Page 60 of Miss Bennet's Dragon
“Can a queen not be tiresome and vain?”
“So far, the queen is entertaining. I shall change my mind when my head is lopped off.”
He said nothing. I suppose it was an odd conversation.
“You have not said why you visit your aunt,” I said, feeling rather adventurous.
I had wondered. He arrived the day after me and showed no sign of leaving. That seemed devoted for a nephew, at least one who did not need to flatter for an inheritance.
Twenty steps farther, he replied. “The bold answer would be that I enjoy the company.”
I would call enjoying her ladyship peculiar, not bold. But he had no living parents, and his sister was much younger. It must be strange to have so few family. “I suppose Lady Catherine reminds you of your mother.”
He stopped dead in his tracks.
“No,” he said, very definitely.
Colonel Fitzwilliam was also often walking,and I met him every day or two. Conversation ranged widely. I discovered, after some friendly prying, that he was the younger son of an earl.
“Of course, younger sons are little more than household pests,” he laughed good-naturedly. “I have neither title, nor property, nor funds. Just an obligationto advance our family by bargaining my ephemeral hint of rank to marry a woman of large fortune.”
“I think it rather pleasant that gentlemen can face the same challenge as ladies. What is the price to marry an earl’s younger son? I suppose you would not ask above fifty thousand pounds. But I fear I cannot bid. I should be hard-pressed to purchase a fashionable hat.”
I expected a laugh, but he was quiet before replying, “I am glad I accepted an officer’s commission in the regulars. It has reduced my dependence.”
“You seem at leisure. I thought the regulars to be consuming.”
“For a country at war, all of us seem extraordinarily at leisure. However, I am on leave after six weeks in Spain with Wellesley. That was a different experience. Battle swiftly removes the shine from glory. And Wellesley is a man who cannot abide leisure in himself or others. In that, he is like Darcy.”
I did not reply, but perhaps the colonel saw my expression because he continued, “You have not seen Darcy up all night, corresponding on matters of policy and government. I am relieved to see him finally take a breath and enjoy life. Since his father and mother died, he has been a driven man.”
Four weeks into my visit,I received a letter from my father. It finished:
“The greatest news, or absence thereof, is that the Monster of Meryton has made no further appearance. The constables twice drove dogs through the woods but found neither scent nor sign. I admit that your iron-barred flight, which I advocated, appears foolhardy.
Indeed, Lizzy, many neighbors more timid than yourself have returned to march about in self-satisfied triumph. Perhaps you should return. The estate suffers without your efficient interference, and I feel your sister Jane would benefit. Also, I miss you greatly.
Your loving father, James Bennet.”
I pondered his letter while the maid braided white ranunculus blooms into my hair. This evening would be my seventh dinner at Rosings, an outing I didnot enjoy. I had heard more than enough of Lady Catherine’s proclamations and Mr. Collins’s pandering.
Charlotte was beside me, fastening a ribbon I had offered for her bonnet. She enjoyed my company—she told me so every few days—but my visit had exceeded our original plan.
Even so, I was resistant to my father’s suggestion. Surprisingly so.
“How long will Mr. Darcy visit?” I asked.
“You would know better than I,” Charlotte replied.
“He is much more tolerable here than in Hertfordshire.” I was trying to put my finger on what bothered me about leaving.
“Be careful, Lizzy. He began by calling you tolerable.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You walk together a great deal.”
“That is unavoidable. There are only so many paths.”
