By the time the second course had been removed, Mrs. Bennet had privately determined that Mr. Bingley was precisely the sort of young man she had long wished to see established at Netherfield; that the estate itself could not possibly fail under the direction of so cheerful and agreeable a master; and that if Mr. Darcy continued visiting Hertfordshire with equal regularity, the future prospects of Longbourn might yet surpass even those hopes which, in her most sanguine moments, she scarcely permitted herself fully to confess.
***
The following morning rose calm and pale over Hertfordshire, the softened light of an autumn day lying gently upon the lawns of Longbourn, while within the house there still lingeredsomething of the cheerful animation produced by the events of the preceding evening.
Mrs. Bennet, though she affected an air of composure at breakfast, found herself continually returning to Netherfield, to Mr. Bingley’s uncommon agreeableness, to the rapidity with which the neighbourhood would undoubtedly receive him, and above all to the gratifying conviction that Longbourn had been the first house in the county to welcome such a kind gentleman.
Mr. Bennet endured these reflections with the patience of long habit, occasionally contributing an observation sufficiently dry to amuse Elizabeth and perplex Mary, though never powerful enough to interrupt the current of his wife’s satisfaction for more than a moment together.
Jane listened with her customary sweetness, neither encouraging expectation too openly nor attempting entirely to repress it; while Kitty and Lydia had already begun discussing the approaching assembly as though Netherfield had belonged to Mr. Bingley for half his life.
Breakfast had nearly concluded when the sound of hoofbeats upon the gravel announced the arrival of a mounted servant.
Mrs. Bennet looked up immediately.
“There now! Depend upon it, something further has happened.”
A note was shortly afterward delivered into Mr. Bennet’s hands.
The superscription, written in a firm and elegant hand, produced in Elizabeth a sensation of recognition so immediate that she became conscious, almost at once, of having fixed herattention too visibly upon her father’s expression while he broke the seal.
Mr. Bennet read the contents with greater seriousness than such communications generally received from him; though before many moments had elapsed, the corners of his mouth betrayed the first symptoms of restrained amusement.
“Well, my dear,” Mrs. Bennet cried, unable to support suspense another instant, “you cannot imagine that an entire family will sit quietly while you read in silence.”
“It appears,” Mr. Bennet replied, folding the note deliberately before him, “that Mr. Darcy finds himself unexpectedly obliged to return for a short time to Derbyshire upon business connected with Pemberley. Before leaving Hertfordshire, however, he requests the favour of speaking with me privately for a few minutes this morning, if I should happen to be at leisure.”
Mrs. Bennet’s curiosity instantly revived in full force.
“With you? Privately? Good heavens, what can he possibly have to communicate of such importance?”
“That,” Mr. Bennet returned calmly, “is perhaps precisely what Mr. Darcy proposes to explain.”
Elizabeth lowered her eyes toward her plate, though not before Jane had observed the sudden colour which rose into her cheeks.
The interval which followed proved considerably less tranquil than the one preceding it. Mrs. Bennet advanced successively through conjecture, certainty, contradiction, renewed certainty, and complete bewilderment in the space of scarcely ten minutes; while Lydia declared herself convinced the matter must concern Netherfield, Kitty imagined it connected with servants orrepairs, and Mary suggested that gentlemen entrusted with extensive property were naturally exposed to serious and confidential affairs.
Mr. Bennet, having at length escaped from these speculations under pretence of attending the business requested of him, withdrew to his study shortly before eleven o’clock.
Mr. Darcy arrived not many minutes afterward. He was shown immediately into the study where Mr. Bennet awaited him; and though the morning had advanced little beyond its first quiet hours, there existed already within the room that settled air of occupation which long habit had rendered natural to its master. Several letters lay open upon the desk beside him, though whether they had received more genuine attention than the sounds and movements elsewhere in the house might reasonably be questioned.
Mr. Bennet rose upon his visitor’s entrance and received him with easy civility.
“I am sorry to hear that business calls you from Hertfordshire so soon, Mr. Darcy,” he observed after the first salutations had passed between them. “Though I suppose Pemberley possesses claims upon its owner which cannot always be postponed for the convenience of newer acquaintances.”
“There are matters connected with the estate which require my presence for a few days, sir,” Mr. Darcy replied. “I should not otherwise have thought of leaving Hertfordshire at present.”
Mr. Bennet inclined his head slightly, as though acknowledging an answer perfectly reasonable in itself, though perhaps not entirely sufficient to explain the seriousness with which his guest appeared to regard the interview.
“I believe,” he said after a brief pause, resuming his seat and motioning Darcy toward another near the window, “that your note suggested some further subject upon which you wished to speak with me privately.”
“It did, sir.”
Although he seemed not entirely at ease, Mr. Darcy spoke without haste, yet not without visible effort toward preserving the composure proper to what he had undertaken. Whatever confidence habit and character ordinarily gave him in the conduct of serious affairs, the present occasion appeared less easily governed.
“At Rosings,” he began at length, “circumstances arose which permitted me the honour of becoming far better acquainted with Miss Elizabeth, in a manner quite unexpected to me. Since that period, and still more since arriving in Hertfordshire, I have become increasingly sensible how greatly my happiness depends upon her good opinion.”
Mr. Bennet’s expression altered very little; yet his attention, already engaged, became now entirely fixed upon the speaker before him.
