The Bennet coachman guided his team of two—the horses doubled as work animals on the estate—into the queue of conveyances offloading their occupants at the entrance to the assembly hall.
“Girls, look around and see if you spy a fancy coach, like I am sure Mr Bingley owns, so we can tell if the Netherfield Park party have arrived yet,” Fanny instructed her daughters.
“La, what care I for Mr Bingley and the twenty men with him, unless they are officers, that is,” Lydia sang.
Thanks to the tales the youngest Bennet had heard from her mother who romanticised officers as she had been enamoured with one when Colonel Millar’s regiment had encamped near Meryton when Fanny was the same age as Lydia was currently, Lydia had begun to idealise officers. Over the years, Fanny had erased what her father had told her about low ranked officers not being able to afford a wife from her memories. Lydia had decided to succeed where her mother had failed. Of course because Lydia’s ideal man was an officer, so too was it Kitty’s.
Fanny ignored her youngest as she looked to see if she could spot a grand conveyance like she expected. “How vexatious, I only see carriages which belong to our neighbours,” Fanny cried.
“Mama, should I have Papa go and remonstrate with Mr Bingley for not arriving at a time convenient to you?” Elizabeth asked innocently as she fought to keep a straight face. All the while she refused to look at Jane who would be shooting her a censorious look rather than her serene countenance. As it was, Elizabeth felt an elbow in her ribs from Jane who was seated next to her. She almost felt guilty, almost.
“Who asked you Miss Lizzy,” Fanny bit back. Then she cogitated briefly. “If I thought your father would bestir himself, I would have had him do so.” Rather than not understand sarcasm, Fanny used it from time to time.
As she would never have suspected her mother to used that form of wit, or any wit at all, it took all of Elizabeth’s self-control to stop herself from bursting out into raucous laughter, thinking her mother was serious. She looked at noone as she was sure she would not have been able to maintain her equanimity had she done so.
Thankfully, Elizabeth was saved by the door of the carriage being opened by one of the men employed to assist those arriving to alight at the assemblies. The man handed Mrs Bennet down first and then Elizabeth who was closest to the door made her escape before Jane could ask her to remain back so they mayspeak. She was relying on Jane being distracted by her enjoyment of the assembly to forget about the perceived offence by the time they returned home.
Rather than wait for her sisters and mother, Elizabeth stepped briskly ahead to enter the assembly before the rest of her family. Luckily, she saw Charlotte Lucas standing near her two brothers, Franklin the older one, and Johnny the younger who was in his final year at Oxford. At six and twenty, Charlotte was the eldest Lucas offspring. There was a younger sister Maria, who was of an age with Lydia, but who unlike the latter had not been pushed out into society yet.
“Charlotte, well met,” Elizabeth smiled.
“It is good to see you as well, Eliza,” Charlotte averred. As the Lucases had always addressed her as Eliza, they were the only ones who Elizabeth was sanguine with using that form of her name.
“Are we up above twenty reputed men coming from Netherfield Park?” Elizabeth enquired as Jane joined her and their friend.
Jane had very much wanted to address Elizabeth’s teasing in the carriage, even if it were inside the assembly hall, but as her younger sister was in conversation with Charlotte, Jane decided now was not the time.
“Last I heard the number had swelled to five and twenty men,” Charlotte said.
“If there are more than two to three single men in the party, I will eat my bonnet of your choice,” Elizabethchallenged.
“As much as I would enjoy seeing that, I believe you are correct in this instance,” Charlotte averred.
The Goulding heir requested the first set from Jane, while the older Lucas son was to squire his sister, and his younger brother had been awarded Elizabeth’s opening dances.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Caroline, if you are the cause of us being late again, then I will simply depart without you,” Bingley admonished shortly after the coach departed Netherfield Park.
“Come Charles, you are showing your lack of sophistication before Mr Darcy,” Miss Bingley claimed as she batted her eyelids at the mentioned man. She decided as he was not looking at her, Mr Darcy must be upset by her brother’s nonsense. “Mr Darcy will tell you that it is done among theTonto be fashionably late. Besides why would we rush? These country mushrooms will all be far below us.”
“Actually Miss Bingley, I am glad you included me in your statement,” Darcy stated. Miss Bingley preened at being able to please the man she intended to marry. When she heard his next words, her mood shifted radically. “Personally, I abhor the practice some follow to try drawing all of the attention to themselves. In fact I call the practiceunfashionably rude. My noble relations agree with me in this.”
Miss Bingley did not know how to respond. How could this be, were they not always as one mind on everything? Why would her Mr Darcy say such a thing? That was it, he was just placating Charles.
“Come now Mr Darcy, as a fellow member of theTon, you must surely want to show the nobodies we will meet at this assembly what true class is. You do not have to agree with Charles just to guard his sensibilities,” Miss Bingley simpered. As he was looking at her this time, she batted her eyelids at him furiously in as coquettish a fashion as she knew how. “Iknow you preferred to remain at the estate this evening and only changed your determination at my brother’s cajoling.”
“Miss Bingley do you have something in your eye which is causing your eyes distress?” Darcy asked. The woman just gaped but at least she ceased whatever it was she was doing with her eyes. Darcy turned to his friend who was seated next to him on the rear facing seats. “Bingley may I speak plainly to your sister?”
“You have my blessing to do so,” Bingley replied firmly.
“I am afraid we are in very different social circles Miss Bingley,” Darcy said firmly as the woman blanched. “Since when is the daughter of a tradesman a member of theTon?How can you think yourself at my level of society? And need I remind you that most at this assembly will be landed gentry and, all of them and their families, are well above you in society. Untilyoudecided to remain at Netherfield Park, I was to do so. As much as I dislike such an event to which we are on our way, it was the better option to remaining at the house with only you.”
“Charles! Louisa! How can you allow Mr Darcy to speak to me in this infamous fashion?” Miss Bingley screeched.
“Caroline, how many times have Charles and I attempted to warn you that you would drive Mr Darcy to let his feelings be known in an unequivocal way if you continued to ignore what we have been telling you?” Mrs Hurst pointed out to her shocked sister. “You have been educated at, as you continually remind us, one of the best seminaries, so how is it you can be ignorant of how rank works in society?”
“As you may have noticed, being a gentleman, Darcy asked my leave before speaking plain to you,” Bingley reminded his younger sister. “Why would I censure him when I gave my permission for him to do so?”
