Elizabeth was put in mind of Mr Darcy and his disdain for Meryton society and agreed that her friend was probably correct. “In which case,” she added, “you had better use this time to learn to tolerate her, for friendly or not, she will soon be your closest neighbour. Here.” She held out her favourite brooch. “What do you think?”
Charlotte angled it towards the window and smiled when the sunlight amplified its opalescence. “I think it is beautiful. You know you do not actually have to lend it to me, do you not?”
“I should dearly love you to wear it,” Elizabeth insisted and meant it. For though she could not respect Charlotte’s decision to marry Mr Collins, they had nevertheless been friends for a very long time.
Charlotte thanked her sincerely. “Will you come to Lucas Lodge tomorrow to help me keep Miss de Bourgh occupied?”
“I shall certainly come, if you would like me to, though it is you she desires to know, not me.”
Charlotte insisted that shewouldlike it, and thus it was agreed. The ladies returned downstairs, where they found Mr Collins in a state of some distress.
“I humbly beg your pardon, madam,” he was saying in an anxious tone, “but I do not know that Lady Lucas has issued an invitation.” Upon noticing Charlotte had returned, he pounced to her side and grabbed her arm. “My dear, do you know whether your mother means to invite the Bennets for dinner tomorrow?”
“She will when you inform her that I wish it,” Miss de Bourgh replied before Charlotte was able to speak. “Come, Miss Lucas. We are leaving. You may ride with me.”
Mr Collins made a noise and held up a finger as though he wished to object but did not dare say the words aloud. He was promptly informed that he should walk back.
With one last, prolonged glare at Elizabeth, Miss de Bourgh left the room, her slow, shuffling gait completely at odds with her vastly superior air.
“I can see why you are so charmed by the de Bourghs, sir,” said Mr Bennet to Mr Collins. “What splendid neighbours they must be. An endless source of sport, I imagine.”
Mr Collins looked at him blankly for a moment, then shook his head and excused himself to scuttle home after his future wife.
“Well,” exclaimed Mrs Bennet expressively, “all I can say is, thank goodness she is not staying under my roof! Have you ever met such a peevish, complaining woman?”
Nobody replied, though everybody looked at her, which Mrs Bennet took as invitation to elaborate.
“If she grumbled less, I might be disposed to show more sympathy, but if you ask me, anybody whose every other utterance is a complaint deserves no such attention, for if they are well enough to complain, then they are well enough, and that is all there is to it. I should know. I daresay I have endured more aches and chills in the last week than she has in a lifetime with all those fires burning at Rosings Park. She does not know what it is to suffer. Not as I do.”
With an angry growl, she twisted to face Elizabeth. “If you had only done your duty and agreed to marry Mr Collins, you could have insisted he not bring her here. Charlotte Lucas has none of your impertinence. She will never tell him no, and so we must continue to suffer both himandhis tiresome connexions. Oh!” She pressed her palm to her forehead. “All this distraction has unsettled my poor nerves. I must lie down.” She paused in her sweep from the room to say to her husband, “If an invitation comes from Lucas Lodge, be sure to send word that we shallallbe in attendance. I shall not sit back and allow Lady Lucas to take the credit for introducing Miss de Bourgh to the neighbourhood. She is, after all,ourcousin’s connexion.” She gave another groan and stumbled heroically to the door.
Mr Bennet stood up to leave also, though he stopped in front of Elizabeth and shook his head. “I am sorry, my girl. Anybody who is able to induce your mother to admit that complaining is a dreadful habit is a more accomplished person than I have ever met. I am afraid Miss de Bourgh has quite the lead on you at the moment.”
* * *
Darcy forced himself to smile, though he could not hold it for long. He turned to look into the fire to avoid giving offence to Miss Bingley, whom he was finding singularly irritating that evening. Had they been at Bingley’s house, he might have made up an excuse to leave. Alas, Bingley and his sisters were dining with him at Number One, and he could scarcely absent himself from his own soiree.
“What about you, Darcy?” Bingley enquired. “Will you go to Chamberlain’s ball?”
Darcy had no intention of going, for dancing was never high on his list of favoured amusements at the best of times—and this was assuredlynotthe best of times. Nevertheless, a peevish whim compelled him to say whatever was in contradiction to Miss Bingley, who had spent the last few minutes maligning the man’s new wife.
“I am considering it, if only to congratulate him on his marriage and welcome Mrs Chamberlain to England.”
“There you have it, Caroline. Darcy is not afraid of her,” Bingley replied.
“I never said I was afraid of Mrs Chamberlain,” she retorted. “And I never said I would not go. Indeed, perhaps Ishallgo and make it known she has one friend, at least, here in London.”
Darcy could see in the periphery of his vision she was watching him, but if she hoped he would offer to accompany her, she would be sorely disappointed.
“I should like to go to another ball,” Mrs Hurst said with a sigh. “I have not been to one since we were at Neth—” She stopped abruptly when her sister delivered a quick elbow to her ribs.
Indelicate though it was, Darcy was not sorry. In this, if in nothing else, Miss Bingley and he were in accord. They had barely managed to dissuade Bingley from returning to Meryton—and Jane Bennet—and it was not such a complete triumph that Darcy had any confidence of his friend’s mind staying resolved. Reminders of his time there were best avoided.
“You are right, Louisa. It was a splendid ball,” Bingley said longingly. “Though that was as much to do with the company as the dancing.”
Too late.
“Charles,” said Miss Bingley, glancing expressively at Darcy’s sister, “you will give Miss Darcy the wrong impression.” Turning to speak directly to Georgiana, she said, “We had a pleasant enough time there, but we much prefer being back in town. The society here is far superior.”
