Elizabeth gasped. “Mr Darcy did that?”
“All that and more. That is why I want you to ride with me. I plan to regale you with tales of my two nephews, who were more often in trouble than out in their youth. Perhaps you might find it helpful to talk to a naturalist as you examine this butterfly to see if it is real.”
“It will be my pleasure. I can never let pass an opportunity to learn from an expert on frogs.”
The Third Hand
“Lizzy, what do you think of Mr Oakley?”
Elizabeth and her best friend Charlotte were escaping the madness of last-minute wedding preparations by taking an extended walking tour of their favourite haunts, while Bennet did his best, aided by the strident voices of both members of the de Bourgh family, to keep the preparations exactly as they had been settled during the previous month. Jane had calmly walked with them for the first hour before returning to Longbourn to visit her intended.
Elizabeth had wondered where Lady Catherine would be housed, only for the lady to go straight to Netherfield as if she owned the place. Pressed about the feat, Lady Catherine evaded the question for a while, but finally confessed she had made arrangements months earlier to stay should any need arise. It seemed Mama Frog was willing to let Baby Frog swim at leisure, but notquite‘out of sight, out of mind’. Darcy had asked his friend, Mr Bingley, for permission and even engaged a few extra servants in case of need.
Charlotte and Elizabeth escaped through the simple expedient of refusing to give a single opinion on any subject whatsoever, both claiming they were presently considered guests in Hertfordshire due to their long removal from the county. The assertion made not the slightest sense to any rational person, but say it often enough and with enough vigour, and it became obviously true—or at least not worth the frustration of arguing with a stone.
Elizabeth smiled. “I spent two hours in his company, and he seems to be all that a young man ought to be.”
“That spoils it. I remember the last time you said that.”
Elizabeth laughed heartily. “It has been a good portion of a year since then, and we have both been through any number of changes and experiences. Perhaps the definition of ‘all a young man ought to be’ has been refined since autumn. Note that it is an assertion of meeting expectations, and expectations may change with circumstance.”
Charlotte giggled fit to rival Kitty before Mrs Jenkinson. “Ah, I have missed you. Lady Catherine is noticeably livelier than I was led to believe, and Mary is a treasure these days, but nobody can equivocate, obfuscate, and rationalise like you.”
They continued along the path.
After a dozen steps, Elizabeth said, “Seriously, Mr Oakley appears exactly as I said. It behoves us to spend more time learning about someone’s character than can be had in a few hours at a single ball. I can give you a perfectly good example of someone misunderstanding a gentleman for months from a first impression formed in minutes, so we must be cautious in evaluating someone’s character without some acquaintance. Nevertheless, I truly esteem the man, and stand by my assessment, as does Lady Catherine.”
“So, why did you throw him at me?”
Elizabeth stopped and faced her friend. “Because I like him so much.”
“Explain!”
Elizabeth tugged them back into motion. “I do like him, probably more than any other man I have ever met at a first meeting. He asked to call on me, though he was as polite and correct as a gentleman could be in letting me know that the call might or might not be the start of a friendship or a courtship. He knew he might raise expectations and wanted to ensure we both agreed about them. I greatly appreciated the frankness. I findthe prevarications of polite discourse tiresome, and he is also a proponent of clarity over stubborn adherence to propriety.”
Charlotte sighed. “It seems if you deliberately designed your perfect match, he would be it.”
“I suppose so.”
“Once again, why introduce him tome?”
“Lady Catherine asked the same question. At one level, it is easily explained. He is a man who tries to gather a large group of intelligent friends that he hopes to retain decades hence. I happened to spot one minutes later, so I owed it to both of you to arrange a meeting. Well, that is not quite right. I was notobligedper se, but I saw the correct thing to do, and I find I cannot avoid doing the obviously correct thing once I have identified it.”
“I can see that. You have always been compulsive like that, at least when you were not being a little hellion.”
Elizabeth giggled, glad Charlotte had lightened the conversation. “You are a creature of habit, though. You would not sayat one levelunless there was at least one more. You avoid redundancy.”
“I did not expect to fool you. You see—”
Charlotte paused, as if waiting for a thought storm, though none came.
“You see, Charlotte,” Elizabeth said pensively, “you are in a particular place in life. You knowexactlywhat you want, and your task is to find the closest approximation to your desires, so long as the gentleman also finds you meet his expectations. After that, the next steps are obvious, and you can move on to the next phase of your life. If Mr Oakley finds himself in want of a wife, you are likely to be happy to fulfil the office. I suspect you do not need to know any more about him than you do now. If he poppedout of that tree and asked for your hand, I suspect you would accept.”
Charlotte considered this. “Before you sent me to Lady Catherine, I most certainly would have. Now… well, now I know I can be alittlemore particular. I think I would have accepted just about anyone but a gambler or a rake before.”
“You would deny him?”
“Of course not! In such a case, I would almost certainly accept him, but ask for a moderate courtship. However, since we have already passed the tree and I looked behind it, I believe I am safe for the day.”
