I am very excited to learn that Mr. Bingley has at last come through for Jane! Now perhaps you will forgive me for the stratagem I employed by leaving with Mary. I know you were not happy with me at the time, but I did know what I was about.
I am to come to Charlotte’s wedding with Lady Catherine and her daughter, Miss de Bourgh, and I will of course stay at home thereafter.
Miss de Bourgh would very much like to stay at Longbourn, rather than Netherfield Park. She has become a good friend, and would like to meet all the sisters I have spoken of! I have assured her that this would not be a problem. She is accustomed to a good deal of elegance, but I think she will not prove a difficult guest.
Your loving daughter,
Lizzy
Chapter Eighty-Six
When Mr. Bingley returned the next day to Longbourn, he was greeted with wide smiles by everyone. Jane blushed rosily as she sat beside him. Mrs. Bennet cooed over him, pronouncing him the handsomest man who had ever lived, and the son she had always longed for. Embarrassed, he excused himself briefly to visit Mr. Bennet in his library.
“Had enough, have you?” Mr. Bennet remarked, getting up to shake Mr. Bingley’s hand.
“Very much – no, actually, I came to give you this.” A little flustered now, Mr. Bingley held out a small pouch.
Mr. Bennet looked at it, looked up at Mr. Bingley, and then finally took the pouch and opened it.
“It is five hundred pounds,” Mr. Bingley said. “I will have to go to London to get the rest, but I thought you might need – with the wedding coming up – I just thought –“
Mr. Bennet rescued him. “It was a very good thought, indeed, Mr. Bingley, and I know not how to convey my gratitude.”
“It is my honour to help you, Mr. Bennet,” Mr. Bingley said. “But it occurs to me that you and I might both benefit from Darcy.”
“Indeed? How so?”
“Well, he owns a very large and profitable estate, and he has come here to teach me how to be an estate owner, and it seems to me that –“ Mr. Bingley stopped, having just realised that he was about to insult the man who was to be his father-in-law.
Mr. Bennet raised a sardonic brow. “You thought that I might benefit from his lessons as well? Quite right, Mr. Bingley, you need not be embarrassed. I do not doubt that I could serve as a lesson as to whatnotto do, if nothing else.”
Mr. Bingley escaped as soon as he was able, preferring to face the ladies in the parlour rather than the lion in the study.
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Netherfield Park was full to bursting. The Earl and Countess were in residence, of course, as were Georgiana and Mrs. Annesley. Lady Catherine and Anne de Bourgh had arrived, though Anne had been permitted to stay at Longbourn instead of Netherfield Park, as she very much wished to be with Elizabeth.
Mrs. Hurst seemed very much in control of the situation, though Mr. Darcy had, more than once, come upon her talking to herself in worried whispers. She was not accustomed to entertaining such exalted company, he knew, and so he made it a point to praise her whenever he could do so without causing comment. She threw him grateful glances when he did so. Thank heavens it was not Miss Bingley who was Netherfield’s hostess!
Mr. Darcy knew that Elizabeth was now at Longbourn, and he ached, actuallyachedto see her, though he knew not how to arrange it. Given the general confusion at both Netherfield Park and Longbourn, he suspected he would have to just bide his time. Surely, surely, she would stay until her elder sister’s wedding, would she not?
He paced back and forth in the empty library. While he still feared the romantic fancies he experienced were a sign of weakness, he was aware that he was increasingly unable to holdhimself firm against them. The plain truth of the matter was that he was likely to succumb to his fascination with Elizabeth.
“Brother! There you are!”
“Georgiana! Are you well settled?”
“I am, yes. I have a lovely room, and Mrs. Hurst put Mrs. Annesley right next to me. It is a pretty enough place, is it not?”
“Netherfield? It is, yes, if a bit crowded just now.”
“When am I to meet her?”
Deliberately misunderstanding her, he replied, “Reggie’s bride? Certainly our two aunts are planning a visit this very afternoon; I am certain they would welcome your company.”
She scowled at him. “You know very well of whom I speak.”
He sighed. “I do not know when I will see her next.”
