Page 59 of Regrets

“And where is Nancy? Ah, there you are, girl. Mrs. Hammond, do show my maid to my room, wherever it may be. I do expect the best room, of course.”

“Of course, Miss Bingley,” Mrs. Hammond said, as she led Nancy up the stairs, followed by two footmen carrying three heavy trunks.

Georgiana’s eyes widened; was Miss Bingley planning to move in for the rest of her life?

Miss Bingley looked around. “But where is Mr. Darcy?”

As it happened, Mr. Darcy had escaped to his own room the moment Miss Bingley had arrived, and had spoken with his valet. Hastings would sleep on a pallet just inside Mr. Darcy’s door for the duration of Miss Bingley’s stay. Mr. Darcy would like to think that Miss Bingley would not stoop so low as to compromise him in his bedroom, but he was certainly not willing to take that chance.

***

It seemed that the carefree days of being able to go to Longbourn whenever they wished was over; that much was made clear at dinner that evening. Miss Bingley had a good deal to say as to what she had seen of Netherfield, its decoration, the room she had been given, and so on.

Upon learning that Miss Darcy was now great friends with the daughters of an insignificant country gentleman three miles away, Miss Bingley lifted an elegant eyebrow and said, “Well! There will be no more of that now that I am here, I assure you! Georgiana, you truly need to be careful of who you befriend!”

Georgiana could bear no more. The confidence she had gained during her stay at Rosings Park now became evident. “I am Miss Darcy to you, Miss Bingley,” she said, in a voice so cold that her brother thought icicles were about to fall from her lips. “And I shall see whomever I please, as long as my brother does not object.”

Miss Bingley gaped at her. “I intend no offense, Geor – Miss Darcy, I assure you!”

“And I intend no offense either, Miss Bingley. I merely wish to make it very clear that I am your brother’s guest, not yours, and it is my brother who is my guardian, not you. I have found friends here, and I have no intention of being kept from them, simply because of your – your rather particular opinions.”

Mr. Darcy sent his sister a look of such love and approval that Georgiana wriggled in her seat with pleasure.

Miss Bingley hardly knew where to look after that, and she was further discomposed when Mr. Bingley burst out laughing. “Well done, Miss Darcy! And I am in full agreement; I have no intention of snubbing the Bennets, the Lucases, or any of our other friends and neighbours. You need not visit with them, of course, Caroline; that is entirely your choice.”

***

Later that night, Mr. Darcy had a moment of privacy in which to speak with his sister, and he whispered, “I am so very proud of you!”

“I could not let Miss Bingley keep me from my friends,” she replied, colouring.

“No, and I was about to say much the same, but you were faster. Good for you, Georgiana.” Gone, he knew, was the shy young girl who had traveled with him to Rosings; Georgiana now knew her own mind and was not afraid to speak it.

Chapter Forty-Six

Word spread quickly through the servant’s grapevine that Mr. Bingley’s sister had arrived at Netherfield, and that she was not at all kind. “Too high in the instep,” was Mrs. Hammond’s opinion, and Mr. Braddock only rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Bennet said, when Hill told her the news the next morning at breakfast. “Jane, this is not at all good. She is not likely to approve of a match between you and her brother, if she is as condescending as all that.”

Mr. Bennet raised his eyes from his newspaper and said, quite unexpectedly, “Why, that is absurd. She is the daughter of a tradesman, and we are landed gentry. He would be lucky to have you, Jane, and you must never forget it.”

Jane was so surprised at her father’s comment that she dropped her toast into her teacup, and tea spilled over onto the tablecloth. “Oh, no!” she cried, and quickly dabbed her napkin at the tea. Then she looked up. “Thank you, Papa,” she said, softly. “That is very kind of you.”

He reddened and looked down at his own plate. “It is the simple truth, Jane, no more and no less.” Then he looked over at Elizabeth, who was carefully staring at her own plate. “Lizzy, may I see you in my study when you are done breaking your fast?”

She nodded, but did not look at him.

***

Elizabeth dallied as long as she could over her breakfast, but she finally decided it was best to get this visit to her father over and done with. She knocked tentatively on his study door, was bade to enter, and did so. She stood before his desk and said, “You asked to see me.”

“Please sit.”

She hesitated, and then did so.

“I thought you might wish to know how the plan we concocted with Mr. Darcy was proceeding.”

As it happened, she very much wished to know, but refused to give her father the satisfaction of knowing that. So she lifted her shoulders a fraction of an inch and let them drop.