Page 24 of In Want of a Suspect

“Dirty creatures stay out on the streets where they belong!” Mrs. Bennet huffed. “What on earth were you thinking, bringing him back here? He could have fleas!”

“He doesn’t,” Kitty protested. “We checked. And he’s not dirty any longer, Mama—doesn’t he look precious? Sarah Lawrenson will be so jealous when she sees him!”

Mrs. Bennet paid Guy no mind. “I don’t understand why Mr. Darcy dumped him on our doorstep! He ought to know better.”

Lizzie and Jane exchanged pained looks. Darcy was notMrs. Bennet’s favorite person at the moment, least of all because of the dog. Mrs. Bennet took his lack of a proposal to Lizzie as a personal affront. Given the conversation that Lizzie had just had with her sister, she really did not want to go down that path with her mother. “Darcy didn’t dump Guy on me, Mama.”

“Chouchou,” Lydia corrected.

“In fact, Darcy very gallantly offered to take him home,” Lizzie continued. “He said that he wouldn’t dream of burdening us with his care, but I insisted. I... fell in love with Guy. Isn’t he just the sweetest?”

Looking down at the dog, Lizzie felt a twinge of affection. Now that he was cleaned up, he looked much more respectable, and Lizzie couldn’t help but smile at the way he gazed up at her. He was clearly intelligent, and as long as she kept Lydia and Kitty from spoiling him, Lizzie found that she didn’t terribly mind the thought of keeping him around.

Mrs. Bennet crossed her arms and looked skeptically at the dog. “Is that your second-best hair ribbon, Kitty?”

“And besides, he’s practically an orphan,” Lizzie continued. “He lost his owner in a tragic, tragic fire and he needs love and attention, and a happy home. And couldn’t we provide that for him, much better than Darcy can? You know he works such long hours and lives all alone in his town house. Guy would be absolutely depressed to lose the only family he’s ever known, and then be left alone all day.”

“Mr. Darcy would hardly be alone if he had a wife.” Mrs. Bennet sniffed, and Lizzie could have kicked herself for openingthat line of argument. But, if there was one rhetorical strategy that was always effective with her mother, it was pathos. And while Mrs. Bennet might not have been moved by the plight of an abandoned dog, she was motivated by pride. If she believed that Darcy wanted the dog but could not take care of him as he ought, then she wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to appear to be the bigger person. “All right,” she relented. “But if he soils the carpet or sleeps on the furniture or—”

“He won’t!” Lydia promised.

“I’ll see to it,” Lizzie said. Guy looked up at her, and she couldn’t help but smile a little at his soulful brown eyes.

“Now that you’re all here, I think it’s a perfect time to discuss expectations for the dinner,” Mrs. Bennet announced.

Mary sighed, and Lydia and Kitty began to make kissing sounds. “Jane’s getting married, Jane’s getting married!”

“No one has proposed to me, thank you!” Jane protested.

“Not yet!” Mrs. Bennet’s eyes gleamed with delight. “But after our little dinner party, it will be a certain thing!”

Lizzie and Jane exchanged worried looks. Mrs. Bennet had been pleased when Jane and Mr. Bingley had formally met after Lizzie and Darcy cleared his name the previous year, and then overjoyed to see a genuine affection grow between them. Lizzie had been pleased, too. Although Jane was not particularly outgoing when it came to expressing her feelings, Lizzie knew when her sister was smitten—and the best part was, Bingley seemed equally besotted.

However, this wasn’t enough for Mrs. Bennet. It had beennearly a year and no proposal. Jane didn’t seem worried, but Mrs. Bennet was fearful that Bingley would move on to other young ladies unless Jane managed to secure his hand; and so she had decided to try to force matters with a carefully plotted dinner party at which she intended to make it abundantly clear to Mr. Bingley that hemustpropose to Jane. No amount of pleading with her to let things take their natural course would sway her.

“Mama, it’s just a dinner party,” Lizzie said now. “I’m sure we don’t need instructions on how to behave. We aren’t children. Well, at least some of us aren’t.”

She said this with a pointed look at Lydia and Kitty, who were very much children, and playing with Guy.

“And what do you know of dinner parties and proposals, Lizzie? You’ve consorted with Mr. Darcy for nearly a year, and with no hint of a proposal or attachment. Speaking of which—I expect Mr. Darcy to be present.”

“Is that so Darcy will feel influenced to propose to Lizzie as well?” Lydia asked.

“Darcy isn’t proposing,” Lizzie told her quickly.

“Why not?”

“Because he isn’t, and that’s that!”

“Not with that attitude, he won’t,” Mrs. Bennet reprimanded her. “No matter, we’ll work on Mr. Darcy later. But we need a well-rounded party, of course—Mr. Bingley’s sisters were invited, although they’ve not bothered to respond. But I invited Charlotte just in case. We cannot have any guests that might detract from Jane’s loveliness, but we also don’t wantMr. Bingley to feel pressured.”

“God forbid,” Lizzie muttered to Jane, who’d had no say thus far on the dinner that was supposedly going to alter the course of her life.

“We shall keep the conversation light and cheerful!” Mrs. Bennet seemed to direct this instruction at Lizzie in particular. “No talk of sad things, or business! Kitty, you may bring up Miss Hartford’s recent engagement, and Lydia, you may give your opinions on spring weddings.”

“They’ll be as subtle as sledgehammers,” Lizzie whispered.

“And then we shall retire to the drawing room, but Lizzie, you’ll need to find a way to entice Mr. Darcy to come with us and leave your father and Bingley alone so that he can inquire as to Bingley’s intentions. With any luck, we’ll have a proposal within the hour!”