Page 7

CHAPTER 7

Chance Meetings

12 SEPTEMBER 1811

A s agreed, Darcy and Fitzwilliam joined Bingley a week later when he returned to Hertfordshire.

The three gentlemen left their horses at the livery stable, and while Bingley attended to his business at the solicitor’s office, Darcy and Fitzwilliam strolled through several nearby shops.

During their stroll, Darcy caught sight of the young lady he had encountered while touring Netherfield the previous week, Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

This time she was not alone.

Beside her stood a fair-haired lady whom Darcy took to be her elder sister, owing to a resemblance of the young lady to his recollection of Mrs. Bennet.

They were accompanied by two younger girls with hair of varying shades of brown and an older woman who appeared to be their companion.

A sixth lady—appearing slightly older than the woman he presumed to be the eldest Miss Bennet and more plainly dressed than those young ladies—approached and greeted the ladies.

With a quiet word to his cousin to identify the women, Darcy moved to join the party.

Elizabeth turned at his approach, and her face broke into a delighted smile upon seeing them .

“Mr. Darcy,” she said.

“I had thought we would not see you again until after Michaelmas, but Papa informed me yesterday that you would visit the area again today.” She laughed and shook her head in affectionate frustration.

“He waited until this morning to inform Mama of the invitation he issued not only for a meal, but for you and your party to stay at Longbourn for a night or two while you completed your business in the area. My sisters and I were sent into the village to see what we could find to add to the evening meal.”

She paused momentarily, not wanting to reveal too much, but feeling a greater sense of familiarity with the gentleman because of their previous meeting and the letters she had written on her father’s behalf for so long.

For a moment, she paused to determine if her words troubled him but supposed from his smile she was not overstepping.

“Mama always sets a generous table, but the addition of three gentlemen to our party nearly sent her into hysterics. I warned Papa that this would be the result and that he ought to have said something yesterday, but he says he still needs to find amusement where he can,” Elizabeth admitted ruefully.

Darcy frowned. “We can return to London if our remaining here is too much for your mother. I would not want our hostess to be discomposed by our coming unannounced, even if we are not at fault,” he said, not wishing to miss out on this time with the young lady but also not wanting to create trouble for her family.

Elizabeth reached out and lightly touched Darcy’s arm.

She withdrew her hand just as quickly, suddenly aware of the impropriety of such a gesture, and caught the reproving glance Mrs. Graham cast in her direction.

A flush of embarrassment rose in her cheeks, and her voice was quieter when she spoke again.

“It is no trouble, sir, I assure you. Even without any additions, the meal would have been sufficient for our family and guests. Mama merely wished to present our family in the best possible light. She still recalls that dinner from so many years ago. While I was not at home at the time, I can well imagine what it must have been like. As you know, our family has changed a great deal since then. I only wish I might have met your father and thanked him for the difference his words made. When Mr. Livesay visited us a few years ago, the first time after that fateful meeting, and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to express my gratitude to him.”

“Before he died, my father was gratified to learn he had an impact on his old friend,” Darcy said seriously.

Darcy again responded to Miss Elizabeth’s touch—even though it had been fleeting and barely felt through the material of his clothing—and yet the sensation lingered longer than it had any right to.

Foolish, really, how the memory of so small a gesture could occupy his mind so completely.

He did not have the courage to return it.

A part of him—some insistent, unfamiliar part—longed to and wished that it would not breach propriety were he to do so.

It had been the same the last time: the faintest touch had sparked something in him, something warm and strange, like a flame coaxed to life beneath damp wood.

It unsettled him. He was not accustomed to being so affected by mere contact.

But neither could he deny it.

The feeling was real—unwelcome, perhaps, but real—and it was growing harder to dismiss that his feelings for this woman were beyond the ordinary.

Clearing his throat, he straightened and said, “Might I introduce my cousin to you and your sisters? That is—if you would be so kind as to introduce your sisters to me first?”

She flushed, clearly abashed at the oversight.

Colour rose swiftly to her cheeks, and he was struck—again—by how becoming her blushes were.

The soft pink of her embarrassment lent her an unstudied grace, and to his own astonishment, he found himself smiling at her.

Strange, how easily his reserve slipped in her presence.

He had not meant to smile—not in such a way—but the gesture had formed before he could suppress it.

Still flushed, she turned towards her sisters and began the introductions.

“Mr. Darcy,” she said, “allow me to present my sisters: Miss Jane Bennet, Miss Mary Bennet, and Miss Catherine Bennet. This is our companion, Mrs. Graham, and our friend, Miss Charlotte Lucas. Mr. Darcy is Father’s friend—or rather, Mr. Darcy’s father was Papa’s friend from Cambridge.”

He inclined his head to each in turn, offering the appropriate courtesies, his gaze lingering on Miss Elizabeth longer than was strictly proper.

There was something in the way she spoke—light, quick, slightly ironic even in formalities—that caught and held his attention.

The warmth of her earlier blush had not quite faded, and he remained delighted at seeing it, for it made her all the more lovely.

Pulling himself back to the present, he introduced his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, whose affable manner seemed to ease the stiffness of the gathering.

Darcy was grateful for it; charm had never come easily to him, and Elizabeth’s presence—though undeniably pleasant—unsettled his usual composure.

“We would appreciate it if you would recommend a place,” he asked once the introductions had concluded, “for us to wait for our friend without being entirely in the way?”

“Mrs. Graham and my younger sisters are going to the butcher’s,” Elizabeth replied.

“Jane and I were on our way to the bookseller to collect an order for my father. Charlotte, would you care to join us—or had you another errand that you needed to complete?”

“I am free to accompany you, Eliza,” Miss Lucas said with a smile.

That said, the party broke into two, with the gentlemen accompanying the older three ladies to the bookstore.

Darcy was surprised to find the shop far better stocked than he had expected for a small village.

“This is quite a collection,” he remarked, glancing over the well-kept shelves.

“I must admit, I did not anticipate such variety. If my friend’s company proves lacking, I will be able to finds book to amuse myself with here.”

“We do our best to keep the bookseller in business,” Elizabeth said, a mischievous gleam in her eye.

“Between Papa’s pamphlets and Jane’s novels, I daresay we account for a significant portion of Mr. Thompson’s trade.”

Her wit struck him again—light, precise, effortlessly deployed.

It disarmed him more than he liked to admit.

She laughed at his expression.

“My father, though he reads less than he once did, still comes here weekly—either to seek out some obscure volume or to declare that my sisters and I are in need of further intellectual improvement.”

“What are you picking up today?” Darcy asked.

“Some books of poetry he wished us to read together and the second volume of a novel by a lady,” Elizabeth replied, watching Darcy for his reaction.

“I enjoy reading novels with my sister,” Darcy replied, keeping his voice even.

“While I do not always find the content particularly interesting, my sister reads with me, and we discuss the works with her. Do you read as a family in the evening, or do each of you read on your own?”

“We often read together in the evening after dinner,” Elizabeth replied, feeling some relief that he did not criticise her family for the habit.

“Not always novels, but we have enjoyed several this way, along with the works of Shakespeare and many other texts. We just finished The Rime of the Ancient Mariner recently, and my sisters still talk about the story.”

“Then I look forward to participating this evening,” Darcy replied, before his attention was captured by his cousin .

“I have just heard that the militia are expected in the area not long after our party arrives, Darcy,” Fitzwilliam said as he approached the pair with Miss Bennet and Miss Lucas nearby.

He indicated Miss Lucas as he spoke, implying that she was the one who had informed him of it.

Darcy frowned at this news, uncertain of why his cousin was telling him.

“Does this trouble you in some way, Richard?”

“Not at all,” Fitzwilliam replied, hurrying to reassure his cousin.

“No, indeed, I am thinking it may be an opportunity for me to extend my visit beyond the fortnight I had requested. “I can suggest to my general that I extend my stay in the area and use my expertise to bolster whatever poor sot is assigned to duty here.

My general often complains that the militia do not train very hard, and I can see about remedying that for at least this one company.

”

Merely nodding in reply, Darcy turned back to Elizabeth when she spoke.

“I did not realise the colonel was joining your party,” she said.

The colonel had turned back to the other ladies, and the three were in a conversation about the coming arrivals.

“Yes, Bingley invited not only him, but also my sister and aunt, the colonel’s mother, to join the party here. I will come with Bingley at Michaelmas, but my sister and aunt will travel from Derbyshire and will join us at Netherfield a week or two later,” Darcy explained.

“Oh, I am delighted that Miss Darcy will accompany you to the neighbourhood,” Elizabeth cried.

“I have longed to meet her for years.”

“I am looking forward to introducing you to her as well,” Darcy replied.

“The two of you will get along quite well, I am certain. Your two younger sisters might also be good friends to her since they seem to be close to her in age. She has often been alone—she has only one female relation in her generation, and our cousin Anne is nearer to my age. My aunt, the one she is presently staying with, tries to help her, but it is not the same as having friends and confidants nearer to her age. Unfortunately, she has had trouble making friends for her own sake.”

Elizabeth looked at him for a long moment, remaining still as she considered his words.

“They seek to befriend her for…other reasons?” she asked.

Darcy flushed slightly.

“Yes, they did. Some because they had brothers whom they wished to connect to an heiress, and they believed my sister would be easily led, and others because they hoped to be introduced to me. That, and another incident, caused her to question herself and believe she had little to offer other than her wealth and connections. She had always been shy, but these events made matters worse.”

This time, Elizabeth did not stop her hands from reaching out and pressing lightly on his arm.

“I am sorry for her,” she began.

“And I do trust that, when she comes, my sisters and I will treat her as a sister instead of a means to an end. If she needs relief from her cousin and brother, or perhaps the aunt who will accompany her, then she will be welcome at Longbourn. We will treat her to the full sister experience if she desires it,” she said with a laugh.

Fitzwilliam, who had been listening to Darcy’s conversation with Elizabeth while he attended to his own, chuckled to himself at this jest, but her words caught Darcy in a different way altogether.

Suddenly, he imagined Elizabeth as his wife and Georgiana as her sister in truth.

What would she think about Pemberley, he wondered idly and was startled from this momentary loss of focus when his cousin elbowed him in the ribs before returning to his conversation with Miss Bennet and Miss Lucas.

“Forgive me,” he said, “I was not attending.” He looked at Elizabeth and caught a troubled expression on her face.

“What is the matter?” he asked her quietly .

“I apologise if my teasing offended you,” she replied, her tone subdued and her eyes firmly on the floor.

“Oh,” Darcy murmured, replaying her words and finally settling on what troubled her.

“No, I assure you, you did not offend me. I…I found myself…that is, my mind wandered for a moment. Georgiana would be delighted to be welcomed to Longbourn as a sister and will likely find her time there a welcome relief from what she will find at Netherfield with my friend’s sisters. Forgive me, I do not wish to speak ill of another, but you will meet them soon enough and form your own opinions of those ladies.”

He watched as Elizabeth eyed him suspiciously.

“I am all anticipation, Mr. Darcy,” she replied after a moment of hesitation.

“You have made me very curious about our new neighbours, and I look forward to seeing them soon.” She paused again.

“You said you will arrive shortly before Michaelmas?”

Darcy nodded his reply, wondering at the reason for her question.

“I am certain someone will mention it to your friend when he officially arrives, but our community’s quarterly assembly will take place at the first full moon after Michaelmas,” Elizabeth said, her voice once again subdued; this time, it was obvious to him she did not want to say too much and risk him thinking she was being forward.

“My friend will be delighted at the opportunity to meet all his neighbours at once,” Darcy replied, attempting to put her at ease.

“While I am not typically disposed towards attending assemblies and the like—truly, towards most social events—I will be pleased to attend this one where I can be certain of the company of a few good friends. Will your father attend?”

Elizabeth chuckled.

“Not if he can help it,” she replied, but then her face fell a little.

“That is, perhaps, not completely fair. He does attend more often than not, and with you and your party in the area, he might find it more tolerable than usual. Papa has never been particularly sociable, and I know that attending these events is taxing for him. Although he has done better at chaperoning my sisters and me, it is still a trial to get him to attend, and he does so grudgingly.”

Darcy chucked.

“I can commiserate with him, Miss Elizabeth,” he replied.

“Might I take this opportunity to solicit your hand for a dance? I would find the whole thing far more tolerable if I knew I had at least one set I could look forward to.”

Elizabeth flushed again at this.

“Yes, sir, you may have any set you wish, other than the fourth. Although your party will add to our numbers, there are never enough men for all the ladies, and Jane, Charlotte, and I always sit out at least one set to ensure every young lady has the opportunity to dance.”

“I would ask to claim the first, but I suspect that our party will arrive late,” Darcy replied.

“Is there a supper set or a break during the evening where I would have the opportunity to spend some time conversing with you?”

Elizabeth nodded.

“There is usually a short break after the fifth set when refreshments are served. It is not as formal as a supper set at a private ball but is simply a short intermission.”

“Then I would claim that set, Miss Elizabeth,” he replied, bowing slightly over her hand, causing her cheeks to heat once again.

“And perhaps another should it prove available?”

Just then, Fitzwilliam turned towards the pair, and while Elizabeth did not reply, Darcy delighted at seeing her blush.

“We ought to return to Bingley, Darcy,” he said.

“He should be finished by now, and these young ladies need to return home to prepare for our visit.”

Fitzwilliam turned to the rest of the ladies, “Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth, we will see you shortly. Miss Lucas, I look forward to seeing you again in October. Darcy?”

As they stepped outside, Darcy paused to bid the ladies farewell, requesting a set from both Miss Bennet and Miss Lucas for the upcoming assembly.

The two young women, who had accompanied the gentlemen to the door, offered polite farewells in return.

With parting words exchanged, Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam took their leave.

Elizabeth turned back towards the counter to collect the books her father had ordered.

With the bundle in hand, she exited the shop, where Jane and Charlotte waited with the rest of her sisters and Mrs. Graham.