Miss Bennet & Mr Bingley (15 page)

 
* * * *

Charles had seen his friend dancing
in the adjacent set and noticed that they had not parted amicably. He waylaid
Darcy and drew him to one side. ‘So, Darcy, you danced with Miss Elizabeth?’

‘How observant of you; Bingley. I
can assure you I merely did so in order to be polite.’

‘I noticed you were arguing again;
has she been teasing you?’

‘Teasing? No she is impertinent; I
have no wish to discuss the matter.’

‘Come now, Darcy. You must admit
that she is braver than any of the other young ladies of your acquaintance. It
must be a novel experience for you to have someone take you to task in that
way. Normally they are fawning on your every word.’

Their conversation was interrupted
by the arrival of Caroline. ‘My dear Mr Darcy, are you not bored with the
dancing? I am sure that, like me, you much prefer to converse with like-minded
friends than skip about on the dance floor.’

Darcy replied politely and walked
away, he could hear his sister talking as she followed him. He smiled,
wondering if his friend would consider Caroline as a sycophantic admirer? Up
till now he had been no more than courteous, the overtures had definitely come
from her side. He would go and look for Jane - it would soon be time the supper
dance.

 
* * * *

‘Ah! There you are, Jane. Why are
you not dancing? There are a dozen attractive gentlemen without partners, you
only have to look in their direction and they shall be here immediately to ask
you.’

Jane shook her head slightly. ‘I
have no wish to dance again, thank you, ma’am. I am engaged for the supper
dance with Mr Bingley, I believe it is the one after this, and I do not wish to
be overheated.’

‘Indeed you do not, my dear. I see
that he has not stood up so far with anyone apart from Miss Bingley, Charlotte
and yourself. He has walked past several hopeful young ladies, I am sure that
is a sign of his partiality to you.’

The music finished and Jane turned,
eagerly scanning the crowd, waiting for Charles to arrive. She dreaded to think
what her mother might say to embarrass them both, so moved away as soon as she
saw him advancing in her direction.

His colour was hectic, his eyes
alight with laughter. ‘My word, that was a lively jig. I have scarcely got
breath enough for our dance, Miss Bennet.’

‘I shall be perfectly content to
sit it out with you, Mr Bingley, if that is what you prefer.’

‘Of course not, I am not such a
weakling. Come, Miss Bennet, they shall start without us if we do not take our
places right away.’

As the music faded the doors to the
grand dining room were thrown back and he escorted her to a small table set
aside from the others; she could only assume that he had planned it this way.

 
A footman immediately produced a glass of cool
lemonade for her and champagne for him.

Two plates from the buffet table
arrived moments later. She looked down in dismay at the amount of food piled on
her plate.

‘I shall never eat all this, Mr
Bingley. It is delicious, no doubt, but I have not such a prodigious appetite.’

He grinned. ‘No matter, leave what
you do not wish to eat, Miss Bennet. I told him to put on one of everything. I
had no notion Caroline had ordered such a variety.’ He poked through the mound
on his own plate. ‘Good grief! I believe there is a slice of apple tart and a
portion of junket or some such underneath the savouries.’

Jane’s hands flew to her mouth. ‘Oh
dear! What shall we do? I am partial to lobster patties, but not when they are
served with apple pie.’

He looked truly perplexed until he
realised she was having difficulty containing her giggles. Immediately they
were helpless with laughter. ‘We cannot eat this, shall I fetch you something
else?’

‘No, thank you, this lemonade is
sufficient. I hope we will not hurt anyone’s feelings if the plates are left
untouched.’

He mopped his eyes. ‘I cannot think
what possessed the man to do this.’ He stared more closely at the footman in
question and then he turned to her, a look of bemusement on his face. ‘You
know, that footman, he is a groom. I believe that Caroline has dragged the poor
fellow from the stables and decked him out in a borrowed livery for the
evening. No wonder he had no idea what to serve us.’

Jane looked more closely at the
footman, and underneath his periwig she could see his complexion was tanned,
she could not see his hands as he was wearing white cotton gloves. ‘Poor man,
he must be finding it a sore trial feeding us after a stable full of horses.’

He turned to her and held out his
hand. ‘Miss Bennet, let us stroll about the house, the entrance hall is the
quietist place at the moment.’

They left the mishmash of food and
slipped away unnoticed; his guests were too busy devouring the delicacies that
had been provided for them to be watching anything else.

‘Mr Bingley, I heard very
disturbing information about Mr Wickham and Mr Darcy. I could not believe what
I was told and gave no credence to it. However, Mr Wickham does seem an honest
gentleman, so I am in a quandary as I cannot understand why he should make up
such a tale.’

‘I am afraid I do not know the
whole of the history and am quite ignorant of the circumstances which have
principally offended Darcy; but I will vouch for my friend’s good conduct and
his probity and honour. I am perfectly convinced that Wickham has done some
something to earn his opprobrium. I am sorry to say that this gentleman is not
respectable, he must have been very imprudent and deserves to lose Mr Darcy’s
regard.’

‘Have you met Mr Wickham before
this, Mr Bingley?’

‘No, I never saw him until the
other morning at Meryton. I have no reason to question Mr Darcy, if he
disregards the young man, then he must have done something dishonourable.’

Jane sighed. ‘I hate to think ill
of Wickham, he seems so amiable and Elizabeth seems quite taken with him.
However, I am sure that you know more about the matter than I, and I do not
intend to worry you with it any longer.’

‘Darcy is like family to me, I hope
you understand my loyalties must be to him even if I do not know the exact
circumstances.’

‘I do so agree; duty to one’s
family must be paramount in everybody’s life. I should hate to disoblige my
parents if it were possible to do otherwise.’

They continued their stroll about
the circumference of the ballroom. ‘Have you made any plans for the Christmas
festivities, Miss Bennet?’

‘Yes, my aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs
Gardiner, come down to Longbourn for a week. We do not have a moment to
ourselves, but I sincerely hope that you shall have time to call in and see us.
Are you planning anything here, Mr Bingley?’

‘After tonight I never wish to hold
another function again. However, I expect that Caroline and Louisa will arrange
some private parties, I shall let you know in good time so that you and your
family may attend.’

They stayed together for a while
longer and then Jane thought it best to return to the supper room before her
absence was noticed. He went to claim Mrs Hurst for her dance and promised to
return to her side as soon as it was done. She met Elizabeth in an ante-room.

‘Jane, are you enjoying yourself? I
have been watching you; I believe that you and Bingley seem perfectly matched.’

‘I do hope so, Lizzy. He is
everything I ever wanted in a gentleman, he is kind, amiable and I do believe
he returns my regard. I shall not say too much on the subject, for he has not
mentioned the future, but I believe I am not mistaken. And his sisters are my
greatest friends; surely they must wish us to be connected?’

‘I am sure that they do not, Jane.
Bingley has monopolized you all evening; there are several young ladies
smarting from his walking past without asking
them
to dance. Did you
have time to ask him if he knew anything about his business between Mr Darcy
and Wickham?’ Jane told her what she had heard. ‘I have not a doubt of Mr
Bingley’s sincerity,’ said Elizabeth warmly, ‘but you must excuse my not being
convinced by assurances only. Bingley’s defence of his friend was a very able
one, I daresay, but since he is unacquainted with several parts of the story,
and has learned the rest from that friend himself, I shall venture still to
think of both gentlemen as I did before.’

Jane was relieved when the subject
returned to Charles and herself. She prayed that Elizabeth’s confidence in his
intention of making her an offer was not misplaced. He had not mentioned
anything specific, but she was sure she had not imagined the attention he was
paying her. Certainly her mother and Lady Lucas were convinced that she would
soon be living as mistress of Netherfield.

Jane decided not to rejoin her mother but remain with her sister,
Elizabeth, until Mr Bingley came to find her. She smiled warmly as he
approached.

‘Pray excuse me, sir, I must speak to an acquaintance. But first, may I
compliment you on the success of your ball.’ Elizabeth smiled and vanished into
the crowd leaving Charles much perplexed.

‘My dear Miss Bennet, it has seemed an interminable time since I last
spoke to you. Do you think I should have asked Miss Elizabeth to dance? She did
not look especially pleased to see me.’

‘No, sir, we had been discussing other matters and she was thinking of
those things. Her expression was not in any way connected to your arrival.’

‘In that case, we both have the approval of at least one sister. As we
may not dance again, do you wish to sit down and play a hand of cards? Or you
could introduce me to the people that you know, I am all but a stranger in the
area, am I not?’

Jane had no wish to waste a moment of their time on playing cards. They
had not been perambulating around the place for many minutes when she observed
that the orchestra were no longer playing.

‘I believe that there is talk of singing, Miss Bennet. Do you wish to participate
in this or shall we be observers?’

‘I have no wish to perform in so public a place, thank you. But please,
if there is any other young lady you wish to sing a duet with, I shall be
pleased to listen.’

She noticed, with dismay, that Mary was first to take the piano stool.
Her sister played a tune that she almost did not recognize and after a pause of
half a minute began another. This time she sang and Jane wished that she had
the courage to accompany her, for Mary’s voice was not strong and her manner a
trifle affected. There was nothing she could do, and fortunately her companion
was unmoved by Mary’s display. So she smiled at Mr Bingley and they resumed
their conversation.

‘At what time do you intend the last dance to be?’

‘I have no idea, Miss Bennet. I have left all those matters to Caroline.
I hope that you are not thinking of rushing away early?’

This was the last thing on her mind. ‘No, Mr Bingley, I shall be happy
for this evening to go on for ever.’

Jane was given an extra fifteen minutes of private conversation with
Charles as for some reason their carriages were the last to appear. They
departed without any fixed agreement between them as to when they should meet
again, but Jane was content. She was almost certain that he returned her love,
that his sisters approved of the connection and that it could only be a matter
of time before he made her an offer.

On the return journey she volunteered to travel with her sisters and
Elizabeth climbed in with Mr Collins and her parents. Even Lydia was quiet,
apart from the odd comment to say how tired she was. She closed her eyes and
could not help but smile at the thought of what might be the outcome of her
next meeting with
him
.

No sooner were they private, their ball gowns hanging neatly in the closet,
than the two sisters scrambled into bed eager to discuss the events of the
evening.

‘Lizzy, I saw you dancing with Mr Darcy, did you part on bad terms? I
fear that you must have asked him about Wickham.’

‘I did, and regretted it. He was most disagreeable and refused to tell
me what I wished to know. I am sure it was his doing that Mr Wickham did not
come to the ball. I was so looking forward to dancing with him, it quite spoilt
the evening for me.’

‘Charlotte thinks that he is interested in you…’

‘Mr Wickham?’

‘No, Mr Darcy. He only danced with Bingley’s sisters and yourself. You
might not have noticed how honoured you were, but others did.’

‘That is nonsense, and you know it, Jane. But, I must admit he said
nothing bad about Wickham, merely agreed that he was good at making friends but
less so at keeping them. I cannot make him out at all. There are times when I
find him an invigorating companion, but mostly his pride gets in the way of me
liking him. Enough of me, I noticed that you and Bingley spent a deal of time
together. And I was not the only one to remark on it, Sir William made a point
of coming over and telling Darcy what a handsome couple you made.’

Jane felt a glow of happiness. ‘I can tell you, Lizzy, that the more
time I spend with him the better I love him. Although he did not say so in as
many words I am expecting him to visit in the next day or two. Can you imagine
the transports of delight from our mother? Should you be pleased if I became
Mrs Bingley?’

‘You know I should, for I have already told you that I like him very
well. I could not think of a better man to become my brother-in-law, however, I
am not so sure about welcoming his sisters into the bosom of our family.’