“What is that, Lizzy? Why would you say you are a terrible daughter? I am sure Mrs Bennet would never—” Mr Collins said.
“It was nothing but a joke,” Miss Elizabeth reassured him.
Mr Collins opened his mouth, likely to question her further, but was interrupted by Miss Catherine.
“William, you know Lizzy is always saying things she does not mean. You have not finished explaining the story to me.”
Fortunately, the man returned his attention to his young cousins. Darcy could not like the almost dismissive way Miss Catherine referred to her older sister, but if it allowed him more time with the lady, he would not object.
“Miss Bingley did not join you and her brother on your ride? I understood she was particularly fond of the exercise. She talked about it as one of the great pleasures of being in the country when my mother, sister, and I called on her,” Miss Elizabeth said.
“Did she?” Darcy was not genuinely interested in the answer, but it surprised him that Miss Bingley claimed such a liking for riding; she seldom indulged in it.
“Perhaps I misunderstood.” Miss Elizabeth’s manner of speaking suggested she did not believe it, but was, like him, not that curious about Miss Bingley’s likes and dislikes.
“She said she had to remain at Netherfield to do something or other related to the ball. I cannot pretend to understand what has her so occupied. I believe she is making arrangements from breakfast until dinner.” Except, Darcy thought, when she insisted that the three of them sit together in the afternoon to partake of refreshments. Those occasions could last an hour and a half, which, when combined with longer breakfasts and dinners than he was used to, meant Darcy felt as though he was spending half his life at one meal or another.
“Oh, the ball! It is the most exciting thing that has ever happened in the neighbourhood,” Miss Lydia exclaimed as she twirled and skipped, her arms wide. She laughed heartily and stumbled, Mr Collins briefly holding her elbow to steady her. Miss Lydia then grabbed Miss Catherine’s hand and pulled her in the direction of Miss Bennet and Bingley, who were some distance ahead of them.
“Come, Kitty, we must ask Mr Bingley whom he has invited.”
Miss Catherine went willingly, from what Darcy could tell, but only after she looked back at them. Mr Collins offered her a little wave, though whether it was meant as reassurance or something else, Darcy was not certain.
Miss Elizabeth chuckled and shook her head. “I apologise for my sister, Mr Darcy. She is overly excited, as I suppose was obvious. Although she has been to several assemblies, such as the one at which we met, she has never been to a private ball before, and it seems her anticipation has made her forget her manners.”
“She is young, and I am not sure we should decide if she should—” Mr Collins said, stopping abruptly, perhaps because Darcy spoke at the same time. If his intention was to correct Miss Elizabeth, he was doubly glad for Mr Collins’s deference; Darcy would have been tempted to correct him.
“Not at all. Miss Lydia’s exuberance is to be expected, and Bingley will be glad to know his and his sister’s efforts at arranging the ball are so appreciated. They decided to host it to thank the neighbourhood for their kindness, after all.”
“I own, I am very much looking forward to it myself, and to standing up with all of my cousins” Mr Collins said.
The man smiled at Miss Elizabeth, which irritated Darcy. He could not see her expression since she was looking at her cousin.
“I have heard the opinion that men in my position, that is, those who have taken orders, ought not to dance, but Lizzy tells me it is not wrong, and since I enjoy it—who could not with such charming partners as my cousins—I should not worry about it or what people will think of me or my dedication to my profession. Having only recently adopted it, I find it is important for me to act in a manner that shows I understand the seriousness of the role I have dedicated my life to performing.”
“Everyone who knows you accepts that your motivation in choosing the church was to do good,” Miss Elizabeth said. “I assure you, I truly believe it is not wrong of you to dance, and do not forget that you talked to my father and Mr Green about it too, and they both see nothing amiss with clergymen dancing. Indeed, you and I have both seen Mr Green standing up with his wife, have we not?” Mr Green, a gentleman in late middle age, was the local vicar.
Mr Collins nodded his head a little more vigorously than Darcy thought could be comfortable. “Very true, very true. I have spoken at length about the issue with the learned gentlemen I was so fortunate as to meet whilst I was at Oxford, as well.”
As Mr Collins spoke for several minutes about his time at university, Darcy thought Miss Elizabeth appeared impatient, but he knew it might only be what he wanted to see. She glanced at him, opened her mouth when it seemed her cousin had finished his speech so she could slip a word in, and once Darcy was almost certain he saw her quietly sigh. He hoped it meant that she wanted to talk to him, or at least that she found Mr Collins’s monologue as monotonous as he did.
Mr Collins then began to reminisce about balls he had attended, which were chiefly the assemblies in Meryton. “I cannot express how much I wish I had been here in October—to meet Mr Darcy, of course, and the Bingleys who have been such a wonderful addition to the neighbourhood. I was very glad when my dearest cousin wrote to tell me Netherfield Park had been let at last. The reasons for my being away were important, but I did miss being at home. Longbourn, I should say.” He gave an awkward, embarrassed-sounding chuckle.
“You have lived at Longbourn for over a dozen years. Itisyour home,” Miss Elizabeth said.
Mr Collins regarded her with fondness, but it was a fleeting expression, over too quickly for Darcy to judge its significance.
“She is so good to me, is she not? But as I was saying, as much as Longbourn is presently my home—” Mr Collins turned from Darcy to Miss Elizabeth to ask, “That will do, will it not?” When she nodded, he again addressed Darcy. “I cannot always expect it to be so. Indeed, I pray that very soon I shall be able to look upon a different house and neighbourhood as my home, as much as I shall feel the wrench of separation from the Bennets.”
Mr Collins yet again directed his gaze at Miss Elizabeth, and Darcy wondered how he could keep from being dizzy with all the back and forth motion of his head. It was impossible for Darcy to see what sort of look he gave her, but she offered her cousin a smile that Darcy told himself was not as warm as the one she had worn when greeting him.
Fortunately, Miss Elizabeth changed the topic by telling Darcy she had received a letter from her aunt Gardiner just that morning.
“As my uncle said she would be, she was excited to learn that he had met someone from near her old home. She told me a little about Lambton, and I have been attempting to sketch it in my mind since. How would you say it compares to Meryton?”
Darcy was always happy to talk about his corner of Derbyshire, and he was particularly glad she was interested in it. How he wished Mr Collins would follow his youngest two cousins and share his many observations and opinions with Bingley, disrupting his time with Miss Bennet rather than his own with Miss Elizabeth!
That did not happen, however, and too soon for his liking, the party reached the destination the Miss Bennets and Mr Collins had set as their goal. They did not linger longer than it took to remark on the view, which was admittedly picturesque, especially with the addition of autumn colours from changing leaves and a rather ramshackle building that had once been a barn.
