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The next day, Miss Bingley called at Gracechurch Street.

She was accompanied by Miss Darcy, whose brother had consented for her to join their shopping excursion.

Mrs. Gardiner was to accompany them, but she was detained, and so Jane and Elizabeth offered their guests some refreshment in the front parlor.

“My aunt is eager to meet you both, but there has been a small catastrophe upstairs,” Elizabeth explained.

“My cousins are six and seven - I believe their ages may explain that phrase describing disarray. They have had a row over which of them has done a better job using their watercolors on the wallpaper. What an honor to have not one but two such dedicated artists in the family, is it not?”

Miss Bingley’s eyes flashed with horror but her smile belied bemusement. “We certainly heard of your youthful antics last evening. You might have had quite a colorful first impression of Miss Elizabeth, then, Georgiana - but surely you will dine with us all before we leave London.”

“I have already heard much of Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth from my brother. He told me this morning at breakfast that you have three other sisters, and I found myself terribly envious,” Miss Darcy said. “And Miss Bingley was full of praise for you on our drive over.”

Miss Darcy expressed herself sweetly, and with all the sincerity of a girl unaccustomed to much high society, and yet her wording struck Elizabeth - Mr. Darcy had spoken of them, but Miss Bingley had praised them.

“I must return her praise and say that she has proven a very charming neighbor in Hertfordshire. Meryton has long hoped to see Netherfield let by a family fond of society.”

Jane echoed Elizabeth’s pleasure at having the Bingleys amongst the neighborhood. “And certainly any lady who resides in the country must be fortunate indeed to find friends willing to take them on adventures elsewhere.”

Miss Darcy looked at Caroline with a hopeful question in her gaze.

“I should like to see Netherfield myself; I am rather envious of what must be a very agreeable neighborhood. Pemberley is five miles to the nearest village, and nearly as far to any other estate. I hear you are often walking to the village with your sisters; that you even walked to Netherfield, Miss Elizabeth, to bring Miss Bingley some herbs when she was poorly.”

“Pemberley is more remote, it is true. The grounds are very extensive; I believe there must be five thousand acres!” Caroline seemed to address her words to Elizabeth, who well understood them. She could not fault her friend for taking interest in the gentleman who commanded such a grand estate.

Miss Darcy shifted uncomfortably for a moment and stared down into her tea. Jane gave the girl an encouraging smile and asked, “Do you spend much time at Pemberley, or do you reside chiefly in London?”

“William takes me to the seaside every summer, although last year - well, most of the year I am at Pemberley, with my brother. I have been with my aunt and cousins since he went to Netherfield.”

“I hope your stay with them has been as pleasant as it has been for Lizzy and I to be with our aunt and uncle and our cousins.”

“Mine do not paint the walls,” Miss Darcy said with a gentle laugh. “They are known to squabble, though. My cousin Lady Rosamund is to be married next month, and her younger sisters have been very, er, energetic ever since her engagement.”

Elizabeth exchanged a knowing look with her sister; they could imagine exactly what sort of frenzy Longbourn would be plunged into when a Bennet sister became engaged. “I can well imagine, Miss Darcy. When Jane weds, my sisters and I will be quite beside ourselves.”

This elicited another bright smile from Caroline, but Miss Darcy only furrowed her brows. Elizabeth decided perhaps she ought not be so indiscreet, for her sister had turned a little pink.

“I understand you are fond of reading, Miss Darcy,” Elizabeth said. “Miss Bingley says the library at Pemberley is extensive, so you must take delight in it.”

“Oh, yes! William has promised to take me to Hatchard’s this week, and he found a book for me in the library at Matlock that he said you recommended.

He is going to read it after I do so that we may discuss it - it is one of our favorite past times together.

At Pemberley in the summer, we often take books in our picnic baskets when we wander the grounds. ”

Caroline nodded approvingly. “How lovely that sounds, does it not, Lizzy?”

As Elizabeth agreed, Mrs. Gardiner entered the room, and Jane introduced her.

To her nieces’ surprise, Mrs. Gardiner exclaimed warmly on hearing that she had met a daughter of Pemberley. “I grew up in Lambton, which is very near.”

Miss Darcy smiled with timid chagrin. “I have been lamenting that five miles is a terribly long distance to Lambton from Pemberley. It is such a charming village, I wish it were near enough that I might walk.”

“Pish, when your brother has half a dozen fine carriages!” Caroline laughed, giving Elizabeth a sly wink.

The five ladies had much to say of their high hopes for a week of activity and diversion as they rode to the Gardiner warehouse.

Though it was a near distance, they meant to visit a fashionable modiste after selecting their fabrics and trimmings, and Mr. Darcy had given his sister and her companions the use of his carriage for as long as they required it.

They spent a happy hour together selecting silks and satins for the gowns three of the ladies would wear to the militia’s ball in Meryton.

Mrs. Gardiner and Miss Darcy seemed intent on indulging whims of their own, and each had a great deal to say on the selections of the others.

Miss Darcy’s taste seemed universally aligned with the delicate fabrics and lace embellishments Jane favored.

Caroline’s taste proved as similar to Mrs. Gardiner’s as their coloring and the shades they favored, and Caroline teased Elizabeth for predicting it.

She also had a great deal of advice for Elizabeth, urging her toward more romantic colors and styles at the warehouse. At the modiste, she even encouraged Elizabeth to a slightly more daring neckline and a flattering, almost sumptuous blue gown that Elizabeth feared would make a scandal.

Caroline’s taste was impeccable, however.

Mrs. Gardiner agreed with her so fervently that Elizabeth supposed her aunt must have been waiting for the day her second eldest niece would take an interest in fashion.

The modiste, Madame Fleury, seemed so delighted at the prospect of what she was to create that Elizabeth found herself genuinely eager to see the result.

“There must be a gentleman who will see this lovely sapphire and end the night on his knees,” Madame Fleury teased with a playful wag of her finger. Her companions all looked at Elizabeth with interest, except for Caroline, who wore a knowing grin.

Elizabeth assiduously denied there was any such person, but began to think of the colonel’s playful attentions at dinner the previous evening.

It had been clear enough that Caroline had encouraged a turn of conversation meant to amuse him, and he had ended the night declaring he had been enchanted by her wicked nonsense.

Jane was met with a gentler version of the same treatment, with tender exclamations over the loveliness of her soft blue silk, the silvery lace, and the delicate pearls that would embellish the bodice. “The shade suits your eyes so beautifully,” Miss Darcy cooed.

“And it is Charles’ favorite shade of blue,” Miss Bingley said, giving a sweeping gaze of approval over the modiste’s preliminary maneuverings. “The gowns shall suit you both in blues. Jane soft and demure, and Lizzy so bold.”

“I suppose Mr. Darcy favors green,” Elizabeth said, gesturing between Miss Darcy’s minty satin and Caroline’s emerald silk.

Miss Darcy looked quizzically at Caroline. “No, I am sure it is the other way around - does not your brother favor green? I am sure William favors deep blue and burgundy.”

Caroline shrugged, and Mrs. Gardiner laughed.

“I say, as long as we are pleased, we shall be feeling very lovely. That is what the gentlemen notice, you know - confidence. They would never know what to think of our clothes, so we may as well dress how we like. We might dance about in burlap sacks, but if we think them the very best burlap sacks, it will radiate from our faces, and they will always be beguiled.”

Madame Fleury fairly snorted. “Bad for my business, though. Let us say the gentlemen want many, many frills!”

Elizabeth grinned at her companions. “Well, they shall have them!”

***

The next morning, Darcy and his sister broke their fast earlier than the rest of their family, and he took the opportunity to ask her what she thought of the Miss Bennets.

Georgiana instantly grew animated. “They are both very agreeable, though more different from one another than I had expected - certainly more than Richard’s sisters.

Miss Bennet is very warm and kind, but Miss Elizabeth is vastly amusing.

She is very clever, too. I should like to meet the rest of their sisters, for I think the youngest is nearer my age. ”

Darcy frowned. The youngest of the Bennets ought to be getting daily strictures from the sternest governess England had to offer, and the other two seemed nearly as silly.

He imagined that the two elder sisters had benefited considerably from time in London with the Gardiners, who struck him as exceeding genteel people, young enough to encourage liveliness but old enough to be sensible.

In this respect, Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth had been more fortunate in their connections than Georgiana amongst the frivolous Fitzwilliam women.