“What do you think of Miss Jane Bennet?” Bingley enquired.
“To be honest I know very little of her. She seems like a pleasant woman, but for me, she smiles too much,” Darcy averred honestly. “Why do you need my opinion of the lady?” Darcy had kept to his resolve of not saying anything to Bingley about Miss Bennet, now that he had been asked, he could express his views openly.
“Because I am thinking of offering for her. It will be up to her if it is a courtship or engagement,” Bingley revealed.
“I know the two eldest Miss Bennets are close to Mrs Hurst, but I think you could do much better than Miss Bennet. If you marry her, you marry into a family with her parents and her misbehaving youngest two sisters.”
“I know that, and it is not a deterrent for me.” Bingley paused, “What do you mean I can domuch better?”
“They are below you in wealth and society, and they have connections in trade.”
“I am the son of a tradesman, and many of my connections are in trade, no matter how much Caroline tries to ignore that fact. Were you not the one who corrected my sister when she claimed she was above the local gentry?”
“Societally, you are correct. The Bennets are above you. Even if you ignore their connections, they have no wealth andMrs Bennet is always on about how her daughters will catch rich men. She is rather mercenary.”
“I care not for their lack of wealth, and are not most high society matches based in mercenary considerations? Compared to Caroline, Mrs Bennet is nothing of a fortune hunter, and what of your own aunt, Lady Catherine?”
“What has my aunt to do with this?” Darcy asked rather indignantly.
“Have you not told me the lies she tells about the supposed cradle betrothal are rooted in fortune hunting reasons, and trying to deny her daughter her rightful inheritance? Is it not rather hypocritical to condemn others in lower society for that which is routinely done in the first circles, and may I point out, by a close relative of yours.”
As he sat back and closed his eyes, he knew Bingley had the right of it. So far all of his arguments had been demolished. There was one last one, of which Darcy was certain he would sway his friend. “In my opinion she does not hold you in tender regard. I have not seen her reaction to you to be any different to the way she smiles and relates to other men.” He felt satisfied when he delivered thecoup-de-grâce. What he did not expect was to see Bingley grin.
“Really Darce, you started out telling me you hardly know the lady, but now, you who present an inscrutable mask to the world know the contents of her heart? Who is the one who has spent more time in her company? Me or you? I have seen all the signs she holds me in tender regard, which is only proper as she has not displayed it for others to see. If she had, you would have called her forward and a fortune hunter, but when she behaves with propriety, you hold that against her too.”
Darcy deflated. “You are your own man, make your decision with no mind to me.”
“Regardless of your opinion, do you truly believe I wouldhave allowed you, Caroline, or anyone, other than Miss Bennet herself, to sway me from my chosen path? You must consider me a simpleton and believe I have not noticed the way you look at Miss Elizabeth. Are you going to deny your attraction or pursue her? And if you do, what about all that you said about her family?”
“You have identified my interest in her. However, as the infuriating woman will not allow me to speak to her so I may deliver my apology, how am I to further an acquaintance with her? As to the rest, you have the right of it. I know not why I tried to dissuade you, as it is not my place to do so.”
“It was I who asked your opinions,” Bingley reminded his friend. “Although since I matured, I will not follow advice blindly, but I will still ask, if only to test my own resolve.”
“What do you suggest regarding Miss Elizabeth, or should I still speak to Miss Bennet?”
“That Darce, it seems to me, is your only option at this point.”
The two felt the Darcy travelling coach slow as the coachman drove his team through Meryton.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The balance of the Derbyshire Militia regiment had arrived the previous day. So far Wickham had been kept far too busy to find someone to warm his bed. Nor was he able to establish credit accounts, yet.
As such when a coach he would have recognised traversed the road through the centre of Meryton, he was opening an account at the Red Lion Inn for his drink and sustenance needs. By the time he and Denny exited the inn—after enjoying a few pints of the establishment’s finest ale—the coach had just turned onto the road which led to Netherfield Park.
Wickham was keen to meet some of the local ladies, especially the youngest Miss Bennets. Denny had regaled himwith stories about how they openly flirted with the officers. It seemed their mother encouraged the behaviour in her youngest two. Normally he would not seduce gentleladies as their fathers and brothers were far more apt to exact retribution. In this case, he would make an exception. There were no brothers, and if his friend was to be believed, the father was indolent in the extreme, and only laughed at his family’s follies rather than checking them. According to Denny one was fifteen and the other not seventeen yet. They were both of an age where they would be wholly susceptible to his manipulations.
He was certain opening accounts with the other merchants in the town would be as easy as it had been at the inn. In that, he was soon proved to have the right of it.
As he came out of the cobbler, Wickham noticed a gig pass him. On the bench beside the driver was a very corpulent clergyman. It reminded Wickham of his failure to extract more money from the prig for the living in Kympton. The fact he never intended to take orders was irrelevant.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
An hour before his cousin was expected, Bennet decided it was time to acquaint his wife and daughters with the man’s imminent arrival. “There will be another for dinner this evening, Mrs Bennet,” Bennet drawled while watching his wife intently. She did not disappoint.
“Ooh, is Mr Bingley coming to dinner? Is he come back?” Fanny gushed as her lace handkerchief began to flap.
“No, not Mr Bingley, but a man I have never met in the whole of my life. He should arrive in an hour, and will be with us for about a sennight. So, would you like to know who the man is?” Bennet looked around the drawing room and saw the eyes of six expectant females on him.
