1812 How It All Began- Part 2

by Deborah E Pearson

  For the first time, Darcy noticed how those who did not know Georgiana would think her proud. This brought back certain of his own behaviour. He also realised that his own reserve was as much if not greater than his sister's. He knew that he became very caustic and mean when forced to socialise with people he didn't know. This brought with it a fresh feeling of illness at his behaviour at the Meryton ball. He maintained a pleasant and relaxed conversation with Mr and Mrs Gardiner. Sitting here Darcy knew there was nowhere in the world he would rather be. He had not enjoyed himself so much for a long time. Being a morning visit, it soon came to an end. He encouraged his sister to give the agreed invitation to dine in the next night. This invitation given and accepted. All that remained was for the Darcys to give their excuses and leave.

  It wasn't until he left that he realised that Elizabeth’s aunt and uncle had guessed his feelings. He had shown all his admiration of Elizabeth Bennet. With the Gardiners, at least, he was happy to show his feelings. It dawned on him he could never hide his admiration for her, nor did he desire to. Darcy’s love for Elizabeth grew stronger every day.

  Their return to Pemberley was not so pleasant. As soon as they entered the saloon Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley accosted them. “You ran away after breakfast, Mr Darcy. Where did you go?" demanded Mrs Hurst. Before he could answer Miss Bingley complained about not having anything to do. She claimed that she longed for a good book. Darcy knew this was a bid to get his attention. He therefore replied, “Mrs Hurst I apologise, but my sister and I had business in Lambton. Your brother assisted us. Miss Bingley, you know where my library is."

  "Oh, but Mr Darcy, I need your advice about what book I should read." As usual Miss Bingley could not perceive that she was being brushed off. So, she continued to try to gain time and attention with Darcy.

  "I cannot imagine why," Darcy answered. He then seated himself on the sofa farthest away from Miss Bingley. "I do not remember ever seeing you actually read a book." If not for my discussions with Elizabeth, I would think that you didn't know how to read or to fathom a book's purpose.

  “But Mr Darcy, you are so well read that you know all the best things to read.” Miss Bingley purred.

  “I am afraid Miss Bingley, that the works of Plato and Aristotle would be out of your comprehension. I rarely read the fashionable novels” and those only to please Georgiana! Hmmm, what does Elizabeth choose to read?

  “Caroline, he’s right! I never could understand Aristotle or Plato,” Bingley cut in. “Especially as Darce only ever reads them in their original Greek.”

  “Oh, but there must be something worth reading,” Miss Bingley persisted.

  “Go and look in the library for yourself, goodness knows I do not know what would interest you.” Darcy snapped, exasperated at the woman’s lack of originality. Her constant haranguing also annoyed him.

  Mrs Hurst then asked for a card table. Darcy nodded to his sister as if to say that'll keep them quiet for a bit. Very soon the rest of the party were at Quadrille. Darcy made the excuse that he had estate business, and so could not play in the middle of the day. As he was leaving the room, Darcy informed them that tomorrow evening there would be a dinner party. Elizabeth Bennet and her aunt and uncle were staying in Lambton. Mrs Hurst frowned. Miss Bingley started snickering about "fine eyes", "mothers-in-law", and "badly behaved sisters". Georgiana didn't understand these references and Darcy ignored Miss Bingley's wit. This left Miss Bingley to wear herself out. Miss Bingley’s mood took a decided turn for the worse. For now, she would try to ingratiate herself with her hostess. That required her hiding her nastier side. A side that she would soon display in all its ugliness.

  Darcy knew that he did have estate business that he should not delay. Yet he found his mind would not settle to business. Instead, having escaped his guests, he went to his bedroom. He reviewed everything from the Meryton ball to today. While sprawled on his bed, he contented himself with daydreams of the future. He debated in himself how soon he could ask Elizabeth if she thought better of him after his letter. He wanted to know whether it was possible that she could accept his offer of marriage.

  Darcy entered the Lambton Inn. He rushed into the private sitting room, where Elizabeth sat alone. She stood up hastily upon his entrance, and Darcy immediately swept her into his arms. “Marry me Elizabeth,” he whispered between kisses. “Yes, Fitzwilliam,” she whispered when he released her lips. Again, he captured her lips and their kisses deepened. Soon she pulled him out of the sitting room. He followed her willingly as she pulled him into her bedroom and closed the door. Darcy pushed her up against the door, never breaking the kiss…

  The afternoon had passed away, and it was with a start that his valet woke him up to dress for dinner. His valet had become accustomed Darcy's strange behaviour since he had met Elizabeth. He was no stranger to seeing Darcy having such dreams. The peace on his masters face today, gave the valet hope that his young master would soon get his heart’s desire.

  Darcy’s illness had been a worry throughout the Darcy households. It was well known that should anything happen to Darcy, Georgiana would be his sole heir. It was unknown what changes she or Colonel Fitzwilliam would institute.

  There had been a great relief when Darcy had recovered. He had seemed changed, nothing massive, but little things seemed different. This caused unrest in the servants’ quarters. How far would the changes go. Were jobs safe? Towards the servants Darcy seemed to be kinder. Soon the worry had subsided. Now seeing his master so serene tonight, Darcy’s valet hoped that things would soon go back to normal. He hoped his master’s heart would be whole once more.

  Hurriedly, Darcy dressed for dinner and then raced down the stairs. It occurred to him that it was fair to find out Bingley's feelings about him marrying Elizabeth. His course of marrying Elizabeth was set. If Bingley married Jane, he would have no real say in whether they become brothers. It would be better if Bingley were happy about it, rather than causing stress over it.

  As Darcy reached the bottom of the stairs, he realised he was late entering the parlour before dinner. He was thankful that Mrs Hurst was there as it meant he could not escort Miss Bingley into dinner. Miss Bingley continued to plague him about undesirable connections all evening. It had the opposite effect to what she desired as it only triggered his ruminations even more. He considered what made undesirable connections. Mrs Bennet is crass and a little rough around the edges, but she’s never been vicious. It is true that Miss Catherine and Miss Lydia Bennet are flirts and gossips. Yet they are never cruel and know their place at home and in society. Mrs Philips, now she’s also crass yet she has her place in Meryton society because of her sister and knows it. Aunt Catherine, being the daughter of an earl, I can forgive her treatment of Elizabeth. Yet to tell a gentlewoman she was little better than a servant is an insult. Aunt Catherine should know better, nay she does know better. Of all those undesirable connections, only Mrs Phillips is not a gentle woman. Which means that they are only undesirable in manners and behaviour. Is that a good reason to dismiss them?

  Mr Hurst is a quiet gentlemanlike man. He eats and drinks with unparalleled dedication, but I know of no real faults. Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley are quite different. At least Mrs Hurst realised she would not have done much better in the marriage mart. She and Miss Viper are pretenders grasping above their station in life. Miss Viper’s fangs are razor sharp. I don’t like the Viper’s mood tonight. There’s something in her air and her mood tonight that, if I didn’t know better, speaks more to the malice in her eyes. I’ve never seen it end well when she looks like that. Bingley’s always been too soft in the way he’s dealt with her after their father died. Odd, I know how difficult it is to raise a sister without your parents. Bingley’s never stepped into his role as head of the family. It occurred to Darcy that he was more unwilling to connect himself to the Bingleys than he was to the Bennets. He was aware that he had no choice in the matter of Lady Catherine. He would do anything for Miss Elizabeth, bear anything it wouldn
’t matter what it was.

  In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate.

  Rene Descartes.

  5th August 1812

  The dinner conversation lacked any lustre and had no more depth than what lace was in fashion this year. This was ladies chatter and had no depth or meaning to the men. Mr Hurst, as usual, appeared to only think about his meal. Darcy looked at Bingley who was quiet and lost in his own thoughts. It was unusual for Bingley to be the one lost in thought, and Darcy wondered what was going through Bingley’s mind. Darcy had no desire to talk with anyone as he missed the lively, intelligent chatter of Elizabeth. Her lively conversation drew out even Georgiana. This afternoon Georgiana had seemed to be nearly her old self. The conversation between Elizabeth and Georgiana that morning had covered many different subjects. Some of which Darcy had wished he had been included in the conversation. Dinner dragged. It seemed to be a long time before the ladies withdrew, leaving the gentlemen to themselves. Once the Ladies left the conversation changed. The port and cigars were always of the highest quality. It occurred to Darcy that he did not know where his butler procured such good quality specimens. He had never cared before.

  Bingley’s voice cut into his thoughts, "I swear, Darce, you're in love with Miss Elizabeth,” Mr Bingley rounded on him. So that is what Bingley had been considering. Darcy’s behaviour at Lambton. Bingley had been attempting to reconcile it with Darcy's behaviour in Hertfordshire. It appeared to Bingley that there was more to the story and Bingley became determined to make Darcy talk. unlike the Colonel, Bingley had no problem in forcing a confidence from Darcy.

  "I cannot imagine what you mean." The last thing Darcy wanted was to have this conversation right now. He knew that once Bingley knew the full extent of his behaviour their very friendship could be on the line. Darcy was aware that Bingley had seen the visit with Elizabeth. He was afraid that this conversation would lead in directions that needed discretion.

  "Come now Darce, don't deny it. You had it written all over your face, from the moment we stepped out of the carriage." Bingley was in no humour to let this drop "Have you forgotten all the objections that you heaped on me last winter? What about how unsuitable that family is? You haven’t forgotten about that?! And what about the fact that they have no fortune? Or more importantly, I don’t think Miss Elizabeth holds the same level of affection for you if she has any at all?”

  Darcy was by now very uncomfortable. He felt guilty enough about that affair. Why was Bingley trying to compound his guilt? Bingley was rounding on him, in a way that Darcy was unused to his friend doing so. Bingley was growing up, but why could he not leave Darcy alone? There was no avoiding it now, there was nothing for it. "Yes Bingley, I have behaved like a hypocrite. All the same, objections are there. I am so deeply in love with Miss Elizabeth that those objections lost any meaning to me a long time ago. There is no way I could forget about the behaviour of her family. I have proof, I don’t want to go into, against the whole mercenary argument. There is one thing I hadn’t realised, or at least I had not noticed when we were in Hertfordshire. That is the entailment of Longbourn. Mr Collins, their Cousin gets everything except for their mother's dowry. This brings the mother’s desire to have the girls well settled into perspective. Mrs Bennet wants to look after her girls. Yes, she goes about it in questionable ways, but she wants the best for her girls. As for the inequality of our affections,” a look of pain flashed across Darcy’s face before he could stop it. “I find I don’t care, I live for a kind word from her and hope for the day she will accept my hand.”

  Bingley had not expected this response. “If those arguments are not important, should I conclude you didn't want any connection to me?"

  Good grief! How did he come to that conclusion? Am I that bad? “No! having you as a brother is an honour! I cannot say the same of your sisters. I cannot pretend any pleasure at that thought!” Darcy said way too sharply. “Last autumn, I believed in the arguments I gave. I struggled with my own attraction to Miss Elizabeth. I told myself all the same arguments and others. Yet the longer I struggled to reconcile the less weight they seemed to have. I have since had reason to re-evaluate my arguments and thoughts. I guarantee, I believed at the time that Miss Bennet was indifferent to you but may have made a mistake. I never wanted to see you in a marriage that was unequal.”

  "So, you concede that I was right, Miss Bennet did care for me then? Then you would want to be my brother-in-law."

  "Perhaps, remember, the ladies in question must still choose us. I'm not overjoyed at the thought of your sisters becoming related to me in any way shape or form.”

  At this Bingley looked a little perturbed. "Caroline has behaved badly this last year, but you know she did so only because she was jealous. If I married, then she would lose the right to preside over my table or run my house. If you married anyone else, then she loses the one thing she wants more than any other in the world."

  "My fortune," Darcy almost whispered.

  "I suppose."

  "Admit it Bingley. When was the last time Miss Bingley ever said or did anything genuine, or paid a genuine compliment?”

  "I cannot remember." Bingley at this was very uncomfortable and desired to change the subject. "At least Louisa was in love with Hurst when she married him."

  “No, she wasn’t!” Mr Hurst butted in, both Bingley and Darcy looked at him shocked. For the first time, it occurred to them that Mr and Mrs Hurst were not happy. "Don't tell her I said this, it was always meant to be a secret. We were both deceived when we married. She didn't tell me her father had made his fortune from a trade. I believed she had better connections, and I led her to believe that I had a better fortune than I had. I had enough to live comfortably. I lived in a fashionable way, but I don't have a large fortune. What small fortune I have comes in the same way as yours Bingley. I am a man of trade, my father made his living by trade and we were able to move up in society, that way. When Louisa found that out, any regard she had for me vanished. Since then we keep up appearances only. That is why I never join in the endless prattle of conversation. I miss the intelligent conversation of the boardroom. She has nothing but fashion and stuck up nonsense to talk about. It drives me to drink." Darcy and Bingley didn't know what to say to this, and then asked him why he didn't talk to them more in times like this. "Because you two had been to university and had a shared history, I've always felt like the intruder. I was only ever here because of my wife."

  "You are not an intruder!" Both Bingley and Darcy assured him at the same time. They spent the rest of the time chatting about books and sports and love. Bingley and Darcy found in Mr Hurst a much better companion than they had ever thought that he would be. They spent so much time talking over the port that the women noticed their absence.

  Things were not going too well in the drawing room. From the moment that the Ladies had withdrawn the two older ladies had ignored Georgiana. Eventually, Georgiana had escaped to the pianoforte. This left Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst to study the fashion magazines, and plot in whispers. They were planning to buy a whole new wardrobe for the next season.

  When the Gentlemen joined the ladies, Darcy noticed his sister’s solitary pursuit. He wondered if the Bingley sisters were even listening to what she was playing. He doubted it very much.

  Mr Hurst sat down next to his wife. Gently he said "My dear, you have more than enough dresses. Please do not buy new clothes this year, you'll look just as beautiful as you do now."

  "Not buy new clothes this year?! Whatever can you mean?" Asked Miss Bingley, who lived to be the most fashionable creature on the circuit.

  "I mean that buying new clothes every year is an unnecessary extravagance. Look at the Bennet girls. They're beautiful and can have their pick of men. They're definitely not in the most fashionable clothes all the time" That did it! Mrs Hurst was not used to her husband taking part in the conversation. She didn't like the comparison to the Miss Bennets! Jealousy reared its ugly head in bo
th Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst. Yet, it was only Miss Bingley who was unwise enough to let her vitriol out without censoring what she said.

  “The Miss Bennets? Those simpering mousy girls who have no accomplishments? How can you compare we who socialise with the Ton to them?” Miss Bingley asked sharply. She continued to plan her new wardrobe. She ignored that Mrs Hurst, had moved over to join Georgiana at the pianoforte. Mrs Hurst and her sister were losing control. That was not acceptable to either one! They needed to do something, but they were not sure what they could do.

  “And why should I not compare tradesman's daughters to gentlewomen, whatever their fortunes?” Mr Hurst asked. "Any insult, if there is any is to the Gentlewomen?" Darcy struggled to contain his amusement. He could not have stated the case any better if he had desired to get involved in the conversation. He silently agreed that to compare the Bennet women to the Bingley women was to insult the Bennets. Even the wildest of the Bennet girls was better than the Bingley women.

  “Why would you compare us to girls who are on course to be mistresses or governesses? Not one of the Bennet girls have any accomplishments. As for their connections, there is no way those girls will make decent marriages. I cannot understand what it is about those unfashionable girls. They traipse about the country and are so undignified. Mr Darcy, I’m sure you remember our discussion at Netherfield about accomplishments? They would not qualify as accomplished.”

  What the hell are you talking about?! No gentlewoman should be so degraded! Oh God, you are the most repulsive creature in this world. Why would you even mention such a thing in the mixed company? Have you lost all sense of shame? You would corrupt Georgiana. How dare you insult Elizabeth, her sisters AND say such things in front of my innocent sister?! “Yes, I remember. Remember also that I do not need the common accomplishments. I do not believe that they reveal the ideal marriage partner. You see, I look for something in a woman that the common accomplishments do not provide.” Darcy replied.