~T~
The evening papers contained a notice from the palace.
Her Majesty, Queen Charlotte, at the request of Her Grace, Isabella Deveril, the Duchess of Barrington, most graciously granted a privateaudience to three young ladies recently come to town. Her Majesty declared herself delighted to welcome Miss Jane Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire as well as her sisters Miss Elizabeth and Miss Mary, and she was heard to say that she thought the ladies to be a fine addition to London society. They were accompanied not only by the Duchess of Barrington and her son Lord James Deveril, but also by the uncle and aunt of the Misses Bennet, Mr and Mrs Edward Gardiner, of Audley Street in Mayfair.
The article caused some speculation about the relationship of Lord James Deveril and Miss Jane Bennet.
~T~
As arranged by the Duke of Langford and the Duchess of Barrington, they arrived at the duke’s residence before the other guests were expected and were warmly greeted by their host. Langford was tall and trim and the twinkle in his eyes belied his white hair.
‘My dear Isabella, It is a delight to see you. Are you still determined to make me happy by refusing to marry me?’
‘No… I am refusing since I want to make myself happy,’ she teased in return.
‘Ah well, you know best.’ The duke shrugged and indicated his companions. ‘Do you remember my son Frederic and his wife Clarissa?’
‘I do indeed,’ she responded and briefly greeted the marquess and marchioness before introducing her own party.
Once the introductions were complete, the duke requested, ‘Miss Bennet, would you and your fiancé join the receiving line where I can introduce you to my guests. It will save explanations later.’
‘What a splendid idea,’ enthused the duchess. ‘Although the official notice will be in the papers tomorrow, since we were only waiting until we had Her Majesty’s seal of approval.’
‘I saw the notice of your visit in the evening paper.’
‘I wonder how many people will see it before the ball.’
The duke chuckled. ‘Probably most of my guests.’
While the duke was correct in his assumption, there were at least two guests who missed that little snippet.
~T~
Once the other guests started to arrive, the rest of the party drifted into the ballroom where they were soon joined by a growing crowd, although the room was large enough that it did not become a crush.
Elizabeth was pleased that she recognised many of the guests from other functions. Because Darcy was staying by her side, he was perforce drawn into the conversations which Elizabeth struck up with various acquaintances. Following her conversational leads, Darcy surprised even himself by contributing to the dialogue.
He felt himself relaxing and was starting to enjoy himself.
Unsurprisingly, many of the gentlemen they encountered asked Elizabeth for dances and soon her dance card was full since she had already promised one set each to Deveril and Fitzwilliam, while Darcy had requested the first and supper sets. She was aware that Mary had promised those same dances to the Colonel, while Jane would be dancing all three significant sets with Deveril.
When they had a brief moment to themselves, Darcy said, ‘Thank you, Miss Elizabeth for smoothing my interactions. I cannot remember a time when I felt such ease at a function.’
‘That is high praise indeed, Mr Darcy, and we have not even started dancing yet.’
The words had barely left her lips when the musicians struck a chord to alert the guests that the dancing was about to start.
Unsurprising, at least for members of their own party, the duke led the duchess to the floor to lead the first set. They were closely followed by his son and daughter-in-law, who in turn were followed by Jane and Deveril.
Darcy bowed and offered his arm to Elizabeth. ‘Shall we?’
Elizabeth took his proffered arm and Darcy led her to a spot near Mary and Fitzwilliam.
~T~
28Missteps
The Bingleys arrived at Langford’s residence at a time carefully calculated by Miss Bingley to be fashionably late.
