“It is, but I keep telling Maria not to be overly excited. These men cannot afford wives, and so the girls must not become over-friendly with them.”
“That is all true,” Mrs. Bennet said. Then she sighed. “I liked a red coat in my youth, I must admit.”
“The regulars are a different story,” Lady Lucas continued. “A lieutenancy costs around four hundred pounds, and if a man can afford that, then his family is likely well-to-do! But the militia is not the regulars, and it does not do to forget that.”
Maria, Kitty and Lydia spent the rest of the visit in a corner, giggling together, while Jane and Elizabeth traded glances. Their sisters would need to be watched carefully.
***
Mrs. Bennet did not think she could be any happier, knowing that there were two rich, single gentlemen at Netherfield, but she was wrong, for she became happier yet when a message arrived from Mrs. Hurst saying that Miss Bingley would not be at dinner on Tuesday, but Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, Mr. Darcy’s cousin and the second son of the Earl and Countess of Matlock was staying at Netherfield, and would Mrs. Bennet mind if he attended the dinner?
Mrs. Bennet’s hand all but trembled in delight as she wrote out her very sincere happiness at the opportunity to entertain that gentleman. So delighted was she that she felt the need to share the news with Mr. Bennet.
Mr. Bennet had very much enjoyed his hour with Mr. Darcy, and looked forward to seeing the gentleman again when the Netherfield party came to dinner on Tuesday. When his wife came to inform him that the most unpleasant Miss Bingley was to stay home, but a Colonel Fitzwilliam would come instead, he merely shrugged.
Feeling that her news had not been met with the appropriate appreciation, Mrs. Bennet climbed the stairs and shared it with her daughters. Jane heard it with her customary placidity. Lizzie muttered, “Well, no one will miss that odious Miss Bingley!” Mary merely nodded and went back to her book.
But Kitty and Lydia gratified Mrs. Bennet by dancing around their room, chanting, “Red coat! Red coat!” Many young girls were enamoured at the idea of Englishmen fighting on foreignshores for the safety of England, so the enthusiasm of her two youngest daughters was neither unwelcome nor unexpected.
Mrs. Bennet could scarcely wait for Lady Lucas’ next visit. She would speak a good deal about this Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, son of an Earl!
Chapter Thirty
Longbourn
When Tuesday night arrived, the Bennet girls were in their best looks, having spent the entire day on gowns, hair and jewelry. At one point, Elizabeth heard the two youngest girls squabbling over a ribbon, and had gone in to ask, “Is this how Georgiana would behave?”
They had quieted at once and then had actually apologised to one another. Elizabeth would not have believed it had she not seen it with her own eyes. Now everyone sat very properly in the parlour. Mrs. Bennet had insisted that the seat beside Jane be left empty, so that Mr. Bingley might sit with her.
Mrs. Bennet was still working out her table arrangements in her mind; of course, Jane and Mr. Bingley would sit together, as would Lizzy and Mr. Darcy, just in case there truly was a partiality there. The Colonel was completely unknown; he might, after all, be a married man. Should he sit beside Mary?
No, no; Miss Darcy must sit beside Mary. Ah, and if this Colonel was a cousin of Mr. Darcy’s, then he was a cousin of Miss Darcy’s as well. The poor shy creature would be most comfortableif sitting between Mary and the Colonel, would she not? Or perhaps between the Colonel and Mr. Darcy? But that might make the girl feel rather isolated from her newfound friends.
Perhaps she should wait a bit and see what undercurrents she could deduce from the time that everyone sat together in the parlour.
Their guests arrived right on time. The Hursts and the Colonel were introduced to the Bennets. The Colonel was nowhere near as handsome as Mr. Bingley or Mr. Darcy, but he had a presence about him that drew the feminine eye. His shoulders were wide and his chest broad, and he was the very picture of a warrior.
Mrs. Bennet watched her three youngest girls out of the corner of her eye. Lydia and Kitty were being silly about the Colonel’s red coat, as was expected, but – was that a slight blush on Mary’s cheek? How very interesting.
The rapid flow of Mrs. Bennet’s thoughts did not deter her from her duties in the slightest. She called in her husband, and introductions were performed again.
“Good to see you again, Mr. Darcy,” Mr. Bennet said, with something almost approaching warmth.
“And you, Mr. Bennet,” Mr. Darcy replied, cordially. “Perhaps we might visit your book room later this evening?”
“Excellent. Do you play chess, sir?”
“I do, of course.”
“Will you accept a challenge?”
“If time permits us, yes; however, my young sister is with us tonight, and she is unaccustomed to late hours.”
“Perhaps another day, then.”
“Come, Mr. Bennet,” his lady chided him. “Enough of books and chess!”
“What is life, without books and chess?” he asked her.
