“Will you invite some of the officers?” Maria asked before she realised it had been a rude presumption to suggest who Mrs. Phillips should invite to her soiree, and blushed up to the roots of her hair while Charlotte looked at her censoriously.
“You are not speaking out of turn, Maria dear,” Hattie smiled. “I intend to invite a few officers. Unfortunately, my parlour and sitting room combined are not limitless in size.” She looked around realising one sister was missing. “No Lydia?” she asked.
“Lydia is back in, as is Kitty,” Jane revealed. “Talk to Mama when you see her next.”
“You girls will inform your parents of my invitation, will you not? I am sure your father will not want to attend. Please arrive by seven,” Hattie conveyed.
“As long as Mama and Papa do not require us to remain home, we will be happy to attend, Aunt Hattie,” Jane spoke for her younger sisters. “Before you ask, Lydia will not be present, and possibly not Kitty as well.”
The Lucas sisters promised to convey the invitation to their mother and after farewells, took off walking in the direction of Lucas Lodge. The Bennets and Mr. Collins visited two other stores in addition to the bookseller.
Once the errands were completed, the group of five began to walk towards Longbourn.
Chapter 14
As she walked home, Elizabeth was trying to interpret what she had seen pass between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham. There was obviously bad blood there, but the question was who was the cause of it and was it something into which she should be delving?
There was no getting around the way Mr. Wickham became frightened when he saw Mr. Darcy and how that man appeared angry at seeing the former. Before his apology to her, Elizabeth was sure she would have automatically assumed Mr. Darcy to be in the wrong and the handsome stranger the aggrieved party.
When she looked at the interaction with an objective eye, the only logical conclusion was Mr. Darcy had been severely wronged by Mr. Wickham in some way. It seemed he had been wronged to such an extent that Mr. Wickham had feared some instant retribution from Mr. Darcy. Only when Mr. Wickham noted Mr. Darcy would neither physically attack him nor expose whatever it was between them, did the man relax.
The more Elizabeth replayed the incident the more she came to the conclusion Mr. Wickham’s actions were somewhat cowardly. There was no doubt in her mind Mr. Darcy was the fitter of the two. He had broader shoulders, and if Elizabeth was to guess, he was not one who sat idly by while others did the work.
Elizabeth began to realise if there was not such a disparity in their relative positions of wealth, connections, and standing in society, she may have hoped Mr. Darcy would be interested in her as more than someone with whom to talk.
It was then she remembered what her cousin had said about Mr. Darcy being engaged to his cousin. That knowledge instantly killed any fanciful thoughts she may have had regarding herself and the handsome man from Derbyshire.
She shook her head to evict any residual romantic thoughts regarding Mr. Darcy from her consciousness. Next, she considered what she had observed with regard to Mr. Darcy and the mask he wore, the one he presented to the world, especially to those like Caroline Bingley who chased him relentlessly.
It struck Elizabeth that Mr. Wickham also wore a mask. His was one of outward charm which she had seen slip when he saw Mr. Darcy. She had been watching when his fear had subsided and a look of envy or hate, or mayhap somewhere in-between had been seen. As soon as the man noticed her observation, his charming mask had slipped back into place.
She wondered if Mr. Wickham had a reason to not show the world his true self. It was not a conundrum she could solve without much more information.
‘If he is at Aunt Hattie’s card party, mayhap I will learn more about him,’ Elizabeth guessed silently. ‘I must be careful around him and not allow myself to be isolated with the man. If I am able to speak to him, it will be in plain view of everyone else at the party.’
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Darcy!DARCY!” Bingley yelled to gain his friend’s attention. Bingley caught up to him on the outskirts of Meryton, just before Darcy was about to turn Zeus loose and urge him into a gallop. He would have much preferred to remain in Miss Bennet’s company, but he could tell his normally stoic friend was angry about something.
“What!” Darcy bit back before he caught himself. “Sorry Bingley, my anger is not directed at you, in fact, some of it is directed inward.”
He hated losing control, but seeing the miscreant who almost absconded with Giana angered him to such an extent he had to remount Zeus and ride away. If not, he would have followed his urge to pummel the man right there in the street.
The statement about some of the anger being at himself made Bingley wonder. He was aware no matter how exacting Darcy’s standards were for others in his life, he was hardest on himself and had a tendency to take things as his responsibility which were not. At the same time, his friend was an extremely reserved man who would not lay his private concerns bare for others to see unless there was no choice in the matter.
“Darcy, what is going on? I know you dislike that Wickham person with a passion, but why would he discompose you in such a fashion?” Bingley probed.
“There are things about which I cannot speak,” Darcy replied as he calmed himself. “There are others who would be hurt if knowledge of certain events were ever known.”
“I will not force a confidence if you do not desire to share with me,” Bingley assured Darcy. “Just know I will support you in any way you need.”
“Thank you, Bingley,” Darcy averred gratefully. “You are a true friend.”
“If I were that good of a friend, I would not have you staying in the same house as my younger sister,” Bingley quipped as he attempted to inject some levity to raise Darcy’s spirits.
“There is that,” Darcy reacted as the corners of his mouth almost turned up.
As different as they were—he a landowner and his friend the son of a tradesman—Bingley’s ability to lift him out of dark moods was one of the many things Darcy appreciated about their friendship. Over the years since meeting at Cambridge, their friendship had deepened and strengthened. So far, it was strong enough for him to put up with Miss Bingley’s machinations. Now that he had Bingley’s blessing to set his sister down if need be, Darcy still hoped against hope it would not be necessary.
