Page 26 of Mr. Darcy Comes to Town

Lydia and Kitty pouted simultaneously.

*

Bingley walked into the aquamarine and gold drawing room before dinner, holding a piece of paper in his hand. Darcy stood next to the fireplace, a glass of sherry between his fingers. Caroline had awaited his arrival while sitting in the center of the sofa, Basile spread out on her right side. She looked at him and smiled.

“What do you mean by not inviting all the Bennet sisters?” Bingley demanded of his sister.

She stopped smiling and stroking her cat, rising to her feet. Basile sat and glared with orange balefulness at Bingley. “Charles, I wished to limit the number of guests for our afternoon party to twenty so as not to overcrowd my drawing room. The mother and her five daughters equal six guests—too high a percentage of people from only one family—it will be even worse if Mr. Bennet chooses to attend. I do not suppose he will, however. That leaves only fourteen guests who are not Bennets.”

“So, you propose to half the number of Bennets by leaving out three of their daughters?” Bingley asked, clearly flabbergasted. “That is not done, Caroline. All the sisters are out, as you know, since you remarked upon it just the other day. I insist you send an addendum to the first invitation card, inviting the other three daughters.”

Caroline glowered. “Charles, you have directed me to have this party on Thursday instead of next week when I would have more time to prepare, and now you are insisting that I invite two scampering, vulgar young girls—from all I have heard—and one exceedingly dull girl? All our neighbors will scoff at us. What sort of hostess do you think I will be perceived as being?”

“A kind one,” Charles said, his expression softening. “Recall, my dear, that your other guests know the Bennet sisters much better than we do. They will expect nothing different from the youngest three than they have always known. Our neighbors can scarcely blame us for the high spirits of youth. If no one invites them out, how will Miss Lydia, Miss Kitty, and Miss Mary learn to behave differently?”

“My drawing room is not a schoolroom,” Miss Bingley snapped. She sighed heavily and smoothed her skirts. “They must have received the invitation by now. I believe they will be equally insulted by an altered invitation.”

Darcy moved away from the fireplace. “Miss Bingley, how did you phrase your invite?”

“I invited Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Miss Bennet, and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I could scarcely get all the words on the card.”

“If you should send a second invitation, using the other three sisters’ names, rather than addressing it to ‘The Youngest Three Bennet Daughters’, then you may tell them later that you wished to honor them by writing out their full names.”

Bingley brightened, holding up a finger and saying, “Which you could not fit on the first invitation.”

Miss Bingley pressed her lips together, clearly annoyed. “If you will kindly excuse me, I will address the card immediately so Brewster can send it out before we sit down to our dinner. What the Bennets will think of its late arrival I shudder to contemplate.”

She moved to leave the drawing room while muttering under her breath about the number of cups she would need to procure from a Meryton shop—if she could find any of a decent quality. Basile hastened after her. Miss Bingley turned at the door.

“By the by, our sister, Louisa, and her husband are arriving on Saturday.”

“Excellent,” her brother said. She left the room. Bingley shrugged and remarked, “Managing females is not an easy task. Thank you for your assistance.”

“You are most welcome. If your sister cannot find any tea cups in Meryton, she might look in St. Albans,” Darcy suggested. He took a sip of his sherry.

“I suspect we may be given that task,” Bingley said with a comical grimace. “Caroline will be far too busy tomorrow to go hunting for appropriate cups.”

“Will she trust us to choose?” Darcy asked skeptically.

Bingley chuckled. “She will trust you.”

“Then St. Albans will be our goal tomorrow. First thing?” Darcy asked.

“I believe they have excellent posting inns where a good breakfast may be had,” Bingley said, nodding rapidly. “I had best inform Brewster that we will leave as soon as we are dressed.”

“We will need an example of the teacups to take with us.”

“Right,” Bingley said, hurrying off and leaving Darcy to look around the empty drawing room with blinking eyes.

“The sooner Georgiana and my cousin arrive, the better,” he murmured before finishing his sherry. He grimaced. And Louisa and her husband.

*

Early Wednesday morning, Jeffry stirred and watched Lizzy feed her animals. He scurried forward when his portion arrived. This looks delicious…yum, yum, yum. After a few moments of enjoyment, Jeffry looked up and discovered his charge had taken Harry outside for his morning walk.

“Ain’t y’going t’follow ‘er?” Bruce the turtle asked Jeffry.

Jeffry, busy at his breakfast, mumbled something even he could not understand.