Page 10 of Longbourn’s Son (Pride and Prejudice Variation #22)
“May I ask where the Hurst estate is located?” Elizabeth asked Mrs. Hurst, who was seated next to her at dinner.
The dinner party at Netherfield was a large one, composed as it was of Mr. and Miss Bingley, Mrs. Hurst, Mr. and Miss Darcy, Mrs. Annesley, the Lucas family, and all the Bennets.
Elizabeth found herself with Mrs. Hurst on her right and Charlotte Lucas on her left, which she found most congenial.
“Chalkhill Manor is in Wiltshire, just north of Salisbury,” Mrs. Hurst explained. “The climate is quite a pleasant one, with cool summers and warm winters, though it is quite a distance from London, much farther away than Meryton is from the City.”
“Are you fond of London then, Mrs. Hurst?” Elizabeth asked politely.
The lady smiled and took a sip of dinner wine.
“I used to quite adore London,” she said after a moment’s cogitation.
“The Season is exciting with assemblies and dancing and masquerades. But after my marriage, my interest began to wane, and now that I have Christopher, I find I am much happier in the country. My son always seems more content with less noise and fresher air. What of you, Miss Elizabeth? Do you enjoy London?”
“I do, though I do not think I would care to live there permanently. My uncle Gardiner lives on Gracechurch Street in Cheapside, and he and my dear aunt have been kind enough to host us girls on occasion. I do enjoy the museums and the theater, very much, and treasure my time with my relations, but I am always eager to go home after a month or two.”
“I find Hertfordshire very pleasant,” Louisa Hurst agreed. “I am thankful to be here with my son during this time, and grateful to Charles for choosing an idyllic estate.”
“My siblings and I are also glad that Mr. Bingley took Netherfield,” Elizabeth said.
“I am as well,” Mr. Bennet declared from Mrs. Hurst’s other side, startling both ladies.
Elizabeth was surprised that her father, who had been conversing with Sir William Lucas, was also following her conversation with Mrs. Hurst. Mr. Bennet continued, “For one thing, I greatly enjoy having a gifted opponent in chess in Mr. Darcy. I must ask though, Mrs. Hurst; have you ever visited Stonehenge or Avebury? Your son’s estate must be quite near both sites. ”
Louisa Hurst’s eyes brightened in excitement, and she leaned forward, bestowing a warm smile on Mr. Bennet.
“My dear sir, indeed I have! Mr. Hurst was quite passionate about the primitive monuments in both places, and we visited Stonehenge three times and Avebury twice. The library at Chalkhill Manor has several ancient documents describing the burial grounds and earthworks.”
“That is entirely marvelous,” Mr. Bennet enthused. “I have long been fascinated with the history of such places, but I fear my natural indolence has kept me from traveling far enough to observe such wonders with my own eyes. Would you mind sharing your experiences, Mrs. Hurst?”
“Of course...”
Elizabeth listened in some wonder as the two widowed members of the party began speaking happily of sarsen stones and mounds and bones and medieval artefacts.
After a minute, realizing she had been quite forgotten, she turned towards Charlotte, who sat on her left.
The eldest Lucas daughter had her eyes fixed on Mr. Bingley’s handsome countenance at the head of the table, but she quickly turned a smile on her closest friend.
“It seems your father has found a fellow enthusiast of ancient monuments, Lizzy!”
“He has,” Elizabeth returned cheerfully, “which is most gratifying. Now Charlotte, I have been eager to ask you; what do you think of the militia officers? Father is not terribly interested in them, and we have been busy of late; we have only met some of them and that but once or twice in company. I know Sir William has made it his duty to welcome the men into the neighborhood. Do you find them a pleasant lot, or are they a dastardly group of fellows?”
Miss Lucas chuckled and shook her head reprovingly.
“I did not say they would be dastardly, merely that we ought to be cautious. Thus far, I have found them pleasant enough. But come, surely you know more than you admit. I am quite certain I saw Luke at Milton’s stables this morning.
Did he not meet some of the militia officers whose horses are being stabled there? ”
Elizabeth’s lips curved up as she said, “Luke has been introduced to the militia horses, yes, but he is far less curious about their masters! However, we will meet many of the officers tomorrow night, as my aunt Philips is hosting a dinner party and a number of officers have been invited.”
“I will leave you to make your own determination about their characters, then, Elizabeth.”
/
“You have actually been to Mr. Coke’s Clippings in Holkham, Mr. Darcy?” Luke Bennet asked eagerly, setting down his wine glass to better focus on the man to his left.
“I have once, yes,” Darcy responded. “Given your interest in livestock and agriculture, you would enjoy it immensely, I daresay. It is always a great crush of men with the talk focusing almost exclusively on agriculture and husbandry.”
“It sounds wonderful,” the youth responded dreamily. “I hope I can attend some year. Did you tour Coke’s Home Farm? I understand it to be magnificent!”
“It is, and very large, as Coke bought up some of the tenant farms on short leases to enlarge the Home Farm. I do not care to expand our own such farm at Pemberley, but I certainly learned much from other gentlemen farmers...”
Miss Caroline Bingley, seated on the other side of Darcy, pursed her lips in disgust. She had deliberately set up the dining table so that Darcy was seated between herself and young, gauche Luke Bennet.
She had assumed that after the boy had insulted Darcy at the Meryton assembly, Pemberley’s master would give a cold nod to the youth and focus his dinner table conversation on her.
To her astonished irritation, the two men had been talking for some ten minutes now, apparently with genuine passion, about such dull topics as turnips and wheat and sheep. It was quite absurd!
“Miss Bingley?” Jane Bennet said from her other side.
Caroline turned and forced herself to smile mechanically at the blonde beauty. “Yes, Miss Bennet?”
“Mr. Bingley tells me that you have had the pleasure of seeing Vauxhall Gardens in London; would you be willing to describe the scenes there? I understand they are utterly remarkable!”
Caroline cast a quick glance at her brother, who was now speaking to Lady Lucas on his left.
Charles had insisted on sitting next to Miss Bennet and the first portion of the dinner he had monopolized the girl’s attention; it was, Caroline supposed, a good sign that her brother had realized the need to bestow some attention on Lady Lucas, even if the woman was a mere provincial.
“I have indeed seen the Gardens,” she said proudly. “I am rather surprised you have not, Miss Bennet, but it would be my pleasure to describe them to you. We entered the Gardens by boat, you know, which is by far the best way to approach them, and the hundreds of lights are quite a delight...”
/
“Do you think Mr. Bingley will offer for Jane?” Maria Lucas inquired of Lydia and Kitty.
Maria, Kitty, and Lydia had been relegated to the foot of the table, which the girls thought entirely delightful as it permitted them to eat a great deal and laugh softly among themselves without earning more than amused glances from their elder sisters.
Kitty and Lydia exchanged startled glances, and Lydia shook her head decidedly. “No.”
“No? He can hardly take his eyes off your sister, which is no surprise; Jane is incredibly handsome,” Maria said with more than a hint of envy in her voice.
She was the prettier of the two Lucas sisters but did not hold a candle to the four handsome Bennet girls.
Even Mary, considered the plainest of the Bennet daughters, was not really so very plain; her beauty merely seemed dim in the incandescence of her sisters’ light.
“He might offer,” Lydia admitted handsomely, “but there is no reason to think she will accept.”
Now Maria’s eyes were round with wonder. “Not accept? What more could your sister possibly want? Mr. Bingley is handsome, wealthy, and has such engaging manners!”
“Perhaps you ought to set your cap on him yourself, Maria!” Lydia teased.
Maria blushed and lowered her eyes. She thought Mr. Bingley the most ideal of men, but it seemed unlikely that a gentleman of such wealth and good looks would consider a poor younger daughter of a country squire.
“I hope Jane does not wed anyone soon,” Kitty confessed softly. “I will miss her tremendously when she leaves; she is more like a mother than a sister to us young ones, really.”
Maria heaved a sympathetic sigh. On the one hand, marriage was the only respectable path for a well-educated woman of small fortune; on the other hand, she did not know how she would feel if her own mother passed away. No doubt she would cling to Charlotte as Kitty and Lydia clung to Jane.
/
“I have worked with masters on the pianoforte, Miss Darcy,” Mary explained, “but not as consistently as I would like. It is difficult to find good masters here in Hertfordshire, and my father dislikes London. I suppose you must have access to many excellent teachers in Town.”
Georgiana heard the note of envy in the voice of the third Miss Bennet, and it rather flummoxed her. “Oh, I am sure … well, your sister Elizabeth plays very well…”
“Not very well,” Elizabeth insisted from the other side of Charlotte Lucas, who was sitting next to Georgiana.
“Mary, my dear, you know that you have worked longer and harder on the pianoforte and surpass me in skill. Miss Darcy no doubt is far better than both of us, but I contend it does not matter so long as you, and I, and she are enjoying ourselves while we play.”
This unloosened Georgiana’s tongue, and she smiled shyly at Mary. “Miss Elizabeth is entirely right! I enjoy playing, which is why I spend so much time at it. I am far less interested in drawing and designing tables and the like, and am quite an amateur in those areas.”
“And I am abysmal at drawing, singing, playing, and designing tables,” Charlotte Lucas contended with a grimace. “I fear I am not accomplished at all.”
“You arrange flowers beautifully, dear friend,” Elizabeth declared, “and more than that, you bake and cook and run a household to perfection. I am well aware of how much work is involved in such things and you manage alone far better than Jane and Mary and I do together.”
“Does not Lady Lucas…?” Georgiana blurted out, and then trailed away in embarrassment, her face flaming red.
“Our mother’s health is indifferent, Miss Darcy,” Charlotte explained calmly, “and I enjoy running a household. Thus, I have been in the habit of ordering meals and managing the servants for many years, especially as our housekeeper is rather elderly.”
/
Elizabeth Bennet stepped out the side door of Longbourn the next morning and halted in surprise.
Her father, dressed in riding clothes, was just swinging onto his favorite horse, which was a remarkable sight given that it was not quite eleven in the morning.
Attached to the saddle was a small burlap bag of mysterious provenance.
“Where are you going, Father?” Elizabeth asked curiously. Mr. Bennet rarely stirred from Longbourn unless he had to, and especially in the morning. Perhaps there was a problem with one of the tenants?
Mr. Bennet hesitated briefly and then said, with an attempt of nonchalance, “I am going to Netherfield, my dear.”
“Oh! Are you going to play a game of chess with Mr. Darcy?”
There was another pause before her father said, “Perhaps, Lizzy, perhaps, but my purpose in going is to bring two books about the Stonehenge monuments to Mrs. Hurst. She is extremely interested in such things, you know, and expressed a fascination in both of these volumes.”
Elizabeth drew a quick, astonished intake of breath before settling herself. “That is most kind of you, Father! Please do give her and the other residents of Netherfield my respects.”
Mr. Bennet smiled gratefully, a twinkle in his eye. “I will, my dear. Thank you.”
“May I ask whether you plan to attend the dinner party at Aunt Philips tonight?”
“No, no,” Longbourn’s master declared, gathering up the reins in both hands. “I will stay at home and read in my library while you enjoy yourselves.”
“Very well, sir.”