“Mr Bingley told me they are planning a ball for the end of November. Can you imagine? He already asked me for two sets, the first and the supper one, so that he can escort me into the dining room.” Pleasure covered Jane’s face.
A ball was an exciting prospect, but Elizabeth had little time to enjoy it given Jane’s disclosure about Mr Bingley. Elizabeth had joked of Jane capturing him, but this behaviour showed his intentions were very serious.
“My goodness, Jane. Tell me you have not told Mama? Surely, Longbourn would not be standing if you had.”
“No, I have not. She would be buying my wedding clothes if I had.” Jane laughed. “Do you think Mr Darcy will ask you to dance? You and he are friends, and he danced with you at the assembly, although he asked no other lady except Miss Bingley.”
“I do not believe he is fond of the exercise as a rule, so I really cannot say.” A week ago, Elizabeth would have said yes, but after Saturday’s dinner party, she did not know what to think.
“I am sure he will. Youarefriends,” Jane insisted.
Elizabeth pretended a sudden interest in the fringe of her shawl. “He is amiable, and I enjoy having someone new to talk to, especially someone who shares my taste in literature. I expect he will leave the neighbourhood after the ball, however. He has been here a month, and I am sure he is anxious to see his sister. I shall go on with my life and soon remember him only as an agreeable man with whom I had interesting conversations one autumn. We might meet upon occasion, if a certain desirable event takes place, as Sir William would say. I am relieved my mother and aunt decided long ago that he was too fine a gentleman to be interested in a lady such as me. It means they have not seen anything remarkable about those occasions when Mr Darcy and I have exchanged more than the usual commonplaces. Could you imagine the fuss they would make otherwise?”
A gentle grimace briefly marred Jane’s fine features. She then spoke about Miss Bingley, whom she called, “good-natured and so elegant. She expressed how grateful she and her brother are for how warmly everyone has embraced them and to find they had such excellent neighbours at Longbourn.”
“I am glad you like her so well, Jane.” It would make her situation more comfortable if Miss Bingley became her sister-in-law. “How do you think she will decorate the ballroom? Did Mr Bingley say how many couples they will invite?”
While they speculated on the answers to these and other questions related to the ball, Elizabeth did her best to shake off the gloom that had settled on her as she spoke of Mr Darcy’s impending departure.
It truly is for the best that he leaves as soon as possible. Perhaps I even ought to hope that the cold civility he showed me the other night becomes his habit. I might regret him less that way.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Once the ground was dry after the recent rain, Elizabeth and William took a long walk. They meandered along the stream, slowly making their way towards Oakham Mount on what was a very pleasant autumn day—in her estimation at least. William bemoaned the overcast sky and breeze.
“It is too cold. I worry you will become ill.”
“You know very well that I am not prone to colds or other illnesses. You are only complaining becauseyouwould rather be inside, sitting by the fire, drinking tea, and eating cake.” Since they were children, Elizabeth had made it a practice to encourage him to be active. He tended to be lazy when it came to exercising his body and could quickly become portly.
He grumbled, suggesting he knew she was correct but did not like to admit it. “I am glad we finally have a chance to talk properly. It is impossible to do it at Longbourn. Which is not to say I dislike anyone there or regret their company. Your mother and father have always been more kind to me than I could ever have imagined possible, and your sisters—”
She slipped her arm about his. “I did not for a second think you meant any slight against them. Ithasbeen difficult for us to find enough privacy to speak freely, especially with everyone in the neighbourhood calling to welcome you home whenever there has been a break in the weather, even if it was just an hour long.”
With his free hand, he extracted a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his brow. Elizabeth averted her eyes, pretending not to notice the sign that he found their walk strenuous. To her, their pace was almost too sedate. There was enough to interest her in their surroundings that she did not mind, between the changing vegetation and occasional bird, but on her own, she would be much faster. At length, William introduced the matter most worrying him.
“As you know, my dear, I met with the lady who has a vacant living. The gentleman who held it died earlier this year, and his family have been given until next month to leave the house. It is an attractive prospect, valuable, what I saw of the parsonage was good, the neighbourhood is excellent. I believe our meetings went well, and I have every reason to hope she will offer me the position. But she would be a difficult patroness. Very demanding, if you take my meaning. I do not intend any slur against her. Indeed, a woman such as her demands the greatest respect, and I would always give it to her, as I trust you know. I am aware of my position in life relative to that of others of better birth, which, I need hardly say, she is. Yet, I do not have so many opportunities, and I must have some occupation.”
“You had best make a hasty decision! Mama and Papa, to say nothing of their daughters, can hardly wait for you to be gone from Longbourn. If only the living were even farther away! Northumberland or Cornwall would do. Then it would be impossible to visit.” Elizabeth spoke with a teasing tone, knowing her cousin sometimes doubted his place in the family. He was conscious of being her father’s heir not because Mr Bennet wished it to be so, but because the law decreed it.
He smiled and covered her hand with his. “I know no one is rushing me out the door, but I would like to feel settled, and I cannot until I have the means to support myself. The countryside in Kent is very pretty. You would like it.”
“Have you ever known me not to like my surroundings, wherever I happen to be, as long as there is an abundance of trees and flowers?” Elizabeth laughed.
After chuckling, he sighed. “I expect to learn her final decision soon. As I said, I have every reason to suppose it will be favourable, not only because of her manner towards me but also from what she told my old professor, with whom, you may recall, she has been acquainted many decades. I understand she is anxious to fill the living and would prefer a younger man, rather than one set in his ways. What shall I do? I have heard what your mother and father and sisters think of it, butyouare the one whose opinion I trust the most, along with your excellent father.”
“I imagine Papa told you to talk to me?” Even when they were children, and despite the difference in their ages, Elizabeth had been the one to advise William, telling him how his behaviour was perceived by others and assisting him to correct it.
William admitted that he had. There was a touch of reluctance in his manner, no doubt lest she think he was criticising her father. “He said he knew I would consult you, and I might as well get on with it instead of pretending I would take what he said into account. I naturally assured him I greatly valued any advice he wished to give me, but still, after saying one position was likely as good as the next, as long as the pay was sufficient, he said you would be better at getting to the heart of the matter, or something of that sort. I am not entirely sure I understood what he meant. Am I being ridiculous, Lizzy? On the one hand, I must do something, and accepting would allow me to marry, which as you know, I am anxious to do, but on the other hand, I do not know whether I have the fortitude or ability to keep such a demanding person satisfied.”
“You would not have to face her alone, which would make the task easier.” She encircled his arm with both hands, holding it close to her, adding to the reassurances she felt he needed.
His countenance lit up, and he grinned and seemed to stand taller. “Very true, my dear, very true. Why did I not think of the situation in that light? I would have the most excellent helpmeet by my side, giving me comfort and lessening my burden. I do not know what I would do without you.”
At just that moment, as they rounded a bend in the path, they saw Mr Darcy.
* * *
Darcy was enjoying a leisurely ride. The weather was the most agreeable they had had for a week, and he was in no rush to return to Netherfield. He enjoyed Bingley’s company as much as he ever did, and Miss Bingley was a decent hostess, but the confined nature of the house, with only two other people, was fatiguing. It was not so much Bingley as his sister. She liked to talk about the minutiae of her housekeeping and evolving arrangements for the ball—when she was not expounding on her delight in being mistress of a country estate, meeting the charming people in the neighbourhood, taking pleasure in the open air, how lovely it was to be away from the dirt of the city, and on and on. No matter how much she said to the contrary, he did not believe she much cared for being in the country. She was always much more animated when talking about London. If that was the case, he wished she would simply admit it. There was no harm in having such a preference, just as there was nothing wrong with preferring the country to town. Some of her speeches were disingenuous. He had seen her impatience with her neighbours, the subtle sighs or frowns, and the occasional snide remark to him that he suspected were meant to encourage him to admit disdain for the company they were keeping.
