“Why would you want to refuse? Please tell me you do not give credence to the story Mr. Wickham told you. Mr. Darcy is a man of ten times his consequence,” Charlotte pointed out. “Do you know Mr. Wickham has debts with almost all of the merchants in Meryton?”
Elizabeth ignored Charlotte’s words, as that was not what she wanted to think about right now. Before she spoke she saw a group of officers enter, but Mr. Wickham was not among them. Before she could start her conversation with Charlotte, Mr. Denny approached them.
“Mr. Wickham requested I convey his apologies. He did not feel easy attending with you-know-who present,” Lieutenant Denny related after he greeted the two ladies. The Lieutenant bowed and returned to his fellow officers after soliciting a dance from both ladies.
“You see, it is because…” Elizabeth started to blame Darcy when Charlotte cut her off.
“Eliza, yourperspicacityis usually sharp. Why are you so blind with regard to Mr. Darcy? I was with you at your aunt’s house when Mr. Wickham stated he would not be the one to go away; that if Mr. Darcy did not want to be in his company, it was for him to go. Please tell me you are not so blinded by your prejudices as to not see the contradiction,” Charlotte stated pointedly.
“You may have the right of it, Charlotte, but that is not what I want to talk to you about,” Elizabeth informed her friend. “I have started to notice some things about Jane which have given me pause. As hard as it is for me to admit, I do not believe Jane has my best interests at heart.”
“It pains me that you have only now discovered what I have known for some years,” Charlotte soothed. “Before you ask, if I had spoken against Jane when you thought she could walk on water, would you have listened to me? Eliza, you are my best friend, but there are times you are blinded and suspend your logic, looking for information to bolster a conclusion you have already made.”
“There is truth in what you say. Until I began to see Jane’s true character, I would not have heard a word against her,” Elizabeth admitted.
“What do you hold against Mr. Darcy besides his wrongheaded slight at the assembly?” Charlotte asked.
“He denigrated my looks at Lucas Lodge as well,” Elizabeth returned.
“Who told you that? Jane?” Charlotte enquired. “You just woke up to the fact Jane is not who she seems to be, but in this you believe her? What did she tell you?”
Elizabeth informed Charlotte what Jane had told her. As she spoke, she started to realise while on the one hand she knew Jane was not honest, she had believed her without question whenever she had said anything negative about Mr. Darcy as it was what she had wanted to hear.
“I overheard the conversation between Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley, as did Jane. Let me ask you something. After that night at Lucas Lodge, did Miss Bingley become particularly nasty towards you?”
“She did. How would you know that?” Elizabeth was astounded.
“You know Miss Bingley has been chasing Mr. Darcy relentlessly, do you not?” Elizabeth nodded. “If he hadinsultedyou, why would she have seen you as a threat to her designs?” Charlotte asked.
“Jane lied, did she not?” Elizabeth realised.
“She did,” Charlotte confirmed.
“Up is down and down is up,” Elizabeth stated as she saw her whole world being turned on its head.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Why was your greeting to Mr. Bingley so cool?” Fanny Bennet asked her favourite.
“Mama, he is wealthy, but you know I do not want to marry a tradesman,” Jane prevaricated. Jane was sure Mr. Darcy had made his disclosure to his friend as there had been a hard edge to Mr. Bingley’s voice as he welcomed her to the ball in the receiving line. “Mama, I do not want to lead him on so I will release him from the first set.”
She would dance the second set with the hapless Mr. Collins. His smell was almost bearable as he had his fortnightly bath earlier in the day. It would be humiliating to sit out the first, but it would be better than the reproachful looks she would have to endure for a half hour complete.
Jane watched Elizabeth and Charlotte speaking in close confidence. As far as she was aware, no one in Meryton knew her true self, although she felt she might have made a tactical error in informing her mother where Lizzy was, given how distant her sister had been for a day or two.
She worried that Lizzy might have divined the truth about her; she was not ready for that to be known yet. Jane saw their host enter the ball room and made her way to him. “I release you from the first set, Mr. Bingley,” Jane relayed evenly.
“Thank you,MissBennet,” Bingley replied coldly. “I thought I could have loved you, and I found out you are just another mercenary fortune hunter. Enjoy the ball.” Bingley turned without a bow and was swallowed up by the crowd.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The obsequious Mr. Collins collected Elizabeth for the first set. “As you are my intended, I want you to stay close to me,” Collins commanded as they joined the line.
The music started before Elizabeth could retort with a set down as she desired to. Within the first few bars she discovered the man was the worst dancer it had ever been her displeasure to partner.
Mr. Collins turned the wrong way constantly, bumped into other dancers, and bowed and scraped while apologizing, which caused more problems for those down the line from him. The half hour seemed interminable. After having her toes trod on no less than three times, at last, thankfully, the torture of dancing with the most uncoordinated man in England was finally over.
Mr. Collins led Elizabeth to the side, where there were some chairs. It seemed the witless man expected her to sit with him. “Mr. Darcy, shall we?” Even that man was a welcome partner; anyone was better than Mr. Collins.
