Caroline lifted her chin. "Mr Darcy." And with that, she swept past him before the last of her composure deserted her.
Chapter Eight
Elizabeth, October 1811, Longbourn, Hertfordshire
The invitation from Netherfield arrived three mornings after the assembly, addressed to Jane in an elegant hand. By then, Mrs Bennet had already begun discussing the wedding breakfast, though Mr Bingley had done nothing more decisive than dance with Jane twice.
Jane read the note with a growing smile before passing it to Elizabeth, while Mrs Bennet clucked impatiently and demanded to see it for herself. Miss Bingley had invited them both to dine, explaining that the gentlemen were to eat with the officers in Meryton and that she and Mrs Hurst would be glad of their company. The invitation was perfectly civil and rather warmer than Elizabeth might have expected after their first meeting. Her own name appeared twice, once underlined in a firm hand, which seemed to rule out the possibility that she had been included through politeness or error.
"She particularly wishes you to come," Jane said, leaning closer as Elizabeth read the final lines again.
"So it would appear." Elizabeth could not quite hide her surprise. Miss Bingley had shown little desire to improve their acquaintance at the assembly. Truth be told, Elizabeth had suspected that she paraded her before Mr Darcy only so that he might observe for himself how unsuitable the society of Meryton truly was.
Jane smiled. "I thought she liked you."
Elizabeth looked up from the note. "She called me Miss Eliza in the most condescending tone I have heard and inspected my gown like I was dressed in rags. If that proves a desire to deepen our acquaintance, I should be reluctant to discover how she treats someone she dislikes."
Her mother had run out of patience, and bustled around the table snatching the note out of Jane’s hand. Mrs Bennet read it with visible pleasure, although a squeal of displeasure escaped her when she reached the section about the gentlemen.
"What a foolish arrangement. Why should Mr Bingley dine with the officers when he has ladies coming to his house?"
"He may not know that we are coming," Jane said.
"Then his sister must tell him," Mrs Bennet replied at once. "Really, what is the use of having a sister if she cannot manage a simple thing like that? I am sure Mr Bingley would alter his plans the moment he heard."
Elizabeth lifted her cup before her smile became too obvious. Her mother had spoken of little but Netherfield since the assembly and plainly regarded two dances as a formality only slightly less binding than an engagement.
"You must go, Jane," Mrs Bennet continued. "It is exactly what I hoped would happen. Miss Bingley is a very fashionable young woman and her friendship may be of great use to you."
"Elizabeth has been invited as well," Jane reminded her.
Mrs Bennet glanced across the table at Elizabeth. "There is no need for Lizzy to go. You will manage perfectly well without her."
Elizabeth was torn between relief and concern. She had little desire to spend any more time beneath Miss Bingley’s critical eye, but she liked even less the thought of Jane going alone. Miss Bingley did not strike her as a woman who did anything without a purpose, and Elizabeth still had no notion what that purpose might be.
Before she could protest, however, her mother had already begun telling Jane which gown she ought to wear and insisting that she must ride to Netherfield rather than take the carriage.
This she could not let pass without an argument. "She cannot ride in this weather, Mama." Elizabeth glanced towards the windows, where dark clouds lay like a bruise across the horizon and the wind was beginning to shake the last leaves from thetrees. "It is sure to rain, and Jane has always been susceptible to the cold."
Mrs Bennet waved away the concern with her elaborate lace handkerchief. "A little rain will do her no harm, and Netherfield is scarcely three miles away. She will be there before the worst of it begins."
"Papa," Elizabeth said with growing exasperation.
Her father had been present for the entire conversation, though he remained firmly ensconced behind his newspaper and had so far offered no sign that any of it concerned him. At Elizabeth’s appeal, he lowered the paper just far enough to look across the table.
"I believe your mother has already settled the matter."
"She has settled that Jane should be soaked through in the hope that Mr Bingley will be obliged to keep her overnight. Please let her go in the carriage."
Mrs Bennet gave a cry of outrage. "Elizabeth Rose Bennet! What a thing to say! I cannot command the weather."
"No," Mr Bennet said mildly, "though I believe your mother has already decided that it will serve her purposes. Do not fuss, child. It is unlikely to be more than a drizzle, if it arrives at all."
Mrs Bennet began protesting that nobody in the room understood her, while Elizabeth looked towards Jane in alarm,hoping she might at least object on her own behalf. Jane only smiled, a little embarrassed by the commotion she had caused, and said that she did not mind riding if the rain held off.
Jane glanced towards the windows. "It is not raining at present, Lizzy," she said in the soothing tone she used when she was trying to placate the frayed nerves and bickering that often filled the Bennet household.
"It will be before you reach Netherfield," Elizabeth snapped.
