by Janet Aylmer
At this point, Darcy saw that Sir William was looking at her sister, Jane Bennet, and Bingley. He was brought back to the present company by Sir William.
“What congratulations will then flow in! I appeal to Mr. Darcy; but let me not interrupt you, Sir. You will not thank me for detaining you from the bewitching converse of that young lady, whose bright eyes are also upbraiding me.”
Darcy’s attention to the latter part of this address was very limited, as Sir William’s allusion to his friend kept his thoughts with Bingley, who was dancing with the eldest Miss Bennet. A novel and unwelcome thought came into Darcy’s mind. Was that the general opinion, that his friend and Miss Jane Bennet...
However, he recollected himself, and turned to his partner, saying, “Sir William’s interruption has made me forget what we were talking of.”
She replied, rather sharply he thought, “I do not think we were speaking at all. Sir William could not have interrupted any two people in the room who had less to say for themselves. We have tried two to three subjects already without success, and what we are to talk of next I cannot imagine.”
With the dance soon to come to the end, he realised that his opportunity to speak to her again during the evening might be very limited, and he determined to change the subject to something more likely to produce a favourable reply.
Remembering that, like her father, she seemed to be fond of reading, Darcy tried again.
“What think you of books?” said he, smiling.
But she seemed determined not to be pleased.
“Books. Oh! no. I am sure we never read the same, or not with the same feelings.”
He tried again, though disappointed at her reaction.
“I am sorry you think so; but if that be the case, there can at least be no want of subject. We may compare our different opinions.”
“No. I cannot talk of books in a ball-room; my head is always full of something else.”
His confidence in receiving a more sympathetic response was fading.
“The present always occupies you in such scenes does it?” he said, doubtfully this time.
“Yes, always,” she replied.
There was silence between them for some time.
Then she suddenly exclaimed, “I remember hearing you once say, Mr. Darcy, that you hardly ever forgave, that your resentment once created was unappeasable. You are very cautious, I suppose, as to its being created.”
For several moments, he puzzled as to the reason that might be behind this question, but could not discern it, so he replied, more resolutely than he felt, “I am.”
“And never allow yourself to be blinded by prejudice?”
He was genuinely surprised, for the idea had never occurred to him as a possibility.
“I hope not,” he replied.
There was a silence again, although more brief this time.
“It is particularly incumbent on those who never change their opinion, to be secure of judging properly at first.”
He reflected that it seemed like a query, rather than a statement.
“May I ask to what these questions tend?”
“Merely to the illustration of your character,” she said gravely. “I am trying to make it out.”
He took some comfort that this remark at least did not indicate any indifference to him and, emboldened, asked her, “And what is your success?”
She shook her head. “I do not get on at all. I hear such different accounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly.”
For a moment, he was not at all sure how best to reply. She might, after all, have heard any manner of falsehoods about him from Wickham. With that in mind, he answered seriously.
“I can readily believe, that report may vary greatly with respect to me; and I could wish, Miss Bennet, that you were not to sketch my character at the present moment, as there is reason to fear that the performance would reflect no credit on either.”
She looked at him almost anxiously as she said, “But if I do not take your likeness now, I may never have another opportunity.”
What meaning this had was not clear to Darcy, and he said to her more coldly, “I would by no means suspend any pleasure of yours.”
She said no more, and they went down the dance for the last time. At the end, they parted in silence.
Despite this unsatisfactory ending to the encounter, she had revealed some interest in his own person as to make Darcy not unhappy with her.
His anger was therefore directed solely towards a former acquaintance of his own. Darcy stood apart from the throng as they took the floor again, and regretted every unfortunate consequence of his family’s long acquaintance with George Wickham.
At last the time came for everyone to take refreshment. Darcy moved with the rest of the company to the dining room, where a choice of dishes was laid out on the tables.
It was in a disturbed frame of mind that Darcy took his seat at a table. He had scarcely begun to eat when he was accosted by the clerical gentleman who had seemed to be with the party from Longbourn. He was unable to conceal his astonishment as this person prefaced his speech with a solemn bow, and introduced himself as the Bennets’ cousin, Mr. Collins, lately engaged by Darcy’s aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, as the rector at Hunsford. He then went on, at length, to express his good fortune at obtaining that position, and the consequent opportunity to meet his patron so regularly in the course of his duties.
By this time, Darcy was eyeing him with unrestrained wonder. When at last Mr. Collins allowed him time to speak, he replied with an air of distant civility, saying only that he was so well convinced of Lady Catherine’s discernment as to be certain she could never bestow a favour unworthily.
Mr. Collins, however, was not to be discouraged.
Instead, he carried on speaking again, although mostly by repetition of what he had already expounded. Finally, Darcy mustered a slight bow, and was able to move away to fetch a glass of wine.
When he returned to his place, he was not pleased to find that Mrs. Bennet had taken her seat opposite him with Lady Lucas, with whom she was talking loudly. More welcome was the realisation that Miss Elizabeth Bennet was sitting at the same table, although also opposite himself and much too far away for him to make any conversation.
He was unable to avoid hearing the exchange between Mrs. Bennet and Lady Lucas, and paid that more attention, as the former seemed to be talking of nothing but her expectation that Miss Jane Bennet would be soon married to Bingley. She seemed incapable of fatigue while enumerating the advantages of the match, his wealth and the benefits to her, as the marriage must throw her younger daughters in the way of other rich men.
Darcy soon became acutely aware of Miss Elizabeth’s embarrassment and endeavours to put a stop to her mother’s words, or to persuade her to describe her felicity in a less audible manner.
Mrs. Bennet, however, scolded her for being nonsensical, saying loudly enough for Darcy to hear, “What is Mr. Darcy to me, pray, that I should be afraid of him? I am sure we owe him no such particular civility as to be obliged to say nothing he may not like to hear.”
“For heaven’s sake, madam, speak lower,” he heard Miss Elizabeth Bennet say. “What advantage can it be to you to offend Mr. Darcy? You will never recommend yourself to his friend by so doing.”
This had no effect, Mrs. Bennet continuing in the same vein.
Darcy tried when he could to look elsewhere, for he was aware of the daughter glancing towards him when she thought that she was not observed, but he missed very little of what was being said to Lady Lucas. Everything that he heard confirmed his previous view that Mrs. Bennet was vulgar, thoughtless, ill-mannered and the last person in the world whom Bingley should desire as a mother-in-law.
In that, Darcy reflected, he profoundly shared Miss Bingley’s opinion. And Mrs. Bennet’s younger daughters appeared to possess little sense, and even less decorum in company, and few accomplishments of which they might be proud. Indeed, they were a very unhappy cont
rast to the modest demeanour of his sister Georgiana and the talents of other ladies of his acquaintance.
At last Mrs. Bennet had no more to say, but the respite for Darcy was short.
As supper was now over, Bingley invited those prepared to oblige the company to sing. Before others had the opportunity, Miss Mary Bennet accepted this invitation with alacrity. The performance was to Darcy no comparison to that of Miss Elizabeth, whom he had heard playing at previous gatherings in Meryton. At last, the young lady was prevailed upon by her father, in a manner that reminded Darcy a little of his second daughter, to give way.
At this moment, the voice of the rector of Hunsford, Mr. Collins, was again heard.
“If I,” said Mr. Collins, “were so fortunate as to be able to sing, I should have great pleasure, I am sure, in obliging the company with an air; for I consider music as a very innocent diversion, and perfectly compatible with the profession of a clergyman. I do not mean however to assert that we can be justified in devoting too much of our time to music, for there are certainly other things to be attended to. The rector of a parish has much to do. In the first place, he must make such an agreement for tithes as may be beneficial to himself and not offensive to his patron. He must write his own sermons; and the time that remains will not be too much for his parish duties, and the care and improvement of his dwelling, which he cannot be excused from making as comfortable as possible. And I do not think it of light importance that he should have attentive and conciliatory manners towards every body, especially towards those to whom he owes his preferment. I cannot acquit him of that duty; nor could I think well of the man who should omit an occasion of testifying his respect towards anybody connected with the family.”
And with a bow to Mr. Darcy, he concluded his speech, which had been spoken so loud as to be heard by half the room.
Mr. Bennet looked amused, but his wife commended Mr. Collins for having spoken so sensibly, and observed in a half-whisper to Lady Lucas that he was a remarkably clever, good kind of young man. Darcy said nothing, but he had no difficulty in taking a different view.
At that moment, Miss Bingley appeared by Darcy’s side.
“I have been having a fascinating conversation with a lady whom I know you favour. It seems that she is so persuaded of the attractions of a certain Mr. Wickham that she does not wish to listen to well-intentioned advice from someone as independent of the matter as myself. They would make a pretty pair, would they not, Mr. Darcy, she and Mr. Wickham? Indeed, you must agree that they seem to be made for each other.”
These remarks put Darcy into such a bad humour that for once he was glad of an intervention from Sir William, who at that moment came up to compliment Bingley and his sister on the excellence of their arrangements for the ball.
The remainder of the evening passed with little incident, and nothing to please Darcy. He had some conversation with Mr. Bennet about the library at Pemberley, which the latter gentleman had heard was very fine. Darcy noticed that Mr. Bennet came alive when in discourse on the subject of reading and books, and their conversation at least passed some minutes of the evening. A few comments that Mr. Bennet let slip indicated that he regarded Mr. Collins, on whom the estate at Longbourn was apparently entailed after his death, as a source of considerable amusement, and not as a man of any great intelligence or good sense. This was not a view with which it was difficult for Darcy to concur.
The clergyman appeared to be exceptionally attentive to Miss Elizabeth, who danced no more and sat out at the side of the room. That they were joined by Miss Charlotte Lucas, Darcy noticed, seemed to be very welcome to her friend.
Darcy could find nothing other to do than to spend the remainder of the evening standing within a very short distance of them, having no interest in dancing with anyone else in the room. Meanwhile, Bingley continued his attentions to the eldest Miss Bennet.
On the following day, Darcy knew, Bingley was due to travel to town on business. He resolved to have a serious talk with his friend’s sisters in his absence. The situation between Bingley and Miss Bennet had clearly developed much further than he had anticipated, and something needed to be done.
Part Three
Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman
as he was by her.
12
Some seven days later, Darcy reviewed the events of the past week with satisfaction.
After Bingley had left for town, his friend had soon dis-covered that his disdain at the behaviour of much of the Longbourn party at the ball was endorsed and exceeded by both Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst. However pleasant the manners of the eldest Miss Bennet, it was agreed that the rest of her family, and in particular her mother and three youngest sisters, were quite inappropriate connections for a family of Bingley’s consequence. Any partiality that Charles might feel for Miss Jane Bennet could surely evaporate as rapidly as his enthusiasm for other young ladies had done in the past.
Following their discussion, Darcy had travelled himself to London with Miss Bingley and Mr. and Mrs. Hurst. It had been agreed during the journey that Bingley should be persuaded by his friend of the indifference of Miss Jane Bennet, which indeed had seemed to that gentleman to be the case from his observance of her. Miss Bingley could not resist inserting a barb about Miss Elizabeth’s “fine eyes” in the conversation, but Darcy chose to ignore this. In the privacy of his room, he had reflected that any objections that applied to the eldest Miss Bennet having any alliance with his friend were more than magnified and reinforced in the view of his own greater consequence and fortune.
In the event, Darcy was a little surprised that the task of persuading Bingley that he should remain in London was not accomplished easily.
His friend was usually more willing to accept his advice and direction than now appeared in this case. Bingley seemed to be persuaded that his feelings were stronger and persistent than on previous occasions, and less susceptible to being eradicated by time. However, by dint of repeating Darcy’s and his sisters’ conviction many times that the lady’s affections were not engaged, over a period of days Bingley was also convinced of his own indifference.
If it then seemed in the ensuing weeks that his friend was at times more pensive and reflective than was his habit, Darcy did not allow that to concern him.
There was one short alarm, when Miss Bingley told Darcy that she had had a formal call from Miss Jane Bennet. It appeared that she had travelled to London to stay for some weeks with those same relations in Cheapside of which so much sport had been made in Miss Bingley’s conversation in Hertfordshire.
However, although the call was eventually returned, the news of the visitor from Longbourn being in town was kept from Charles Bingley. Darcy could therefore contemplate with some satisfaction the way that his friend’s temporary affliction of the heart had been dealt with.
* * *
What did surprise Darcy was the obstinate difficulty he himself had in removing from his own mind the image of Miss Elizabeth Bennet during the next few weeks in town.
Darcy in his youth had spent the festive season at Pemberley, and it had been his happiest time of year in the company of his parents. Since their demise, Darcy had avoided Derbyshire until the weather at the end of the winter made the roads more fit to travel, after the January snows.
But he could not recall when he had suffered such an uneasy mind. The more he sought, as the New Year began, to eliminate Miss Elizabeth Bennet from his thoughts and interest, the less he seemed to succeed. Making more effort than usual to encounter other company in town had no countervailing effect. The society of ladies of his own consequence only seemed to provoke memories of lively conversation and pleasant and more informed wit from that other source.
Indeed, his failure to thus control his thoughts made him more abrupt than was in any case his habit. He found himself particularly short of temper in company with Miss Caroline Bingley. Her wit, which he had once found pleasantly astringent and barbed, now seemed particularly affecte
d and tiresome. His sister’s joining him in London for once offered only some assistance in this situation.
However, to keep himself occupied, he took Georgiana to seek some new furniture for her sitting room, and had some pleasure in her delight at the opportunity. By such minor pursuits, Darcy passed the next few weeks. The prospect of any relief from the tedium of the season in town was small, and the most exciting excursion that the future promised was his annual visit for about ten days after Easter with Colonel Fitzwilliam to his aunt, Lady Catherine, in Kent.
This was not something to which Darcy normally looked forward. Fitzwilliam’s company could be had elsewhere with greater pleasure, his cousin Anne had little to recommend her, and Lady Catherine made such forceful discourse, with her own replies, as to make it even less necessary than usual for Darcy to persuade himself to make polite conversation.
The prospect of the tiresome new rector, Mr. Collins, being added to the company from time to time was no additional inducement on its own.
However, a communication from his aunt brought the surprising news that Mr. Collins had returned from his most recent visit to Hertfordshire after the Christmas festival with a bride—none other than Charlotte, the eldest daughter of Sir William Lucas.
Darcy had regarded Miss Lucas as one of the more sensible and serious young ladies he had met while at Nether-field. More significant was that she was a close friend of Miss Elizabeth Bennet. As March began, and the time of his visit drew nearer, he was aware that he would welcome the opportunity to hear some news from the new Mrs. Collins of a young lady from another county.
Then a second letter came from his aunt. Together with the usual advice to himself about Georgiana, it informed him that none other than Miss Elizabeth Bennet herself was at the parsonage at Hunsford, accompanying Miss Maria Lucas on a visit to her sister. However, their stay of some six weeks would end just before Darcy and Fitzwilliam were due to arrive in Kent.