Page 22 of The Countess and Her Sister
For the last several hours, Elizabeth had felt as if she were boiling over inside.
Jane was intent on considering Mr. Darcy as a prospective husband, and had promised Lady Catherine that she would make every attempt to arouse his ardor.
An hour after Lady Catherine’s departure, a parcel had arrived at Matlock House – the rather daring but extremely becoming silk gown that Jane now wore.
Mr. Bingley appeared very pleased at the sight of Jane. He approached in haste, his eyes briefly dropping to Jane’s well-presented décolletage before returning to her strained smile. Across the room, Lady Catherine observed him with a sneer.
Lady Augusta frowned at Lady Catherine and greeted Mr. Bingley so warmly that Elizabeth supposed the dowager wished to vex her imperious sister-in-law.
Mr. Darcy came to join them, and though he was all politeness, he and Jane could not meet one another’s eye.
Elizabeth could easily imagine that Lady Catherine had paid a similar call of coercion to her nephew, for presentlyMr. Darcy looked twice as mortified as Jane.
Oblivious to the tension, Mr. Bingley cheerfully observed, “I am sorry the Tilneys are not to join us tonight, but with such lovely ladies to admire, I cannot repine the want of competition!”
“I must be a dismal suitor indeed, if you do not consider me as such,” Mr. Darcy drawled.
Mr. Bingley glanced between Jane and Elizabeth and laughed nervously. “Ha, ha! Very droll, Darcy!”
There was one lady who certainly thought Mr. Darcy a worthy suitor; Miss Bingley wasted little time in attaching herself to Mr. Darcy, and Elizabeth contented herself with the pleasure of watching Lady Catherine glare at the harpy as if considering how best to flay and devour her.
Yet it was but a half-hearted amusement for Elizabeth, who felt all the shame of knowing that it might well be herself on the receiving end of Lady Catherine’s wrath.
Mr. Darcy spoke little as they awaited the dinner to be announced. He appeared content to observe Mr. Bingley charming Jane and chatting happily as the specter of family expectation loomed over them.
When they finally went into the dining room, Mr. Darcy teased Elizabeth and Rebecca that he had tasked a servant with guarding the place cards, lest there be any repetition of the shenanigans at Mr. Bingley’s party.
Elizabeth did her best to appreciate the jest – and Miss Bingley’s offense – under the watchful eyes of Lady Catherine.
The great lady entirely dominated the dinner.
Elizabeth was seated too far from her sister to do more than observe Jane attempting to speak to Mr. Darcy amidst Lady Catherine’s scrutiny.
Neither did she hear just what the virago said to offend the Gardiners, though Mr. Darcy’s response was loud enough for the entire table to fall silent and gape at him.
“Madam, perhaps you forget that the King himself offered Sir Edward an earldom for his service to the realm during our darkest hour. That he declined the distinction in order to devote himself to a burgeoning business and offer employment to those whose livelihoods were shattered by the sickness is just as noble as the title he might have had. In this house they shall be afforded the greatest courtesy and gratitude; I will tolerate nothing less.”
Elizabeth at once wished to applaud him – indeed she could have kissed him for such kindness to relatives she loved so dearly – and yet she might as easily have wept at the sight of Jane looking at Mr. Darcy with unmasked awe.
After dinner, Jane and Georgiana performed a duet at the new instrument Mr. Darcy had lately purchased for his sister.
Elizabeth sat beside Mr. Bingley, who was at once attempting to listen in raptures to the music, and speak eloquently to Elizabeth of his admiration for Jane’s abilities.
He hummed and swayed his head to the intricate melody, and then turned to Elizabeth to remark that though Jane’s gown was superbly flattering, he feared it constricted her beautiful voice.
Rebecca came to laugh at him, wine in hand. “You will have to do better than this, Mr. Bingley.”
He furrowed his brow. “If I praise her with any more enthusiasm, I am sure I shall make a cake of myself!”
“Naturally,” Rebecca agreed.
“Perhaps you might take to arranging such elegant little compliments as may be rehearsed and adapted to any situation,” Elizabeth replied with an arch look at Rebecca.
She had told her sister once of the horrid approach her cousin Collins had briefly taken to wooing her after the death of her father.
“Pretty words are nothing to action,” Rebecca whispered to Mr. Bingley. “Did you not see how Mr. Darcy amazed her with his set down of Lady Catherine? He does not flatter her, but he would make a most imposing protector.”
Mr. Bingley sat up a little straighter and puffed out his chest. In a hushed tone, he attempted to mimic his friend. “ I say, Lady Catherine, we will have none of your unseemly snobbery in the presence of my darling. Like so?”
Rebecca laughed and shook her head. “Perhaps a little practice may not go amiss. You must consider that she requires more than a doting husband. I have no doubt you will make an exceedingly pleasing partner to whomever you wed, but if you aspire to a union with a woman whose son owns half of Derbyshire, you must learn to inspire the same tremors as Darcy. Nobody would dare cross him! You, Mr. Bingley – I might snatch your billfold from your coat pocket and spend it at the shops, and you would simply bid me good day and remind me to spare a few shillings for some new gloves you forgot to purchase.”
“Probably,” Mr. Bingley agreed with a laugh. When Rebecca gave him an arch look, he slumped backward and appeared to consider her words. “I suppose she does require a man of sense and solemnity – but, really, Darcy? I had no notion – I had thought….” He glanced red-faced at Elizabeth.
Rebecca snapped her fingers to regain his attention. “Lady Jane must consider more than her own wishes. Nothing shall ever eclipse the importance of her son, and the love she bears all our family,” she hissed. “I wish her incandescently happy, and very well looked after.”
Elizabeth nodded her agreement. “To praise my sister is a fine way to bestow affection – to make her feel safe and secure is another, and perhaps of greater importance.”
This was all that Elizabeth could say on the matter, for fear of her own motives in interfering.
Of course, she wished the best for Jane, and she might have thought Mr. Bingley capable of rising to the challenge of winning Jane’s regard even if Mr. Darcy had not come into their lives.
But he had, and Elizabeth had come to esteem him so well that she feared her feelings might bias her opinion – she could not allow them to guide her actions.
It would signify an unpardonable betrayal.
Miss Bingley was the next to entertain them with music, and though she was a fine performer, if a little affected in her manner, Lady Catherine would not deign to listen to her.
She began to maneuver, to push Jane and Darcy together without any pretense of subtlety.
Lady Augusta tittered with mild objection at Jane’s evident discomfort, even casting Mr. Bingley desperate looks of remorse.
Elizabeth was hesitant to intervene, but had nearly convinced herself to do so, when Georgiana approached her.
The girl had joined the ladies of Matlock House on a shopping trip the previous week, and though they had agreed to use one another’s Christian names, they had not seen one another since that occasion.
“Miss B- Lizzy – I hope I might have a private word with you. Might we take a turn about the room?”
Elizabeth glanced across the room at Rebecca, and then at Jane; Rebecca understood this cue to enter the fray in their sister’s defense.
Elizabeth linked her arm through Georgiana’s.
“Certainly. It is a pleasure to see you again. I see you are wearing the sprigged muslin you selected at my uncle’s warehouse. ”
“I wish he had let me pay, but it was a splendid gift,” Georgiana said. “Next time, which I hope may be soon, I shall insist upon it.”
“Would you like to accompany us when next we visit the Gardiners at their home? My young cousins are the dearest creatures.”
Georgiana gave a little bounce of excitement in her steps.
“Oh, yes! I know my brother will wish to come, too – he is very fond of them, for they really did save his life! Our cousin, Lady Susan, insisted he try the new herbal remedy that had just been brought to England – when he was cured, he said there ought to have been a parade for them in every village! Oh, but I am very sorry for Aunt Catherine’s unpleasantness. ”
“I do not know what she said; I am not certain I wish to,” Elizabeth said. Lady Catherine had invited herself to stay at Matlock House rather than bear the expense of opening her own London residence, and Elizabeth knew not how she would endure the woman.
When they reached the back of the room and were beyond the hearing of the rest of their party, Georgiana gestured to a window seat that would snugly allow for two to sit. One they were seated, Georgiana wrung her hands in her lap. “Lizzy, there is something I must tell you,” she said softly.
“Are you in some distress, Georgiana?”
“I am, but you need not alarm yourself. My brother told me of what transpired at Mr. Bingley’s party – that which you agreed to keep secret.”
“I told my sister, as well. When flowers arrived from the captain the next morning, Jane sent them down to the housekeeper’s room, for she had no wish to look upon them!” Elizabeth hoped her jest would ease Georgiana’s anxiety, but it elicited only a weak smile.