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The older man let out a long sigh. “Very well,” he growled in Bingley’s general direction. “I will not oppose the engagement.” Bingley felt some of the tension leak out of his body. “But you must ride to Longbourn tomorrow to secure permission from Jane’s father.”
“Of course.” Such had been Bingley’s plan.
Gardiner grunted in response and turned to his wife. “I will summon the carriage. We are leaving immediately. I have had enough excitement for the night.”
“Yes, dear,” his wife responded.
As he stomped away, Mrs. Gardiner clasped Jane’s free hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Congratulations, my dear! Do not mind your uncle. By the morning he will be boasting how he found his niece a fine husband.” She winked at them both. “Now, you have a few minutes before the carriage arrives. You may have some matters to discuss.” She walked briskly away.
Mrs. Gardiner was a perceptive woman. There were many issues left unresolved.
“Do not mind Uncle,” Jane said. “He hates when situations evade his control.”
Bingley tugged at his cravat. “Yes, well, I do not enjoy being called to the carpet like an errant schoolboy, but I hope to receive a warmer reception at Longbourn.”
The love shining in Jane’s eyes rendered everything else irrelevant. “You will. They will not care two whits for how you proposed.”
His thumb caressed the back of her hand. “I cannot believe I proposed before a crowd of hundreds!” He shook his head at his own daring.
“You could have made me the offer on the mud flats of the Thames, and I would have accepted.”
“Since I have no intention of proposing again, we need not test that claim.”
She looked down at the floor. “When you first told me of your sister’s gossiping, I feared you would declare you could not propose.”
“I nearly allowed her to delay my offer,” Bingley admitted, disgusted with himself. “In the carriage she issued terrible threats about how she would ruin your life if I proposed.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Ironically enough, one reason was Darcy. In a letter from Rosings, he told me he was planning to— Oh hell!” Bingley clapped his hand over his mouth. This is why nobody should ever tell me secrets. “I apologize for my language,” he muttered.
She waved this away. “Planning to…?”
Bingley supposed couples who were about to be married should not keep secrets from each other. “Darcy plans to make an offer of marriage to your sister.”
Jane’s jaw dropped open. “Elizabeth?”
Bingley chuckled. “Unless you have another sister visiting Rosings Park.”
Her hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes went wide as if Bingley had revealed Darcy’s plot to assassinate the Prince Regent. “Oh no!”
This was not the reaction Bingley anticipated, but he continued, “I believed it was an auspicious sign for our union. The master of Pemberley conferring his blessing upon your family and all that.”
Jane nodded with a slightly horrified stare. “Perhaps it would be—if Lizzy accepted.”
Bingley frowned at Jane. “You think she—? No!” That was ridiculous. Darcy was one of the most eligible men in Britain. He could not imagine someone in Elizabeth Bennet’s position rejecting his offer.
“I know she will reject him,” Jane whispered miserably. “She does not like Mr. Darcy at all.”
Bingley was stunned. “Not like him? Why in the world would she not like Darcy?”
“She has taken offense at some of his statements.”
Well…Bingley could understand that. Darcy, insisting on strict truth, often was more honest than was necessary.
“And Mr. Wickham told Lizzy a story of how Mr. Darcy cheated him out of a living which was to be his.”
Bingley again suppressed an urge to curse. “Darcy paid Wickham his inheritance when the man professed no inclination to take orders. Then Wickham proceeded to squander it on drink and gambling.”
