That done, she began to plan entertainment for that evening which would play to her strengths and present her in the best possible light so Mr. Darcy would have no choice but to be impressed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After her walk followed by breaking her fast that morning, Elizabeth made her way into her father’s study. “Welcome Lizzy, do you want to play chess this morning?” Bennet welcomed his second daughter.
“No thank you, Papa,” Elizabeth responded. “I wanted to speak to you about agentlemanwe met yester-afternoon in Meryton.”
“Make yourself comfortable child, you know I will listen to anything you have to say.” Bennet indicated one of the chairs in front of his large oak desk.
Elizabeth seated herself. “We saw Charlotte and Maria in Meryton and they introduced us to an officer and another man. Before you ask, it was not Kitty who demanded we greet the officer…” Elizabeth related what she had noted when Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy arrived. “Due to the things I observed, I feel we need to be wary of Mr. Wickham. If he will share with me, which he should not to a brand new acquaintance, I would like to learn what I can about the animosity between him and Mr. Darcy.”
“I agree with your assessment,” Bennet nodded. “Mr. Darcy can seem proud and disagreeable, but I think he is very reserved, similar to our Jane. Further, I have never in the times we have been in company together seen anything which would cause me to doubt his honour. I will keep an eye on you and if as you suspect this Mr. Wickham wants to tell you his tale, I will be close at hand.”
“Thank you, Papa,” Elizabeth stated gratefully. She stood and walked around the desk and kissed her father’s cheek before he waved her away.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Much to Lydia’s consternation and traitorous Kitty’s acceptance, she and her next older sister were excluded from the group which travelled into Meryton to the card party at her aunt’s and uncle’s home.
It was not fair! There would be officers there and as yet Lydia had not seen, never mind met, a single one. Earlier that day Maria Lucas had called and been allowed to spend some time with Kitty and Lydia between the reading of the passages they had been forced to study by their father.
Maria had extoled the handsomeness of some of the officers, especially the newest one, who she claimed was an Adonis. Lieutenant Wickham was an officer who had only joined the regiment the previous day.
With the unwanted woman who would be her gaoler arriving on the morrow, Lydia felt today was her last chance to get to see the officers. She had to find a way to escape Longbourn and make her way to her aunt’s house.
Her problem was how to affect her escape. The Hills were watching over them. That was it! Neither were young, so Lydia was sure one or both would doze off before it was time to be returned to the schoolroom where she would be expected to be sleeping.
With a plan in place, all she had to do was wait for the inevitable and then escape.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Being family, the Bennets arrived at their relatives’ house a little before the time the rest of the invited guests would begin to join them. Both Philipses were greatly surprised to see their brother Bennet with his family. Neither could remember the last time he had accompanied them to a soirée like this one at their home.
Of course, the first news Fanny shared with her sister was Mary’s and William’s—as he had asked to be called—engagement. Hattie and Frank Philips were effusive and sincere in their wishing the couple happy. As was his wont, Collins was equally as loquacious in his response to his future aunt and uncle’s good wishes.
“Mrs. Philips, your rooms here remind me of the small breakfast parlour at my esteemed patroness’s magnificent estate of Rosings Park,” Collins stated as he looked around the two rooms with the sliding doors pushed back making a single room for the night’s festivities.
One side was the dining parlour, the other the sitting room. There was a buffet set out on a table which was pushed against the wall in the former room with chairs placed for guests to sit and relax while enjoying the offerings. Like her younger sister, Hattie Philips set a good table.
In the room which was normally the sitting room, the settee, divan, and armchairs had been pushed against various walls while in the open centre of the room were a half dozen card tables with four to six chairs around each. The game to be played at a particular table dictated the number of seats available.
Mary did not miss the moue of distaste her Aunt Hattie had after the principal rooms in her house were likened to a small breakfast parlour in Lady Catherine’s home. Before her aunt could speak, Mary placed a calming hand on her arm.
“Mr. Collins meant no harm, Aunt Hattie,” Mary assured her aunt, “In fact he was paying you the highest form of compliment he knows.”
“What do you mean, Mary dearest?” Hattie responded, feeling the anger bleed out of herself.
“To William, Rosings Park is the best of all places. His comparing your rooms to any part of his patroness’s abode is high praise indeed.”
Hattie Philips was of mean understanding, but in the terms Mary explained it, she accepted the man was complimenting not denigrating her home. As soon as she realised that, her feelings towards Mary’s betrothed warmed significantly.
The guests began to arrive shortly thereafter. The Lucases and Longs arrived together. The former without their two sons and the latter with their two nieces who were their wards. Not long after, a group of invited officers including Lieutenant Wickham—Philips had called on him and extended the invitation—arrived.
Wickham had been keen to attend. He wanted to make sure to correct the impression one Bennet sister seemed to glean from observing the greeting between Darcy and himself. That was not something—as true as it was—Wickham wanted known in a new town where he needed to gain credit and insinuate himself into the lives of the locals.
He was happy to see three of the four sisters he had met the previous day talking to the older, plain lady who had introduced them. He put on his best charming smile and greeted the party of ladies. Maria Lucas and the two Long nieces standing next to the group the handsome officer was greeting, would have preferred he shower them with his attentions.
The card games soon began, and Jane, Elizabeth, and Charlotte sat at a table for lottery tickets where they were joined by Mr. Wickham. Bennet and Maria Lucas filled out the numbers at the table. Jane introduced her father to the officer on the former’s request.
