She returned to her seat and handed Mr. Darcy his cup. Their fingers touched on the rim of the saucer. Both reacted so strongly to that brief touch that the teacups shook in their saucers, and only Mr. Darcy’s quick reflexes saved the tea from spilling all over both of them.
Elizabeth took her seat and hid her face in her teacup. What on earth had just happened?
Mr. Darcy was frozen in place. He stared at the teacup in his hand, but made no move to drink from it. As soon as he was able to do so, he rose, bowed silently to Miss Elizabeth, and took a seat nearer the fire. His fingers were still tingling from Miss Elizabeth’s touch; his heart was still pounding. What witchery was this?
Chapter Forty
When the Bennets finally left, Mr. Darcy climbed the stairs, wearily, to his room. It had been a singularly long and confusing evening. After the incident with the teacup, he and Miss Elizabeth had not exchanged a single word and she would not look him in the face. Was it possible that she had had the same strange reaction to their touch?
He recalled saying that he would write to Georgiana that night, and he decided to put it off no longer.
Dearest Georgiana,
Everyone here at Netherfield Park is quite well. The weather is cool, but not in any way unpleasant; it is quite unlike Derbyshire, as you may well imagine.
Mr. Bingley is in something of a quandary. Since I know all young ladies are interested in romance, I thought to share his dilemma with you. Before I arrived, he had all but engaged himself to a young lady of a nearby estate. Nothing had been said, but he had been assiduous in his attentions to her, and even Miss Bingley agrees that expectations have been raised.
But then the young lady’s elder sister returned home from London, and upon meeting her, Bingley stared as if he had just been granted a sight of heaven! No one could deny the elder sister’s beauty (indeed, I too was quite struck by her when I first met her), and though the younger sister is also extremely beautiful (lovelier than her elder sister, in my opinion), the elder is far more in Bingley’s usual style.
It seems clear to me that Bingley was attracted by the first young lady because he has become rather enamoured of country living and wants a wife who has been trained to be the mistress of an estate, which is certainly true of that young lady. But now he has met the elder sister, and though he will not admit to it, he cannot take his eyes off her.
So – is he to follow up on the expectations he has raised with respect to the younger sister? Or will he follow his heart and pursue the elder?
Mr. Darcy paused here. He could unburden himself on paper, could he not? In truth, he could not stop the words from pouring out onto the paper.
Dearest sister, I would not normally put pen to paper in order to recount such Shakespearean comedy, were in not for the fact that I am having the oddest reaction to the younger sister myself. When I see her in a drawing room, I am pulled to sit beside her. I seem helpless to resist. And tonight, when her family dined at Netherfield Park, our fingers accidentally touched when she handed me my teacup, and I all but dropped the cup. My fingers began to quiver and prickle, my heart beat fast, and I was sodisconcerted that I took my cup and all but ran away from her.
I wonder if she felt the same, for she did not so much as look at me again the entire evening!
It is all very odd, and I am, frankly, too worn out to think on it any longer.
Good night, sweetest sister!
William
He folded the letter, sealed it, put Pemberley’s direction on it and then he calmly threw it into the fireplace. He could not possibly send such romantic nonsense to his sister. He was rather mortified to have even written it.
He then went to bed, where he tossed and turned for an hour before finally drifting off to sleep.
***
Mr. Darcy was not the only troubled soul at Netherfield Park the night of the dinner party. Miss Bingley was acutely aware of Mr. Darcy’s attentions to Miss Elizabeth. This could not be allowed to continue, and so it was imperative that Charles marry Miss Elizabeth to remove her from Mr. Darcy’s consideration.
***
Mr. Bingley was also troubled. He could not deny that he had a strong preference for Miss Bennet over Miss Elizabeth. It was not just that Miss Bennet was prettier; no, he was not so shallow as all that! It was that Miss Bennet was altogether more restful, more in tune with his own preferences. And doubtless, as the eldest sister, she was just as well-trained to be mistress of an estate as Miss Elizabeth.
But everyone seemed to think that he had raised Miss Elizabeth’s expectations!
What was he to do?
Chapter Forty-One
The carriage ride home was not a particularly pleasant one for Jane and Elizabeth, for only Mary was spared Mrs. Bennet’s scoldings. She began with Elizabeth. “Why did you allow Mr. Darcy to sit with you? You are to be spending your time with Mr. Bingley, and you are not to forget it! As for you, Jane, if you had been here from the beginning, then I have no doubt that you would have been the one to capture Mr. Bingley’s interest. But it is too late for that now! You are not to cut your sister out, do you hear me?”
Neither Jane nor Elizabeth could bring themselves to comment on their mother’s strictures. They both bowed their heads and sat in silence.
When they were alone in their room, Jane began, “Elizabeth, I apologise, I did not mean to –“
