“And besides,” she continued, “I should only be a hindrance if I stayed, for Mrs Randall will be far too busy for house guests. She is returning to the stage!”
This pronouncement was met with silence.
“Is that not wonderful?” Mrs Bennet pressed. “She will be on the stage at the Theatre Royal.”
Wonderful was not the word that immediately sprang to Elizabeth’s mind. The pretence that Mrs Randall had been ill was wholly done away with, it seemed—and with no contrition whatsoever.
“Mrs Randall has made a rapid recovery,” she said. “She was too ill to leave her bed less than a week ago.”
Her mother had the nerve to look confused. “You know she is feeling better, Lizzy. You saw her out of bed with your own eyes.”
“That is true, but I did not know she had been well for long enough to take part in auditions. You might have spent time with us whilst she was thus engaged.”
Mrs Gardiner urged her with an expressive look and a subtle shake of her head to drop the subject. Elizabeth supposed she was right; there was no profit in exposing her mother’s duplicity at this stage.
“Oh, I do not know how these things work!” Mrs Bennet said. “All I know is that she has been offered a part, and she means to take it up.”
“I shall be sure to tell Edward,” Mrs Gardiner said. “He will like to hear that Mrs Randall is doing well. He remembers her from when you were all children together.”
“Well, he would. He held a candle for her for years, you know.”
“Did he,” Mrs Gardiner replied flatly.
Elizabeth closed her eyes. Her mother was growing more indelicate with every passing year, she was certain of it.
“My sisters will be pleased to see you, Mama,” Jane said. “Lydia writes to us almost daily, complaining that Papa is too strict. They long to go dancing.”
“It is a shame you decided to come away, really. You might have accompanied them to the January assembly yourself if you had not taken it into your head to come on a fool’s errand to London.”
And thus, Mrs Bennet completed the perfect trio, ensuring all three of them were insulted before the visit ended.
“At least she is going home,” Elizabeth said once her mother was gone. “As far as I am concerned, the sooner she takes her leave of Mrs Randall the better.”
“Why do you dislike Mrs Randall so much?” Jane asked.
“’Tis not her I dislike so much as Mama when she is with her. She has neglected you abominably.”
“I am well, Lizzy. I wish you would believe me.”
Elizabeth squinted at her with exaggerated distrust. “Prove it. Let us go out somewhere livelier than a shop. Somewhere that requires us to dress in all our finery and be admired by handsome young men. And, to prove I harbour no hard feelings towards Mrs Randall, I shall suggest that we go to Covent Garden, to see her in her play.”
Jane and Mrs Gardiner both agreed this was a fine idea, and Elizabeth found her humour so improved by the prospect of a trip to the theatre that an afternoon of embroidery no longer felt like a punishment. She picked up her hoop and attended to it with a degree of vivacity that made every stitch an appalling tangle.
14
THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE FALL INTO PLACE
Mr Darcy,
Your efforts to locate my brother are deeply appreciated. My sister and I share your frustration that he continues to be evasive, and we can only apologise that so much of your time has been wasted. I beg leave to prevail upon your assistance once more, however, for this evening, Charles has again sent his excuses for dinner, only this time with a more concrete excuse: he says he has received a last-minute invitation to the Theatre Royal. If this pretext should prove more credible than his others, it might present an opportunity for you to engage him at last.
Mr Hurst, Caroline, and I remain your most grateful friends,
Mrs L Hurst
Darcy would happily have left Bingley to lie in the bed he had made for himself, and all his relations to worry at his bedside. None of them were presently inspiring much sympathy from him. For Elizabeth’s sake alone, he replied to Mrs Hurst’s note that he would attend the theatre and keep an eye out forher brother. He invited his cousin Fitzwilliam to join him, and Fitzwilliam invited their mutual friends Hague and Wallace.
“This is a merry party,” Wallace declared when they met in the lobby. “You got me out of a dreadful evening with my mother’s cousins. And how are you, Darcy? I’ve not seen you since the end of last Season.”
