Page 18 of Mission to Meryton (Pride and Prejudice Variation #25)
Bingley was burbling with enthusiasm as he and Darcy, mounted on their horses, hastened toward Longbourn in the crisp cold of a December morning.
“Miss Bennet is more than I ever imagined or dreamed!” he exclaimed. “She is so beautiful, but also kind and gentle. Truly, I have never known such a woman! I only hope that I can win her hand in marriage. Do you think I can, Darcy? Do you?”
Darcy’s mind had been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty lady could bestow, and thus it took him a moment to respond, “I believe that you and Miss Bennet are very compatible, Bingley. Furthermore, you are a most eligible suitor. I would not worry if I were you.”
“I cannot help but worry,” his lovesick friend declared. “It is all very well to be Darcy of Pemberley, with no worry that a woman would ever reject you. I am a son of trade and Miss Bennet is a gentleman’s daughter.”
“Her mother’s family is in trade,” Darcy pointed out mildly, “and thus I am quite certain your antecedents will not be a barrier to an eventual marriage.”
“At least the Bennets’ wealth is a secret,” Bingley continued in a thankful tone. “If it were known, the gentlemen would be swarming!”
The two horses turned into the front drive of Longbourn and then, at a tug from their befuddled owners, stopped in their tracks.
Three officers, dressed in their red coats, were climbing the steps to the main front entrance. Several other mounted militia members were trotting hurriedly toward the stables behind Longbourn, and various stable boys were running to and fro. The scene was a completely chaotic.
“What is this?” Bingley cried in dismay.
Darcy heaved out a breath. “I believe, Bingley, that word has escaped into local society that the Bennets are wealthy.”
/
Jane Bennet was used to being of interest to gentlemen.
She was a modest young lady, but she knew she was blessed with very handsome features.
It was rare that she wanted for a dance partner at assemblies, and at least one vaguely besotted young man had written her some extremely bad poetry when she was fifteen years of age.
And Mr. Brisbane, of course, had actually offered her marriage before jilting her.
This, though, this was nothing like she had ever seen or imagined, and she felt entirely overwhelmed. The Bennets had risen at their normal hour and were still at the breakfast table when the first hordes of gentlemen began descending on Longbourn, a full hour before proper visiting hours.
At least half their visitors were militia men; the other half was composed of civilian acquaintances both new and old. Samuel Lucas, the Lucas heir, rubbed shoulders with Mr. Alan Smith, who owned a small estate some ten miles distant.
Nor were the men focusing on her and her alone — no, the drawing room was divided into clusters of men vying for the attention of each Bennet lady. Elizabeth looked irritated, Mary stunned, Kitty shy, and Lydia exuberant. What was this?
The door to the drawing room opened and Jane looked up to observe, with relief, the entrance of Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. Bingley looked horrified and Darcy grim, and Jane’s heart sank within her. What could her suitor be thinking of this maelstrom of male humanity?
The moment Bingley’s eyes met hers, his face twisted with a mixture of contrition and longing. She smiled timidly at him, which was enough encouragement for the Master of Netherfield to push his way through the knot of men surrounding her.
“Miss Bennet,” he said anxiously. “I hope you are well today?”
Jane cast an uneasy glance at the horde of men around her, and nodded. “Yes, I am well enough. I hope you are well, Mr. Bingley?”
“Yes, yes, I am well. Might I speak to your father on a matter of urgency, Miss Bennet?”
Jane frowned in confusion for a moment, but then rose with alacrity and, indeed, enthusiasm. “Of course. Please, come this way, sir.”
/
“Mr. Bingley!” Mr. Bennet cried out as his eldest daughter ushered her suitor into the library. “I was wondering when I would see you today. Am I to assume that you are responsible for this multitude of gentlemen beating down the doors of my castle?”
Jane gazed at her father in astonishment while Bingley turned bright red with embarrassment.
“In truth, I fear I am,” he stammered. “I do apologize to you and Miss Bennet, most profusely. I fear my careless words have led to this most distressing situation.”
“I do not understand,” Jane said, bewildered.
“Do sit down, both of you,” Bennet ordered, waving to the seats across from this desk.
“It is simple enough, Jane. I informed your suitor of both the tulips and your augmented portions, and Mr. Bingley obviously let the news slip, so now the entire country is aware that you girls are far better dowered than was previously known.”
Jane shot her swain a horrified look. “You told others of the tulips?”
“No! I mean, yes, I told Darcy of the tulips, but I promise you no one else. But I lost my temper with Caroline, who was denigrating you, and I told her of your dowry, I fear in the hearing of the servants. When Darcy and I arrived a few minutes ago, he suggested that likely some of the Netherfield domestics spread the news.”
Jane nodded wearily. “Of course they did. It would be hard for them to refrain from spreading such a juicy bit of gossip.”
“Again, I do regret my carelessness and most earnestly ask your forgiveness, though I understand you may not be willing to extend it. I … I also will accept your decision if this means you no longer are willing to continue our courtship, Miss Bennet.”
Jane stared at him unblinkingly for a long minute before shaking her head slowly. “I forgive you, Mr. Bingley. I appreciate your defense against your sister, though I admit I am rather shaken. I rather thought Miss Bingley liked me.”
“I believe she likes you very much,” Bingley assured her, his face lighting up with the renewal of his hopes.
“It is merely that she ... well, she wishes me to marry a woman with connections and fortune. I care not for such things, not in the least, but she has always been very strong-willed and I fear that I have not taken her in hand appropriately.”
“That sounds like Lydia,” Jane said with wry amusement. “I believe Miss Bingley is the youngest in the family?”
“Yes.”
“Perhaps last born children often try to rule the lives of their elder siblings.”
“Mr. Bingley?”
“Yes, Mr. Bennet?” Bingley replied nervously to his love’s father,lifting an uncomfortable hand to his collar to loosen it.
“May I ask why you told Mr. Darcy of the tulips?”
Bingley hesitated for a moment. He was not yet permitted to speak of Darcy’s mission in Hertfordshire, but he must also be honest to the man who he hoped would be his father by marriage.
“Darcy was curious about the source of your wealth, Mr. Bennet. He had noted the presence of some very valuable books here in the library, and analyzed the number of servants, horses, and carriages. He concluded that your lifestyle far exceeded that which could be borne by Longbourn’s rents alone.
He was a little concerned about it, and I thought it wise to alleviate that concern. ”
Bennet laughed loudly, causing the young couple to freeze in astonishment.
When the Bennet patriarch had controlled himself, he said, “I do wonder what he suspected us of, Mr. Bingley. Perhaps he thought we were hand in glove with free traders? Well, in any case, that is a very intelligent friend you have, sir. Very intelligent indeed. We have been spending in excess of the Longbourn rents for decades now, and Mr. Darcy is the first man to do the cyphering involved. I am entirely at peace with his knowledge of the tulips; Mr. Darcy, unlike you, seems more inclined to be silent than to speak.”
Bingley could only nod gratefully and make a firm resolve to hold his tongue in the future regarding his love’s financial situation.
He looked out the window, troubled to observe several more men on horseback arriving for a visit.
A moment later, he caught a glimpse of Lieutenant Pratt as he disappeared behind the stables.
What was Pratt doing skulking around the Bennets’ back yard?
/
Elizabeth Bennet had not thought she would come to look upon Mr. Darcy as a metaphorical knight in shining armor, but life was full of surprises.
When his tall form appeared behind the gentleman paying her court, she had found herself smiling at him in relief.
A minute later, Darcy had somehow convinced Lieutenant Davies to vacate his seat next to her, and had settled into a position which was, somehow, vaguely protective.
She felt almost pathetically grateful; only aminute earlier, Mrs. Bennet had swept Lydia away from her coterie of officers and Kitty away from Colonel Forster, who had been hovering over the fourth Bennet daughter for a full hour, to meet with the art master, and Jane had departed with Mr. Bingley.
Thus, the drawing room was now divided into only two sections, with Mary surrounded by four men and she, Elizabeth Bennet, playing hostess to a crowd of officers and gentlemen.
Elizabeth enjoyed people, and she enjoyed talking, but fulsome adoration from a host of men was entirely new, and she did not like it at all.
She was also heartily bored. The menwere saying absolutely nothing of substance.
They focused exclusively on praising her beauty and hinting of her dowry, the first of which was tiresome, and the other alarming.
“Miss Elizabeth,” Darcy said loudly in a brief moment of silence. “Have you had the opportunity to read King Lear ?”
Elizabeth turned gratefully. “I have both read and seen it, sir! I was privileged to see the play performed two Decembers ago in London, when I visited my aunt and uncle.”
“I am most thankful that you are not in London now, Miss Elizabeth,” Mr. Samuel Lucas declared, “else we would be deprived of your great beauty.”
“What did you think of the play?” Darcy asked, firmly ignoring this fatuous declaration.
Elizabeth grimaced and focused her eyes on Darcy’s face. “The play was very well done, but the story itself is most displeasing to me. What an incredible fool Lear is …”
/
Colonel Forster’s horse trotted rapidly down the road to Meryton while his rider’s mind dwelled on the pleasing countenance of Miss Kitty Bennet.
All the Bennet girls, save Miss Mary, were handsome women, but Forster preferred Kitty to the serene Miss Bennet, the feisty Miss Elizabeth, and the boisterous Miss Lydia.
Miss Kitty had very delicate features and a fragile air, and he quite thought that she admired him . ..
“Forster!”
The colonel pulled his horse to a halt as Lieutenant Pratt rose from his position behind a tree and strode briskly toward him. This section of road was composed of a sharp S turn and thus no one was currently in sight to see their meeting.
“What is it?” Forster asked sullenly.
“I found the tulips at Longbourn,” Pratt declared. “Be prepared to carry out your task in the next few days.”
The older man grimaced but nodded. “Very well. I will await word from you.”