Page 18 of The Countess and Her Sister
The gentlemen tarried longer than Darcy would have liked over their brandy and cigars after dinner.
He listened with great interest as Sir Edward regaled Mr. Bingley and General Tilney with his tale of how the King invested in his shipping enterprise, doubling the size of the operation after Lady Gardiner cured one of the monarch's daughters during the sweating sickness.
He weathered the long journey to abroad to arrange the first shipment of the life-saving remedy, fought off pirates with the help of a naval escort, and had negotiated a contract for the Crown that made himself and his long-time friend in China both wealthy men.
He had even turned down an earldom to remain at the helm of his business.
Sir Edward’s flair for storytelling was enough to make Darcy forget about the ladies – one of them, in particular – but when the conversation turned to other topics, Darcy grew impatient.
When Bingley’s friends began to speculate about the countess, Darcy was ready to put an end to their impudence,but Richard spoke up first.
“Gentlemen, rather than arriving at conclusions of your own fancy, my sister and the other ladies are in the next room. We might simply go and speak with them.”
Bingley blanched and nodded his agreement, rising from the table as he downed his remaining brandy. “Quite right – we need not be so unseemly. Besides, I have promised the ladies a night of dancing; they may grow impatient and stand up without us.”
The four mammas were in their element as they pushed their sons and daughters at the most desirable partners for that eagerly anticipated pastime.
Mrs. Rushworth, Mrs. Ferrars, and Mrs. Thorpe all sought to put their sons forward with the countess, but Bingley was faster than his fair-weather friends.
Darcy was relieved that Bingley was such a diligent host; as usual, Darcy had no wish to dance.
He knew Lady Augusta would expect him to stand up with Lady Jane, but he intended to wait until later in the evening, when he would not be expected to partner five other young ladies afterward.
To dance with Elizabeth seemed a vastly greater pleasure than he had originally believed, at that ghastly ball.
But to stand up with any other woman in the room would be interminable.
A few of the young ladies who wished to dance had the presumption to look upon him with covetous expectation, but Darcy ignored them as he sat on a settee beside Lady Gardiner.
For a half hour they shared pleasant recollections of their youth in Derbyshire, and Darcy felt he could not have chosen a better companion as they reminisced and compared impressions.
When the first dance ended, they watched with shared amusement as Sir Edward badgered Rebecca into standing up with him.
It was clear to Darcy that a playful relationship existed between the pair of them, and he marveled at how he could have remained unaware, for all these years, of how the countess’s family had blended into his own.
“I hear that you are not fond of dancing, sir,” Lady Gardiner said with a melodious laugh that reminded Darcy of Miss Bennet. “Lady Rebecca takes great amusement in making this claim merely as a challenge, but I believe you are in earnest about your preferences.”
He felt his face grow warm, and his gaze landed on Miss Bennet, who was exchanging the elder Ferrars brother for the younger with a look of wicked humor. “You have heard of my egregious error in judgement,” he drawled.
“And the subsequent prank that set my Lizzy on a rampage.” Lady Gardiner gave him a look that promised no lecture would be forthcoming.
“My cousin Rebecca’s influence, no doubt.”
Lady Gardiner laughed again. “No indeed! Though your cousin has done much to lift my nieces’ spirits since losing their father, they are not materially altered by Lady Rebecca’s charming prickliness.
They are just as they ever were – or as near as they can be to their former selves, after all that has required them to grow beyond their years. ”
Darcy ought to have known Miss Bennet’s dazzling impudence was all her own, and not of his cousin’s making. Lady Jane, at least, he had given due credit for her own disposition, for none of the Fitzwilliams had been so demure in many generations.
Fearing to give voice to such thoughts as would betray his inconvenient preference for the younger sister, Darcy evaded mentioning the ladies. “What was their father like? I understood they took his passing very hard.”
“Especially Lizzy, for she was his favorite. They were quite alike in disposition. Mr. Bennet was a good man, when he wished to exert himself. Having five daughters… was not perhaps what he had imagined his legacy would be, but Lizzy and Jane always enjoyed his affection as much as his foibles. He was witty and sardonic, perhaps too droll for his wife’s poor nerves, but very intelligent.
Lizzy shares his fondness for reading and for laughing at the folly of others, and Jane…
well, I suppose Jane shares his desire for a peaceful, quiet life. ”
“The two sisters are of rather different temperaments; perhaps Lady Jane is more like her mother?”
“No,” Lady Gardiner cried hastily, bringing her fingertips to her mouth as she realized she had spoken too loudly.
“Forgive me, Mr. Darcy. Well, I suppose I may be honest with you – I can already see that your character is just as respectable as your father’s.
I am aware of Lady Augusta’s plans, and if you are to become family – more closely, that is – I might as well speak candidly. ”
“By all means,” Darcy replied.
“Jane and Lizzy are nothing like Mrs. Bennet, and have little to do with her. I suspect you are aware of what lies at the heart of that rupture.”
“I am not aware of every particular, but I have heard that the mother bore all the blame – none of it was Lady Jane’s design. I do not know her well, but she does not seem to me to be the sort of young woman who would contrive any kind of scheme.”
“She is not, sir. She has the purest, sweetest heart. I believe Mrs. Bennet harbored a great fear of seeing so many daughters settled well – Mr. Bennet’s estate was entailed upon a distant cousin who did not at all behave well to the Bennet ladies.
She was married at fifteen, and brought all her daughters out that that age; though Jane was only nineteen, Mrs. Bennet was beside herself that Jane was out for four years without finding a husband. ”
Lady Gardiner kept her voice low and looked about to make sure they were not overheard, but those not dancing were well occupied in observing and enjoying the lively music. “When your cousin visited some friends at Netherfield, Mrs. Bennet conspired with the mistress of that estate, Mrs. Eastley.”
“And Lady Jane can hardly thank her for it – I know what my cousin was,” Darcy said.
“She was greatly dismayed – but Mrs. Bennet forced her at every turn. Jane wept through the entire ceremony, and the viscount looked as if he would do the same.”
Darcy sighed, imagining himself and the countess dragged to the altar by Lady Augusta – they might very well weep at such a scene if they could not find a way to get on together. It would be beyond amiable candor to admit as much to Lady Gardiner, and he searched for something else to say instead.
“Now that the worst of her ordeal is over, I believe she stands every chance of being perfectly content. She is entirely beloved by her new family, and fortunate indeed in the company of her sister.”
Lady Gardiner gave him an appraising look. “Lizzy is utterly devoted to Jane; she would do anything for her.”
Darcy smiled as he recalled the tale of the stolen horse, and again his gaze landed on the intrepid Miss Bennet. “So I have heard. I wonder that she did not burn down the church to prevent the wedding.”
Lady Gardiner gave him a strained smile.
“She threatened to, and Mrs. Bennet gave her a sleeping draught the morning of the wedding, and locked her in her room. She was abed until after Jane had departed the wedding breakfast, and Mrs. Bennet put it about that Lizzy had taken ill. Then, I thought she would burn down Longbourn.”
Darcy witnessed an unguarded moment as Miss Bennet laughed and spun with the other dancers, and then blew Lady Jane a kiss. Her spirit was not to be underestimated, for she had suffered a vast deal. A strange, protective impulse seized at him. “And what of the affectionate father? He allowed this?”
“I ought not speak ill of him, rest his soul, but he never made any great secret of his indolence. Your late uncle, the old earl, approved of the match. Your cousin had gotten himself out of many similar scrapes, but Lord Matlock was fed up with it – he was ready for grandchildren and the certainty his line would continue. Mr. Bennet did not wish to gainsay the earl, and of course he did not know just how unhappy his daughter would be.”
Darcy nodded, realizing Lady Gardiner had supposed that he was referring to Lady Jane. “But Miss Bennet – he allowed her to be very ill-used, when she could not even bid her beloved sister farewell.”
For a moment Lady Gardiner stared at him in silence, her eyes liquid with emotion, and then she nodded.
“Poor Lizzy – I am growing angry just thinking of it! My husband was abroad and I was in confinement, else I am sure we might have done something – I hardly know what. Lizzy came to us for a time, when Mr. Gardiner returned to England. She returned home to Longbourn when her sister Mary took ill, and when Mary recovered, Lizzy was dashing off to London again to tend to Jane when she caught the sweats.”