Delighting Mrs Bennet

by Leenie Brown

  He smiled as she looked his direction, and she returned the gesture. Her smile was one of her most beautiful features, which was placing it at the top of a great mountain of qualities and characteristics she possessed. It lit her face and sparkled in her eyes. It even caused one brow to rise just a fraction of an inch.

  He would do nearly anything for her, for he had tasted a small amount of the desolation that his life would become without her. He had not forgotten the ache that had settled into every fiber of his being as he had attempted, and failed, to forget her after leaving Netherfield. He could not, would not face such wretchedness again. He would do everything in his power to avoid it.

  “Are you married?”

  Lydia’s question to Richard snapped Darcy from his observation of Elizabeth. What conversation had she started that he had missed while contemplating her sister?

  “No,” Richard replied, sparing her only a quick glance.

  It was an action Darcy recognized as Richard’s way to nearly ignore a female. He had seen Richard use that very technique – a half-turn of his head and a look that was not quite focused on the person who had spoken to him – when actively attempting to dissuade a young debutante from pursuing him.

  “Are you courting anyone?”

  Richard shook his head.

  Darcy smiled. He had moved from a short reply to silence.

  “Lydia.” Jane hissed.

  Lydia flicked her head and turned back to her tea. “Do you have a beau?” she asked Georgiana.

  “Lydia,” said Mrs. Gardiner, who was sitting near her, “that is not the sort of thing one asks on first acquaintance.”

  “I do not,” Georgiana replied with a smile for Mrs. Gardiner. “I have not had my come out just yet.”

  Darcy watched as Lydia’s brows furrowed and her mouth dropped open.

  “My sister will be presented next season. She will be well-prepared by then to present herself to the best advantage.”

  Lydia’s head turned toward him, but she still wore her look of shocked confusion.

  “There are many skills in which a young lady must be proficient before she enters the society of the ton. The expectations are great, and if not properly prepared, a young lady might have an unsuccessful first season which, in turn, might lead to her being overlooked.”

  “Or shunned,” Georgiana replied as she nodded her head. “Last week, a particular young lady, whom I shan’t name, made a grave error in refusing one gentleman at a ball and then accepting another. She has been the talk in many drawing rooms, and I fear, the subject of many jokes.”

  Darcy raised a brow in question. He was not certain he cared for the idea of his sister knowing such information. It smacked too much of gossip.

  “Miss Allard’s mother was reminding us of the rules for balls, both private and public, after we had finished our time with Mr. Hughes.” She explained to her brother before she turned to Lydia. “Mr. Hughes is our dancing master.” She turned back to her brother. “I would not share such a thing except it illustrated your point of being properly prepared for the season. I should not wish to make such a mistake and be the source of drawing-room tales. There are rules for a reason.” Her cheeks flushed, and her head dipped but only just.

  He knew she was thinking of how she had narrowly escaped being the source of many drawing-room tales. When she had been taken from school just before the events of last summer had unfolded, she had been adamant that she felt prepared for life in society. She was old enough to make her own choices. She had excelled at every lesson set before her, and she was not a foolish school girl. These things had been said with a sense of confidence. Not a word had been antagonistic. She had merely reported the facts to her brother and cousin with the hope that she would be permitted to make her debut this season. She had not been pleased to be denied the honor, but she had not pouted overly much about it — no more than Darcy expected a displeased young lady might. In fact, he had told himself that his sister had done less pouting over the disappointment than many others, such as Caroline Bingley, would have.

  “I would caution you about sharing such a tale even in support of my cause,” he said to her with a small smile. “However, you are correct. There are rules for a reason.” He tipped his head. “When do you see Mr. Hughes next?”

  “He is here tomorrow.”

  “And will Miss Allard be attending as well?”

  Georgiana nodded.

  He pursed his lips. “I wonder if it might be too much for the man to have a few more ladies to make up his sets? I know that Miss Lydia and Miss Kitty both enjoy dancing.”

  Lydia’s eyes grew large as a smile of pure delight spread across her face. “Oh, I do. It is perhaps the very best activity in all the world, and I am quite good at it.”

  “What do you say, Georgiana? Do you think you and Miss Allard would mind sharing your time with the Miss Bennets?”

  Georgiana pondered the thought for only a moment before assuring one and all that a larger group would make for a much merrier lesson.

  “Then, I shall send a note to Mr. Hughes today so that he might be prepared.” Darcy leaned back and cradled his teacup. One activity was arranged. He would mention the theatre and the opera over dinner, and they could decide on a night for each.

  He looked at Elizabeth, who was smiling at him. Yes, yes, he could do this. He just needed to keep her sisters entertained.

  Chapter 6

  Later that evening, Richard lowered himself into a chair near the fire in Darcy’s study. Bingley sat opposite him, while Darcy pushed around a few papers on his desk, tidying up and sorting in preparation for tomorrow.

  “A dance lesson is a good place to begin,” Richard said after a few moments of silent relaxing before the fire. “The youngest Bennet wants some direction.”

  Bingley chuckled but said nothing.

  Richard tapped Bingley’s foot with his own. “I do not see how you can find that humorous.”

  Bingley lifted one shoulder and allowed it to drop but did not reply, earning him a glare.

  “You are merely stating what we already know,” Darcy muttered from his desk.

  “You are in a position to improve them,” said Richard. “Do they sing or draw?”

  “I honestly do not know,” Darcy answered, rising from his desk since things were in order. “It was not on my agenda to discover the skills of all the ladies in Hertfordshire when I was at Netherfield. I was there for Bingley.”

  “Although he did think it his duty to observe at least one lady while he was helping me.”

  “One is not all,” Darcy replied easily as he took his seat. “They will be down in about an hour, I suspect. Mr. Bennet will be sleeping again by then.” He pulled his watch from his pocket and marked the time.

  “Are you not concerned about what the other Bennet ladies are about?” Richard asked.

  Darcy shook his head. “No, I heard them mention some fashion magazine, and Georgiana was going to introduce them to Dash. It is not as if they are infants who need a constant nurse around them.”

  Richard sighed.

  “Why are you so taken with them?” Bingley asked. “It is not like you to be suggesting that we try to improve young ladies. You are usually the one directing us away from the silly debutantes and hiding yourself away so that your mother will not marry you off to one of them.”

  “The Bennets are different.” Richard shifted and stretched before looking at Darcy. “An hour, you say?”

  Darcy nodded. “I should suspect they will return no sooner.”

  “And what will we do when they do return?”

  “You are staying?” Darcy asked in surprise.

  Richard nodded. “Did you not see my man? I am staying for a few days.”

  Richard often arrived to take up residence unannounced. So that part of his news did not surprise Darcy. However, the fact that he chose now, when the house had so many visitors, was a bit unusual.

  “I thought you could use help,” he
said in response to Darcy’s unasked question.

  Darcy smiled. Richard had an uncanny way of reading people, and Darcy in particular.

  “I know you do not fear for Georgiana, but I needed to see these young ladies before I could agree,” Richard added. “Elizabeth was so concerned that I could not pass it off as completely ungrounded. She seems intelligent and not given to flights of fancy, and that coupled with what Jane told us about her sisters when I first met her, compelled me to decide for myself.”

  If it were anyone else doubting him, Darcy would have been mildly to severely irritated, but it was Richard. He might be a gentleman with a ready quip and a tease to match his nonchalant façade, but he was not the sort of gentleman to leave things to chance when there might be a better option.

  “And what are your thoughts so far?” Darcy asked.

  Richard grimaced and shook his head. “She inquired if I was married and if Georgie had a beau.”

  “Miss Lydia, you mean?” Bingley asked.

  “Yes, the other two seemed less forward. Miss Mary is a trifle severe, and Miss Kitty lacks identity.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Bingley sat forward. “How does a lady lack identity?”

  “She makes no decisions on her own,” Richard replied. “She follows her younger sister. Therefore, it is the youngest that requires our attention. She is the key to the lot of them doing well or causing some calamity.”

  “How so?” Eager curiosity suffused Bingley’s features.

  “Miss Mary would do better to be less severe if she ever wishes to marry.” He shuddered slightly. “She is too much of a governess.” He chuckled. “Or a bit like my Aunt Catherine, and the world does not need two Lady Catherines.”

  “Too true,” Darcy agreed with a chuckle.

  “If Miss Mary did not have silly sisters of whom to disapprove constantly, she might soften her manners and her features – before that scowl becomes a permanent line between her brows.” He shifted. “And if Miss Kitty is to follow, it should be someone worth following. Currently, Miss Lydia is not an appropriate leader.” He sighed – a great, heavy sounding exhalation. “And I cannot explain it, but I feel as if Mrs. Bennet will calm if her daughters are all well-matched or, at least, prepared in such a fashion as to be capable of making a good match.” He shrugged. “I cannot put my finger on it, but that is what my gut is saying.”

  Darcy propped his elbows on the arms of his chair and, steepling his fingers, rested his chin on them. If there was one thing he had learned in the past year, it was not to question Richard when he said something felt out of place or needed better scrutiny. They had both ignored the gut feeling Richard had felt regarding Mrs. Younge, Georgiana’s former companion who had assisted Wickham in his attempt to persuade Georgiana into an elopement.

  Richard shook his head. “She is just the sort to fall for one of Wickham’s schemes.”

  “Mrs. Bennet?” Bingley asked in surprise.

  Richard’s brows furrowed as he shook his head. “No, Miss Lydia. I do not think she has the sense to see through his pretty words. She will see only his charm and handsome features and will do whatever he asks to have him as her beau. She seems rather intent upon having a beau.” He might have said more but at that moment the door to the study, which was not quite closed, as Darcy had left it open to hear whatever might be happening in the hall, opened.

  “No, no! Come here!”

  Dash followed by a flushed Lydia, who was trailed by Kitty and Georgiana entered the room. The young ladies stopped just inside the door when they saw the gentlemen sitting within. However, Dash did not. He circled the room and then hopped onto Richard’s lap without so much as a look of invitation.

  “Now look here, Dash,” Richard scolded as the ladies at the door giggled, “I did not ask you to accost me. Get down.”

  Dash immediately laid down on Richard’s lap.

  “That is not what I mean,” Richard scolded as he rubbed the dog’s ear.

  “Why do you insist on petting him while reprimanding?” Darcy asked.

  Richard smiled sheepishly. “How do you not scratch his ear when he looks at you with those eyes.”

  “I will take him,” said Georgiana. “Mrs. Annesley went to her room to retrieve a particular pattern for stitching, and he scooted out with her. I do apologize.” She attempted to pick Dash up from her cousin’s lap, but the pup growled, causing her to pull back.

  “There will be none of that,” Richard said firmly and placed the dog on the floor. “No, not even those eyes will save you this time, lad.”

  A soft clucking and whistling drew both Richard and Dash’s attention. Lydia knelt on the floor, removing a ribbon from her hair and calling softly to Dash.

  “Do you want it boy?” she asked as she wiggled the ribbon in the air. She held it toward him and then snatched it back when he put his nose forward. She repeated this three times while telling him that he only needed to come to her to have the ribbon. “Please,” she added at the end of her third request.

  Dash trotted to her, tail wagging, and licked her cheek when he reached her.

  Lydia giggled and threw her arms around the puppy. “You cheeky fellow,” she scolded while she scruffed the top of his head. “There will be no stealing kisses.”

  Dash paid no heed and licked her cheek again as she slipped the ribbon she held around his collar and tied it on.

  “There!” she declared. “I have won this game.”

  The entire back half of Dash wagged with pleasure as she gave him a hug and prepared to lead him from the room.

  “He seems to be taken with you, Miss Lydia,” Darcy said.

  “Oh, I am very good with animals,” she replied. “It only takes a little persuasion – a tempting treat or toy and then praises and some attention when they respond. It is not hard.” She batted her lashes.

  “You did make it look easy,” Bingley said.

  “We will be in the drawing room in about half an hour,” Darcy said to Georgiana before the ladies left.

  “May we play cards?” Georgiana asked.

  “I do not see why not,” Darcy replied. He enjoyed a game or two of cards on occasion.

  “Oh!” Lydia cried with delight as she followed Georgiana and Kitty from the study, “I am also very good with cards.”

  “Why do I suspect she uses some of the same techniques she used with Dash to draw gentlemen along and to win at cards?” Richard asked dryly.

  Bingley chuckled. “Because, as she said, she’s very good at it.”

  Richard shook his head. “Good she might be, but she wants instruction.”

  “And you wish me to provide it?” Darcy asked with a laugh.

  “I cannot do it all,” Richard said, rising from his chair and straightening his jacket before brushing at the dog hair on his breeches.

  “Where are you going?” Bingley asked.

  Richard turned from the door. “To see that the card tables are placed and to make sure my money is well-hidden.” His lips tipped up in a half smile. “I am also curious to see if Dash is still following Miss Lydia around like a green schoolboy.”

  Darcy looked at Bingley after Richard left the room. “Do we need to worry about him?”

  Bingley nodded. “I think we may.”

  Chapter 7

  “You do not wish to dance, Mr. Darcy?” Mrs. Bennet asked the next morning as she sipped tea and ate toast in the morning room.

  Darcy had just been discussing his day with Richard, and while he had mentioned the appointment for Georgiana with her dance master, he had not included himself in the party who would be joining in on the activity.

  “No, I do not,” he replied simply.

  “But Colonel Fitzwilliam is going to dance,” Mrs. Bennet encouraged. “It would be so much more fun for the young ladies if there were two gentlemen with whom to dance. They would not have to stand up with each other for every dance that way.”

  “My cousin is not fond of dancing,” Richard replied in Darcy�
�s stead.

  “Not fond of dancing! I declare I have never heard of such a thing.”

  She smiled over her cup of tea, and for a moment, Darcy saw in her eyes a familiar expressive twinkle. He had thought Elizabeth had inherited that particular impertinent expression from her father. It appeared he was wrong.

  “Might you be fonder of dancing if I were to send Elizabeth to join you?” she asked.

  Mrs. Bennet’s lashes batted very much like Miss Lydia did when she was attempting to get her way with either dogs or humans. He had seen Lydia use that expression twice with Dash and at least as many times with Richard while playing cards last evening. The shock of the similarity between Mrs. Bennet and both her second eldest and youngest daughters slowed the smile that curled his lips at such a suggestion.

  “I do find it more enjoyable to dance with Miss Elizabeth than anyone else,” he admitted, causing Richard to laugh, and Mrs. Bennet to beam.

  “Then, I will send her to you.”

  “Only if she is amenable,” Darcy cautioned. “I would not wish to force her to do that which she does not wish to do.”

  At this Mrs. Bennet giggled, and then, with a slight arch to her right eyebrow — very reminiscent, in Darcy’s mind, to another expression of Elizabeth’s — she responded in a whisper, “I should not say it, for I would not wish to hinder your regard for her, but there are few who can force Elizabeth to do that which she does not wish to do. She is a very determined young lady and has been so since before she was in leading strings.”

  To Darcy’s surprise, there was a look of pride on the woman’s face that seemed to run contrary to her disparaging words.

  “Her father has taught her to use that determination to great effect, though I find there is still room for improvement. Elizabeth is not one to be swayed by pretty words and affected airs as some might be. And that is a very good quality for a young lady to possess.” She took a sip of her tea. “One does not wish to be tricked into believing things that are not so.” She sighed. “I am not so good at that sort of thing as is my husband. That is why he has worked so diligently with Elizabeth. I am certain I would have failed her, for she is far more challenging than any of my other daughters.”