“Friends! Given your mutual antipathy, how is that possible?”
“He is intelligent and has a sense of humour, Jane. I can forgive most things if someone has a sense of humour.”
“Well, that’s lucky because we’re going to need all the humour we have if we are to get through the next three days in one piece. Tomorrow, Miss Bingley will be paying a morning visit…”
Here Jane lowered her voice confidentially, despite the fact that only the two of them were in the room.
“You haven’t met her yet, Lizzy, but she is an absolute pill. And then - as if that wasn’t enough - Aunt Margaret is arriving as well. Mama told me about it earlier this evening. She has worked herself into an absolute taking! Apparently Aunt Margaret criticised her continually at Lydia’s funeral. Mama says that she pleaded with Papa not to invite her to the wedding, but he was adamant that she will only be here for a week and told Mama that he won’t be forced into cutting ties with his mother’s sister.”
“Heigh-ho! Families! The Gardiners arrive tomorrow as well. That means that we will be giving up our bedroom again, Jane.”
“Mama will no doubt put us back in the room facing over the stable yard with the window that gets stuck,” said Jane resignedly. “Two more days until I leave home for good and I have to spend them there.”
Lizzie was quiet for a second. “You know, we could look at this problem another way. At least we will be well out from under Mama’s feet, both for the ball and the wedding the following day. Poor Mary will still be conveniently to hand.”
“You know, you’re right!” said Jane, contemplating her younger sister’s dreadful fate and cheering up immediately. “Things mightn’t be so bad after all.”
Elizabeth stood and arched her back. Crossing over to the window, she lifted the curtain to look out on the night sky. A procession of small clouds dimmed the radiance of the full moon and shimmering stars above as they sailed at speed across the vast, velvety blackness.
“Well, you couldn’t have better weather, Jane. Let’s hope that it holds for the ball and the wedding,” she said, letting the curtain fall and turning to get into bed.
__________________________
Some three miles down the road, Netherfield lay in total darkness. The retreat to bed had been started by Darcy, who had sat through an interminable dinner and the tedious drawing room conversation that had followed. His need to be alone with his thoughts had finally driven him to plead a headache and retire early to the sanctuary of his room. After he had gone, brother and sister had sat and looked at each other blankly for a few minutes and then quickly followed their guest’s example. After all – as they hastily assured each other - a busy day lay ahead on the morrow.
Now all was quiet. It was ten o’clock by Darcy’s watch and a full moon shone down, turning the lawns below to white. It was a little too early to retire and so he sat on the window sill in his shirt-sleeves and absent-mindedly scratched his elbow as he mused on the events of the day. It had been frustrating but he could not say that he had been entirely disappointed. Principally, he could congratulate himself on passing several hours in Elizabeth Bennet’s company without showing any sign of his continuing infatuation.
Before leaving London, Darcy had been confident that his feelings were under good regulation and had formed the resolution that no word or action of his would ever lead Elizabeth to suspect the partiality he had once felt. However, this afternoon, the strength of his reaction to her had caught him by surprise and he acknowledged now that he was more under her spell than ever. However, as far as his conduct was concerned, nothing must change. As a man of honour, he still owed it to Elizabeth to conceal his emotions. After all, they could never be taken to their logical conclusion.
Fortunately he had unintentionally annoyed her during the walk to Meryton and that had made matters a little easier for him. Even after they had reconciled, the light-heartedness and quick banter that had developed between them on the walk had been a form of protection, keeping him mentally on his toes and preventing him from gazing at her like a love-sick puppy. The secret to an impassive exterior, he found, was to focus on the conversation at hand, never allow your mind to wander into more tempting areas and ensure that you kept a substantial amount of space between yourself and the lady in question.
There had been a moment at Longbourn during tea, when he had let his concentration slip. The attention of the room had been on others and so he had allowed himself to gaze at Elizabeth for a little longer than was wise. Afterwards, he had looked away and caught Miss Kitty watching him quizzically; but the moment had passed without comment and all-in-all he felt safe from detection.
Three days to go. Darcy planned to leave Netherfield directly the wedding concluded: had in fact sent his man, Colburn, on to the neighbouring town, to book a room for that night.
He reached awkwardly over his shoulder to claw at the spot where his back itched beneath his shirt.
Three more days he thought again and remembered, with a touch of shame, the testiness he had displayed earlier that evening. It had caused his man to raise his eyebrows and for a second it had even looked as if Colburn hovered on the brink of reprimanding his young master. Darcy, who knew him well, had been immediately contrite and had attempted to apologise, but as he had been unable to adequately explain his bad temper, it had fallen a little flat.
The fact was that he could find no peace in the present. There was the irritation of Caroline Bingley at home and the temptation of Elizabeth Bennet when he ventured out of doors. He felt hunted - a little like the fox below: a dark shadow that had just emerged from the shelter of the trees and was tentatively crossing the expanse of moonlit lawn.
As he watched, the creature stopped and stood, its ears hesitantly twitching as it listened for small sounds. Identifying with the animal, Darcy thought of the moment when he too would be as exposed. The ball at Netherfield the day after tomorrow would have to be negotiated with similar caution. He had already decided that there would be no drinking. He would retain full control of his senses and in the period between now and then would stretch every nerve to maintain a calm, remote demeanour.
And I can begin now by changing the direction of my thoughts.
Struck by this notion, Darcy stepped back abruptly from the window and jerked the drapes along the rail until they shut out the moonlight.
Chapter 21
“All the wild-witches, those most notable ladies
For all their broom-sticks and their tears,
Their angry tears, are gone.”
W. B. Yeats
What an ugly house thought Caroline Bingley as they rounded a bend in the drive and Longbourn came into view. The words sat on the tip of her tongue waiting to be spoken, but she knew better than to express this opinion aloud as it seemed, from the few tentative observations that she had made, that her brother and Darcy would brook no criticism of anything related to the Bennet family.
Caroline understood why Charles would have this attitude. Darcy’s mindset was more of a puzzle. She had long regarded him as her personal property – jealously guarding him from the predations of other women where she could – so her first suspicion was that his defense of the family was caused by an unsuitable attraction to one of the Bennet sisters. She had eavesdropped on his conversations with her brother and, finding nothing there to substantiate her fears, had settled it in her mind that Darcy’s support for Charles in this issue must rest on something else. Perhaps the family was wealthier and therefore more suitable than her brother had led her to believe.
Yet now before her was this meandering, ramshackle building without a single Greek column or stately staircase to give it distinction. No. The Bennets could not be considered wealthy - or not by any yardstick that Caroline was used to.
Predictably, the inside of the house was all of a piece with its shabby exterior. The flagstones in the entrance hall needed replacing and the lack of a proper butler was little short of outrageous. Then, to
cap it all, the same coarse-looking serving woman who had opened the door to them in the first place, stood in the doorway of the parlour and announced loudly and without ceremony, “Miss Bingley, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, sir.”
Caroline sniffed. To her ears it had sounded as if they were part of a fairground act. Servants under her control would be encouraged to handle their betters with the proper deference or find other employment. As the three of them crossed the floor to where a collection of chairs were grouped around a cheerful fire, she conveyed her disdain by raising her nose and straightening her spine.
With their approaching footsteps, the buzz of conversation died away and a hush fell upon the room. Out of the corner of her eye, Caroline became vaguely aware of a group of younger people standing at some distance away, closer to the windows. There were murmured greetings, bows and curtseys from that direction and then the silence was broken by a scholarly looking gentleman who stepped forward from his seat at the fireplace and said, “Miss Bingley. Welcome. I’m delighted to meet you.”
Mr. Bennet, Caroline guessed, thinking of Darcy’s description and looking past him to where a lady, bearing a strong resemblance to Jane Bennet, was also rising to greet her.
Next to her, the more familiar faces of Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner smiled in polite welcome and opposite them, sitting closest to the fire, an unknown and very elderly lady with a forbidding air stirred in her chair and glared up at Caroline from under hooded lids.
Mr. Bennet turned, “Miss Bingley, may I introduce my aunt, Lady Randall?”
“Charmed,” simpered Caroline, a little surprised. At last, a person of some consequence, even if she is not long for this world, she thought.
However, the old lady was not as impressed and nodded dismissively, looking past Caroline to where Darcy and Bingley stood.
“Darcy?” she called imperiously, leaning forward and beckoning with a skeletal finger.
“Lady Randall,” said Darcy, moving forward and looking most surprised as he bowed over her hand. “I didn’t realise that you had connections to the Bennet family.”
“M’sister Louise’s boy,” she said, nodding in Mr. Bennet’s direction by way of explanation. I’m here for the wedding because I had business in London and stopped in on my way home. My old bones don’t like these long trips. Nowadays I have to make too many stops en route and the whole thing becomes tedious. But what are you doing here? You are always at Pemberley at this time of the year.”
“Like you, I’m on my way home. I stopped over for a few days to attend my friend Bingley’s wedding. It is he who will be marrying Miss Bennet.”
“Hmm,” she said, sweeping Bingley with an assessing glance before dismissing him and returning her gaze to Darcy. “And when will you be marrying, I wonder? I took tea with Catherine a few days back and she mentioned that in all probability the banns for Anne and yourself would be read within the next month or two.”
There was a short silence and Caroline saw Darcy’s expression harden. With a voice devoid of any emotion he replied, “I wasn’t aware that my aunt was in town. I haven’t seen or spoken to her this last six months, so I can only imagine that you have misunderstood her, my lady.”
“Get off your high horse, my boy,” snapped Lady Randall. “I’m not the one hurrying you up the aisle. I’m merely tipping you off to what Catherine is saying around town. You realise that she has already given you a great deal of rope? Time for you to be hauled in - it comes to us all in the end.”
The personal nature of this conversation and the debt that they owed Darcy in bringing Wickham to justice had caused the Bennets and the Gardiners to turn away in an attempt to spare him further embarrassment. Mrs. Gardiner had tactfully begun a lively discussion around arrangements for the upcoming wedding, but Caroline, who seldom saw Darcy at a disadvantage, watched his rising annoyance with interest. Discord between him and his family might mean a deferral of any marriage plans they may have had for him. In other words, there just might be a window of opportunity for a young lady like herself to exploit.
Sitting on the brink of spinsterhood, Caroline had decided several years ago that no one was more suited to be the mistress of Pemberley than she. Darcy represented an opportunity of accessing the upper echelons of society that would probably never come her way again and, even though he had made it plain that he had no romantic interest in her, ambition had made her quite ruthless.
She had spent a lot of time scheming to further her acquaintance with him, and while her connections to trade might make her unacceptable to him and his family, she was at the point where she would have a return on her investment. If she had to force the man into a compromising situation, she would do it. She had few scruples in bringing this about. After all, whispers in society suggested that trapping a man into marriage was a fairly common tactic, even though it was one that few ladies of the ton would admit to using.
Caroline had pinned her hopes on springing her trap during this visit to Netherfield, but so far there had been little opportunity. Darcy was, by reputation, uncommonly wily and she was discovering the truth of this for herself. His door was routinely locked at night and in the day, his man always lingered in the immediate vicinity.
Only this morning, Darcy had looked directly at her over the breakfast table and announced that he would be leaving the area immediately after the wedding. It would be the proper thing to do he had said, laying inordinate stress on the adjective. Clearly, he was warning her that he had his suspicions about her; but still Caroline refused to be put off. Even though it began to look as if she might not be able to put her plan into motion at Netherfield, she would not give up hope. For as long as Darcy remained free he was vulnerable. He would have to let his guard drop at some point - then she would have him.
Caroline looked around and then took the seat next to Mrs. Bennet which was conveniently placed so as to allow her to observe everyone in the room. However, no sooner had she made herself comfortable, than she saw her brother and Darcy make their bows to Lady Randall and move off. Her eyes narrowed. So she would be left to sit at the fireside with the older folk while the two men gravitated towards Jane Bennet and her friends, who stood a short distance away.
Looking more closely at the small group gathered around Jane, Caroline noticed three other females standing amongst the cluster of young men. The strong resemblance that existed between them brought her to the conclusion that these must be the Bennet sisters. If so, they were amongst the comeliest women that she had seen in some time.
She slowly stroked the end of her fox-fur tippet and let the conversation swirl around her. So I was right in the first place, she mused. The likelihood that Darcy admires one of these sisters is high - but it surely can’t be that he intends marriage. No. The Bennets might have some tenuous connection to the ton through this Lady Randall, but that is about the only thing in their favour. There is no fortune and no getting away from their links to trade through the mother. Then too, there is the scandal surrounding the death of the youngest sister. Darcy would never throw himself away on an obscure girl from the countryside – especially given his family’s aspirations for him.
Having settled it in her mind that Darcy was unlikely to do anything reckless, Caroline decided that the prudent thing to do at this moment would be to take the time to identify her competition. After all, nothing was more fatal than underestimating your enemy. From Caroline’s perspective – any young woman who detected Darcy’s preference for her, would be a fool if she didn’t hatch a scheme of her own to catch him. If Caroline was to thwart those plans, she would need to keep a close watch on the lady concerned: for Darcy was only a man and, as such, would be vulnerable for as long as his attraction persisted.
Caroline came out of her reverie to hear Mrs. Bennet babbling next to her. Apparently tea had not yet been ordered and her hostess seemed to be taking pains to point out that the oversight had been occasioned by the earlier than expected arrival of the party from Netherfield.
Immediately Caroline’s hackles rose at the perceived criticism. She replied in the sickly sweet tones that usually had her friends and acquaintances running for cover:
“You must blame our apparent eagerness on your eldest daughter’s obvious attractions, ma’am. She would seem to have cast a spell on my brother, who is generally known to be something of a sluggard. At the moment, his odd impatience to be at Longbourn surpasses anything I have ever seen. In his enthusiasm, he has become quite the figure of fun amongst us at Netherfield. Isn’t that so, Darcy?” she asked, having raised her voice so that those closer to the window could hear.
But Darcy, who was busy seating himself, didn’t reply. Catching her brother’s murderous glance instead, Caroline sent him an angelic smile and then rested contentedly against the cushion at her back. In the meanwhile, Mrs. Bennet simpered in a bewildered fashion at what she supposed was meant to be a compliment to her daughter.
____________________
The wait for tea offered Caroline an opportunity for a brief process of elimination. It took her just a few minutes to become fairly certain that she had identified the likely candidate and in the process her heart sank. Elizabeth, or ‘Lizzy’ as her sisters were calling her, was quite out of the common way, but she had a look to her that Caroline had always coveted for herself.
Perhaps a connoisseur might consider the lady’s features a little too sharp; although they would always be saved by that pair of lustrous eyes, but Caroline could easily see how her haughty, refined appearance would appeal to a man like Darcy. And worse was to come when the dratted woman tossed her head. There was in that movement more than a suggestion of untamed pride: a pride that would match and challenge even Darcy’s arrogance.
In a lesser woman this would have caused despair, but Caroline had inherited two qualities from the shrewd traders who were her forbears and they set her apart from most society damsels. She had the persistence to never give up on her ambitions and she was practical enough to accept reality; even when it was painful to her to do so. She now faced the difficult situation that was before her and decided that she must drastically restructure her plans if she was to succeed.
The Golden Apples of the Sun Page 17