AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course, Mr. Bingley,” Mrs. Bennet replied. “And how lovely it is to see you again! But please indulge me by ignoring convention and starting with the youngest.” And she did just that, introducing them all until she finished with a flourish at Jack.
“Mr. Bennet,” Bingley breathed and there was no mistaking the admiration in his voice. “I have long since wished to meet you. The tales of your exquisiteness were not exaggerated, I see.”
Jack coughed slightly, oddly flustered but also pleased. Elliot couldn’t ever remember seeing his brother so. It elevated his attractiveness to something more than just mere handsomeness.
“I imagine yours are similar.”
Bingley laughed at that, clearly delighted. “It seems we already have something in common to discuss. I wonder what else we might discover once we have spent some time together. Will you do me the honour of this next dance so we can begin to find out?”
A small shove on the small of his back from Mrs. Bennet was all Jack needed and was also the last that Elliot saw of his older brother for the rest of the evening. If he was not dancing with Mr. Bingley then it was one of the local boys, for they were just as eager to show Mr. Bingley that they too valued Jack’s handsomeness and would have been more than happy to make an offer had Mrs. Bennet allowed it…not that she ever would!
Elliot spent his evening either talking with Charlie Lucas, though news beyond their guests was thin at best, reigning in the excesses of Louis as their mama would be furious to see him misbehave when Jack was in the arms of Mr. Bingley, or simply wandering the assembly rooms, taking in the atmosphere and catching snatches of conversation which gave him an interesting view of not only Mr. Bingley but the rest of his party. It was a view he intended to share with his family as soon as possible.
“He has several thousand a year!”
“I heard it was four thousand!”
“Turn your attention from Bingley, Mary-Anne, his companion is to be considered.”
“He has ten thousand a year!”
“Impossible!”
“It is twice what Mr. Bingley has.”
Elliot was also vaguely employed in trying to track down a scent which rivalled that of his beloved Linden trees. He had not noticed it in the assembly rooms before and suspected it was some new ointment or cream worn by one of the younger members of their society because it was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, and he found it strangely enticing. It amused him to make a small mission of discovering it because in truth the assembly room balls had never captivated Elliot in the same way they did the rest of his family.
Oh, he was not such an original as his father who would happily never see the inside of a ballroom ever again but given a choice Elliot would rather be outside than indoors, and he’d much rather be walking than dancing. It was true that he enjoyed the company of some members of society, his brothers, Charlie Lucas, even a few of the other young men who made up Meryton society, but Elliot was also different in that he enjoyed his own company most of all and could keep himself entertained for hours.
He paused next to the refreshment table, reaching for the fruit punch, the only beverage really considered suitable for a young man not yet of mating age. The punch varied in quality month to month so it was always a lottery as to whether it would be excessively sweet or painfully sour.
“He is not as handsome.”
“Stuff and nonsense, besides he has an entire estate! I hear it is in the wilds of the north, but it is still an entire estate!”
“Mr. Bingley’s interests clearly lie in the male form, Gretchen, look at how attentive he is being to Jack Bennet.”
“Anyone would be attentive to Jack Bennet given the chance.”
“I do declare they are as handsome as each other!”
Elliot smiled at those words and tried the punch. It was neither sweet nor sour this evening but lacking in taste completely. He suspected that Mrs. Smithes—responsible for ensuring the assemblies ran smoothly—might have taken to watering it down in an effort to save on costs, perhaps squirrelling the excess away for her own needs. He sometimes ran into the older woman when on one of his walks and had once had to carry an entire case of pears home for her. They had been past their best, and Elliot had avoided the pear punch later that month.
“And Mr. Darcy? Where do his desires lie?”
“Who can say?”
“Certainly not with you,” Gretchen Farnsborough said spitefully. “For he did not ask you to dance!”
“He has asked no one to dance so far but the Bingley sisters,” Mr. Cottlesworth replied. “As well you know, Gretchen!”
Elliot turned, depositing what was left of his punch back on the table, planning to make his way back across the room to where he spied Charlie Lucas being lectured by his papa, but did not get the chance. A firm hand clasped his arm and Elliot was unsurprised to see that it belonged to Mrs. Bennet.
“There you are, Elliot! I’m sure I do not know where you have been all evening!”
“Right here in the room, mama,” Elliot replied. “Where else would I be?”
“I have not seen you dance or have a single conversation with Mr. Bingley or his guests.”
