Darcy could not hold in his mirth at his sister’s observation. “I cannot say you are incorrect. I shall own that I wondered if Bingley would suit you, but I too recognize it will be some time before you will be ready to marry.”
“Then we agree.”
The larger question in Darcy’s mind was what to do about his friend and his new knowledge of Miss Bennet’s feelings. One did not simply blurt such information when in company, and Darcy had no intention of allowing Miss Bingley to learn of his change of heart an instant before she must. Thus, it was incumbent upon Darcy to ensure he told his friend when he could both control the conversation and determine whether the information would help or do more harm.
Of this last, Darcy had little enough reason to concern himself. Bingley’s demeanor was such that Darcy was certain the news he possessed would reignite his friend’s interest the moment he heard it. It would not do to send him careening to Netherfield without due consideration, for he was uncertain of Miss Bennet’s feelings on the subject. Having hurt her once with his mistaken advice to his friend, he did not wish to add to her suffering. Even when he believed her heart not easily touched, Darcy had espoused no notion that she was fickle. If he judged it inappropriate to reveal his knowledge now, he did not think she would immediately move to the next man.
This was the dilemma that faced Darcy the last time he was in his friend’s company that season. The news Bingley brought was not exactly a surprise, though Bingley quitting London’s sitting-rooms an instant before he must was not something Darcy had seen before.
“When do you mean to go to Pemberley?” asked Bingley as he toyed with his glass. The club, where they met, provided them the opportunity to enjoy a drink and some conversation together away from objectionable sisters. Bingley was distracted as if the weight of the world were pressing on his shoulders.
“I have not spoken to Georgiana yet,” replied Darcy, unwilling to say anything of his aborted intention of inviting Bingley to Pemberley. Darcy knew his friend would not fault him for his desire to avoid Miss Bingley, but it would not be good manners to speak so openly.
Bingley turned and grinned at him. “I have never known you to stay in London for a single moment longer than you must.”
“It is not even the end of May yet,” said Darcy, unconcerned with his friend’s teasing. “I will own that I am always pleased to return to my home, but I am not unhappy in London at present.”
“Your contentment does not agree with my sister.” Bingley’s words might almost suggest he was censuring his sister, but given what the woman had said about him, there was no reason to call him on it. “Caroline has lamented your absence from society since your return from Kent. Given your astuteness, you might have an inkling, but she was certain you would propose when you joined us in Hertfordshire in October. That you did not has sent her into a tizzy.”
Bingley paused and considered, a moroseness settling over him. “Then again, she hadothermatters to consider then and did not mention it much when we returned to town. It is only these last weeks as you have shunned society that has brought her fretting to a fever pitch.”
“I have not shunned society,” replied Darcy, not wishing to speak of Miss Bingley. “Rather, I am enjoying Georgiana’s company.”
“Aye, I have observed as much. But you cannot scruple to suggest that avoidance of what you find distasteful is at least as much of an inducement as the desire to be with your sister.”
“I do not deny it at all.” Darcy sipped his drink and regarded his friend. “The season little interests me, and I have no desire to endure all the simpering debutantes.”
“At some time or another, you mustchooseone of them for a wife.”
“Remaining a bachelor is an option,” replied Darcy with a shrug. “If Georgiana marries a man willing to take the Darcy name, I can leave my property to her. Or she can give a second son my name and I can leave it to him.”
All pretense at banter fled and Bingley looked at him with no trace of anything other than seriousness. “I understand you better than that, my friend. You speak of your disinclination for the company of young ladies, but you do not wish to remain single all your life.”
“I do not,” acknowledged Darcy. “But itisan option should I never find a woman who interests me. Do not suppose I shall find a wife in London, Bingley, for I have become certain that I shall not.”
The way Bingley regarded him, Darcy wondered if his friend saw something in his manner or recalled something of his behavior in Hertfordshire to suspect more than Darcy had revealed. Bingley was not the most observant man; he had fixed his attention on Miss Bennet when they had been at Netherfield. While Darcy could not say for certain, he thought that any hint of his interest in Miss Elizabeth had completely escaped his friend’s notice. With that one statement, Darcy might have provoked his friend to wonder.
“I am becoming increasingly certain a society wife will not be inmyfuture as well,” said Bingley at length, “regardless of Caroline’s wishes on the subject.”
The statement caused Darcy to wonder; was Bingley considering a return to Netherfield regardless of his recent absence? Darcy did not think he consciously considered such an action, but he was confident of success should he guide his friend in that direction.
“We shall go to the north for the summer,” said Bingley, changing the subject without a hint of warning as was his wont.
“You have not seen your family for some time, as I recall.”
A nod was Bingley’s response. “We have not.”
“When do you mean to go?” asked Darcy.
“Next week.”
That was a surprise. “Perhaps I should speak ofyourreluctance to remain in London until the end of the season,” joked Darcy. “The first week of June is whenIusually find myself eager to return to Pemberley.”
Bingley showed him a grin. “Yes, well, I have tired of London. Caroline did not appreciate my insistence, but in the end, she agreed. I believe it has as much to do with your recent distance as any desire to go north. Caroline little appreciates York and does not wish to spend much time there.”
“And yet, you still have family there.”
“We do,” replied Bingley. “That is the only reason I can persuade her to go.”
