“Ha! She has heard that all her life, for she was ever a terror!” The colonel looked to his sister as they approached her, and clearly the lady heard his admonishment, for she gave him a cheerful smile, her eyes narrowing. “Richard, I find I must inform you that it is a great slight to this lady that you should lead her in a circuit about the room, instead of asking her to dance.”
“Sister, allow me to present Miss Elinor Dashwood, who has already promised me the supper set. Miss Dashwood, my sister, Lady Rebecca Bingley.”
“Bingley!” Elinor pressed her lips together when they might have hung open from astonishment.
“Yes, I believe my brother-in-law is known in the area. He informs me that the local families are all delightful. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Dashwood.”
“Miss Dashwood and her mother and sisters are staying at Longbourn with their cousins, the Bennets.”
Lady Rebecca grinned at her brother like the cat that ate the canary. “Oh! How fascinating! I have heard the greatest praise of that family. I hope you will introduce me to your cousins, Miss Dashwood. At once.”
At that same moment, Kitty broke away from her dance with Captain Denny, and latched onto Elinor’s arm with a heady giggle. “Oh, Elinor, why are you not dancing? La! What a fine mask you have, Miss…?”
“Lady Rebecca. Pray, are you one of the Bennets?”
“Kitty,” the girl said with a nod as she drank in Lady Rebecca’s spectacularly fashionable gold and ivory gown. Then she turned to Elinor. “Oh! But look – you will never believe who Marianne is dancing with!”
Before the dancing had begun, Elinor and her relations had seen Lady Rebecca enter with a gentleman, and Kitty had insisted the gentleman was Mr. Bingley, though Mary and Mr. Bennet insisted this was impossible, for he was not expected until the following week. They were sure that the lady at his side was not either of his sisters, and there would have been word of it in the papers if he had married.
“You owe me a shilling, Elinor,” Kitty said before flouncing back to dance with Captain Denny.
Lady Rebecca laughed at the girl’s flightiness, then turned to her brother. “Which reminds me – you owe me a crown. I have asked Mrs. Goulding, and none of the Lucases are present this evening. I knew that nobody could show their face after the spectacle you described.”
Though his mask concealed much of his face, Elinor believed the colonel was blushing, and so was she. She looked away, mortified at her own relations’ involvement in the debacle, which must have factored into the account the colonel gave his sister. Curious who Marianne was dancing with, she found her sister in the crowd, and saw her actually laughing with the man Kitty had informed her was Mr. Bingley. “Oh dear.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam recovered himself and said to Elinor, "Perhaps your cousin and my sister are quite correct, and we ought to be dancing, Miss Dashwood. Will you?” He offered her his hand and Elinor accepted, though she wished to speak more with Lady Rebecca, not only with a hope of the lady being all the colonel had described, but also of hearing of Mr. Bingley’s return.
***
Marianne returned to the ballroom shivering and weeping, and fled at once to the ladies’ retiring room. Miss Goulding and Miss Long were already within, giggling together on a tufted bench in the center of the room. Marianne went to stand by the fireplace, where she removed her mask and wiped at her face.
The other two ladies ignored her, and continued their chattering. “I heard that he left debts all over the village, and that he got into a fight with Lieutenant Mason, who said he cheated him at cards!”
“I heard Papa tell Mamma that he got caught meddling with Tom Carpenter’s daughter! And of course we already knew that he only fancied Miss King for her fortune!”
Marianne clenched her jaw and closed her eyes, letting out a slow breath. She had wanted so much to believe that there were good men in the world, that they were not all as vile as Willoughby. Learning the worst of him had shattered her heart, and she feared it would never mend if everyone she met only proved a villain. She regretted that she had come to the ball, for even the lamentations of Lydia and Mrs. Bennet could not be worse than what she was hearing presently.
The two hateful gossips continued their litany of Wickham’s offenses, and tears slid down Marianne’s cheeks. She had not been attached to the man, nor had she any wish to be. Rather, she had hoped that she could enjoy the friendship of a man who understood hardship, and of course she hoped that someday she would find a friendship that could grow into love. Now, she feared, she would always be waiting for the truth to come out. Even a gentleman who spoke of art and love and poetry, might truly be a blackguard.
When she could bear the prattling no longer, Marianne wiped her face one last time and refastened her mask. She checked herself in the mirror and was satisfied. As she stormed out of the room, she looked over her shoulder and snapped at Miss Long and Miss Goulding. “I recall that you both were fooled by his appearance of goodness, as much as the rest of us.”
Marianne turned on her heel and stalked away, her hands balled into fists at her side. She was not minding where she was going as she returned to the ballroom, and promptly collided with a masked gentleman who was holding a glass of wine in each hand. The wine sloshed onto Marianne, who let out a sharp cry as she gaped down at herself with dismay.
The gentleman looked even more horrified. “Good Heavens, I am terribly sorry! I fear I was not minding where I stepped – I was searching the room for someone.”
“I was distracted as well – oh dear.” Marianne fidgeted uncomfortably, willing herself not to shed any further tears.
The gentleman set aside the nearly empty wine goblets and offered his handkerchief. Marianne had no wish to return to the ladies’ retiring room; she simply turned her back to the man and dabbed at her dress, relieved that at least her gown was nearly the same crimson shade as the spill, and thankfully only one of her silver gloves had been lightly splashed.
She spun back around to face him, and returned the handkerchief, which he stared at with bemusement before tucking it into his pocket. “It is not so very bad, and thankfully the candlelight is dim enough to conceal the stains.”
“Even so, I insist upon replacing what I have ruined; I hope I am a man who will always put right what I have done wrong. But perhaps you ought to stand by the fire so that your lovely gown can dry – or if you were to dance with me, I might make amends properly.”
“Somebody is expecting you to bring them some wine,” Marianne said, gesturing at the two goblets he had spilled on her.
“Only my sister-in-law Lady Rebecca, the smirking little devil over there,” he replied, tipping his head toward a dark-haired beauty in opulent attire, who surveyed the dancing with a look of humor. “We only arrived this afternoon, but I daresay she will be commanding the room soon enough, and then she will have any number of eager cup-bearers.”
Marianne smiled appreciatively at the diminutive but imperious woman, and then at the gentleman before her. Heextended his hand. “Will you dance? Truly, you looked quite distraught when I first saw you.”
