Caroline’s lip curled into a sneer, telling Louisa everything she needed to know. “Her indifference or interest is not the issue. The issue is her complete unsuitability. If we are to gain acceptance, Charles cannot marry a woman with nothing to help our standing. Better that he separate from her now than wait until his affections are engaged.
To Louisa, his affections were already engaged, but she decided against saying that. “What of his wishes?”
“If I trusted our brother to know his own mind, I might concern myself. We acted in the service of keeping him from making a mistake, Louisa. When he understands that, he will show us the proper gratitude.”
The conversation stuck with Louisa, for she knew Caroline cared less for Charles than for what a good marriage in society could do for them. It also showed an underlying contempt fortheir brother that Caroline did not display openly. Caroline was fond of Charles, but she had always deplored his calm temperament and took shameless advantage of it; his lack of ambition for society’s adulation that ruled her had always been a source of frustration.
The question was not whether Louisa and Caroline approved, whether Charles and Miss Bennet suited, or even whether Miss Bennet was as welcoming to Charles as Gerald suggested. No, it was whether Charles possessed the freedom to make his own choices without interference from well-meaning relations with their own agendas. When she thought of it that way, everything became easy.
RARE WAS THE OCCASIONwhen Elizabeth found it necessary to reevaluate her opinion of anything. Knowing how that would sound if she said it aloud, she kept the thought to herself, but that did not make it any less true. Whether it was from an unconscious ability to see things as they were or an unwillingness to confess when she erred, Elizabeth could not say, but she could not think of many times when she had reconsidered a previous position.
The current source of her contemplation wasnotMr. Darcy, though Elizabeth was aware there might come a day when she must reconsiderhimtoo. Mrs. Hurst was the subject of Elizabeth’s unwilling ruminations, and what she saw did not support her initial opinion.
“Good evening, Miss Elizabeth,” said the woman at a gathering a few days after the Netherfield visit.
“Mrs. Hurst,” replied Elizabeth.
They engaged in a few moments of desultory conversation, after which Mrs. Hurst stood by Jane for a time, their discussion more animated. A few moments later, Mrs. Bennet, who wasseated with several other matrons, said something loud as was her wont, which drew a glance from Mrs. Hurst, but not one steeped in judgment like Elizabeth would have expected from the woman’s sister.
It was often thus. Mrs. Hurst was not a warm woman, though she was composed and even friendly. She met them all with composure, speaking with perfect civility, even those Elizabeth knew she did not appreciate in a general sense. Mrs. Bennet was among those.
Mrs. Hurst tolerated Mrs. Bennet’s ways, including her comments about Mr. Bingley, her effusions, and her general inability to behave like a gentlewoman. But Elizabeth could see how she avoided Mrs. Bennet whenever she could. Mrs. Hurst was the same way with Kitty and Lydia, for she saw more than a few grimaces when confronted with the girls’ excesses.
It was a sentiment that Elizabeth could understand; her exasperation with certain elements of her family was akin to an old friend. That Mrs. Hurst said nothing and chose avoidance instead of open disdain was a point in her favor. Elizabeth would never have expected it when first making her acquaintance.
By contrast, Elizabeth was certain there was no need to alter her opinion of the woman’s sister. Though Mrs. Hurst had commented but little about Miss Bingley, her absence from Hertfordshire spoke volumes, even if Mr. Bingley was also still absent. Miss Bingley, Elizabeth knew, was shrewish, proud, haughty, and thought entirely too well of herself. Elizabeth did not know by what means Mrs. Hurst kept her sister away, but she did not suppose Miss Bingley would behave any better than she did last autumn, should she come to Hertfordshire.
What to make of it all, Elizabeth was not certain she knew. Other than the cryptic comment about her brother’s potential return, Elizabeth had no notion of Mrs. Hurst’s true feelings about Jane and her interest in Mr. Bingley. Mrs. Hurst’spresence at Netherfield suggested she would not oppose a match between them should Mr. Bingley return.
Then it all changed. As Kitty and Lydia were above stairs that morning, Mary was at the pianoforte, and Jane and Elizabeth were attending their mother, there was no one to go to the window to espy visitors to the estate. Thus, when Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy entered the room, in the company of the Hursts, the room fell silent with shock.
JANE BENNET WAS NOless surprised when Mr. Bingley entered the room with his sister, but her thoughts traveled a different path from anyone else in the room.
“Mr. Bingley!”
The exclamation from her mother was nearly a squeal of delight, but the man in question did not seem to notice it. On his face was his ever-present grin. What was absent was any regret for the last month of his absence.
“Mrs. Bennet,” said Mr. Bingley, stepping forward while his friend held back. “How excellent it is to see you again.”
As he said this, Jane could see his eyes stray to her. Mrs. Bennet was no more blind to this than Jane was, but her mother prattled on about how fortunate it was that he had returned, how welcome he was, and other such civilities she thought such an occasion warranted.
Jane’s composure surprised her. More than that, she was pleased with her clear understanding of the situation. Lizzy would be proud if she knew what Jane was thinking at that moment.
In time, Mr. Bingley extricated himself from Mrs. Bennet, and he approached Jane as she might have expected. Mrs. Hurst moved into the space he had vacated, distracting her mother. Whether it was on purpose, Jane could not say, but she wasgrateful all the same. There was a conversation Jane needed to have with Mr. Bingley, and it would not do for her mother to overhear it.
“Miss Bennet,” said Mr. Bingley, “how pleased I am to be in your company again.”
“You are very welcome, Mr. Bingley,” replied Jane, holding to her reserve, wondering how the man would act.
As she might have expected, Mr. Bingley began speaking with his usual animation. It was, Jane reflected, not unusual, for such exchanges were common between them. Jane enjoyed speaking with Mr. Bingley, but she was not unaware that he spoke three words for every one of hers. He was the gregarious one while she was the reticent, so that did not bother her. Whatdidbother her was his resumption of their interactions after a month apart without even a reference to his absence. Jane was not about to put up with it.
“Mr. Bingley,” said Jane when he paused a moment to draw breath, “I am pleased to see you, but I must own that I am curious about your recent absence.”
“My absence?” echoed Mr. Bingley, as if astonished she would raise the subject.
“Yes, Mr. Bingley,” said she, allowing no trace of hesitation. “I beg your pardon, but I must speak plainly. When we were last together at your ball, you danced with me three times, yet you departed for London soon after without a backward glance or even taking leave of your neighbors.”
“I had a matter of business to attend to in London,” Mr. Bingley hastened to say.
