Page 7 of A Matter of Murder
“Perhaps we can discuss it?” Bingley said, posing the response as a question as he glanced to Jane. And Darcy knew that this was a fatal error, for the youngest Bennets took this as confirmation and began to squeal and clap their hands.
“We shall certainly discuss it,” Jane said firmly, “but that doesn’t mean—”
“We’re going to a ball! We’re going to a ball!” Lydia and Kitty chanted, and then Lydia broke off and said, “Mama, can we have new dresses?”
“Of course you shall have new dresses,” Mrs. Bennet said. “I’m sure the modiste in the village won’t be as fine as anything in London but should be quite serviceable.”
Bingley seemed to realize the magnitude of his error just then, and looked wide-eyed over to Darcy.Good luck, Darcy mouthed.
“Girls, hush,” Lizzie said. “Now is not the time—Bingley was in the middle of a speech.”
The younger girls collapsed on a settee, giggling to each other, but they did quiet down.
“Hmm, theycanlisten,” Caroline remarked. Lizzie shot her an open glare, one that Darcy was absolutely certain no one in the room had missed—except for maybe Mr. Bennet, who was already looking back toward his folded-up newspaper.
Bingley cleared his throat again. “Jane and I will discuss the matter of the ball. But in the meantime, I hope you’ll be very comfortable here, and if there is anything you should want or need, you have only to ask...” He trailed off quickly, as if realizing he was opening himself up to more requests from Kitty and Lydia.
“It’s cold in here,” Caroline proclaimed. “Can’t you ring for a maid to light a fire?”
“Caroline, it’s June,” Bingley said.
“And?” She glared at her brother and made a show of rubbing her arms. “I feel a draft.”
“Of course,” Jane said, nodding at the butler standing unobtrusively in the corner. “I’m terribly sorry, Caroline. And it may be summer, dear, but these old houses can be chilly in any season.”
“Being a cold shrew must affect her temperature,” Lizzie muttered, so quietly that only Charlotte and Darcy could hear. He let out a bark of laughter that he quickly smothered in a cough.
Lizzie looked in his direction, and for a moment he saw merriment dancing in her eyes. Hope fluttered in his chest, but then Caroline had to ruin the moment by addressing him directly. “Mr. Darcy, are you to stay theentiresummer with us?”
He resisted the temptation to narrow his eyes at her in suspicion. “Yes.”
Caroline arched one eyebrow. “Really? Isn’t that an awful lot of time away from your precious work?”
“I can take the time,” he said, although he really shouldn’t. When his father found out that he’d left London for weeks to spend the season in the countryside, there would be hell to pay.
But what was his work to Lizzie’s safety?
“How fortunate,” Caroline said, settling herself into the chair by the empty fireplace. “I’ve often thought it must be tiring, working so much day in and day out.”
“I don’t find it tiring doing work I enjoy,” Darcy said.
Caroline let out a brittle laugh. “And I’ve never found work to be something I enjoy doing.”
“Perhaps that is because you don’t work?” Lizzie suggested. “After all, one can hardly recognize the value of a thing they’ve never undertaken.”
From the smug look on Caroline’s face, this was exactly the sort of response she’d been hoping for. “Too true, Miss Bennet. I’ve never had to debase myself with anything so pedestrian as ajob.”
The air in the drawing room went still as a tense silence followed. Lizzie recovered from the shock first. “There’s nothing debasing about honest work. We all must eat and have shelter and clothes on our backs. If we aren’t laboring for those comforts ourselves, then I assure you that someone out there is. The only thing shameful about that is acting as though you’re better than those who work hard foryourcomfort.”
Lizzie’s speech had the misfortune—or perhaps it was fortune, really—to be interrupted by the arrival of a housemaid carrying a bucket of hot coals from the kitchens. Everyone turned to look in her direction and she made a squeaking sound not unlike a mouse before dropping a sloppy curtsy to the assembled party.
Caroline sniffed and said, “Oh, good. It’s gotten rather frosty in here.”
The maid scurried to the fireplace, not looking at any of them, and Caroline stood, as if she didn’t want to be too close to the actual labor of starting the fire she required. “Besides, I think you’re mistaken, Miss Bennet.”
Lizzie raised one eyebrow, and Darcy mentally begged her not to fall into Caroline’s trap. “Oh? About what?”
“There is a difference between a job, and work. It is unseemly for a lady to hold a job, but work is unavoidable, even for members of the ton. Why, is it not work to find all your daughters good matches, Mrs. Bennet?”