Page 80 of The Cheapside Runners
They all started chattering excitedly. While Maria and the Weatherbys were not desperate to leave their homes, they all saw the great advantages of being here in town, at least part of the time—not the least of which was a chance for more education for free.
Nobody mentioned it, or even thought about it at the time, but since the Cheapside Runners business consisted almost entirely of protecting very eligible women, some of them must have eligible brothers. Elizabeth had, of course, thought about it, but she was disinclined towards abusing her uncle’s customers with matchmaking.
Elizabeth called for order, and said, “There is one more tiny little matter that I should bring to your attention before any of you decide to live here or not.”
They all stared in rapt attention, the excitement for the grand adventure building by the minute.
Elizabeth looked around sternly. “This room only!”
“Of course,” Mary said instantly and everyone agreed.
Elizabeth blew out a nervous breath, which seemed unnatural to most of the ladies after the previous ten days.
“Mr Darcy and I are courting. By the time you arrive, there is a reasonable chance I will be gone, and you will be under the tutelage of Mrs Rose and my other instructors.”
The excited screams that erupted from that revelation assaulted Darcy’s ears as he entered the parlour, so he naturally joined in—since her assertion was music to his ears.
27.Signs and Portents
Elizabeth was slightly startled by her suitor’s appearance but thought it a very good sign that her first reaction was a smile. Shelikedto see him walk in the door and wondered if she might just be farther along on the path to true affection than she expected in what was only their third day of real courtship.
She left her chair and gave him her hands. He reciprocated by placing a kiss on her knuckle. She took it as another good sign that she liked the feeling.
“Am I interrupting, Elizabeth?” he asked pensively.
“I did not expect you, Fitzwilliam, but it is a pleasant surprise.”
Darcy wanted to dance a jig over her happy reaction and their easy acceptance of Christian names, but he simply smiled and squeezed her hands tighter, which was another thing she did not hate.
“I see our slow, steady, and quiet plan proceeds apace,” he added with a smirk.
She just laughed and shook her finger at him (the one on the hand he was not still holding). “I suppose that idea was a touch naïve.”
“What do you mean?” Lydia asked quietly, which pleased both. It may have been slightly intrusive to ask about their private conversation, but since it was happening in the same room a few yards away, it was hardly a capital crime. Since Lydia’s voice seemed to be dropping about an octave a week, it was approaching downright pleasant.
Elizabeth turned to face her charges, with Darcy taking up station beside her. “Do you want an explanation from Lizzy Bennet or Mrs Black?”
“How about Lizzy Black,” Mary hopefully suggested, prompting a bout of giggling that Mrs Black would hate, butLizzy Bennet rather enjoyed.
Lizzy and Darcy sat on a sofa, and Elizabeth began.
“Courtship in our society is a bit of a fraught endeavour. Ladies are supposed to be demure and opaque, or they are considered forward, while men are supposed to be bold but not too bold, while somehow understanding what is hidden behind the mask of polite demureness. It is absurd, but it is the society we live in. Courtships generally progress in fits and starts, driven at least theoretically bysigns and portents.”
She glanced around to ensure full attention.
“One of the things we usually discuss in the last few days is how to get around those societal limitations by learning to read the signs and make your own indications comprehensible to men, whom we can safely assume are—”
She glanced at Darcy, who helpfully supplied, “Lunkheads… loggerheads… clodpoles.”
“Correct!” she replied to everyone’s amusement. “There is a point where a relationship is nothing, as far as society is concerned. They have not met or have just been introduced. After that, in the ideal scenario, the couple givessignsof increasing intimacy over time. A dance is practically meaningless. A significant dance, slightly more so, depending on previous signs. Two dances in one evening are somewhat more. First, last, and supper sets count for more. Calling at a lady’s home once is meaningless. Twice in a week more. Twosignificantdances in one evening or calling four times in a week is enough to reasonably raise expectations.”
Elizabeth paused, reluctantly acknowledging that even though that was all basic, it was new to at least half her class—as usual.
“During all those interactions, a couple should be chaperoned or in company, and what they aresupposed to sayis constrained by the rules of propriety, which Ihopeall of youunderstand at this point?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“As the couple becomes more intimate, they should increase in understanding such that they canrelaxthe rules, carefully. For example, neither Fitzwilliam nor I gave permission for use of Christian names. That would have been frightfully forward if we knew each other less, but we each took a chance that our intimacy was sufficient to assume such permission.”
