She was in the soon-to-be lobby, supervising the roughing in of the electric when an unexpected voice drew her attention.
“Yoohoo! Lizzy!”
Lizzy swung around on her heel, staring in astonishment as Mrs. Bennet waved at her from the front door. She couldn’t emit more than a startled squeak as her mother started picking her way through the construction zone, a large picnic basket balanced on one arm. Two of her three sisters, Kitty and Lydia, tripped through the door after her, looking around them curiously.
Lydia winked boldly at one of the construction workers balanced precariously on a ladder and fluttered her eyelashes at him, very nearly causing him to drop the drill he held in his hand. Around her, work came to a halt as all the men turned to see what was going on.
Lizzy scowled and hurried forward to greet them, eager to get this interruption over with and work started again. “Mamma, what a surprise!” She pressed a kiss to the proffered cheek and tried to control her expression. “What are you doing here?”
“Why, we have come to check on Jane, of course! She called this morning, poor dear, and explained all about her predicament. We decided to bring lunch and cheer her up.”
“That’s kind of you,” Lizzy said dutifully, although she had some suspicions about the true motivation for their visit. Her mother was looking around her with a greedy gleam in her eye. Lizzy glanced around her at the workers that were watching her family curiously. “Why don’t you come through to the east wing? It really isn’t safe for you to be in here the way you’re dressed.” She gestured at the sign near the entrance that proclaimed it a hard hat area.
Mrs. Bennet patted her bouffant hair. “Of course, dear.”
Lizzy gestured her mother and string of sisters through the door that led to the east wing and then spoke briefly with the foreman to explain the situation. Satisfied that he would have everything under control in her absence, she led the way to the kitchen, where her mother could unload the mound of food she had brought.
Unfortunately, the kitchen was not unoccupied as she had hoped. Darcy sat at the island, his laptop open in front of him. Bingley had his head in the fridge as he surveyed lunch options, and Caroline was fiddling with an orange as she picked at a salad. Lizzy gritted her teeth as she performed the introductions, praying her family wouldn’t embarrass her in front of her employers.
She was not so fortunate. Mrs. Bennet lit up like a candle at the sight of two prospective sons-in-law and hurried forward to wrap Bingley in an exuberant hug that very nearly squeezed his eyeballs from their sockets. “My dear, dear Mr. Bingley! How can we ever thank you for taking such wonderful care of our sweet Jane? I haven’t seen her yet, of course; Lizzy brought us directly here. But I did speak with her this morning on the phone and she assured me she was receiving the utmost attention at your hands. She suffers a great deal, although with the greatest patience in the world, which is always the way with her, for she has the sweetest temperament. I often tell my other girls they are nothing to her. You have a nice room, Mr. Bingley, and a lovely prospect. I do not know a place in the country that is equal to Netherfield. You will not think of quitting it in a hurry, I hope.”
Lizzy’s mind was whirling from the abrupt change in conversation but Charles, good man that he was, just smiled politely at her mother. “At present I consider myself as quite fixed here.”
Lydia, who had been looking about her with great curiosity and a tell-tale gleam in her eye, broke in at this point. “You must throw a party when you have finished with the renovations. It would be quite the thing! And you must invite all the students from the university.”
“Oh, yes, you simply must throw a party!” chimed in Kitty.
Lizzy’s mouth dropped open, horrified by her sisters’ imposition. Her gaze shot to meet Darcy’s, but his eyes were unfathomable. What must he think of them? “Kitty, Lydia, I think we should take Jane her lunch now.” She tried to herd them toward the door.
“But I want to hear his answer!” whined Lydia. “Do say you will.”
Charles, being all that was affable, smiled and agreed to the plan. “What would be a grand opening without a party?”
At once relieved and yet horrified, Lizzy grabbed the basket from where her mother had abandoned it on the counter and tried to shepherd her relations toward the exit. “That is very kind of you, Charles. I am sure everyone would enjoy a party. Now if you will excuse us, Jane really will be waiting for her meal.”
Without further ado, she managed to push her family out of the room and up the stairs, only pausing in the doorway to shoot her hosts an apologetic glance over her shoulder.
Jane made some progress toward being wholly better during the day, but she was still not able to make it to dinner, which left Lizzy obligated to join their hosts. Although she was heartily grateful for the care Bingley had taken of her sister, she could not help but hope for her sister’s speedy recovery so that business could proceed as usual and she could go back to being the employee instead of the guest.
She joined Charles, Caroline, and Darcy in the great room after the meal for what seemed to be the requisite after dinner conversation. Darcy had seated himself on one end of the couch with his laptop to write an email to a sister Lizzy had not realized he had.
For some reason, she had thought him to be an only child, and thus was significantly intrigued to pay more than the usual attention to the conversation that sprang up between him and Caroline.
Caroline had seated herself beside him on the couch, leaving him very little room with which to work, although he had spread his elbows to the limits of their extremities in order to get the widest possible berth.
Bingley had settled himself down in front of the television to watch a sports program and was sufficiently distracted by the happenings that he did not care what pains his sister took to draw Darcy into conversation.
Lizzy pretended to be occupied with the book she had borrowed the night before, but really she was far too entertained by the ensuing conversation to pay much attention to the words on the page.
Caroline looked over Darcy’s shoulder as he typed. “Georgiana will be delighted to hear from you.”
He made no answer, just kept typing away as if the words flowing from his fingertips could outpace her interest. Of course, they could not.
“You type so fast!”
Here he raised a longsuffering gaze. “Actually, I type rather slowly. My secretary always complains that it takes me forever to type anything.”
“You must have to write so many emails in the course of a day. I should find that very odious, indeed.”
“You probably write just as many as I do. I have a secretary for that express purpose.”
“Please tell your sister how I long to see her. It has been ages since she was last in London!”
“I have already told her once, when you asked me earlier.”
“Do you always write such charming long emails to her, Darcy?”
He was fast becoming irritated by her constant interruptions, a fact Lizzy noted with glee. She did so love to see his composure shaken and the high and mighty Darcy humbled to a lowly human with emotions like the rest of them.
“Sometimes; but I cannot tell you whether or not they are always charming. You shall have to ask Georgiana.”
“If you would write me occasionally, I should tell you myself.” She batted false eyelashes at him and Lizzy had to work hard to stifle a laugh. It came out as a strangled snort instead, drawing Darcy’s attention.
“Are you alright, Elizabeth?”
She glanced up from the book she had yet to turn a page in and smiled sweetly. “Of course. I just had something in my throat.”
He scowled at her, nearly making her giggle again.
Caroline watched their interchange with a frown. “I certainly think that whoever can write a long email or letter with ease, as you do, cannot write ill.”
Charles glanced over the back of the chair he was sitting on with a grin. �
�You had better not say that about Darcy then, Caroline, because he doesn’t write with ease. He’s too busy trying to think of words that have four syllables. Isn’t that right, Darcy?”
Darcy’s annoyance softened perceptibly at his friend’s interjection. He agreed, “My style of writing is certainly very different from yours.”
“That is completely true,” Caroline asserted, eager to have her voice heard in the conversation. “Charles writes in the most careless way imaginable. He leaves out half his words and misspells the rest.”
Charles shot Lizzy a charming grin. “My ideas flow so rapidly that I do not have time to express them- by which means my ramblings sometimes convey no ideas at all to their recipients.”
Lizzy laughed. “At least you admit your faults, Charles. Your humility does you a great service.”
Darcy looked up from his laptop to meet her gaze. “He is not being humble. He is really proud of his defects in writing, because he considers them to be proceeding from a rapidity of thought and carelessness of execution, which, if not estimable, most people find at least highly interesting.”
Charles laughed. “Darcy, you are, as ever, correct. Have you ever seen someone so sure of themselves, Elizabeth? I declare, I do not know what attracted me to the man as a friend to begin with.”
“I am surprised at his having any friends at all with such an attitude.”
Charles grinned. “I assure you, if Darcy were not such a great tall fellow in comparison with myself, that I would not pay him half so much deference as I do. I do not know a more awful object than Darcy at his own house on a Sunday evening when he has nothing to do.”
Lizzy smiled. “I can only imagine Darcy with nothing to do. He would be an imposing figure indeed.”
Darcy smiled, but perceiving imperceptibly that he had been a little hurt by their discussion, Lizzy refrained from commenting further. She fell silent as Caroline started to roundly criticize her brother for berating his friend.
Darcy interrupted her lengthy monologue with a smile. “I see what your aim is, Bingley. You dislike an argument and thus seek to prevent one.”
“Perhaps I do,” said his friend. “Arguments are too like disputes. If you would defer yours until I am out of the room I would be heartily grateful. Then you may say whatever you like of me.”
“As Darcy needs to finish emailing his sister, I think we can oblige this once,” said Lizzy with as much humor as she could manage while Darcy’s intense brooding gaze remained on her face.
Darcy obliged, and did finish his letter, although with near constant interruption by Caroline, who sought to make up for her brother’s teasing with a barrage of compliments.
Darcy paid her no mind, and when he had completed the email and sent it off into the cyber world, he joined Charles in front of the television, effectively dismissing Caroline and her nonsensical ramblings.
Caroline and Lizzy soon joined them, the latter giving up the pretense of her book for the allure of sports, for she really did find some enjoyment in the pursuit. She and her father had often spent an afternoon or evening together in like manner, and she was knowledgeable enough on the topic that her comments on the game were well received.
Caroline, who had heretofore shown little interest in anything that involved a jersey or helmet, found herself quite put out by Lizzy’s ready acceptance into the gentlemen’s pursuit.
She studied her perfect manicure with feigned nonchalance. “I do not understand your interest in sports, dear Eliza. It is quite unfeminine of you,” she said petulantly, after some minutes had passed.
Lizzy hardly spared her a glance. “I have never been accused of being feminine, Caroline. My very nature prevents it.”
Darcy was surprised by this comment, and concerned enough to be drawn away from the television and into their conversation. “You may have faults, Elizabeth, but your femininity is not one of them. You must not abuse her so, Caroline.”
Lizzy, shocked to have Darcy come to her defense, and taken aback by his compliment, responded by going on the offense. “And pray tell, Darcy, what are your faults, since mine are so obvious?”
He backtracked. “I did not know we were going to be discussing my faults. I am not sure what to make of your question.”
“Surely, you have some defect, as we all do.”
“Indeed, I am aware of it.” He stared at her, his gaze contemplative. What did this woman think of him? Did he dare guess? No. He was afraid to know the truth. But she should know the facts, not her own conjectures about him. Suddenly serious, he said, “I have faults enough. I have been called resentful by several. My good opinion, once lost, is lost forever.”
Lizzy did not know how to respond, for she had not expected him to be quite so forthright and honest with her. What man readily admitted his faults? “Oh dear. I cannot laugh at that. It is a failing indeed.”
“There is, I believe, a little tendency in everyone toward some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can necessarily overcome.”
“And your defect is a propensity to hate everyone.”
“And yours,” he replied with a fond smile, “is to willfully misunderstand them.”
Caroline, the twinges of jealousy rooting deeply within her, cast about for something with which to derail their conversation and found it in the sports game on the television. “Look!” she cried, a little too eager. “Something is happening!”
Although she had little real understanding of the game, something was indeed happening, and all involved turned back to the game with interest.
Darcy, although his gaze was on the television, found his mind wandering to thoughts of Lizzy and the very real pleasure he enjoyed at their verbal sparring.
His attraction to her frightened him. She was all he ever could have wished for in a woman; intelligent, witty, beautiful, with a soulful gaze that captured his imagination and invaded his dreams. Yet, her connections were decidedly inferior to his, and her livelihood and relations likely to make him the laughingstock of his acquaintances.
He began to feel he was in very real danger of falling for her. It was an entirely unexpected and unacceptable turn of events. Despite her many charms, Lizzy would never be the type of woman to fit into his world with ease. He had no business pursuing a relationship with her when something serious between them was impossible.
After his run-in with Mrs. Bennet that morning, he was even more convinced of the unsuitability of a match between them. Her mother was loud and obnoxious, with very little real understanding but a lot of brash assertions. He could see the love she held for her daughters, even if it was expressed in a way he found ridiculous, but he had no desire to gain her as a mother-in-law.
One day had taught him that a lifetime would be impossible. It was better to keep things as they were between him and Lizzy. He could admire her from a distance, but that was all that could ever be between them.
Now if he could only convince his heart to agree with his head.
Chapter 6
Jane was soon back on her feet again, and things went back to normal, or at least as normal it could be when they were smack dab in the middle of a huge project.
They had successfully passed their electrical inspection and plaster was going up. Repairs were being made to the deteriorated walls and ceilings and the ornamental plasterwork was coming in. Lizzy was quite pleased with how the work was progressing and she was even more pleased with the progress Jane and Bingley were making.
Bingley had taken to spending more and more time with Jane, especially as her health had improved. The excuse of checking on her welfare had been a ready one, and he was not afraid to invoke it. But as time had passed and she had returned to good health, he no longer needed an excuse to seek out her company.
Lizzy was happy to see her sister so happy, and although it meant that Jane was more distracted than usual, she could not complain. Her sweet sister deserved the attentions of a handsome gentleman, and Charles Bingley
was the perfect man to do so.
Work was wrapping up on the west wing, and they were scheduled to begin construction on the east wing the following week. They were to turn the east wing into a series of apartments, to be used by Charles and his family and friends when they visited. As soon as the last finishing touches in the west wing were completed, Charles, Caroline, and Darcy would begin occupying rooms on that side. Lizzy and Jane had already transferred their office space there. Soon, Bingley Hotels and Hospitality Services would begin hiring and training staff to care for the various duties while Lizzy and Jane finished the renovations. The end was finally in sight.
On one of their rare excursions home, Jane and Elizabeth actually managed to time their visit to coincide with the serving of breakfast.
Lizzy came downstairs, fresh from the shower, to join the family around the breakfast table, glad for a moment of normality in what had been a crazy few weeks.
Mr. Bennet sat down his glass of orange juice with a thud upon her appearance in the kitchen and declared, “Why Lizzy, how kind of you to join us! I had quite given up on your coming home.”
Lizzy chuckled as she slid into her seat at the table. “Do not worry, Pappa. Only a few more weeks now and you shall have me all to yourself again. Mr. Bingley has set the date for their grand opening for November 26, and I hear he is going to throw quite the party to celebrate.”
Lydia and Kitty both perked up at the mention of a party.
“Is he going to invite all the university students?” asked Lydia, practically foaming at the mouth.
“I hope he does. Think of all the hot guys!” Kitty feigned a swoon.
Mary rolled her eyes. “You’d be much better off if conversation was the order of the day at this party instead of dancing. You might actually manage to have a meaningful relationship instead of one based on your mutual attraction to alcohol.”
“Yes, but then it would be rather less like a party,” retorted Lydia. “I do so love a good party!”
Pride and Precipice Page 8