by Lauren King
“Elizabeth? Did you choose your gloves?” Georgiana walks towards Elizabeth and William. She sees them talking, and it looks like Elizabeth is blushing about something. Did William say something to Elizabeth?
Elizabeth snaps out of her daze with Mr. Darcy and quickly answers Georgiana. “Umm, yes Georgiana; I chose these two pairs. What do you think of them?” Thank goodness she does not have to comment on Mr. Darcy’s statement. He is flirting with her, right? It sure sounds like he is saying that he wants her to want him to be around, right?
“They are pretty, Elizabeth. What do you think, William?”
“Yes, they are pretty. They look lovely on Miss Elizabeth.” Darcy replies immediately but then glances back to Miss Elizabeth to see her reaction. She is blushing; that is good, right? If she does not like him, then she would not talk to him sweetly like that. If she is just a friend, then she would just speak normally instead of softly and blush like that. Yes! He is making progress!
When Elizabeth and Georgiana walk back to the fabric area, Elizabeth quickly glances back at Mr. Darcy and bashfully smiles. Of course Darcy smiles back; he gets the feeling that she is interested too. Yes! Progress, progress. He has not felt like this with another lady that he has actively pursued. Actually, he has not actively pursued any lady before. There are too many expectations if he pays any attention to any one young lady. Additionally, no one young lady has made him feel enough interest to seriously pursue. In contrast, Miss Elizabeth has intrigued him greatly. He will most definitely pursue the delightful Miss Elizabeth.
The ladies are almost done when Bingley, Miss Bingley, Mr. and Mrs. Hurst come into the shop. They are happy to see Darcy and everyone greets each other. Miss Bingley is overjoyed to accidentally see Mr. Darcy today. She has not seen him since they all were in Hertfordshire. She wants to find out which parties Mr. Darcy will attend so that she can insist her brother take her to them too. She will do all she can to impress upon Mr. Darcy just how suitable she is to be the mistress of Pemberley. That means she has to be around him more often; she has to find any way possible.
“Mr. Darcy, are you here with Miss Darcy? Are you being the best brother and buying her more dresses? That is very sweet of you.” Miss Bingley tries to be engaging and considerate by praising Mr. Darcy – men like to be praised, do they not?
“Yes, I am here with my sister and her friends.” Darcy replies simply. He knows what Miss Bingley is all about. He has known ever since he has been friends with her brother. However, Darcy will never be with anyone like Miss Bingley, either.
“How nice of you to chaperone Miss Darcy and her little friends. What a good brother you are. But then again, I have seen you be a good brother all the time. That is absolutely precious.” Miss Bingley smiles coyly directly at Darcy.
Darcy cannot tolerate Miss Bingley’s flattery. It irks him because of how she says it and why she says it. She tries to ingratiate herself to him, and it is annoying to hear. Nevertheless, he bears it because Bingley is a very good friend, and he does not want to offend him. However, he has told Bingley that he is not interested in Miss Bingley; therefore, he wants Bingley to curb his sister’s enthusiasms towards him. Unfortunately, Bingley does not seem to have much success with that. Miss Bingley is very determined. Darcy recognizes this, thus he tries to stay away from visiting Bingley when she is at home.
Darcy only nods in acknowledgement of what Miss Bingley said. At this point, Georgiana comes towards her brother and everyone sees her, so they all joyfully greet her. Miss Bingley fusses over how much Georgiana has grown and how pretty she looks in her dress. She compliments Georgiana nonstop, and it is clear to Darcy that Georgiana is getting uncomfortable.
“Miss Darcy would you like me to help you with your selections? I would be glad to spend time with you to pick out the most current fashionable styles.” Miss Bingley gaily volunteers as she glances at Mr. Darcy hoping to see his approval for her kindness to his young sister who she thinks will do well with her guidance. Given that Miss Bingley has been to one of the best finishing schools in London and has been taught well, she feels she is suitable and fitting to be Miss Darcy’s sister-in-law.
“No thank you, Miss Bingley.” Georgiana says nicely with a small smile then she turns to her brother, “We are almost done, William. It will only be a few more minutes; Elizabeth is giving her last instructions to Mrs. Templeton.”
“That is fine, Georgie. Tell Miss Elizabeth to take her time.” Darcy responds pleasantly.
At this moment, both Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner come towards the group, thus Georgiana walks back towards Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner. Both ladies recognize Mr. Bingley; therefore, they smile at him.
“Mrs. Gardiner, Miss Elizabeth! How are you? It is nice to see you both, again.” Bingley says jovially as he bows to both ladies and both ladies curtsy courteously.
“We are well; thank you. How are you, Mr. Bingley?” Mrs. Gardiner asks genially.
“I am also well, and you, sir?” Elizabeth asks politely with a lively smile.
“I am well, thank you, Mrs. Gardiner, Miss Elizabeth. Please forgive me. Let me introduce my family to you both.”
All the introductions are made and courtesies performed. Miss Bingley is surprised to see that Miss Darcy’s friends are not very young girls. She becomes completely haughty when she hears that Elizabeth is part of the Bennets in Hertfordshire. Darcy sees her reactions and is not happy about it.
“Oh, you are from the Bennet family in Hertfordshire. Louisa, you remember we have met Mrs. Bennet at the assembly and around the little town when we were there?” Miss Bingley says in a curious tone and in an odd manner as her eyes widen at Mrs. Hurst.
Mrs. Hurst politely smiles and answers affirmatively to Miss Bingley without further comment.
Elizabeth knows what Miss Bingley is trying to relay when she says that she met Mrs. Bennet. Her Mother just does not know how she embarrasses her family; she is either oblivious to it or she does not care. Elizabeth does not understand how her Mother cannot see other people’s reactions. Moreover, Miss Bingley has probably heard of how Elizabeth’s Mother has talked and acted around company; consequently, Miss Bingley is trying to degrade the situation. Elizabeth can see the conceit, the smugness, and snobbishness exuding from Miss Bingley.
“Miss Darcy, if you have not yet made your selection for your dress, would you like for me to help? I would be glad to give you information on the latest fashions that only London has. People outside of London will not know. You do not want to be caught in something démodé.” Miss Bingley offers nicely to Georgiana but is sarcastically arrogant towards her target – Miss Elizabeth.
“No thank you, Miss Bingley. I am not buying anything today; Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner are getting more gowns.” Afterwards, Georgiana turns to Darcy and says, “We are all ready to go, William.”
“Alright, Georgie. Miss Elizabeth, did you have sufficient time to get everything you want?” Darcy asks thoughtfully with a handsome smile not often seen by Miss Bingley.
“Yes, thank you, Mr. Darcy; we had enough time.” Elizabeth smiles her dazzling smile at him and then looks over at her Aunt.
Miss Bingley is extremely displeased, to say the least. Why is Mr. Darcy so accommodating and considerate of Miss Elizabeth who has a horrid, loud, common Mother with family in trade? She wonders if this Mrs. Gardiner is the sister-in-law that lives in Cheapside. Cheapside for goodness sakes! No one decent lives in Cheapside. Miss Bingley would never live there – how intolerable!
“It is very nice of you to show these ladies where to properly shop for gowns, Miss Darcy. Otherwise, they may go to some of those awful lower class places. On the other hand, those places are more affordable.” Miss Bingley’s presumptuous and demeaning remarks do not go unnoticed by everyone present, especially by Darcy.
“I cannot take the credit for showing Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth this establishment, Miss Bingley. Mrs. Gardiner comes here for all her gowns and accessories. Mrs. Templeton knows her well.” Georg
iana responds honestly. Georgiana can sense that Miss Bingley may not like Elizabeth too much. Why?
Miss Bingley is slightly embarrassed because of Miss Darcy’s innocent, frank reply, but she cannot blame the young girl for being naive and associating with people such as Miss Elizabeth’s family. Though, she is surprised to see that Mr. Darcy does not curb his sister’s association with such people. The Darcy name is well above the Bennet’s; she is shocked to see Mr. Darcy so considerate of Miss Elizabeth in this manner. He has been waiting for them to do their shopping, and it was not even his sister that was doing the shopping; it was the other two ladies. Even though Mr. Hurst is Louisa’s husband, he has never sat around waiting for Louisa to shop, much less for Louisa’s friends.
“Oh, truly? Well, that can be expensive for some people.” Miss Bingley says condescendingly as she displays a pretentious expression.
Elizabeth can no longer hold her tongue. How annoyingly rude and ill-mannered of Miss Bingley to insinuate anything about Elizabeth or her Aunt! “Oh, I am sure your family is in a position to allow you to shop here too, Miss Bingley.” Elizabeth states in a deceptively, polite manner. She is offended at Miss Bingley’s ugly insinuation. “Mr. Bingley looks like a good brother. You have allowed your sister to shop here, have you not, Mr. Bingley?” Elizabeth says with a sweet smile towards Mr. Bingley.
“Yes, Miss Elizabeth, Caroline has been shopping here for a couple of years.” Mr. Bingley replies cordially.
Elizabeth sees Miss Bingley display a smug smile due to her brother’s response. Well, she is going to wipe that smugness away immediately. People like Miss Bingley do not know when they are being laughed at or scorned. They do not know themselves, or they deceive themselves into thinking that they are better than others so they can feel better about themselves. Miss Bingley belongs to the latter group. If she is truly a good person, she would not be making these snide remarks and insinuations about people that she knows nothing about. She may think she knows something about Elizabeth because she has met her Mother, but she is absolutely wrong in her presumptions.
“Well, rest assured Mr. Bingley; my Aunt has shopped here for the last four years, and she always has good things to say about this establishment.” Elizabeth smiles politely at Mr. Bingley but does not acknowledge Miss Bingley; afterwards, she turns to her Aunt and Georgiana to ask if they are ready to leave.
They both reply affirmatively, thus Elizabeth looks directly at Mr. Darcy and says, “We are ready, Mr. Darcy. Are you ready for tea, sir?” Elizabeth gives Mr. Darcy one of her brightest, most alluring smiles.
“Yes, I am Miss Elizabeth.” Darcy smiles charmingly back at Elizabeth and then turns to Bingley, “Bingley, I will contact you tomorrow.”
“Certainly, Darcy.” Bingley responds good-naturedly.
“Good day everyone.” Darcy says courteously without even one glance at Miss Bingley. Darcy bows and then walks to the door. Mr. Hurst smiles knowingly at Darcy while holding the door for the leaving party. “Thank you, Hurst.”
Mr. Hurst nods in acknowledgement, and Darcy stands near the door to wait for the three ladies to leave. He walks out right next to Miss Elizabeth and talks with her, nicely. Mr. Darcy hands all three ladies into Mrs. Gardiner’s carriage; he, satisfyingly, hands Miss Elizabeth in last. She smiles at him with pleasure as she steps inside in the carriage.
Inside the shop, Miss Bingley is fuming to see Mr. Darcy content and comfortable with Miss Elizabeth. He is supposed to be like that with her! How did this Miss Elizabeth get to know Miss Darcy and become her friend? And they seem to be good friends – going shopping with each other. Now, Mr. Darcy is paying attention to Miss Elizabeth – that attention is supposed to be for Miss Bingley!
Mr. Gardiner meets Mr. Darcy when everyone comes back for tea. Everyone is introduced, and all the pleasantries are conveyed. Darcy is surprised to see that their home is very nice and tastefully decorated. Their décor is of high quality, the house is large with plenty of space, and is well kept. Mr. Gardiner is gracious, mannerly, and courteous. Darcy can see that Mr. Gardiner seems to be genuinely polite and caring of Miss Elizabeth – both husband and wife are.
They talk about London, business, Derbyshire, and the plays that will perform during Christmas. Mr. Gardiner also mentions how nice Colonel Fitzwilliam was when he was here last week. They heard about all the countries that Colonel Fitzwilliam had traveled to and was fascinated with his adventures in the military.
Darcy becomes easier as tea time progresses, and he sees how genuinely caring Miss Elizabeth is to Georgiana. They talk about music and singing, and then Darcy hears Miss Elizabeth ask Georgiana if she would like to play the piano forte; they can perform like they had planned last time. Georgiana is hesitant but is finally coaxed into playing. The two ladies go into the music room to practice a bit before performing.
Everyone is seated in the music room including Athena who admires both Elizabeth and Georgiana for singing and playing the piano forte so well. Darcy is astonished at how well Miss Elizabeth sings; her soprano voice is captivating. For someone who has not had any masters’ education, she sings very well. He thoroughly enjoys her voice. Her face is beautiful. Her voice is lovely and lilting. Her personality is enchanting. Her behavior is irreproachable. Her caring for others is admirable. Darcy is sure there are more admirable qualities that he will uncover once he knows Miss Elizabeth better. Without a doubt, he wants to know her much better; he wants to know her for life.
Afterwards, Athena shows Georgiana their garden with all the pretty, colorful flowers. Elizabeth remains inside the drawing room with Mr. Darcy and her Aunt and Uncle. After the two boys run into the drawing room, the Gardiners excuse the four of them to go to the garden, and the drawing room door is left completely open. Mr. Darcy sits on an individual chair at a corner to Elizabeth’s sofa. They talk merrily about their childhood. Darcy shares a little about his parents with Elizabeth. He is clearly saddened by their passing, but is glad that he has his sister with him.
Elizabeth senses that Darcy is the best brother a sister could want. From his hesitant descriptions, he has had to shoulder everything that is under the Darcy legacy. He admits that it was very difficult to be without his Father the first few years because he did not want to make a mistake that could affect hundreds of people. He finally learned his duties; now, he is trying his best. She has heard of a few things that Richard had mentioned, and it is consistent with Mr. Darcy being a good person, all around. Elizabeth is very impressed with the commendable Mr. Darcy.
Elizabeth is beyond delighted that Mr. Darcy is intelligent, sophisticated, poised, well-mannered, well spoken, responsible, caring, considerate, kind, and absolutely handsome. He is also funny when he wants to be; they laughed plenty of times today. She understands him a little better ever since he apologized for his accidental pocket watch incident. Elizabeth was impressed when he was caring enough to apologize for it; he could have easily dismissed the action as not worthy of his explanation, but he did not do that. Instead, he was understanding and sensitive to her feelings – not arrogant or trivializing about it. Elizabeth is dangerously falling for this illustrious man. Her feelings may be unrequited; therefore, she needs to be careful in her show of partiality towards him.
They have learned many things about each other during today’s outing. Elizabeth is happy with her new understanding of Mr. Darcy. When tea time ends, the Gardiners let Elizabeth farewell her friends in the foyer. Mildred assists Georgiana with her outerwear.
Several feet away from the others, Darcy quietly and warmly asks Elizabeth, “May I call upon you this Wednesday at your convenience, Miss Elizabeth?”
Elizabeth replies quietly and shyly, “Yes, you may, Mr. Darcy. Will noon be convenient for you, sir?”
“Yes, that will be fine with me. I look forward to seeing you again on Wednesday. Good day to you, Miss Elizabeth.” He bows elegantly, and she curtsies gracefully. They gaze at each other one last time before he walks towards the front door
to wait for his sister to bid Elizabeth farewell.
Darcy is most satisfied with today’s progression. He will express his inclination to court her, soon. She has this strong pull on him, and he cannot deny his attraction to her. He does not want to deny it. If Miss Elizabeth is not like her Mother, then he can tolerate it. After all, she will always be considered a gentlewoman; her father is a gentleman.
CHAPTER 5
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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17th – GARDINER RESIDENCE
After another day of auditing her Uncle’s accounting books, Elizabeth is ready to have supper and relax a little before bedtime. She eagerly reads Jane’s letter that arrived this afternoon.
November 15th, 1810
Dearest Lizzy,
I hope you are well. I do not know how to tell you this, but I must because there is no hiding something this significant. Lydia has been sent up north to Blyth to live in Uncle Phillips’ cousins’ home because she is with…child. Oh, Lizzy…..I know you are gasping at this point. Please, take care, Lizzy while I relay the details.
Luckily, these cousins are an older couple with no children living with them, so they will not be as affected by Lydia’s bad reputation. Lydia will not reveal the person involved with her because she is afraid that Papa will call him out and kill him. Papa has said that he will not kill the man, but she remains fearful and not forthcoming. Thus far, no one knows except our family and, of course, Uncle and Aunt Phillips.
Lydia is adamant that when the person involved is told then he will come for her, and they will marry. Papa has forbidden Lydia to leave the house for any reason. Papa has covered up everything and prohibited Lydia from telling anyone about her condition, or else she will bring shame, disgrace, humiliation, indignity, infamy, and embarrassment to her entire family. Papa bluntly yelled out that Lydia brought shame on her Mother the most because everybody around our neighborhood and Meryton knows how permissive her Mother has been towards her. Then, he told her that the entire family will be shamed and considered outcasts like lepers. No one decent will associate with us any longer. None of her sisters will be able to marry decent men, if at all. Everyone will point their fingers at her Mother. When Mama heard this, she wailed and forbid Lydia to say a single word to anyone – no matter who the person is – not even to the man involved. Mama cried and stayed inside our house for two days straight. She ate alone in her room and refused to see anyone, especially Lydia. Meanwhile, Lydia complained about not being able to go outside; she still complains.