Darcy bowed and walked away, hoping never to talk to the man again. In a day or two, he was resolved to remove to town and, a few days later, travel to Worcestershire to join his family. It was earlier than they expected him, but they would be glad to see him.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
Caroline was nearly frantic when she finally found her brother shortly before the supper set began. Hosting a ball had been a terrible idea.It is just the latest of our mistakes. We ought not to be here at all. Coming to Hertfordshire has been nothing but a disaster!
“Slow down. Whatever is the matter?” Bingley said, as she all but dragged him out of the ballroom and towards the study, which had been closed to guests. There, she gave vent to her frustrations.
“I wish we had never come to this wretched neighbourhood! I hate the people, I hate how we have had to act, I hate that Mr Darcy has not yet proposed to me!”
Her brother stopped her pacing and held her by her shoulders. Fixing his eyes on her, he said, “Has something particular happened to excuse your present fury, or is this more of the same?”
“There is one good piece of information. When I was dancing the opening set, I stood next to the deplorable Miss Eliza, which I was very unhappy about, until I heard her and her cousin speaking. She said something about him leading his own flock and being a husband by the end of the year, and they were so friendly, so easy with each other. Mr Darcy must finally acknowledge that she is not the girl for him. He has not asked me to dance yet, which vexes me more than I can say, but when he does, I will be sure to remind him that he must stop brooding overherand start brooding overme!” She knew she babbled, but could not stop herself.
Bingley sighed and let his hands fall away from her arms. “Is that why you are in such a state? I am supposed to be dancing with Miss Bennet.”
Her eyes round with alarm, she shook her head vigorously. “That is the last thing you should do! Charles, I overheard Mrs Bennet and Mrs Philips, and later Mrs Bennet and Sir William. It is evident—painfully so—that everyone expects you to marry her. Have I not warned you to be cautious? You did not listen to me, and now, I do not know what we shall do.”
“You are not serious. I have not heard anyone…”
When his voice trailed off and his complexion paled, Caroline assumed he remembered people hinting about it to him.
“It was just a little flirtation. Tell me exactly what you heard, all of it.” His voice shook, and she was relieved he evidently understood the gravity of the situation.
“They spoke about it as a certainty. It was not only the gossiping Mrs Bennet and Mrs Philips, not that Sir William Lucas, with all his pretensions, is any better. Truly, it was very improper of them to speak so freely, but have I not always said countryfolk have no discretion or understanding of what is acceptable behaviour amongst people like us, who are used to better society? They are censorious and—oh, what does it matter? After those two conversations, I made it a point to learn what others think of your so-called flirtation with Miss Bennet.Everyonetakes it as a matter of fact that you will soon be offering for her. What are we going to do?”
Bingley fell onto a sofa and stared across the room, his jaw slack. Caroline sat beside him. They were silent for a brief moment before he spoke.
“I cannot let myself be caught by honour. If Darcy hears of this, he will expect me to marry her.”
“He may already believe you will. Has he said anything to you about her?”
He ran a hand over his mouth as he thought over her question. “I suppose he mentioned me liking the Bennets once or twice. I know I never said anything different about Miss Bennet than I have other ladies over the past year or two. If Darcy thinks my feelings for her are something more than they were for those other women, it is not because of anything I did. I am certain of it. It must be the Bennets hoping to marry one of the girls to a rich husband.”
“I do not suppose it matters now. What does is that we have to find a way out of this. Youcannotmarry her. It will ruin all our plans, and for what? A girl with no money or connexions! What would Papa say?”
“I have no intention of marrying her. Nothing—nothing—will induce me to accept her as my wife. I gave my word to our father, and I shall not disappoint him, even though he is no longer alive to see it.”
Caroline’s relief was so profound, she could not breathe for a moment. “Louisa would be rightly furious. She did not marry to suit herself, and it would be wrong for us to either. What do we do? I suppose we must continue with the ball. There is no ending it early without causing even more problems.”
“I shall avoid her, and I suggest you do not single out her or anyone from that family. It is almost time for supper. If we are questioned about our absence, we can say”—he tapped his forehead with a single finger as though trying to knock loose an idea—“there was a slight bother with Cook, but we sorted it out. We shall talk about this more once everyone is gone. We cannot remain at Netherfield. If people are already talking about a marriage, each day, each hour, will make it more difficult to avoid.”
“We shall think of an excuse to tell Mr Darcy and depart for town first thing tomorrow.”
* * *
Elizabeth’s expectation for the ball had always been high, and soon after arriving, she believed it would become an evening she would look back on fondly for the rest of her life.
She managed not to let several disagreeable occurrences dampen her joy. The least of these was overhearing her mother and aunt talk about weddings. She wished they were more circumspect when in company, but she could not fault their enthusiasm. If she were being selfish, she would name her disappointment at having so little time with Mr Darcy as the most vexing part of the evening.
What trulywasthe most worrisome event was the exchange Elizabeth had with her elder sister at the start of supper.
“What is wrong? You may be able to hide it from others, but I can see that something unpleasant has happened,” Elizabeth said after pulling Jane into a quiet corner of the room set aside for the meal.
Jane’s eyes immediately filled with tears, and her chin quivered. “Mr Bingley was supposed to dance the supper set with me. He asked me days ago and mentioned it again earlier tonight. But then, he simply vanished! I waited for him, and I looked for him, but he was nowhere to be found. When I came into the supper room, he was here. I am sure he saw me, but he turned away.”
Elizabeth grasped her sister’s hand. “Surely, he has a reasonable explanation. Perhaps there was a problem with one of the guests.”
“Then why did he not find me to tell me or send someone else, if he could not? I sat, on my own, for perhaps ten minutes before you came to me. Neither he nor Miss Bingley, who was with him, so much as nodded in my direction. I, too, can only imagine something dreadful occurred, but if it has, I do not know what or why he would not at least apologise. It is very unlike him.”
