Pride and Pursuit: A Pride and Prejudice Variation, page 18
Then she met the two strangers. The younger man turned out to be their new neighbour in Meryton, Mr Bingley. Yes, of course, she recalled now. Netherfield Park had been let at last, and this was the new tenant. Such matters had quite slipped her mind during the week of her and Will’s flight.
The other, closer to the colonel’s age, she believed, was introduced as Major Hawarden, the colonel’s assistant and friend. He shook her hand like an old acquaintance, but then retreated to the corner where he had been sitting when she walked in with scarcely another word.
It was Mr Bingley, Jane now gushed, who had supplied the carriage and horses that brought them here.
“But how are you connected?” Elizabeth asked. “I understand Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam knowing each other for they are cousins, and you and Papa knowing our neighbour, but what of their acquaintance?”
Will cupped her elbow and led her to a chair. “I shall tell all soon enough, but you surely would like some refreshments.”
And indeed, this was so. For only a few feet away was a tray laden with a mouth-watering array of teacups and plates of food. Her stomach growled and she hoped nobody had heard. She had, after all, eaten almost nothing since a very early breakfast before they left their rocky refuge, having only the remaining scraps of old bread and cheese to sustain them on their final scramble through the thick woods.
Jane rushed off at once to prepare her a plate, and soon Elizabeth was enjoying hot, sweet tea and a selection of delicate pastries, as Will explained his friendship with Charles Bingley.
She finished her cup as Will finished his story. “Then you and Mr Bingley were friends already, and Mr Bingley had met your cousin in London, and brought him to Hertfordshire to help find me. What a strange and welcome set of coincidences. I cannot thank either of you enough.”
Both men beamed at her.
“My greatest pleasure,” Mr Bingley asserted, as the colonel crooned, “Anything for a lady.” My, what a charming manner he had.
The men’s eyes met, and a look passed between them that Elizabeth did not quite understand. There was more happening here than what she saw on the civilised surface. Perhaps Jane would know.
There was one more person in the room, almost hidden from view in his wingback chair, but whose impatient throat-clearing indicated a wish to speak.
“Mr Bennet?” Will nodded towards the gentleman who, until now, had sat silently with his tea and buttered fruit bread.
“Indeed. I believe, Mr Darcy, you and I have some matters to discuss. I am pleased enough for the time being, seeing my daughter unharmed and in good spirits, that I shall not demand it at once, but by tomorrow, sir, we must have words.”
“I am yours to command,” Will replied. He had taken the seat beside Elizabeth and now reached for her hand. He gave her a weak smile, which she attempted to echo. Her future, it seemed, was no longer hers to command.
CHAPTER 16
Conversations
The conversation over dinner veered from the continued threat posed by George Wickham, and encompassed, instead, the journey the two parties had undertaken. Jane described the carriage ride to Northampton, Wolverhampton, and then Oswestry, giving an account of the inns and the scenery along the way.
For one less familiar with Jane’s particular manners and reserve, it would seem an open and complete accounting of that party’s experiences, a traveller’s tale fit for any audience. But Elizabeth knew her sister intimately, and understood the cast to her eye, the way she pinched her lips and let her fingers toy with the fork in her hand or the stem of the wineglass before her. There was more that Jane had to say, but not here. This tale would be for Elizabeth’s ears only.
She caught her sister’s glance and offered a subtle nod, which was answered with a momentary smile. An entire conversation was carried out in those miniscule gestures. They would talk in one of their rooms later.
Quite oblivious to this interaction between the sisters, Will took up the thread of their own, much less comfortable, travels. He explained their choice to journey down through Abergavenny and only then, having achieved the quiet lanes that few knew existed, back north threading as close to the mountains as the tracks allowed, and stopping at small towns and villages for supplies. Elizabeth noticed he said nothing about the nature of their accommodations other than that they were rustic. He certainly gave no indication that they had even been in the same room at night, and breathed not a word about the ruined church or the night in the crease in the hillside that was not quite a cave.
The others seemed to accept this intimation of propriety without question. There were no accusations, no expressions of dismay or alarm, only the joy of everybody being well and safe and under the same roof.
The accounting would come later.
Likewise, there was no prolonged tea or a suggestion of cards after dinner. This was not a house party, after all, and Elizabeth was exhausted. That bed in her room was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, and she wished to acquaint herself intimately with it forthwith. She excused herself from the gathering and prepared to make her way back up the old staircase to seek her room.
“I will come as well and help you, Lizzy.” Jane rose and dipped a curtsey to the men before following Elizabeth out of the room.
Elizabeth forced a smile onto her face. She both longed to acquaint her dear sister with everything that had happened, more than the tidy version that Will had told, whilst at the same time, wishing to hold on to those experiences and keep them personal and private for a while longer. Those nights lying with Will, feeling his warm body against hers, and the comforting circle of his arms warding off all danger, these were gems to be jealously guarded, as if sharing them would somehow diminish them.
Dared she talk about the hunting shack? The not-quite-cave? What would Jane say? And Jane, she understood, had something she wished to tell Elizabeth. Perhaps, tonight, she could allow Jane to speak, and hold her own tongue for later.
The bedroom seemed miles away, not merely up a few stairs, and Elizabeth felt her energy fail her with every step, until at last, they entered her chamber. That large and soft bed beckoned, but Elizabeth suspected it would be some hours before she could, at last, succumb to its embrace. Sisterly duties must come first.
“Now, Lizzy, tell me everything,” Jane insisted as she closed the bedroom door behind her. “Not only the parts that Mr Darcy wanted Papa to hear. He is very handsome.”
Elizabeth eyed the bed with longing but resigned herself to conversation. “Help me with this gown, Jane. I am not quite certain how Gwen did it up. There are straight pins somewhere, I think, and I very much wish to throw myself into that soft chair. Very well. What do you wish to know?”
Jane set to work removing the pins and laces from the old dress, commenting here and there about some features of the twenty-year-old style. For a while she concentrated on her task, but once the bodice was unpinned and Elizabeth could step out of the heavy skirts, she asked again about Will. “Was he… was he a gentleman? He seems so very proper, but Lizzy! He stole the carriage, and with you in it! I thought I would never see you again.” Jane caught Elizabeth in another fierce hug, crushing her close, and Elizabeth gladly returned the embrace. For a time, she had despaired of ever seeing her dear Jane again as well.
After a moment of reassuring each other, Elizabeth stepped back and began to fold the voluminous garment. She laid it upon a chair, along with the bodice, and stretched. “It feels strange to have clothing so fitted to my waist. It is far tighter than our stays.” She gestured to the undergarments she had borrowed as well, which she began to unlace, leaving her clad only in a clean white shift.
“You are avoiding my question, Lizzy.” Jane eyed her like a school master examining a naughty student.
“Will… Mr Darcy…”
“Will?”
“When I first confronted him, I thought him a labourer or something, certainly not a gentleman. His clothing looked like something he stole from a rubbish pile, and he was covered in filth. He introduced himself as Will Darcy, and I addressed him by name. Once his status was made clear, it seemed disingenuous to revert to something more formal.”
Jane’s reply was a knowing smile, her delicate brows high on her forehead.
“He has been a perfect gentleman, Jane! His sense of propriety would satisfy even the vicar. Even when we—” She stopped, but had already said too much.
“Lizzy?” Jane pulled her hand until they both sat on the bed, side by side. “What happened?”
“Nothing, really. But we did not always have the luxury of fine inns or private accommodations. And…” She would not divulge everything, but this seemed comprehensible, if not laudable. “Last night, we had to flee the town where we stabled the horse and cart, and found ourselves in the woods as it grew dark. It was cold, and the small cave we found provided little protection from the weather.”
“You did not!”
“It was perfectly innocent, but yes, I admit to us huddling together to keep warm. It was dark and cold in there, for we dared not light a fire, with only enough of a projection to shield us from the worst of the wind. There was not even a place to lie down properly. We leant against the rocky wall and tried to sleep. I know how it must sound. Oh, do you detest me, Jane?”
At once, her sister swept her into another fierce hug.
“Detest you? Not at all. I cannot think anything ill of it, and if you did sleep in such proximity, I am certain it was entirely necessary. But you do know, you must marry. There is no hiding this, no matter how proper his behaviour.”
Elizabeth nodded. She still had not found the words, even to tell herself, how she felt.
“Do you like him, Lizzy? If you do not, I will plead with Papa on your behalf. I cannot have you married to a man you cannot like.”
“I must, Jane. You have to see that. If we do not marry, then you, and Mary, and Kitty, and Lydia, will all be stained by my disgrace.” Oh, heavens! Why did her voice sound so thick? Was she crying? The warm tear that threaded its way down her cheek confirmed her fear.
“I would rather die an old maid than have you tied to somebody against your will. And our sisters…”
“Will never have the opportunity to make this decision. I cannot do that to you. I had thought, for a time, of having Will proclaim me dead. I was going to apply to Mrs Lloyd to stay here and work for my keep. You would not be tainted by my misfortunes. But when we arrived, and Papa saw us, well, Will’s arm was around my waist, and there was no pretending we had been ten feet apart the entire time. Our father is a most indulgent parent, but too many people were witness, and he could not hide it forever. I understand that. I have accepted my fate.”
Jane’s embrace tightened for a moment. “But tell me, can you like him? Is he a good sort of man?”
“Oh yes. He is the very best sort of man I have ever known. I do like him. I think… I think I love him.”
And, unaccountably, she dissolved into a flood of tears.
Jane found a handkerchief from somewhere and gave it to Elizabeth to dry her face. “Do not cry, Lizzy. It cannot be so dreadful if you like him.”
“How can I be happy, when he is marrying me only out of duty? I want to be loved, but I also want him to be happy. In marrying me, he will be burdened with a wife he did not want.”
“Can you be certain of that? He seemed most attentive earlier. I cannot imagine he does not care at all.”
“I have to believe he thinks of me only as a friend.”
“Marriages have been built on less, and friendship is the surest foundation for love.”
Elizabeth gave her eyes a final pat with the handkerchief and tried to smile. “I can only wish it so. Now,” she forced her voice to be bright, “what of our charming host and the handsome Mr Bingley? I noticed some glances there as well. There must be a tale.”
The mouth so often turned up in a sweet smile now tightened. “They are both admirable gentlemen,” she began.
“But?”
“But… Oh, I do not know what to do.” She stood up from the bed and walked to the window to stare out into the darkness. “They are like schoolboys, one taunting the other, and the other responding poorly. They both seem to want the same toy, and I am afraid that the toy is me.”
“Say it is not so! The colonel, acting like a schoolboy? Is he the taunter? What has he done?”
The curtains rustled as Jane pulled them closed and spun around to face her sister. “I believe that Mr Bingley is not impartial to me. He has been most attentive, and when we received your letter, he offered his carriage without a moment’s hesitation. I thought, at first, that he was merely acting in a neighbourly manner, that he would do the same for anybody.
“He rode all the way to London to seek out Colonel Fitzwilliam, hoping to ask his advice on where Mr Darcy might have gone. The colonel returned to Longbourn with Mr Bingley, and has been ever helpful and gracious.”
“I see. He seems a most amiable gentleman.”
“That he is. But every time Colonel Fitzwilliam pays me a compliment or says something that might gain my favour, Mr Bingley grows quite agitated. I would almost imagine Mr Bingley to be jealous!” Her hands twisted the handkerchief she had lent to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth had to stifle a chuckle.
“You are a very beautiful woman, Jane. It ought to come as no surprise that you are the object of their attention.”
“You sound like Mama. ‘You cannot be so lovely without a reason,’ she always tells me. But I cannot like it. It is flattering to have captured one man’s eye, but to be a cause of the discord between two? No, I cannot like that at all. I am most uncomfortable.”
Elizabeth patted the bed beside her. “Come and sit. Now, of the two, which do you like the best? You cannot be certain of the intentions of either, but have you a preference? I have only now met them, and both seem like fine men.”
Settling beside her again, Jane stared at the wall for a moment before replying. “They are, I believe. Our acquaintance has been short, and hardly ordinary. I met Mr Bingley the day you… you disappeared, and the colonel two days later, and we have had a singular common purpose since then.
“I can only believe the colonel to be acting in the best interests of his cousin. He is polite and friendly, and very kind. But I do not think his attentions are particular. I quite suspect he pays me such honours merely to watch Mr Bingley’s reaction, which is not quite gentlemanlike. Is it?”
Elizabeth hardly had a wealth of experience with the man from which to draw her own conclusions, but Colonel Fitzwilliam did not seem a cruel sort. He would not have taken leave from his regiment and carried three strangers across the country to this excellent house had his intentions been borne of caprice or malice.
“Perhaps this gentle teasing is merely his way. Mr Bingley is the one who chooses how to respond.”
The tension broke when Jane began to laugh. “Oh, how the shoe is on the other foot now, Lizzy! I am usually the one cautioning you to look for the good in people and to excuse their seeming faults. Yes, you must be right. The colonel has been nothing but good and generous.”
“And Mr Bingley? He does like you, it seems. Do you like him?”
“Yes. I believe I do. Besides the use of his carriage, he has insisted upon supplying the coin at each inn and rest stop. And he is rather handsome, for those who care about such things. I would enjoy the chance to know him better.”
“And that, from my sister, is high praise indeed!” Elizabeth gave Jane a quick one-armed hug, but could not stop the yawn that now overtook her.
“Forgive me, Jane. This has been a long day… a long week. I am looking forward to sleeping in a comfortable bed with soft sheets and a pillow!”
“But,” Jane smirked as she stood and walked towards the door, “No Will Darcy.”
Darcy swallowed a yawn and covered his lapse by bringing his glass of port to his lips. He wished for nothing so much as a long sleep in a warm bed. Well… perhaps he might wish for one more thing, but he was too much of a gentleman to admit to the thought, much less to put it into words.
After the two Bennet sisters had retired for the night, the men sat a while longer. Richard brought out a decanter and glasses and poured a finger for each of them. The conversation was general, more about the hunting lodge, the estate, and the neighbourhood than about anything substantive. After a while, Mr Bennet rose to bid his good-nights, his eyes informing Will that they would speak on the morrow. Then Bingley, too, declared a wish to retire. It seemed he was not entirely comfortable with Richard, for what reason Will could not entirely comprehend. After a few minutes’ further conversation, Hawarden rose to retire for the night.
Now Darcy was alone with his cousin, and as much as he longed for sleep, he also had questions.
“How did you come to join the Bennets? I had not imagined that when Elizabeth sent her letter, they would know enough to connect me with you. I did not even know she had given my name.”
“They would have found me somehow. A letter to anyone with a knowledge of London society would have supplied the link. But it was your friend Bingley who came searching. We had met previously, of course, and he remembered where to find me.”
Darcy gave a slow blink. “You did not need to join them.”
“You are my favourite cousin and my best friend, Will. If you were in danger, I had to help in any way I could.”
“I return the compliment, Richard. I could not imagine being closer to a brother. But you could have given the direction and taken a fast horse, arrived here days ago.”
Richard shrugged. “Perhaps. But I wished to see what these Bennets were like. When I heard that Miss Elizabeth was in the carriage, and had some knowledge of her age and unmarried status, I understood at once what must eventually happen. I wanted to ensure that these were the sort of family with whom you could tolerate being associated.”
