“If he intends to make Miss Montford his wife, why did Mr. Darcy come to Hertfordshire for such a lengthy visit?”
“Because Mr. Darcy has little enthusiasm for the match, and Charles said it is getting worse, not better. Although he honored Miss Montford with his attentions during the season, when everyone went back to their country estates, Mr. Darcy went to Derbyshire with his sister. For the whole month of August, while Miss Montford was in the country with her family, he never visited her.
“I also learned Mr. Darcy’s name was once linked to Mrs. Conway, the widow of a Whig Member of Parliament. She is a few years older than he is, but because there was no issue from her marriage to Mr. Conway, Charles believes marriage was never a consideration. He added that Mr. Darcy would not even consider what he calls ‘the latest crop’ of eighteen-year-olds, as he craves mature conversation and debate. He likes to be challenged.”
“And Miss Montford is lacking in that area?”
“Apparently. But even so, after the ball, he is to return to London to begin the courtship in earnest or he risks hearing from Sir John that he is playing loose with his daughter’s affections by his inconstant attentions.”
“To a man like Mr. Darcy, such a charge would be insupportable, so there is little doubt he will marry Miss Montford.”
Jane looked at her sister and thought what Lizzy could not say. She was in love with Mr. Darcy, and in all likelihood, Mr. Darcy was falling in love with her. But they were destined to be separated because of class differences.
“Do not look at me like that, Jane. I already have a plan. I shall ask Mr. Bingley to introduce me to some of his wealthy friends, but from a less lofty position in society than Mr. Darcy. However, if I do not find a husband, I shall live in an attic room at Netherfield and become the governess to your many children.”
Jane took her sister’s hand in hers and smiled. “Lizzy, I would never make you live in the attic, and you have my permission to teach the children how to play the pianoforte but, please, no French. Your accent is worse than mine.”
Although the two sisters laughed, Jane could not continue to appear cheerful when she was not. The thought that there would be no Mr. Bingley in her sister’s life made her profoundly sad.
“Please do not trouble yourself on my account,” Lizzy said. “I shall go to the ball and position myself in such a way that Mr. Darcy will be forced to ask me to dance. I shall write at length about it in my diary, and then I shall turn the page and write of other things. As I have repeatedly told you, I am of a practical nature, and I never imagined that it would end in any other way.”
Georgiana wished she could fall asleep in a carriage the way her lady’s maid, Mrs. Brotherton, and her brother’s man-servant, Mercer, did. But the rocking of the carriage that lulled them to sleep kept her awake as she could not block out the sound of the grinding of the wheels or the sound of the whip. With her companion in a deep sleep, she looked to her brother for conversation.
“Will, when you visited Miss Montford, did you notice her new coiffure?”
Darcy shook his head. This disappointed Georgiana because it was she who had encouraged Letitia to adopt a softer look. “Because her face is so angular, I suggested she not wear it so high and to have curls around her face to make it look rounder.”
“You know I do not pay attention to such things, but I promise to take notice when I next see her,” and he turned his attention to the passing countryside.
“May I ask when that will be?”
“As I have said, after the ball at Netherfield.” Looking at his sister with a quizzical expression, he asked, “Is that why you have come along—to drag me back to London to court Miss Montford as soon as the ball is over?”
“Of course not,” she answered quickly. “I would never try to force you to do anything.”
Darcy could see he had hurt his sister’s feelings, and so he gave her his full attention. “We have already established that Miss Montford is all that a young lady of twenty-two years should be, so why are you so concerned?”
“Caroline Bingley.”
“Surely, you do not think I am in danger of being ensnared by Miss Bingley.”
“Not Miss Bingley in particular, but someone like her. For example, Augusta Selridge, who is very beautiful…”
“…and a viper. You look surprised that I know her true nature. That is why I move slowly and methodically, so I am not taken in by someone like Miss Selridge.”
“You are my darling brother, and all I want is for you to marry someone who is sweet and kind and who will be a good wife to you.”
“Then you will be comforted to know that when I placed the advertisement for a wife in The Times those were my exact specifications.”
Her brother’s good humor seemed to reassure Georgiana, and despite claims that she never slept while on the road, she dozed off, leaving Will to his thoughts. He suspected that returning to Hertfordshire was probably a bad idea, as any hope of his coming together with Elizabeth Bennet collided with the reality of their situations. But he had to see her one more time. In that way, it might be possible to banish her from his dreams.
When Georgiana awoke, her brother informed her that they were within a few miles of Netherfield, and his sister, who loved meeting new people and visiting new places, asked about the neighborhood. After hearing Will’s description, she decided it was little different from the village of Lambton near Pemberley.
“It is a market town, Georgiana, so if you need ribbon or hose, you will be able to find it easily.”
“But what of the ladies? Are there many pretty girls here to tempt a gentleman?”
“A few. There is a Miss King, who has pretty red hair, a Miss Long, who has lovely hands, and a Miss Robinson, who is attractive in profile,” and Will tapped his teeth to indicate her defect.
“And what of Miss Bennet’s sisters?”
“They are an attractive family. The eldest and the three younger sisters are light of hair and comely. Only the second eldest has dark hair, which is very curly and difficult to restrain, and she is always putting it back in place. She has luminous dark eyes, almost like onyx, that reflect the light, and a very pretty smile.”
Unrestrained curls? Onyx eyes? For a man who said he did not notice such things about a lady, that was a very detailed description, Georgiana thought.
“What is her name?”
“Did I not say? Miss Elizabeth Bennet. But you will have an opportunity to meet all of them at the ball. We are very near to Longbourn, so you might gently nudge Mrs. Brotherton.”
“Longbourn? I thought the name of the estate was Netherfield Park?”
“I meant to say Netherfield Park. Longbourn is the Bennet estate.”
“I am looking forward to meeting all of the Bennet sisters,” Georgiana told her brother, and she was most especially interested in meeting Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
Mrs. Bennet was as excited as her five daughters were about attending the ball at Netherfield. Mr. Bennet and she had had their first dance in its ballroom more than two decades earlier, and she fondly remembered the pale blue robe a l’anglaise with matching petticoat she had worn that evening and which had greatly complemented her blond hair, blue eyes, and tiny waist. But after only a few moments of remembrance of things past, she returned to the business of the day. Now that Jane was to marry Mr. Bingley, she needed to concentrate her efforts on seeing that her four unwed daughters made advantageous marriages.
Mrs. Bennet was disappointed when she learned that Mr. Bingley chose not to invite any of his friends from town to the ball. Because he had settled comfortably into the neighborhood, he was often seen riding into the village on his way to Longbourn, waving to the merchants and their families as if he had grown up in Meryton. As a result, he felt no need to seek company outside of Hertfordshire. Occasionally, he was accompanied by his friend, Mr. Darcy, but because someone of such an exalted rank would not be interested in any of her girls, the gentleman from Derbyshire s
erved no useful purpose and was, therefore, of little interest to her.
Mrs. Bennet decided that Kitty, whom she considered to be second in beauty only to Jane, would have no difficulty finding a suitor, possibly from amongst the officers who would be in attendance at the ball. And although Lydia was only sixteen, her effervescence always attracted attention, and her mother would not say “no” to a good offer for her youngest daughter. Mary, of course, was hopeless. If only she would do something about her looks. A little rouge, a nice pair of earrings, a less severe style to her hair would do wonders for her, but any suggestion about improving her appearance brought on endless sermonizing about the fleeting nature of beauty versus the enduring benefits of integrity and character.
Then there was Lizzy with her dark hair and eyes, so unlike her fair sisters. In the privacy of their bedchamber, Mr. Bennet occasionally teased his wife about their second daughter, accusing her of having had an assignation with a Spanish wine merchant that had resulted in their dark-eyed daughter.
Lizzy was certainly pretty enough to attract a suitor, but it was her habit of expressing her own opinions that would prove to be her downfall, and there was no hope of improvement in that area as no one seemed to intimidate her—not even Mr. Darcy. Lizzy’s conversation, in which she had teased that gentleman about his knowledge of dancing, had been overheard at Lucas Lodge and widely remarked upon. That type of banter was perfectly fine once you were engaged, but totally at cross purposes before an offer was made. No man wanted a wife who was smarter or wittier than he was.
And was her obstinacy more in evidence than when she had refused to even consider Mr. Collins when he had come to Longbourn for the purpose of finding a wife from amongst his cousins? When Mr. Collins had learned that Jane was shortly to become engaged to Mr. Bingley, he had turned his attention to Lizzy. But any conversation that had so much as a hint of a future together was met with stone cold silence. Instead of marrying Lizzy, he had marched over to Lucas Lodge and proposed to Charlotte Lucas, and they were to be married in a month’s time. That piece of good news was repeated at every opportunity by Lady Lucas.
Since there was nothing to be done about Lizzy, she would concentrate her efforts on Kitty and Lydia. Mrs. Hill, who excelled in doing the girls’ hair, was now assigned to the two youngest Bennets, and when Lizzy saw Mrs. Hill walk past their bedroom with the jewelry box, she started to laugh. “Jane, Mama has determined that I am a hopeless cause, and that she will waste no more time on me. I hope I do not come to regret my decision to refuse Mr. Collins.”
Jane only smiled at the absurdity of her sister’s comment because she was attempting to tame Lizzy’s unruly tresses, and after many minutes of effort, she finally suggested that her sister wear her hair down. They agreed upon a green ribbon that framed her face nicely, allowing her luscious dark hair to fall freely upon her shoulders. Lizzy, who had a bad habit of playing with her curls, did not know if this was a good idea.
“Yes, it is true that you play with your hair when it is down,” Jane agreed, “but you are forever tucking your curls back into place when you wear it up. Since you will be playing with your hair in either case, to my mind, there is no one prettier in all of Hertfordshire when you wear your hair down. The green gown you have chosen complements you greatly, and you will be la belle de la danse.”
“It is my favorite gown.”
“Yes, I know,” Jane answered, aware of the reason why Lizzy had chosen that particular dress. “You will have every man at the ball asking you to dance.”
But Lizzy did not care if she had every man in the ballroom asking for a dance. She cared only about one man—Mr. Darcy. This might very well be their last time together until Jane and Mr. Bingley’s wedding and that was many weeks in the future.
At that moment, Lydia and Kitty came into their sisters’ room to urge them to hurry. Lydia was sure that many of the officers were already at Netherfield dancing with Maria Lucas and Mary King. As Lizzy stepped out of the front door and onto the gravel path, a full moon appeared on the horizon, casting its soft glow over the landscape. The ball would last into the early hours of the morning, and Lizzy intended to dance every dance and to wear out her slippers. Because she would be so agreeably engaged, she would not think about the few hours left to her before Mr. Darcy returned to London and Miss Montford. Those thoughts were for another place where no one would see her tears.
Mr. Darcy had instructed Mercer, his manservant, to put out his very best evening clothes, and the effect of the green jacket with the black waistcoat and beige breeches was more than satisfactory. There was nothing conceited in his appraisal as he knew that he was handsome in an imperfect sort of way. A broken nose, a result of a sparring match at Jackson’s Boxing Academy, had forever altered his profile, but his dark hair and gray-green eyes seemed to have appeal for the ladies, or so he had been told.
Mercer, who had been in Mr. Darcy’s employ since his return from the Grand Tour five years earlier, was adept at sensing the changes in his moods. But, of late, even he was surprised by the range of his master’s emotions. The day after the assembly, Mr. Darcy had ridden to Longbourn for the unpleasant task of apologizing to a young lady for a statement he had let slip as a result of his desire to be anywhere other than at an assembly in a country market town. Mercer had been anticipating that his master would return in the same mood in which he had left, but, instead, he had entered the house in a joyful mood and had climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time. The dramatic fluctuations continued, depending on whether he was discussing Letitia Montford or Elizabeth Bennet.
Pulling on his waistcoat and tightening the knot on his neckcloth, Mr. Darcy took one last look in the mirror and said, “Mercer, do you recall the saying, ‘Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die’? In my case, I would say, ‘Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow I must go to town,’” and out the door he went in search of diversion from the events that awaited him in London.
When Jane had written to Aunt and Uncle Gardiner to announce her engagement, she had also mentioned that there was to be a ball at Netherfield Park. Mr. Gardiner, having once kicked up his heels in the manor house before moving to London, was mildly interested in attending, but after thinking about days spent away from his business, arranging for the carriage, and having to ask his mother-in-law to come to stay with the children, he decided to stay put. However, when Mrs. Gardiner read the same letter, she started to think about what she would pack for their journey.
“My dear husband, it is not just a matter of attending a ball at Netherfield Park; you must understand that Mr. Darcy of Pemberley will be there. I grew up not five miles from his great estate, and I have very fond memories of harvest festivals held in late summer at the manor house. Although I cannot picture Miss Darcy, I do recall the young Fitzwilliam Darcy, a handsome boy, and I would very much enjoy seeing him now that he has grown to manhood.”
Mrs. Gardiner continued on with detailed descriptions of Sunday strolls along Pemberley’s many streams, but it was only when she mentioned that her father had occasionally fished in the estate’s waters that her husband’s interest was piqued. There was nothing that gave him more pleasure than a day spent fishing, as it was the one sport that allowed him to forget about his business and all it entailed.
“Of course, it was necessary to apply to the steward for permission to fish on the property,” Mrs. Gardiner cautioned her husband, “but I cannot remember it as ever having been denied.”
“I wonder if the young Mr. Darcy is of a similar mind? Since we are to visit Lambton in a few weeks’ time, it would be beneficial to know if that were the case. If so, I could write to the steward, and if I were in a position to mention Mr. Darcy by name, that might do the trick.”
Mr. Gardiner went to the bookcase and removed Isaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler, a book nearly as dear to him as his Bible. After scanning a number of pages, he looked up and smiled at his wife. “Mrs. Gardiner, please send word to your mother that we are
in need of her assistance.”
“My goodness! What has decided the matter for you?”
Turning the book so that the title faced his wife, he explained, “The Darcy estate is mentioned in The Compleat Angler as having some of the finest fishing in the Midlands.”
While Mrs. Gardiner was thinking of which dress she would wear to the ball, Mr. Gardiner went looking for his servant. “Finch, where are my waders?”
When the Gardiners arrived at Longbourn, they were always greeted with great enthusiasm. Mr. Bennet greatly enjoyed his brother-in-law’s company, while Mrs. Gardiner provided a new audience for all of his wife’s stories. Despite very different temperaments, one exuberant and the other restrained, the two ladies got along quite well, and although Aunt and Uncle Gardiner loved all of their nieces, they were especially fond of the two eldest. They were greatly pleased to learn of Jane’s betrothal, not just because Mr. Bingley was a man of wealth and good temperament but because Jane was in love with him. This was no marriage of convenience.
The two sisters sought some private time with their aunt, and so the trio went to an alcove in the garden. Jane, who was still giddy at her unexpected good fortunate, shared everything she knew about Mr. Bingley and his family, including his sisters’ disapproval for the match. “Caroline and Louisa would have preferred someone who would have raised the family’s standing in London society. Of course, I accomplish no such thing. In any event, they are to return to town after the ball.”
“Where, hopefully, they will stay so that they can cause no more mischief,” Lizzy added.
“And what of you, Lizzy? Now that your sister is to be married, has anyone touched your heart?”
“There are few single men in the neighborhood who can afford a wife with such a meager fortune,” Lizzy quickly answered. “As for the many officers encamped nearby, I cannot see myself marrying an officer and following him from camp to camp. Therefore, as Mama often says, I am hoping Mr. Bingley will throw me into the path of other rich men. If that plan does not meet with success, then I shall rely on you, Aunt, to introduce me to eligible bachelors when I visit London.”
A Wife for Mr. Darcy Page 5