AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She mentioned your aunt and uncle live in Cheapside.” She said the name with a snigger and a side glance at Mr. Darcy.
I nearly rolled my eyes at her transparency. If she wanted to compare lineages and connections, I was happy to do so, but she would be less than pleased with the results.
“My aunt and uncle Gardiner live near Cheapside on Gracechurch Street. My uncle has a successful business in Town. While we enjoy visiting them, we do not usually stay with them when we go to Town for the Season.”
“Oh? Who do you stay with?”
She wore such a look that I knew she was certain I would say something so embarrassing she would be cackling over it for a week. It was too bad I enjoyed disrupting such plans—possibly more than I should.
“We stay with our great aunt Ida.”
Her eyes brightened gleefully. “I am sure an elderly relative appreciates having her younger relations come to stay. You must be a great help to her.”
You have no idea.“Aunt Ida may be nearing seventy, but she is as active and sharp as she ever was. She goes out every evening during the Season except for when she is hosting an event herself. She lives with her sister by marriage who hosts a wonderful salon that I dearly missed this year.”
“Who is her sister?” asked Mrs. Hurst.
“The Dowager Lady Talbot, though we always call her Aunt Amelia.”
“She is a friend of my aunt’s,” said a surprised Mr. Darcy. “Is your great aunt Mrs. Monroe?”
“Yes! Do you know her?”
“Not well, but I have met her once or twice at my aunt’s home.”
“Who is your aunt?” I asked, wondering if I knew her.
“Lady Matlock.”
“Oh, I have met her! She and my aunts were on a committee together. She is very kind.”
“Yes, she is.”
“Is your aunt’s home in Mayfair?” asked Mrs. Hurst. Her question seemed merely curious and not unkind as her sister’s had been.
“Yes, on Brook Street. She lives in London year-round now unless she is traveling. She does enjoy seeing new places, and of course she visits us at Longbourn each year. She says it always feels like home to her.”
I chanced a look at Miss Bingley. She was bright red, and her nostrils flared wide.
“Where do you stay when you are in Town, Miss Bingley?” I asked with an innocent look.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Mr. Hurst’s family has a house near Grosvenor Square.”
“How nice that they allow you to stay with them.” I smiled sweetly at her.
Mr. Darcy made a coughing sound and I hid my smile.
13
Darcy
Isataloneinthe small parlor beside the library, remembering the evening and replaying Miss Elizabeth’s conversation in my mind. Any doubts I had had about Miss Elizabeth’s manner in company were laid to rest by the end of the evening. She was utterly magnificent. She neatly put Miss Bingley in her place without a single rude word passing her lips. My aunt would love her.
Knowledge of her better connections did set my mind at ease in terms of Bingley’s pursuit of her sister. He seemed more enamored of Miss Bennet each day, and knowing she had family in the ton eased my concerns over her acceptance.
I would be lying if I said this new knowledge did not make Miss Elizabeth more suitable as well, but even with improved connections, she was not what my family would require from my bride. My uncle had put three ladies before me last spring, all daughters of his friends in the House of Lords. They all had a noble lineage and dowries of at least twenty thousand pounds—one had forty thousand, and a personality that required it. Their fathers were powerful government figures, their mothers influential in society, and their brothers set to inherit. They played multiple instruments, spoke the modern languages, and wore the right gown to every occasion.
They also bored me to tears.
