Page 86 of The Briar Bargain
"Of course not. King," Bingley added, laying down the card with a flourish. "Three cards to me."
Darcy began counting out his cards with more attention than the task required. The first was a six, the second a three, and the third, an ace.
"Four cards to me," he said with satisfaction.
"Good Lord," Bingley muttered, beginning to pay his debt. "I normally have better luck."
"You have secured your happiness. Perhaps you have used your luck up for the nonce."
They played on, the pile of discarded cards growing between them while the fire settled into a steady crackle. Outside, the wind had picked up, rattling the windows and sending the flames in the grate dancing. Inside, however, all was warmth and comfort, the sort of easy masculine companionship that required neither effort nor performance.
It was Bingley who broke the peaceful silence at last. "I spoke with Caroline, as you know."
Darcy placed the eight of clubs down and waited.
"About Miss Bennet," Bingley continued, his own card following. "About my intentions."
"Did she accept the news?"
Bingley's laugh held no humour. "She nearly fainted. No sense in allowing all that practice for the Viscountess of Alverstone's pugs to be wasted." He shook his head. "I believe she expected me to capitulate at once."
"And when you did not?"
"She unburdened herself." Bingley's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "She had much to say about Miss Bennet's family, her circumstances, her lack of connections. The usual litany of objections."
Darcy said nothing. Bingley had friends at nearly every level of society. He was an amiable fellow and was often sought out. But his sister'sconnections were fewer, lower, and meaner in character. Miss Bingley needed her brother's good opinion if she wished to rise in society. Attempting to berate him over his choice of wife was hardly conducive to her success in that arena.
His expression must have conveyed his thoughts, for Bingley waved his hand dismissively.
"I stopped her before she could work herself into full cry. Told her plainly that I would marry Miss Bennet with or without her approval, that her behaviour during the Bennet ladies' stay had been impolite at best, and, as I did not believe she would improve, she would be on her way to Yorkshire as soon as our guests return home. And that she would receive no further help from me."
Darcy was impressed. "Good for you, Bingley. And how did she receive this news?"
"As you would expect. She argued. At length. Told me I was ruining her chances of making a good match, to which I replied that she had done that all on her own. And then . . ." Bingley hesitated, glancing up from his cards. "She brought up your name again."
Darcy's hand stilled on his pile of cards. "In what context?"
"She seemed to believe that you might intervene on her behalf. That once the Bennets returned to Longbourn, you would 'come to your senses,' I believe was the phrase. She said she needed to be here when that happened."Bingley placed an ace.
Darcy began paying the debt, his movements automatic while his mind worked through the situation. As he had thought, Miss Bingley had expected him to continue to share her disdain for the Bennet family, to support her efforts to separate her brother from an unsuitable connection. "And what did you tell her?"
Bingley's cheeks coloured slightly. "I am afraid I lost my temper. I told her that she was deluding herself, that you were not interested in her opinions, never had been, and that your affections were otherwise engaged."
"Bingley—"
"I did not say to whom," Bingley added hastily. "Though she asked. Repeatedly. I simply made it clear that she was labouring under a misapprehension regarding your sentiments towards her."
Darcy drew a slow breath, considering the implications. "I would have preferred my name remain out of it altogether," he said finally.
"Yes, I do not doubt that. But she needed to hear it, Darcy," Bingley leaned forward, his expression earnest. "She has been telling herself this story for months, and it has been poisoning everything around her. Better to make a clean cut than to let the wound fester."
It was a fair point, though Darcy could not entirely suppress his unease. Miss Bingley was not a woman to simply accept disappointment. He had entered into her disparaging of Miss Elizabeth after the assembly in October. It had not lasted more than a fortnight, and yet she would think herself ill-used now that he had changed course. If only he had kept his cruel, witty remarks to himself, perhaps Miss Bingley would not have conjured an interest where none existed. "What will she do in the north?"
"Attempt to return to London, I expect. She has friends there." Bingley placed a queen, and Darcy automatically paid the two-card penalty. "But she will not find refuge with Hurst—he has made that abundantly clear, as you know. And she will not be invited to Netherfield, nor will she be allowed to reside with us in London. I will not subject Jane to that particular trial."
The protectiveness in Bingley's voice when he spoke his beloved's name was unmistakable, and Darcy felt a stab of something that might have been envy.
"When will you speak to Mr. Bennet?"
