“I have a feeling I know what is going to happen.Youintend to talk, andIam expected to listen to you. And something tells me I know what you are going to say. You are going to repeat what Caroline has been harping on for the last ten days.”
It was insulting to be compared in any shape or form with Caroline Bingley, but Darcy was prepared to overlook it. He had more important concerns to discuss.
“Whatever your sister has been harping on is beside the point. I am offering you advice because I have always done so, ever since the first day we met. Have I ever given you bad advice?”
Bingley chuckled. It was a good sign. At least he had recovered from his ill humor.
“I am prepared to acknowledge that your advicegenerallyhas been good, but you have on occasion been wrong.”
Darcy had taken Bingley under his wing when he had been a naïve young boy facing a group of upper-class bullies on his first day at Eton. Darcy had stepped in to defend him then, and he would continue to do so now. The machinations of greedy, matchmaking mothers were just as much of a threat to Bingley as those playground bullies, and Darcy was not about to let any of them win.
“Well, in this case, I am right. You have never lived in a country estate, in a place like Meryton, where everyone knows everyone else. In places like this, you have to be very careful not to arouse false expectations. When there are only four and twenty families, gossip spreads fast. Last night at the ball, I overheard some very alarming insinuations.”
It was more than insinuations, but Darcy did not want to sound as if Bingley could no longer back out.
Mrs. Bennet had been crowing to everyone last night that Bingley was as good as engaged to Jane Bennet, and to judge by the other guests, most of the inhabitants of Meryton saw it as a foregone conclusion. If Bingley stayed any longer, he would be honor-bound to propose to her.
A few more days, and it would be too late for Darcy as well, although he could not accuse Miss Elizabeth Bennet of deliberately setting her cap at him. She had flirted with him and laughed with him, but he had detected no hint of artifice in her. Her manners were naturally playful, and she had a charm that could not be learned. That was what had drawn him to her initially. Yet he had never suspected her of artifice. If she had started to occupy his thoughts too often for comfort, he had only himself to blame. He should not have allowed her to bewitch him.
There was only one way to save himself, and that was to establish as much distance between him and her as possible. After a raw night spent imagining Elizabeth Bennet in his arms, he knew it would be disastrous to stay in Meryton even an hour longer.
“You cannot raise the Bennets’ expectations, especially since you are perfectly aware that marrying Miss Bennet is out of the question. You are standing at a crossroads, Bingley, and if you do not stop and consider what you are doing, you will take an irreversible step that you will regret for the rest of your life.”
“You make it sound like the end of the world, Darcy. I do not see it that way. The Bennets are a respectable family.”
“Hardly. With an uncle in Cheapside, it must materially lessen the Bennet sisters’ chances of marrying men of any consideration in the world. Think about the implications. Most of your relations will not be gentlemen. It will come to reflect on you, and your children.”
“I care not a jot about that.”
“But you must,” said Darcy, in exasperation. “It will lessen your sister’s chances now, and it will hinder your daughters’ chances in the future. You have worked hard to be accepted into society. Do not cast it all away for the sake of an infatuation.”
“It is not an infatuation,” said Bingley, looking stubborn.
Darcy took a deep breath. This would hurt, but it was essential for his friend to know it.
“You cannot know that, not without giving yourself time. Besides, have you considered that any attachment may be on one side only? I have observed Miss Bennet very carefully, and I have seen no sign of genuine affection for you. Are you willing to sacrifice so much when you will be putting yourself in the hands of a fortune hunter?”
“But she smiles at me,” said Bingley. “Her eyes light up whenever I approach her. She shows me a marked preference over all the other gentlemen. I am not mistaken in this.”
“Have you never considered that her mama might have instructed her to do so?”
Bingley’s shoulders slumped and he turned pale. Darcy shifted his gaze across the fields to Oakham Mount, unwilling to witness the misery on Bingley’s face. His friend’s unhappiness mirrored his own. They would have to weather the storm together – they would have to stay strong against the temptation to give in to their feelings.
“I know it will be a struggle to regain control,” said Darcy, knowing full well what his friend was going through, “but you will prevail, and you will look back at this moment and be glad that you escaped. You cannot stake your future and that of your sisters on a momentary obsession with a young lady who cares nothing for you.”
His mind returned to Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Pert, mischievous, and defiant, she was thoroughly beguiling. He was filled with a terrible longing to see her. It tore at his very core. If only circumstances had been different. If only their status was equal.
But they were not, so he had to forget her, come what may. He would do so, and he would help Bingley to accomplish the same.
“I really am sorry, Bingley. I wish it could have been different.”
To Bingley, Darcy was the villain in this piece just now. Darcy knew that only too well, but his friend would thank him one day.
“What you say may or may not be true, Darcy. I cannot tell if she cares for me. But is that really the most crucial thing? What if she is only pursuing me because of my money? Is that so very wrong? Does that mean I have no chance at happiness?”
Bingley looked pleadingly at Darcy.
“Do I not deserve that chance? I am twenty-three, Darcy. I am well versed in the ways upper class society works. After all, I have grown up amongst them. I have witnessed firsthand the tricks and intrigues set up by matchmaking mamas to entrap gentlemen into marriage. That is the way of the world. Many marriages do not involve any affection between the two parties.”
