“Yes, ma’am, I am. Do you find it pleasurable?”
“I do.”
“Then allow me to continue.”
They spent the remainder of the dance in mild flirtation, and they kept each other in a continual state of amusement and laughter.
When the dance concluded, he returned her to her aunt and lingered until he left in search of his next partner.
Chapter 41: Cutting Remarks
“Lizzy, your father returned home before supper. He was fatigued and was also missing your mother.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Aunt Maddie, I should not admit to this, but I am very grateful to have been spared. Mother could be so embarrassing. I am certain she would have frightened Mr. Allen away.” She pressed her aunt’s hand. “Excuse me, I am going in search of the ladies’ retiring room.”
Elizabeth and Georgiana walked together to the retiring room. After they attended to their needs, they passed the card room, filled with older gentlemen, and hazy with cigar smoke.
They continued past the drawing room, where four people were gathered in conversation. Elizabeth saw Caroline standing between Mr. Balfour and Mr. Darcy, while Mr. Allen stood a little apart. Both young women paused in the darkened hall when Miss Bingley’s sharp voice rose above the others.
“Mr. Darcy, you astonish me, sir. You have danced both the waltz and the supper dance with that little nobody. The Bennet family is not a desirable connection for either Charles or you, but most particularly for you, as they do not move in our circles. To establish a connection with a Bennet would be a degradation, for not only is the estate inconsequential, but the family is connected to professional men who earn their living. The uncles are solicitors, and one of the sisters is married to a rector.”
Elizabeth watched Mr. Darcy’s face, hoping that he would speak in defense of her and her family. But he did not. She heard his resonant voice, and with his next words, he struck her down.
“In this, I do agree with you, Caroline. The family is not a suitable connection for one from my circles. It would be a degradation, for the family is neither wealthy nor titled and holds no distinction in society. And the uncles are merely professional men of no particular consequence.”
Elizabeth’s eyes glistened, and her throat tightened at these painful words.
Allen said, “My younger sister is married to a rector. And I should be pleased if my elder sister married a solicitor. How is the Bennet family different from mine?”
Darcy replied, “Men such as you and I, Allen, who possess large estates and considerable wealth, owe it to our bloodlines to marry high. The difference lies not in the professions themselves but in what society expects of men in our situation. A gentleman who possesses a considerable estate and the influence that attends it cannot act as though such considerations do not exist.”
“So, you believe we must marry according to rank?”
“It is expected. Fortune, family, and connections carry obligations. Society looks to us to strengthen our houses through suitable alliances with women whose birth and standing reflect our own.”
“And you believe the Bennet family falls short of that measure?”
“You know as well as I that in the eyes of the world the Bennet women would not be considered equal to us.”
Elizabeth could bear no more. He had said nothing she did not already know, yet to hear it spoken aloud by his own lips, addressed to a near stranger and in agreement with Caroline Bingley’s opinion, struck her to the heart.
Her hand rose to her bosom in an effort to calm the stuttering in her chest. Her throat tightened and left her struggling for breath. She wished to run from the room and weep, but she did neither.
It was evident that he believed what he said to be true and that he sought to divide her from an eligible gentleman who had shown interest in her.
Anger replaced her hurt, and that anger sustained her.
Where she had before shrunk beneath the force of her pain, she now drew herself upright and stepped from the dark hallway into the drawing room while Georgiana remained behind, rooted to the spot.
She approached the small party and curtsied gracefully. Then she said in a clear, composed voice, “All these months I have believed that we were friends, Mr. Darcy. It pains me to discover that my friend would express such opinions of my family and of me behind my back, and to others in so public a manner.”
She gestured toward Miss Bingley and added, “I have always known what Miss Bingley thinks of me, for she has ever been direct in expressing her opinions. Through her, your decided judgment will soon be carried to my neighbors, and before long everyone will know what you truly think of the Bennet family, for it is Miss Bingley’s particular delight to disparage me to any who will listen.”
Her eyes fixed upon his and held them. “I am grateful, sir, to learn that you are, in fact, not my friend and that such a fiction need not be honored any longer. Do not acknowledge me should we ever meet again, for I no longer consider you even an acquaintance.” Her eyes turned to Mr. Allen. “Good night, sir. It was a pleasure to have met you.”
She curtsied again, turned, but as she walked away from him, Darcy spoke, remaining firm in his opinion. “Miss Bennet, men and women cannot be friends. It is not possible. They will either become lovers, a man and his mistress, or husband and wife. There is nothing that falls in between.”
Elizabeth felt heat rise to her ears, but she was careful not to look back. Was that what he had intended for her? To be his mistress?
