Richard was riding ahead with his younger cousins; Jane and Andrew were next, and Elizabeth and Darcy were bringingup the rear, if one did not count the four footmen-guards escorting the riding party. Two were a few horse lengths behind Lizzy and Darcy and the other two on the sides.
Jane and Andrew were riding as close to one another as they could while not having their horses collide. “After this long wait, I cannot believe we will finally say our vows to one another in less than two days,” Andrew remarked as he leaned towards his beloved Jane.
“I am counting the hours,” Jane replied as she directed a smile with the power of the sun at her fiancé.
“Have you noticed that Fitz…?” Andrew did not miss Jane’s raised eyebrows. “I have called him that for as long as I can remember, it will take me a while to change the habit,” he explained. “As I was about to ask, have you observed thatLiamand Lizzy seemed to get along famously?”
“It is still very early. They only met on Friday past,” Jane stated. “That being said, I tend to agree with your assessment of the way they relate to one another. We need to leave Lizzy alone to come to things in her own time; you know how stubborn she can be. We must not try pushing her towards him.”
“That is the truth about my soon to be sister,” Andrew grinned. “Now, what of you my soon-to-be-Viscountess Hilldale? Are you sanguine with a shortened wedding trip so we will be able to attend Mary’s coming out? And do you truly not object to remaining here until that block-headed parson arrives on Wednesday?”
“Had I not wanted to, I would not have agreed to spending some days at Netherfield Park and shortening our wedding trip,” Jane assured her beloved. “We will have complete privacy thanks to Mama and Papa allowing us to reside at Tommy’s estate—which will be empty except for us—until we begin our actual wedding trip.”
Andrew could not wait until he and Jane were married, and they could be alone, not to be forced to part again. He already resided at the estate they would share after the wedding. As soon as the Bingleys had vacated, he had moved there for propriety’s sake seeing that he and Jane were engaged. Other than sleeping at Netherfield Park, every other minute of the day was spent at the Bennets’ estate, and almost all of it, in Jane’s company.
Just out of earshot behind her older sister and soon-to-be brother, Elizabeth was riding her mare Aphrodite next to her cousin, who was on his stallion Zeus. She had stopped speaking for a few moments as she watched the palpable joy that flowed between Janey and Andy.
“They make a very good couple, do they not?” Darcy commented.
“Please pardon me, Liam; I was basking in the love which radiates off them.” Elizabeth inclined her head towards the couple ahead of them. “That is the kind of love I hope to find when it is my turn to match up with my one true love.”
It had been less than a week, but Darcy was beginning to hope that he would be the one who would inspire that kind of love and devotion from Elizabeth. That morning, he had been very happy when she had suggested they dropcousinbefore their names. He had agreed with alacrity.
“That is what I seek too,” Darcy replied. “It is what my late parents had and what I see around me in most of my closest family, so I will not settle for less in my own life. I am very sorry it took so many years for us to meet one another. There were so many times over the years when we almost met, but did not.”
“Do you remember you told me that a Darcy failing is taking responsibility for things for which you bear none?” He nodded as Elizabeth arched an eyebrow. “This is one of thosetimes. You were busy dealing with so much, including the deaths of your most honoured parents. When your father took you with him to Glen Morgan Heights, it was not your choice, but his. After your father joined your mother in heaven, you had your estates to manage at such a young age. It was not a conscious decision you made not to meet us, so you bear no fault at all.”
“When you put it like that, I cannot argue against you,” Darcy owned. He looked over at his riding partner and wanted to get lost in her emerald-green eyes. Yes, she was a beauty, but what attracted him most about Elizabeth was her intelligence and intellectual curiosity.
In the four or five days since they had met, he had discovered that Elizabeth did not agree with him unless she actually thought he was right. After Darcy’s move to Longbourn, they had many opportunities to debate. When she disagreed, she would argue her points with vigour and always used well-reasoned thought backed up by provable facts. Another thing that attracted him was her love of books that so many in the Bennet family had, starting with the parents. He had been shocked when he heard her prowess in Greek and Latin; it was something she apparently learnt from her mother. She was a very unique lady, and each day he spent in her company, he fell further and further under her spell. He had begun to comprehend that she was possibly exactly the woman who, in disposition and talents, would most suit him. Her understanding and temper, though unlike his own, would answer all of his wishes for the traits he most desired in the partner of his future life.
There was no need to rush anything. They had time, and Darcy wanted to allow things between them to develop without pressure. He could only hope that at some point she would feelan attraction towards himself, one which would, at some time in the future, grow into an ardent, deep, and abiding love.
If Elizabeth was honest with herself, she would admit that she had been attracted to Liam from the very first time they met at the assembly. Then it had been his handsome features which had pulled her to him. He was still very handsome; in fact, the more time she spent in his company, the more Elizabeth found to admire in his looks. However, it had become so much more than his outward aesthetics.
Yes, he was an erudite and extremely well-read man, but he never held himself to be more intelligent than her just because of his sex. In fact, it was more than that. When they debated, which they had done several times already, he treated her like an intellectual equal. Never once had he condescended to her as if she were just some weak-minded female he was humouring. Elizabeth knew nothing of his feelings for her—she knew he seemed to enjoy spending time in her company—but she was aware that there was a spark of the genesis of tender feelings for Liam. Only time would tell.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Bingley and his sister arrived in London later in the afternoon of the day after their ignominious eviction from Netherfield Park, the day the door had been locked to them on their exit from the manor house. Due to being fatigued from travel, neither brother nor sister went out in society on the Wednesday they arrived. By the time they reached Bingley’s leased house on Curzon Street, Caroline was hoping word about their ruin had not reached London yet. She had convinced herself nothing had changed in her relationships with those of theTon.
That night, after dark had fallen, they did go out to call on the Hursts at their London home, a mile closer to Mayfair thanthe Bingley’s town house. Bingley did not miss how reluctant his older sister and Hurst were to receive them. Unless he was deficient in his understanding, they seemed to be looking about to make sure no one saw them admit the two Bingleys to their house.
“Louisa, Hurst, what is it? You seem not to desire our company,” Bingley enquired.
“You should be thankful I agreed to call on you after you abandoned me…us in that little backwater. My first inclination was not to join Charles, but he insisted that as we are family, I must,” Miss Bingley sneered.
“You should have followed your desires and not come here,” Hurst barked. “Have you two lost all sense of decency? Your failed attempt to compromise two of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire’s grandchildren is already widely known in Town. We are fortunate to have been excluded from the scorn, but if we allow you to call on us again, we will partake in your ruin.”
Bingley felt as though he had been punched in his belly. How were the details of their folly known in London already? It had barely been more than one day. “S-surely not, Louisa? A-are you saying you will no longer know us?” he managed.
“As sad as it is, that is exactly what we are saying,” Mrs Hurst confirmed. “We have known for some time that Caroline has no morals, but you Charles? How could you? I can only thank God that I have learnt that to follow Caroline in her delusions of grandeur would only lead to ruin. I cannot fathom why you went along with it. I am sure it was Caroline’s plan, was it not?”
Bingley nodded.
“If we are not welcome, we will depart! When we rise in society, we will not know you,” Miss Bingley screeched.
Her sister shook her head sadly. It seemed that her sister had not heard a word that had been said about how ruined the Bingley name was. She watched as her younger sister stood and cut her and Harold in their own home as she swept out of the room.
