For a full ten minutes after he spoke no one said a word. Then the silence was broken by the Earl in a way that surprised even Darcy: “If your behaviour damages my alliance with the Duke of Bedford, I will never forgive you William!” the Earl exploded. “And you may have offended Lord Jersey as well! He and I also work closely together in the House!”
“All I can do is apologise and try and make the changes I need to, regardless of whether Miss Elizabeth will ever accept me or not. But this I know, Uncle Reggie.She, unlike so many of our circle, does not have a vindictive bone in her body. She could have wielded her connections and wealth to great effect long before now if she chose to. I know now that she has more wealth in her own right than I have, but until I forced her to rebuke me, I would never have known.” He winced.
“She has more than any of us. Can you begin to fathom her father’s wealth with five and twenty percent of Gardiner and Associates plus each of his daughters with five percent?” the Earl demanded. “The Bennets and the Gardiners between them have gained far more wealth than any others. You mark my words, one day we will be serving tradesmen and they will look down onus.” The Earl stared off into space with a wistful look as he said the last.
“It is only now that I remember how much deference the Netherfield Park servants showed to the Bennet girls. They were showing respect to their mistress and her sister while the rest of us were oblivious.” Darcy groaned at yet another missed clue.
“You say that the two older sisters are at the Gardiner home on Portman Square?” the Countess asked.
Darcy nodded at his aunt that they were.
“Then there you will go William, and you will sincerely beg forgiveness of both the Misses Bennet. You will also carry an invitation for them to come have tea with Tiffany, Marie and myself. I would suggest that Georgie join us if they accept.
“It is not their wealth or connections that I want to meet, but the two estimable, intelligent, and delightful sounding young ladies. You, Richard,” she nodded once when her son looked at her in alarm, “will apologise for your presumption at thinking that you needed to warn Miss Elizabeth off using her supposed lack of wealth as the vehicle. I know you were being supportive of William, but it was still badly done.”
“As much as it pains me to say it William, she was correct.” The Earl stated evenly. “Though you may not have set out to be such, your behaviour has painted you as a true hypocrite. The presumption that you would be able to divine someone’s feelings when you are so adept at hiding your own is laughable. And I will say that this Miss Elizabeth has Bingley’s measure. That is not the kind of man I would want for my daughter or your sister. I will not repeat each instance of your bad behaviour and hypocrisy, as there is no need. You have a lot of work to do William. Heaven forbid that you become another Lady Catherine, who is the only one in our family who would think that the way you thought and behaved would be acceptable.”
His uncle could not have said anything worse to him. Darcy had always prided himself that he was the best of examples of behaviour in which anyone could follow and be an exemplary member of theTon. He never wanted to be compared to Lady Catherine again. Yes, he had a lot of work to do.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
That evening Darcy took a long and deep breath before he knocked on the Hursts’ door. He was not looking forward to what he was about to face and the messages that he needed to deliver, but it had to be done.
As soon as he entered the drawing room, Miss Bingley sank her talons into his arm as she took it possessively. He could not believe he had not done so before, but rather than allowing her to keep his arm, as he had in the past for her brother’s sake, he removed her claws immediately. He looked directly at her. “Miss Bingley, I must ask you to cease attaching yourself to my arm without it being offered to you. True propriety dictates that a lady waits for a man to offer his arm. You are aware of this, I am sure?” he asked.
Miss Bingley felt as though he had slapped her. Perhaps he was still lost in that kept baggage Eliza Bennet, but she would disabuse him out of his obsession right now.
“I hope that you are not pining for anyone from Hertfordshire. I am sure that after I share my news about her from yesterday that you shall not think a certain pair of eyes so fine anymore.” She tittered into her hand and batted her eyelashes in what she considered a coquettish way, but had the unfortunate effect of making Darcy more disgusted than he already was. He decided to allow her to continue to hear what she thought that she knew. He could see that his friend Bingley looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Mrs Hurst looked on expectantly as she played with her jewellery while Hurst snored on a chaise.
“What about Miss Bennet, Miss Bingley?” He asked politely.
“You shall be diverted and shocked,” she sneered as she prepared to kill any unadvised regard that her future husband held for the baggage. “This morning I was on my way to Bond Street when I passed through Portman Square. I was shocked to see someone we all know coming out of the largest townhouse on the square, dressed in a gown created by Madame Chambourg no less!”
‘Portman Square is not close to Bond Street and you cannot go through it. The real aim must have been trying to be seen in Mayfair. Why did I not put this lying harpy in her place a long time ago. No friendship is worth this!’ Darcy thought to himself but forced himself to hear what she had to say now that she was certain she had the attention of all in the room.
“You will never guess who the chit was.” She acted like it would be great news, or as though she had not provided enough hints to scream his Elizabeth’s name. “Of course you cannot, even you would not have thought that she was so low as to be the mistress of some rich man. It was Eliza Bennet, looking for all of the world as if she thought that she belonged in such an exclusive neighbourhood. She was being followed by a mountain of a footman. It is almost as ridiculous, her pretention to being kept by one who owns a house on Portman or Grosvenor Square.” She looked at him with wide-eyed expectancy.
‘Theyowna house on Grosvenor Square, you stupid woman!’ Darcy almost yelled at her in truth as he was in his head.
“I knew the Bennets are a penniless family of country nobodies, but to allow their daughter to behave thusly? You made a very lucky escape, Charles. Could you imagine being connected to such a disgraceful family? None of them act with propriety and they have no connections of note as we do.” She sniffed with disdain as she said the last and had a triumphant gleam in her beady little eyes, sure that she had just destroyed any lingering affection that her Darcy had for the fallen Eliza Bennet.
“That is more than enough, Caroline,” Bingley finally spoke, looking both chagrined and embarrassed by his younger sister’s speech.
“Would you call connections to the Duke and Duchess of Bedford as well as Lord and Lady Jersey no connections?” Darcy asked her after ruminating for a minute.
“Of course not Mr Darcy, I know that your connections are impeccable, why I would never…” she simpered.
“Would you call ladies with dowries of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds each, who owned five percent each of the most valuable company in the Kingdom, and some of whom owned estates that earn above twenty thousand pounds a year penniless?” he asked, not allowing Miss Bingley to finish what she considered a flattering answer.
“Of course not, Mr Darcy,” she looked at him in confusion, “but I fail to see what that has to do withElizaBennet.” She reminded him that the topic was about a woman that had nothing to offer.
“I will tell you what it has to do with her, and all her family right now, Miss Bingley. The townhouse on Portman Square that you saw Miss Elizabeth exit belongs to her Uncle Edward Gardiner.” Darcy noticed Bingley start and raise his eyebrows because Bingley knew exactly who Gardiner was.
“Gardiner? When we visited Miss Bennet she was with Gardiners, but in Cheapside…” Caroline corrected him.
“Caroline? Louisa? When did you visit Miss Bennet, and why have I not heard about it until now?” Bingley demanded. Both of the superior sisters blushed at their lies being exposed to their brother.
“The Gardiners used to livenearCheapside where some of the original warehouses owned by Gardiner and Associates are located, and they still own that house,” Darcy continued before anyone could answer Bingley’s question. As he continued both sisters paled. They had heard of Gardiner and Associates, and the stories currently circulating were that the value of the company was in the millions of pounds. Bingley was silent and for once his sisters had nothing to say for themselves so he took advantage of the blissful silence.
