“Perhaps Darcy would like a quiet day at home,” said Jane with gentle emphasis. “I would like the chance to know my new brother better.”
His mother- and father-in-law were as he remembered them, and so were Lydia and Kitty. While they were boisterous, Mary was pedantic and tiresome, but Jane was everything Elizabeth had said she was: beautiful, serene, kind, and more elegant than her youngest sisters. Darcy supposed the eldest two Bennet girls must have spent much time with their aunt and uncle in town. Nothing else could explain the marked disparity in comportment and intelligence in five daughters of the same household.
“Oh, that can be done any time, Jane,” said Mrs Bennet with a careless wave. “They are here for a fortnight. Now is the time to show everyone what a fine husband Lizzy has.”
Jane gave him an apologetic look, and he gave her a smile for trying.
Mrs Bennet was in spirits oppressively high from the moment he alighted his carriage. Elizabeth was scarcely appreciated for herself, as she was only the means by which a wealthy man was now attached to the family and would provide for one of her daughters. The marriage of a daughter was a point of accomplishment, and one with ten thousand a year even more so.
He supposed he deserved to be an object of perusal for anyone within ten miles of Longbourn House. He had forced Elizabeth to prove her worth to every town connexion he had for a month. The least he could do was smile at her mother’s friends for a few hours.
“Oh, and Darcy, I hope you do not mind a family dinner today?” He opened his mouth to say he could never mind such a thing, but Mrs Bennet went on. “There is the assembly tonight, and the girls need their time to prepare. It will only be tonight, for we prefer to havefriends with us when we can. In general, I think nothing less than two courses could satisfy a man with ten thousand a year.”
Darcy kept his composure, but he heard Elizabeth groan and he glimpsed the mortification on Jane’s face. “You need not try to impress me, Mrs Bennet,” he said. “I am glad to be here, and I would quite enjoy a family dinner.” He might have added since he already married Elizabeth, there was no need to show him any attention, but any hint of his displeasure would only distress his wife.
Mr Bennet made a noise of surprise and said over his paper, “Do you have any interest in theMorning Post’s Fashionable Intelligence, Darcy?”
It was another odd question. “I give little attention to the fashionable set’s or royalty’s comings and goings. And my own friends will tell me if they leave town and arrive.”
“Oh, but I love to read about the scandals,” interjected Mrs Bennet. “Reading about scandals is plain fun.”
Darcy noticed Lydia huff and look away. She was not amused, and Darcy supposed she knew how close her foolishness in Ramsgate had been to being exposed. And she knew what manner of man Wickham truly was. It had not made her less noisy in her manner, but perhaps it would make her more cautious as she grew up.
“What does it say, Papa?” asked Elizabeth in an anxious voice. Tension filled her face, and Darcy reached under the table to hold her hand.
“Lady Summerlin is giving a ball next week. Sir James Rexford and family arrived from Ramsgate on Wednesday, and Mr Darcy has removed his bride from town after displaying her to advantage at the opera on Tuesday.”
He saw the relief in Elizabeth’s eyes that it was nothing worse, and he squeezed her hand. She smiled at him, and he said, “How disappointing. There was no mention of your diamonds.”
She laughed, as he hoped she would. “Not a thrilling enough public mention for you?”
“Maybe we will be in a satirical drawing in a print window when we return.”
“Perhaps I need more jewels to attract such notice?”
“I would be glad to adorn you in jewels, dearest Elizabeth, but for your sake, not for the entertainment of the masses.”
Something he said made all the women around the table sigh and look at him with soft eyes. Mr Bennet grumbled and lifted his newspaper to cover his face.
“You will wear the aigrette at the assembly, Lizzy,” insisted Mrs Bennet. “Anyone who reads the London papers will want to see it. Darcy, are you certain your friend Mr Bingley will be there?”
“I understand he left yesterday to retrieve his sisters and brother-in-law, but they will be back in time. I promised to introduce him to my sisters, after all.”
A smile decked Mrs Bennet’s face. “A single man of large fortune! What a fine thing for our girls, Mr Bennet. Jane, I understand from Lizzy that he is quite young, wonderfully handsome, and extremely agreeable.”
Jane looked at once alarmed and anxious, and Darcy felt for her. She was the sort of girl in looks and manner to attract Bingley, but they had not even met yet. Elizabeth gave him a pleading look that said she had not used those words to describe his friend or with those intentions. She muttered under her breath words he rarely heard women use and then stood, gripping his hand to force him to rise with her.
“Darcy and I are going for a walk,” she announced, leading him toward the door. “We met with so many neighbours yesterday, Mamma. Perhaps we could make calls another day? There is the assembly tonight, after all.”
“Yes, you do not want to wear out your son-in-law. How can you expect him to dance all evening if he is entertaining your friends all day?” Mr Bennet said with a sardonic look.
Elizabeth hurried Darcy outside, apologies out of her mouth before the door even closed behind them. He did not hate his mother- or father-in-law. None of the Bennets offended him enough for him to hate them. But perhaps their visits would be few and far between. He could better manage them all at Pemberley. There he had tasks to call him away, and it was a large enough house to hide in.
“And you need not dance tonight if you do not wish it,” Elizabeth went on. “Regardless, I will shield you from them as best I can.”
“I am resigned to my fate, even if it includes dancing at a public assembly.”
“Well, between my sisters and Mr Bingley’s sisters, you can dance all night and still not be introduced to a new person.” Now that they were far from the house, her pace slowed and she stopped tugging on his arm. “It is only a fortnight’s visit, practically ten days now.”
