Page 39 of Eavesdroppers Never Hear
“I have had some time to learn. What did they do?”
“The Bingley sisters were in a panic about Mr Bingley’s attentions. They spent a quarter-hour disparaging our family, our uncles, our situation, and…”
“…and you!”
“Especially me.”
“So—Jane had a fit and the two of you left on Nellie, which must have been the most humiliating moment of that boy’s life.”
“Why humiliating?” Elizabeth asked, mostly curious about how her mother thought about it.
“Jane spurned his fancy carriage to ride a nag that is months from being knackered, and I imagine you walked. I suspect every servant within ten miles knows about it.”
In the heat of the moment Elizabeth and Jane had not really thought about it (or cared). After the moment it was in the past, so she had not really thought very much about how the neighbourhood would see their exit. “I believe you were right, but…”
“Do not tell me you gave them a setdown first?”
Elizabeth stared at the floor, still holding her mother’s hands but disconcerted, and simply nodded.
Much to her surprise, Mrs Bennet laughed gaily. “Good for you! I always wanted to deliver a good setdown to some clodpole. Well done, my girl!”
Elizabeth laughed nervously, and more fully when her mother squeezed her hands.
“You know that setdown probably brought your Mr Darcy to whatever point he is at. I suspect he likes to be challenged, and I doubt he has been taken to task since he was breeched.”
“I suppose so,” Elizabeth said, feeling that any discussion of Mr Darcy was likely to end poorly.
“Do not look so nervous. I thought the man completely out of reach, but you are reeling him in. I will leave you to your sport.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Mama, you are quite funny when you are in the mood. Why do you hide your light under a bushel?”
The matriarch sighed. “It is the way of the world, Lizzy. Perhaps I might learn to do better, but my mannerisms and habits are what life has given me. I know you find them embarrassing, but I fit right into our society.”
“Perhaps life might give you a chance at something better?”
“Perhaps… but that is a discussion for another day.”
She squeezed her mother’s hands again and thought about escaping. “Just so you know—Mr Darcy and I are coming along nicely. I despised him Sunday morning and was courting him Sunday evening. We will advance or abandon the effort when the time is right.”
“Do not wait too long.”
“I will not,” Elizabeth said. She was starting to feel events pushing her into a corner (which she did not care for), but since her mother was not pushing her too hard, she thought to let it go.
“Is there any hope for Mr Bingley? I know that if you marry Mr Darcy, you will throw your sisters in the path of other rich men, but I thought he was a good match for Jane.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I believe she is waiting to see if he is a boy or a man.”
Mrs Bennet laughed. “Sensible enough.”
They heard the rest of the family in the corridor approaching for breakfast.
Mrs Bennet gave her one last squeeze of the hands before the onslaught, and one last piece of advice.
“Perhaps you need to decide if you are a girl or a woman.”[1]
18.Encounter
Elizabeth was still thinking about her mother’s final words as she approached the breakfast parlour, so she was startled when Mr Collins singled her out in the corridor, bowed, and asked politely, “May I have a moment, Miss Elizabeth?”
