Page 71 of Compromise & Consequence
“Come, Caroline. We have not been herethatmuch.”
“You forget, brother, I have often visited with Miss Darcy in this very room. Why, she is almost like a sister to me,” Miss Bingley said with a sideways glance at Jane. Knowing what she wrote to Miss Bennet after the ball at Netherfield, Darcy’s anger rose in tandem with his intense dislike of the woman. About to give her a well-deserved set down, Caroline spoke again. “IsdearGeorgiana joining us tonight? I would so love to hear her play the pianoforte. No one can perform like her.”
“My sister is staying at my uncle’s house for the interim.”
“A wise choice, given the circumstances.”
The narrowing of Elizabeth’s eyes did not bode well for Charles’s sister. Darcy almost felt sorry for Miss Bingley when his wife’s countenance cleared and she smiled. Not a friendly smile, by any stretch of the imagination, but one which reminded him of a cat that had found a new mouse to play with. He cast a glance at Richard and noted he also watched her intently. His cousin had hinted his wife had a core of steelbeneath her wit and grace. Would that steel take the shape of a cudgel or the sharp edge of a rapier?
Elizabeth rose to her feet and joined Darcy, twining her arm with his. He looked down at her with surprise and a little trepidation.
“Thank you, Miss Bingley, for showing so much concern foroursister. Last I saw of her, she asked if she could remain with Aunt Lucinda… oh, do forgive my tinyfaux pas, you only know her as Lady Matlock.”
Elizabeth’s smile widened as Miss Bingley’s nostrils flared.
A rapier it was, then.
“Anyway, Georgiana wishes to give us some privacy and will join us tomorrow, now that Jane is here.”
“Then I must make sure I call upon her when she arrives,” Miss Bingley simpered, unaware that one could bleed out from the cuts of a thousand knives as well as a full frontal attack.
“I am afraid we shall not be at home tomorrow. My sisters and I have been invited to Hertford House.”
“Hertford House! Why would you be invited to the Spanish Embassy?”
“Come, let us all get seated and I will ring for tea. Or would you rather some Madeira, Mrs. Hurst?”
Darcy did not dare smile over the fact his wife chose not to answer Miss Bingley’s question and rather had deflected the conversation to Mrs. Hurst. It seemed like the kitty did not want the mouse to have too much information. For now, he would follow her lead.
***
“You have the devil’s luck when it comes to whist, Miss Bennet,” Mr. Hurst said as he and his wife lost yet another hand toRichard and Jane. Elizabeth curbed a smile. Beneath Jane’s calmfaçadelay a razor-sharp mind with the uncanny ability to know who held what cards at all times. It was also one of the reasons she avoided playingVingt-et-un. She always seemed to know which card would turn over and grew bored with the game too fast.
The evening had been fairly enjoyable with one table playing whist while the other played Euchre. Footmen came in and removed the tables and chairs and Darcy poured each of the men a snifter of brandy. The ladies commandeered two of the three settees that formed a cozy grouping.
“My dear Miss Bennet, I am so worried for you,” Miss Bingley said suddenly. Taking Jane’s silence as a tacit agreement to continue this vein of conversation, she said, “I worry you have reached a certain age with no hint of a marriage prospect.”
Elizabeth dearly wished Miss Bingley had kept her avowed written promise of not acknowledging Jane in any way and decided to insert herself into the conversation.
“Miss Bingley, how thoughtful to concern yourself on a topic of which you are soveryfamiliar,” Elizabeth said through a smile as fake as Caroline’s. “After five seasons, how doyourprospects fare?”
She heard the colonel snigger and then murmur to her husband. “Whom do you think your wife will choose as her second?” Elizabeth fought the inclination to turn her head and tell him it would not get that far. Miss Bingley would concede the field before the night was over and she planned on taking no prisoners.
“My prospects are none of your concern, Miss Eliza,” Miss Bingley said, her lips thinning in anger. “Pray, excuse my interference. It was kindly meant.”
“I am sure it was. Whilst I am certain Jane appreciates your interest; you may safely set your worries aside. She has received an offer of marriage.”
From her peripheral vision, she noticed the colonel straighten at her words.
“She has?”
The officious orange-shrouded prig dared raise a hand to her throat as though such a notion was beyond belief.
“Indeed, however, she turned the gentleman down.” The colonel’s shoulders slumped in relief. Most excellent. “That was when both of us swore we would only marry for the greatest of love.”
“How… quaint.” Caroline cast a coy glance at Mr. Darcy. “Did you keep your self-made promise and marry for love, Miss Eliza?”
Miss Bingley dared to snigger and covered her mouth with her fingers.
