He had told her that after waiting years since his wife passed, another few weeks, or even a month or two, was nothing. She would share her news with Lulu and Charles after services on Sunday upcoming.
As they danced the first, Jane and Bingley were silent, revelling in the company of the other. During the break between the dances, Bingley leaned close to her ear. “Jane, may I have a private interview with you before supper?” He requested.
“Yes, Charles, I would very much like that,” Janeresponded breathily as the excitement built.
“You see the balcony in the corner, where the wind is causing the drapes to billow?” He inclined his head to where he meant. Bingley saw his beloved nod. “I will be on the balcony waiting for you as soon as the pre-supper set ends.”
“Nothing will keep me from meeting you there,” Jane vowed. Just as the second dance of the set began, she noticed Lizzy and William dancing close to them and could not but smile.
Elizabeth felt like she was floating on a cloud, and that if there was the slightest breeze, she may be carried away on the wind, that is, if it was not for William keeping her grounded. She knew that her future was with this very best of men and that he was the only man in the world she could be prevailed upon to marry.
In the past, she would have made some impertinent comment to spur conversation, but with William, it was not needed. They just fit together and did not need any banal talk to prove that to anyone, least of all, themselves.
A few places past them Mary and Richard were dancing, each one lost in the other’s eyes. “I am marrying you,” Richard said gruffly.
“Yes, you most certainly are,” Mary agreed.
Beyond them at the head of the line were Lulu and Bennet, Richard’s father dancing with Anna, and his brother and sister-in-law. Things could not have been better.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The two eldest Kingston sisters waited until the large men drifted back towards the manor house before slipping past the gates. They kept off the drive and in the shadows, even if doing so was not very good for their dancing slippers.
When they got close to the house, they saw that some of the men were now standing in the drive at the base of the stairs leading to the veranda and the front doors, and others were on the veranda itself. The sisters made their way around the side of the house and could hear the strains of music from the ballroom. They stayed close to the wall so the light from the windows would not illuminate them.
Once they passed the ballroom, they came to a servants’ door. Seeing no one near, they slipped in. They found their way close to the ballroom without being detected. They dropped their dark cloaks, and even though their dancing slippers were almost destroyed, the gowns were in good shape.
Jealousy burnt as they watched Jane and Elizabeth Bennet dance with the men they wanted for themselves. Then, Lucinda noticed Mary Bennet dancing with a man. She made some discreet enquiries without lifting her head, discovered that the man was the son of an earl and engaged to Mary Bennet. Thanks to the hatred of the Bennets their mother had drummed into their heads, Lucinda decided that she would target that man for compromise.
The sisters waited until the first set ended. As soon as the two men they had earmarked walked his Miss Bennet towards the side of the dancefloor, they sprang into action. They only got about halfway to the couples before thick arms wrapped around them and lifted them clear of the floor as if they were nothing.
No matter how much they screamed, tried to kick, pinched, or did anything else, the men holding them would not let them go.
“BE QUIET!” Fitzwilliam yelled in his best colonel’s commanding voice.
The sisters stopped screeching and screaming; very few of the words were fit for company that was not comprised ofsailors or soldiers. They were put down on the floor, with there arms held securely behind their backs.
“This is the last time I will allow a Kingston to bedevil anyone in this community,” Bennet hissed. “Your family is lost to all common decency.”
“If your plan was to compromise some of us, you should know we would have never gratified you. All you would be, as you are now, is ruined,” Darcy growled.
“But Mother said you would…” Florinda tried to say.
“And like so many other things, she was wrong. You thought you were so very clever. We knew where you were the whole time. We decided to give you enough rope to hang yourselves and your family, and you did,” Bennet told the reeling Kingston sisters. “You will be returned home on the back of a donkey cart. When there, tell your father all of his debts will be purchased, and they will be called in. It is time to rid this neighbourhood of the cancer you and your family are.”
When they were led out, their heads hanging low, the sisters noticed the huge men they had thought had walked back to the manor house were behind them.
Meanwhile, they were returned home, sitting in the bed of a donkey-drawn cart, and the ball recommenced as if there had been no rude interruption at all.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Before supper, Jane met Bingley on the balcony and he made her dreams come true when he proposed to her. She, of course, accepted without delay. Hence, a marriage and two engagements were toasted at supper.
Before they left the table, Darcy decided that unless he asked, he would never know, so he leant close to Elizabeth. “May I call on you on the morrow?” He asked.
“William, you are welcome any day,” Elizabeth teased.
“Minx, you know I meant I would like to have a private interview with you,” Darcy growled.
