Page 77 of The Cheapside Runners
Dinner turned out as tedious as he expected. He tried several times to redirect conversation away from Miss Bingley’s topics, but she could not be dissuaded for long. He tried to encourage Bingley to take a crack at it, but that had just as little success.
They spent the evening in the same old tedious conversations about the same old things, and he wondered how the ladies did so without running mad. Of course, that led him to wonder if theyactually had gone mad, which might explain a great deal.
The separation eventually came after at least two courses too many, and he found himself with Bingley and Hurst, much like that last night in Netherfield… aside from being free of the disagreeable presence of the viscount, of course.
Bingley said, “I have been thinking of returning to Netherfield. Would you care to join me?”
Darcy studied his brandy snifter for a moment, and finally asked, “What compels you to return?”
His friend sighed. “I just want toknow.”
“Know what? Whether you are cut out for the life of a landowner, or about Miss Bennet?”
Bingley thought about it long enough for Hurst to fall asleep, which was probably for the best.
“Both, I suppose. I am still very interested in Miss Bennet but distressed by her relatives.”
There was not the slightest chance Darcy would inform his friend he had sparred with those relatives a few hours earlier, nor would he tell him that he would find them entirely reformed (or at least mostly).
Hemost certainlywould not inform his friend he was sceptical that Miss Jane Bennet would accept him. She was no longer the desperate woman with a mother pressing her at any reasonably solvent man. Even putting aside the fact, that she could hold her own in a fight, and disregarding the fact that her sister was actually wealthy enough that none of the girlsneededto marry—Darcy was not at all certain Miss Bennet would accept a man weak-willed enough to allow his sister to run roughshod over him. She might have before her sister’s training, but that ship had sailed.
He could not say any of that, of course, so he tried the next best thing.
“What aboutyourrelatives?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean your sister’s manners are not noticeably better than Miss Lydia’s, when you get right down to it. She certainly cannot compete with Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth, or even Miss Mary.”
Bingley was astonished that Darcy had just named four of the five Bennet sisters without batting an eye, and he would have wondered about it for some time, if he did not believe Darcy probably found the family as distressing as he did.
“Do you think Miss Bennet would reject me over my sisters?”
“I have no idea. I am just saying that if you go to her onbended knee saying you will take her over your objections about the people that she loves having inadequate manners, having done nothing to secure your own family’s behaviour—well, I doubt much good could come of it. Hypocrisy is hardly a good basis for romance.”
“You think she might reject me?” Bingley asked with a squeak.
“I say nothing of the sort. She may well accept you just to get security. She may reject you out of hand. She may ask for a courtship, or some evidence that you can act like the head of a family. There are a dozen ways it could end, but unless you speak a bit more openlyand humbly, you will never know.”
“It sounds very hard.”
“I was recently advised by someone very wise and trustworthy that everything worthwhile in life is hard. Are you prepared to do the work? If not, you might be better angling for an easier target.”
Bingley looked thoughtful, so Darcy decided to let him stew on it. He doubted his friend really had what it took to win a Jane Bennet who was no longer desperate, and probably not cut out for the life of a landowner either—but then again, neither were his problems to solve.
He wanted to get the evening over with, and the sooner they joined the ladies, the sooner he could leave.
He briefly considered trying to speak to Miss Bingley with even less subtlety, but ultimately decided it was a waste of time. Hopefully, he would soon be publicly courting Miss Elizabeth, and that would drive the last nail in the coffin of Miss Bingley’s ambitions. He seriously doubted that anything he said would get the job done.
26.Breakfast of Supplicants
Breakfast at Elizabeth’s house was a relatively noisy affair. It was not nearly as chaotic or indecorous as Longbourn, but still, the ladies had settled in better with Lizzy Bennet at the head of the table than the stern and unyielding Mrs Black.
The ladies had all awoken to find they had several of their own day dresses in their closets and wondered how they got there. Lydia speculated that Elizabeth had made the request when the ball upset the normal order of things.
It seemed plausible, but they were curious, so Mary asked, “I know this class is special, and it went all askew after the ball; but how does it compare to your ordinary classes.”
Lydia thought that question too general. “Yes, Lizzy. For example, why do we have our own clothes now?”
