Page 21 of A Life Diverted
E lizabeth was excited to receive a letter from Jane on Monday a few hours before the assembly.
Even though she loved dancing, without Janie at Longbourn, she debated back and forth with herself as to whether she would attend.
Any thoughts of dancing were pushed aside as Elizabeth sat in the music room and broke the seal on the letter.
My dear sister, Lizzy,
How I miss seeing you every day. Lizzy, if I know you, you are debating whether you should attend the assembly. If this letter reaches you before it, as I hope it will, then go, Dearest. You love to dance, and I would feel rather guilty if you sat at home because I am not there with you.
Lizzy, I am sorry I have not written before, but I have a good reason. It must have been God’s hand pushing me to go to London now because I have met a man! There is nothing official, as it has been less than a sennight since we met, but he is calling on me.
His name is Mr David Wendell, and he is from Derbyshire. His family owns an estate, Willowmere, not too far from the town of Lambton where our aunt used to live.
Something fought to surface in Elizabeth’s memories, but it was just beyond her grasp.
Was it the name of the man or the estate which stirred her memories?
She had no clear idea why or what had disturbed her equanimity.
No matter how she racked her brain, Elizabeth could not understand why what Jane had written had somehow made her try to recall some of her forgotten past. Elizabeth shook her head and returned to Janie’s letter.
I met him the day after I arrived, and he called again two days later.
That was when he asked me for permission to call on me.
Even though I am of age, I still requested he gain Uncle Edward’s permission, which he did.
It is the respect I owe Uncle since I am a guest in his house.
Uncle had no objections to Mr Wendell’s calls.
He called daily after that, and then when he arrived this morning, he carried an invitation from his mother for us (Aunt Maddie and Uncle Edward, and of course, me) to dine with his family at his cousin’s house.
The cousin is Mr Richard Fitzwilliam. If you remember the report, he is one of Mr Bingley’s friends who will assist him.
I like him, Lizzy; I really do. He never condescends to me, always respects my positions, and does not treat me as merely a pretty bauble on his arm.
It is far too soon to tell, but I think I may have finally found a man with whom I can see a future. Yes, he is handsome and reasonably wealthy. Lizzy, you know that is unimportant to me as long as I can love and respect the man I agree to marry. Of course, he will need to feel the same about me.
No, I am not in love with Mr Wendell…yet. I am, however, developing tender feelings for him. Time will tell, Sister dearest of mine.
Before I close this letter, allow me to repeat: GO TO THE ASSEMBLY !
I send you all my sisterly love, and I miss you, Lizzy.
Jane
After Jane’s admonition not to be silly and remain home, Elizabeth was decided. She would attend the assembly.
Her thoughts drifted to the news of Janie’s suitor.
It would be a great disruption to her life when Janie left Longbourn, but it was not something about which she would be selfish.
It was the way of things for girls, was it not?
They lived in their childhood home for a certain number of years, they married, and they left the home they had known all their lives to live with their husbands.
‘But this is not the home of your birth, is it ?’ A thought unbidden intruded. Elizabeth sat perfectly still. Why would such a thought pop into her head after reading Janie’s letter?
She pushed that out of her consciousness and made her way up to her chamber to select the gown she would wear to the assembly.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Caroline Bingley insisted on standing with her brother to welcome her guests to Netherfield Park.
Bingley did not point out the impropriety of her waiting with him, as she was a single woman welcoming single men.
He felt relief when he saw the Darcy travelling coach with Fitzwilliam’s following as they approached the circular drive and stopped at the base of the stone steps which descended from the veranda above.
Until he saw them, he had had a niggling worry they would not come.
“Did I not say the shrew would be waiting for us with her brother?” Richard stated as the coach was drawn to a halt. He was in Darcy’s equipage while his conveyance carried their personal servants .
“Leave it to me,” Lady Catherine stated with a determined gleam in her eyes.
Darcy and Richard alighted first. Then, the former handed his sister out while the latter did the honours for his aunt. A footman assisted Mrs Annesley to alight. Richard led the way forward. No sooner than he moved, Miss Bingley attached herself to his other arm.
“You are Miss Bingley, are you not?” Lady Catherine said, her voice icy.
Miss Bingley missed the rebuke in the voice of the lady she assumed was the titled aunt. “Indeed, your Ladyship, I am. It is good to be among good friends, is it not?”
“You have received an education, have you not, Miss Bingley?” Lady Catherine bit out. She did not wait for the harpy to reply. “Please tell me who taught you it is permissible to attach yourself to a man’s arm when it was not offered? It is obvious to me that your education is sorely lacking!”
Suddenly Miss Bingley’s face was so pinched it looked like she was sucking on lemons. She pulled her hand back as if it had been scalded. “Please pardon me; I thought that as we are friends…”
“Enough. May we be shown to our chambers to wash and change?” Lady Catherine asked of her host.
As they had arrived at the front doors, Bingley requested that the housekeeper show their guests to their chambers. He was surprised Caroline had said nothing in complaint. When he turned, she was standing in the middle of the veranda where she had been set down by Lady Catherine.
“Come, Caroline, let us wait for them in the drawing room with the Hursts.” Bingley led his sister to said room.
“When I am the mistress of Rosings Park or Pemberley, that woman will not be allowed into my homes!” Miss Bingley screeched as soon as she recovered the power of speech. “How dare she humiliate me in that fashion? And in my home as well!”
“Caroline, what vexes you so?” Mrs Hurst enquired.
“That woman…” Miss Bingley related what had occurred. “She had no right to speak to me like that.”
“Actually, Caroline, have I not told you that taking a man’s arm uninvited is considered bad manners?” Hurst, who was awake for once, reminded his sister-in-law. “Hence, what Lady Catherine said to you was absolutely correct.”
“What do you know?” Miss Bingley cried. “Go back to sleep you…you worthless drunk!”
“Caroline, you may want to lower your voice,” Mrs Hurst suggested. “You do not want either Mr Fitzwilliam or Mr Darcy to hear you, do you? It will not make a very favourable impression on them.”
Miss Bingley threw herself on a sofa with no good cheer.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Darcy and Richard shared a suite with a sitting room between their bedchambers; Giana and Mrs Annesley were in the one next to theirs.
Being sure Miss Bingley would want to place his sister’s companion in the servants’ quarters; Darcy had written to Bingley to inform him that Mrs Annesley needed to be assigned a chamber in the same suite as his sister.
Lady Catherine was in a suite of her own, on the other side of the one which housed her niece and her companion.
By mutual agreement they all met in Lady Catherine’s sitting room prior to making their way downstairs. “The gall of that woman! Just who does she think she is?” Lady Catherine huffed once her nephews, niece, and Mrs Annesley had taken seats.
“Is it not just as we predicted?” Darcy asked.
“It makes it no less shocking to see. Miss Bingley has not a clue how to behave among those of our circle, no matter what she thinks,” Lady Catherine responded.
“And that spineless brother of hers is no better.” She turned her gimlet eye on her nephews.
“Why you maintain a friendship with the man is beyond me. And no, it is not because he is the son of a tradesman.” She would be the first one to admit that she used to be extremely prejudiced against those she felt were below her, especially persons in trade.
Slowly over the years after first Lewis and then Anne were taken from her, Catherine Bertha de Bourgh, née Fitzwilliam, realised that none of her old opinions were important and the true measure of a man or woman was in their character.
It was for lack of one that she objected to her nephews’ friendship with Mr Bingley.
“That is a question I ask myself from time to time,” Richard owned while Darcy looked away from his aunt.
The latter knew what his aunt said was true, but making friends was hard for him. Hence, he had fought against breaking with Bingley in the absence of something egregious which forced his hand.
“I will not mince my words with her. Did you see the way she was dressed when, against all protocols, she had the audacity to wait for us with her brother? Does she think she is attending a ball, rather than being at home at a country estate? That too displays her lack of education and class.” Lady Catherine huffed.
“What of me? Do I need to join you and put myself in Miss Bingley’s company?” Georgiana enquired.
“What do you think, Richard? We can say that Giana is with Mrs Annesley and having some lessons. It would not be dissembling if you have a French lesson,” Darcy suggested.
“I agree with William. Remain here, and we will have some tea and treats sent up for you two,” Richard added.
With that decided, the two men and their aunt made their way downstairs.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~ ~