Page 52

When Mrs. Bennet entered the drawing room at Netherfield on Tuesday evening, she expected sneers from Miss Bingley and perhaps Mrs. Hurst. But she no longer cared. She could not change their behaviour any more than they had been able to dictate their brother’s. It would just have to be endured.

What was it that Mr. Hastings had said? Something about suffering making the man. And why not the woman as well? She would be a stronger person for taking ill-treatment in stride and not letting it get her down.

Mrs. Hurst was surprisingly pleasant, but Miss Bingley wasn’t. Mrs. Bennet felt quite proud of herself as she responded with civility and indifference. She could be strong. Although she was happy to have the ordeal over with and go and talk to friends instead.

She watched happily when the dancing began.

Jane, leading the way with Mr. Bingley, was in splendid looks.

So was Mary, which Mrs. Bennet thought a remarkable achievement considering how little interest she had always taken in appearances.

And her partner was just as elegantly dressed as Mr. Bingley.

It was nice to see Mr. Madison dancing. Even if he had no thoughts of marriage, there was nothing wrong with enjoying a pleasant activity.

And there was Elizabeth in a lovely dress, and her partner the most elegant of all. She and Mr. Darcy had become quite good friends. They were laughing about something and looking—

Mrs. Bennet’s jaw dropped. In a brief glance between the two she had seen something so obvious that she must have been dense not to have seen it sooner. Even her foolish sister had comprehended what she had not. Mr. Darcy was in love with Lizzy. And she would welcome an offer from him.

Was he going to make her an offer? Mrs. Bennet thought it very likely. He had looked at her like Mr. Bingley often looked at Jane.

How foolish she had been to speak of Mr. Darcy being perfect for Mary.

And to think that Lizzy was trying to bring the two together.

It was a good thing she had sworn off matchmaking.

Her matches had been all wrong. But her daughters had known what was right for them, and now Jane and Lizzy would have the happiness of marrying for love.

Mrs. Bennet felt quite giddy as the dancers set into motion. Beyond them, the crowd appeared to swirl. She rubbed her eyes, looked again, and perceived four ladies, all separate but only a little apart, and each one moving purposefully in the same direction.

The first of these was Mrs. Peacock, who seized Mrs. Goulding at that moment, and almost shook her while speaking with great animation.

A little to the left, Mrs. Crane was treating Lady Lucas in a similar fashion.

Further along, Mrs. King was waving her arms about while addressing Mrs. Finch.

And a bit further, Mrs. Partridge was managing to keep her hands to herself while speaking to a small group of people, but she was bouncing up and down in evident excitement.

After a few minutes, these ladies moved on, with an elderly couple looking as though they had taken fright when Mrs. Peacock pounced upon them.

Mrs. Goulding was taking a step back from Mrs. Crane, Lady Lucas was leaning away from the waving arms, and Mrs. Finch’s head was moving up and down in unison with Mrs. Partridge’s bounce.

Forgetting about the dancers, Mrs. Bennet watched these ladies with curiosity as they continued about the room. As this parade slowly drew closer, she grew more curious. When her turn came, she willingly put up with being grasped in order to learn that—

“A great fortune has come our way,” Mrs. Peacock gleefully announced.

It seemed that Mr. Peacock’s brother had died, leaving sixty thousand pounds to be divided between his three nieces.

Twenty thousand pounds each, Mrs. Bennet thought enviously. If Mary had such a dowry, Mr. Fordyce might have married her. Kitty could marry Edward tomorrow instead of waiting until he had finished his legal training. And Colonel Forster might already be married to Lydia.

But she was getting carried away. Lydia was too young for marriage, and if Colonel Forster was only interested in her dowry, then he wasn’t the husband for her.

Kitty wasn’t in any hurry to get married.

And Mr. Fordyce didn’t seem to have thought of marriage at all. He hadn’t even dropped a hint to Mary.

Anyway, envy was the root of discontent.

Mary had once said so, and she was right.

Stifling such thoughts, Mrs. Bennet politely congratulated Mrs. Peacock.

She was even able to hold her tongue upon learning that she had misunderstood the size of this fortune.

It was actually sixty thousand pounds each.

“Good heavens!” cried her inner voice. “Such wealth in the hands of three girls who have even less sense than Lydia.”

“How very kind of their uncle,” she said aloud.

“Well, as to that,” Mrs. Peacock said, “I cannot understand why he didn’t leave his fortune to his brother.

There wasn’t anything for us, which I think very unkind of him.

However, we shall still benefit. Our daughters will have no difficulty marrying wealthy gentlemen with grand estates, and then we will spend most of our time staying with them and living a life of luxury. ”

Mrs. Bennet looked at her in astonishment. Such thoughts should have been left unspoken.

Had she ever shared such appalling confidences? Well, yes, unfortunately she had. But never to an entire company one by one as Mrs. Peacock was doing. It was a comfort to know that there was one foolish thing she hadn’t done.

Mrs. Crane, following in the wake of Mrs. Peacock, declared just as gleefully that she had some very exciting news to share. Mr. Crane had lately learned that a distant relative had died, and it turned out that he was the heir.

“To a baronetcy!” Mrs. Crane cried in delight. “The next time that we are in London, we will be able to introduce Henrietta and Marianne as the daughters of Sir Bartholomew.”

Mrs. Bennet was finding it difficult to be impressed.

By telling them everything he knew about Lady Catherine’s late husband, Mr. Collins had managed to put her off baronets.

And Mr. Darcy had frequently said that what mattered most was character.

Besides, it was so much easier to say Mr. Crane than Sir Bartholomew.

“His inheritance includes a valuable property,” Mrs. Crane said. “We shall be able to add significantly to our daughters’ dowries. And their accomplishments. The income will allow us to hire a great many masters to increase their refinement.”

Mrs. Bennet thought they might do better to invest the money with John Lucas. Mr. Bennet had mentioned receiving another share of some sizable profits. They would soon be rich if things went on in this way. And if that happened, Mrs. Bennet would take great care not to go about telling everyone.

Mrs. Crane moved on, and Mrs. King moved in, announcing, with a shocking lack of appropriate gravity, that Mary’s grandfather had passed.

Being now in mourning, she had remained at home.

But as the old gentleman had been no relation of hers, Mrs. King had considered herself free to attend the ball.

Fifty thousand pounds was proudly repeated several times, as though she had not already been saying it at every opportunity over the past few months.

Mrs. Bennet wondered if she had yet heard that the Peacock girls would have even more.

When Mrs. King was replaced by Mrs. Partridge, Mrs. Bennet supposed that either she or her children had also received an inheritance. She was quite surprised to hear Mrs. Partridge announce that she had given up keeping chickens. This was hardly a reason to be bouncing up and down with excitement.

“They were just too much bother,” she said.

“And as Edward will soon be living in London, we shall not need so many eggs. But even though my expenditures shall decrease, my brother intends to still give me the same generous allowance. Isn’t that thoughtful of him.

He is also going to increase Edward’s allowance to an amount suitable for living in town.

And we just heard today that he intends to give Susan a dowry of twenty thousand pounds. ”

Mrs. Bennet congratulated herself on having known that money was going to come into it somehow.

“Have you heard that Mr. Charlton might be leaving us soon?” Mrs. Partridge added. “A pity, of course, but it is good for him to be moving on to a living of his own.” Glancing in the direction of Mr. Charlton, who happened to be dancing with Susan, Mrs. Partridge frowned.

Obviously she was still hoping to make an advantageous match for her daughter. Someone ought to tell her that happiness was more important.

In between the first and second dances, Mrs. Bennet heard the words sixty thousand pounds echoing over and over.

Mrs. Peacock was still spreading her news, which seemed to be the prominent topic of discussion in every part of the room.

And Mrs. King was continuing her valiant effort to make certain, even in Mary’s absence, that no one had forgotten about her fifty thousand.

But with Mary currently out of the picture, she might as well be forgotten.

All the unmarried officers, except for Colonel Forster, were paying court to the Miss Peacocks.

Perhaps their mother would have done better not to speak about their newly acquired wealth.

At the very least, she ought to be watching over her daughters and discouraging such excessive attention from the officers, but she was too busy going about the room and boasting.