was now conversing with Marc.
“Her daughter, Miss de Bourgh, will have a very large fortune, and it is believed that she and her cousin will unite the two estates,” Charlie said. “Though I have heard,” he continued, “though I cannot verify if this is true, but Mr. Darcy’s attentions would not settle there.”
“Miss Bingley…”
“No,” Charlie said. “Let me be clear, his attentions would not settle on a ‘miss’ at all.”
“He seeks a male mate?” Elliot asked and his heart gave a very odd sort of thud.
“Indeed.”
“Mr. Collins speaks highly both of Lady Catherine and her daughter,” Charlie continued, and he did not comment on Elliot’s heightened colour, the room was quite warm after all. “But from some particulars that he has related of her ladyship, I suspect his gratitude misleads him, and that in spite of her being his patroness, she is an arrogant, conceited woman,” Charlie said. “She has the reputation of being remarkably sensible and clever, but I rather believe she derives part of her abilities from her rank and fortune, part from her alpha manner, and the rest from the pride for her daughter and nephew.”
“I wonder that Mr. Darcy has not mentioned her,” Elliot said after a moment.
“Perhaps you might ask him,” Charlie said. “Given he is coming this way.”
Twenty-One
Something was bothering Darcy as he made his way across the room, had in fact been bothering him for some days. It had started off as a simple feeling, a worry even back when they were in Meryton and had met Wickham. He had considered it since, thinking on the shape of it, the substance of it, before deciding that tonight would be the night where he would address it.
It was Jack Bennet’s behaviour.
Moving from the ballroom through to the refreshment room, Darcy paused at the door to look over at where the Bennets and the Lucases were gathered. They had greeted each other an hour or so ago on arrival at the ball and had not left each other’s sides since. Surrounding their group were several officers in red coats as well as some of the sons and daughters of families that had come from outside of Meryton. Darcy was not surprised by that. After all, the Lucases were a titled family, and the Bennets the principal family of Longbourn, so it was expected that they would receive some attention.
What was bothering Darcy though, was the way Jack Bennet responded to that attention. Since his illness when Charles had begun to show the strength of his regard towards the eldest Bennet, Darcy had resolved to keep a closer eye on the situation. After all, he had accompanied Charles to Netherfield to see him well settled, and that included ensuring that Charles did not make any hasty decisions.
Charles often made hasty decisions.
Darcy was beginning to suspect that Jack Bennet could be one of them.
