“I do, Mr Bennet! Think of what such an establishment could mean for our daughters! Sir William and Lady Lucas are set ongoing for just such a reason, and you could do no less for your daughters than Sir William Lucas!” insisted his wife indignantly.
“Of course, my dear. How right you are.” Mr Bennet lifted his wife’s hand to his lips. “You command, and I obey.”
Mr Bennet was such a strange, mercurial mixture of oddness, sarcasm, humour, reserve, indolence, and contrariness, that twenty-three years had been insufficient for his wife to understand him, but she was never in doubt that he loved her. In all of their lives, the Bennet girls had never understood what drew their parents to one another, for Mrs Bennet was so different from her husband. A woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper, she had proven unequal to becoming the companion of Mr Bennet’s hopes, but their strange affinity for one another had never been in question. That did not, however, prevent Mr Bennet from disturbing his wife’s nerves at every opportunity.
“Oh, Mr Bennet!” Frances Bennet tittered, blushing. She then danced out of her chair, and took Jane’s hands, twirling about the room. “Five thousand a year, and very likely more! What jewels! What pin money! ‘Tis as good as a lord!”
“Why must he marry Jane, Mama? I am sure we should all like to have our chance with Mr Bimsby,” asked Kitty, followed by a fit of coughing.
“Oh Kitty, hush, who wants to marry a girl who does nothing but cough, you vexing child! You should be grateful that your sister is so beautiful; Lord knows, it cannot be for nothing. She will improve all of your fortunes, and you should be grateful,” Mrs Bennet admonished.
“I am certain that if the gentleman selects a lady from Meryton, that she will be all that is lovely and worthy,” said Jane serenely as she clipped her thread with a pair of tiny silver scissors gifted to her by her father on her sixteenth birthday, which she carried on a long chain about her neck so as to preventtheir loss. “All my sisters are lovely, and this new gentleman would be fortunate if he were to earn the affection of any of them.”
Mrs Bennet declared that they would all be the death of her poor nerves. Mr Benson was intended forJane;it was already decided in her mind. The business of her life was to get her daughters married, and Jane was her greatest hope. Onceshewas well married, she would be in a position to help her sisters.
MrBingleyarrivedamidst a cloud of gossip. Some houses had heard the party would arrive with five ladies and twelve gentlemen, and others insisted it was seven ladies and ten gentlemen. This was far too many ladies to satisfy the female population of Meryton. It was not that the residents were unfriendly, but enough competition existed for husbands. . A large party of gentlemen would be a boon for the ladies of the village, particularly if they arrived in time for the assembly.
It was Mr Bennet who dashed his wife’s hopes for a such a party of single men. The visit had been undertaken, as demanded. Mr Bennet had it under good authority – from Mr Bingley himself – that he was to travel to London, and return directly with two ladies, and two other gentlemen. Two of the party were already a married couple, so there would be only two single gentlemen to be fought over by the ladies of the village.
Mr Bingley had promised to make every effort to return in time for the assembly, and so there was a great rush to the haberdashery for shoe roses, evening gloves, ribbons, and every other manner of adornment that might distinguish a lady from her companions. The Bennet sisters assisted one another, as usual, though Mrs Bennet did Jane’s hair herself. Lydia wasbetter with coiffeurs, although no one dared test their mother’s nerves by telling her this. One might have thought there was only one daughter in the house, so much attention was paid to her eldest. The other girls did very well on their own, and with each other’s help. None of them, save Jane, and Kitty, who always wished for her mother’s attention and received but little of it, had the temperaments to be fussed over by their mother, in any case.
Mr Bennet proved correct when the Netherfield party entered the Meryton Assembly Hall, and the party only included the five promised guests. He did his duty in introducing the young man to his family, then took himself off to the card room. Mr Bingley was handsome and gentlemanly, recommending himself to everyone with his pleasing features and guileless manners. He was determined to be pleased, and so he was. No one could take exception to his address. He acquainted himself with everyone in the room of any note in a trice, though not before making promises to stand up with Charlotte Lucas for the first dance, Jane the second, and Elizabeth the third. He declared himself grieved that the ball ended before midnight, and the entire room was in agreement that he was a genial and capital gentleman whom everyone in Meryton would be happy to know better, particularly Jane Bennet.
The better looking of his two male companions, Mr Darcy, drew the attention of the room quickly with his height and handsome features. He wore black, but it did not look severe on him. If anything, he was exceedingly elegant, and carried himself with a noble bearing. He was much admired for some part of the evening, until his dedication to holding up the wall and ignoring the ladies led the company to decide that he was proud, above his company, and not worth the trouble of knowing.
The third gentleman was hardly worth mentioning. Mr Hurst was a florid-faced man who took himself off directly to therefreshments, and then the card room. The two ladies were keenly observed by the others in the ballroom as well. They were both expensively dressed, and the older of the two, Mrs Hurst, looked particularly fine, but her sister Miss Bingley, though also expensively attired, looked as if she had done so in the dark. The orange of her gown clashed terribly with her complexion, which, paired with any other colour, might be quite striking. She wore aturbanof all things, a rather heavy looking one, and looked like someone that one of the society columns in the newspapers might draw a parody of.
Sometime after the fourth set, Mr Darcy stood in his usual position against the wall, when his friend approached him. “Darcy!” exclaimed Mr Bingley. “I cannot abide seeing you stand about in such a stupid manner. You had much better dance!”
“I will not do any such thing. You know how much I dislike the activity, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner,” Mr Darcy responded.
“Darcy, you know I must have the goodwill of my neighbours if I am to do well here; you simply must dance,” Bingley chided. “Besides, I have never met with so many pretty girls in all my life!”
“Youare dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,” Darcy growled at his friend. Miss Bennet was indeed stunning, he allowed to himself. If you liked that sort of statuesque, obvious beauty. The lady was so serene that Darcy was unsure if he had seen her speak ten words to his friend all evening. Darcy preferred a more open nature in a female, since he could not tell if they were planning to trap him if they rarely spoke.
“Miss Bennet is an angel…” sighed Bingley. “But there is her sister sitting down just there. Allow me to obtain you an introduction.”
“Who do you mean?” asked Darcy, turning his head briefly and not truly even looking. “She is barely tolerable, but nothandsome enough to tempt me. You had better return to your partner, and enjoy her smiles. I am in no humour at present to give consequence to ladies who are slighted by other men.”
“I believe she sits out two voluntarily, so other ladies might have the opportunity to dance. Men are thin on the ground, if you have not noticed. I believe Miss Bennet will sit out the next. Each of the more popular ladies here takes a turn or two doing so. It is uncommonly kind of them to be so considerate of their friends, if you ask me.” Bingley refused to leave Darcy to his reflections, and insisted that he join Bingley and Miss Bennet in conversation until the next dance. “You must at least have some conversation, Darcy,” he hissed. “I never showyouto such disadvantage when I amyourguest.”
Darcy berated himself as he followed his friend. Bingley was correct. Perhaps itwasgood of Darcy to introduce Bingley to his society, but Bingley never shamed him. Bingley was every hostess’s dream guest. Friendly, obliging, willing to dance and be merry, and it was possible to sit him next to nearly anyone without difficulty at dinner. Just because it was his friend’s natural disposition did not change the fact that Bingley was a good friend, and Darcy must strive to show him to the best advantage. He deserved that much.
Mrs Bennet lost no time in approaching them as they joined Miss Bennet, and monopolised the conversation. Another of her daughters approached them, looking concerned at her mother’s refusal to allow the young people to talk, but Mrs Bennet chattered on about the neighbourhood and the ladies in it, when Mr Bingley announced that their friend Miss Lucas was a most friendly and obliging young woman.
“It is a pity that Miss Lucas is not more beautiful,” sighed Mrs Bennet.
“Mama!” exclaimed Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
“Oh Lizzy, you will never admit that she is plain, and I take no pleasure in saying what is obvious to everyone. I do notwishher to be so. I am sure I would like to see Miss Lucas well settled just as much as anybody! But it’smy Janewho is considered the beauty of Meryton.”
Darcy observed Miss Bennet’s face drain of colour, but her features did not so much as twitch a muscle. She remained entirely serene, but he believed he knew a mask when he saw one. Like himself, here was one who was used to being singled out for attention, and thus never showed her feelings. He hoped his friend would be able to make heads or tails of such a woman. The next set started, and Elizabeth was approached by her next partner.
CHAPTER 2
Miss Bennet refused to let Bingley sit out with her. She insisted that she sat out to give other ladies a chance to dance, and it would give her great pleasure to see him stand up with Miss Goulding. It was indeed an uncommonly kind practice. Darcy could hear Mrs Bennet chastising her soundly for it as he and his friend went their separate ways. Bingley approached another local lady, Miss Goulding, presumably, and Darcy returned to standing at the edge of the room.
I am a stupid ass, he thought to himself. He hoped that it was not too late to redeem his character in the eyes of the neighbourhood. He truly did not have the disposition for dancing unless he knew his partner very well, and was comfortable in their company. He would start with Bingley’s sisters, then find someone else who did not appear too terrifying.
