“I hope, madam, you do not mean to lay the blame for his conduct to my charge. I am no more his keeper than you are.”
Miss Bingley let out a strained laugh. “You mistake my meaning, sir. I—weonly meant that you have always been able to direct him so easily. We thought you might have more success than us in discovering the reason for his present behaviour and drawing him back before his reputation suffers.”
Darcy bristled at the implication that he led Bingley by the nose. “If that is true, then my continuing to direct him would only worsen his dependence. I am sorry. I have no wish to involve myself in this.” Seeing their disappointment, he added, “I cannot imagine he is involved in anything especially worrisome.”
After a quick glance at her sister, Miss Bingley shifted forwards to the edge of her seat, her hands clasped together in her lap and her head tilted as though she was about to break the news that someone had died. “I have had a letter. From Jane Bennet. She has come to town?—”
“And has expressed the hope of seeing us during her stay,” Mrs Hurst interrupted. “We can safely assume that by ‘us’ she means Charles. It is a calculated and vulgar scheme to entrap him.”
“Indeed, it is,” Miss Bingley agreed. “And we cannot overlook the possibility that it has succeeded. We fear this may be the reason Charles is being so secretive—because he is courting Jane Bennet.”
“I sincerely hope he is not!” Darcy exclaimed, appalled by the very idea of Bingley taking up with the woman whose mother he had already?—
He pushed himself out of his chair and stalked to the window. As he glared at the street below, contemplating that, with behaviour such as this, it was becoming harder and harder to see how he and Bingley could ever recover their friendship, a carriage pulled up outside. He watched a young lady step down from it and pause to speak to someone still inside before turning to approach Hurst’s front door.
“You have a visitor.”
The woman stepped back to peer up at the house, and Darcy straightened his spine in alarm.
“It is Miss Bennet.”
Mrs Hurst hastened to the window, protesting loudly. “The boldness of the woman! I shall not receive her.”
“Then you will miss an easy opportunity to answer some questions about your brother.” Darcy did not look at her as he said this; his eyes were still on the carriage as he waited to discover who was seated within.
“Mr Darcy is correct,” Miss Bingley said. “She may know where Charles is.”
With a sharp sigh, Mrs Hurst gave the instruction to a footman to show Miss Bennet up and bring some more refreshments. A moment later, Darcy watched her be let into the house and the carriage drive away, its other occupant still inside. He told himself that his keen sense of disappointment was merely the irritation of unsated curiosity, and nothing to do with Elizabeth not having accompanied her sister. He turned back to the room to await Miss Bennet’s arrival.
He observed her as she came in, took a seat, and accepted a cup of tea. She was unchanged from how she had been in Hertfordshire—open and engaging, though obviously nervous.She expressed surprise at finding him among the party but received no explanation for it before Miss Bingley made her unscrupulous opening gambit.
“How wicked you are for giving us no notice of your being in town!”
Darcy frowned at the falsehood but said nothing for fear of worsening the situation. Miss Bennet replied that she had written from Longbourn, and it was agreed that the letter must have been lost.
“What brings you to London?” Mrs Hurst enquired.
“We are visiting my aunt and uncle.”
“We?” Miss Bingley said. “Is all your family staying in…where did you say your uncle’s house was?”
“Gracechurch Street—and no, it is only Lizzy and me.”
Darcy was dismayed by the effect this news had on him. He had thought himself better recovered from his fascination than to be set on edge by the mere mention of Elizabeth’s proximity. He held himself still and did his best to pay no heed to the unnerving sensation.
“She sends her regards of course.”
“I trust she is in good health?”
Apparently, Darcy was even less recovered than he thought. He had not meant to say that aloud. “And all your family?” he added to make himself less obvious.
“They are all well, thank you, sir. And your sister? I hope Miss Darcy had an enjoyable Christmas.”
“She did, thank you. We spent it with my uncle and his family.”
For some reason, Miss Bennet appeared surprised by this. “I had understood that you both expected to be much engaged with Mr Bingley over winter.”
From her uncertain glance at Miss Bingley, and that lady’s slight blush, Darcy thought he could guess whence she hadreceived her information. “I have not seen Bingley since I left Hertfordshire, madam.”
