Please, do not mention the ball,Elizabeth silently begged her husband.
“We are to host a ball, and I am certain your excellent daughter will conquer thetonere long.”
“A ball!” Mrs Bennet exclaimed in glee. “What an excellent suggestion. I see I have arrived at an opportune time. Do not distress yourself, Lizzy. Mama has come to help you, and we shall arrange the grandest event those horrible quidnuncs have ever seen.” Mrs Bennet’s arms swept to the sides in a grand gesture that looked more like something one would observe at the end of a performance at Drury Lane.
“That will not be necessary,” Darcy protested whilst waving a hand in the air. “My aunt the Countess of Matlock has offered to assist Elizabeth.”
“Splendid!” Mrs Bennet cried. “To have such illustrious patronage will do wonders for your ball. Come, Lizzy. We shall leave Mr Darcy to his business whilst we conduct our own.”
“My apologies,” Elizabeth muttered to Darcy before hauling her mother and sister out of the room. It was best to rescue her husband from the scene that was sure to follow.
“Let us adjourn to my room. The walls have ears in this house,” Elizabeth warned, but her mother continued to speak.
“I am shocked at the nasty accusations that have been thrown at you, Lizzy. And to assert that you are less than the cleverest girl in all of England is a ghastly lie!”
“Please, Mama, wait until we are ensconced in privacy.”
Elizabeth hastened them up the small staircase, and they made so much noise that both Georgiana and Mary peeked their heads out of their chambers to see what the hubbub was about.
“Georgiana, Mary. Would you like to practise the duet you have learnt? We are to have a ball, and I would like you to become as proficient as possible to perform it on the first of June.”
Mary nodded eagerly whilst Georgiana looked stricken. She recovered quickly, though, and was dragged downstairs to the music room by a tenacious Mary.
“Would you like to listen to the girls playing, Kitty?” Elizabeth asked.
Kitty regarded her with barely concealed dismay.
“You want me out of the way so that you can persuade Mama to go home,” Kitty accused her. “With Lydia so well entertained by all the officers in Brighton,” she repined in a peevish accent, “it would simply be cruel to send me home. You should see the letters she writes, boasting about balls, dinners, and card parties. I cannot see why I should not be similarly engaged. I am two years older!”
“You do not sound as if you are two years older,” Elizabeth scolded. Yet her sister’s accusations were not untrue, and Elizabeth struggled to produce a plausible excuse. She delayed it by ushering both into the sitting room adjoining her bedchamber, and as a precaution she looked into her bedroom to see whether it was empty. It was, but a rustle in her dressing room sounded suspicious.
“Please be seated while I send for refreshments,” she ordered her mother and sister.
To her surprise, they both obeyed without further ado. Elizabeth entered her bedchamber, closed the door to the sitting room, and opened up the dressing room. It was only Martha, her sturdy lady’s maid from Yorkshire, who was busy hanging the clean gowns that had just returned from the scullery.
“My mother and second youngest sister Catherine have arrived. Will you ask Mrs Murray to air out the last guest room for my mother? Kitty will have to share with Mary for the duration of their stay, which I predict will be short.” She dared not give Kitty Colonel Fitzwilliam’s room. “Oh, and send refreshments to my sitting room.”
“Yes, Mrs Darcy.”
The maid curtsied, and Elizabeth watched as she disappeared down the stairs. With a deep sigh she joined her mother and sister.
“I shall brook no opposition, Lizzy. I can see it in your face that you are pondering how to evict me from your house, but you will not find me pliable in this instance. You have been married for seven weeks now and have yet to conquer the tattle. I have experience in this matter, and you must listen to me for once, as your father cannot be stirred from his book room.”
Elizabeth was familiar with Mr Bennet’s aversion to town, but it smarted, nevertheless, that he would not take the trouble for his favourite daughter.
“Meryton’s limited society cannot compare to the population in town,”Elizabeth disputed. “My implied disgrace has even overshadowed Lord Byron’s notorious affair with Lady Caroline Lamb, and he has been quite the rage since he published the first two cantos ofChilde Harold’s Pilgrimagein March.”
“Balderdash! People are the same wherever you go. Petty, jealous, and self-serving.”
Elizabeth sighed in defeat. “So, what do you suggest?”
“You must not allow yourself to be cowed but show them you are a desirable acquaintance by serving them what they enjoy—parties and balls. That is how I conquered the overbearing cats in our neighbourhood. It was not smooth sailing when Mr Bennet chose me for his wife. You have no idea what petty jealousy I had to endure for marrying Meryton’s most eligible gentleman. I had to prove myself, though I had the support of Grandmother Bennet, of course.”
A surge of uneasiness travelled to the pit of her stomach. Her dear grandmother had been away for months now, and she had entirely forgotten about her. What a wretched granddaughter she was!
“Have you any news about Grandmama?”
“Oh yes, she has written quite frequently after she finally arrived on dry land. She was tossed about in a blustery storm and arrived somewhere south of where the ship was intended to dock. She was terribly ill and swore off ever setting foot in a boat ever again, which made the rest of her voyage up the Eider canal difficult—”
