Page 5 of The Gossip War (Pride and Prejudice Shorts #1)

“What changed? Were you so offended by the injustice of the compromise as to sacrifice yourself for your sisters’ security and my honour?”

Elizabeth laughed heartily, having recovered her composure.

“You misunderstand, sir! The engagement is not only non-existent—it is temporary. We will most certainly not be married—not even close.”

He just stared at her a moment looking as confused as I felt. She had publicly declared themselves engaged, and he had not contradicted her. I expected to smell smoke as we both tried to work it out, but he finally gave up.

“If you plan to jilt me, it will not harm me terribly, but it would adversely affect both yours and your sisters’ reputations.”

Lizzy laughed. “No jilting will be required. It is quite simple. You and the Bingleys are forgetting one of the most fundamental requirements for a proposal to become an engagement.”

Mr Darcy just shook his head in confusion, thus matching my own state.

“You must see it, Jane? The solution is entirely obvious.”

I simply shook my head, having no idea what she was about, so Elizabeth quit toying with us.

“It is simple. My father will deny his consent!

That is the only way an accepted proposal can be broken without loss of reputation on either side.

You might be embarrassed, but your reputation will not suffer unduly, nor will the Bennets be labelled as jilts.

At that point, we will never have been properly engaged!

Even had you asked, and I accepted, we would not be engaged without his consent.

“However, by the time that becomes known, we will have dispensed with the Bingleys. My father might take some gossip, but he will find the whole thing vastly amusing.

“With your reputation in the neighbourhood being so poor already, nobody will think a thing of it except our mother.”

Both Mr Darcy and I gasped.

The solution seemed just too simple, but after several minutes of thinking it through, I had to reluctantly admit Lizzy had it right. The plan should work, and our father would indeed enjoy the spectacle.

What our mother thought of the scheme was something I did not wish to contemplate.

While she seemed overtly mercenary to all outward appearances, she took Mr Darcy’s slight of Elizabeth at the assembly to heart and forbade all of us from even dancing with him.

If she found out he was both rich and apologetic, what would she think, or worse, do?

I hoped she would want Lizzy to make her own decisions, but I would not bet on it. My guess was that Lizzy had just made herself a tough row to hoe—but nothing like Mr Darcy had been facing. She could easily endure a few weeks or even months of our mother’s recriminations.

As to our reputations, our father’s reputation as a crusty and contrary old curmudgeon would be enhanced, much to his delight.

Ours and Mr Darcy’s would suffer nothing worse than some embarrassment, but entirely offset by being friends with the Darcys, which would have enormous benefits. It could work!

I thought to divert Mr Darcy for a moment before his head exploded over the fact that a Cambridge man had been out-thought by a twenty-year-old woman who had not spent five minutes in school, so I asked something that was bothering me.

“Mr Darcy, you looked like you might go along with their scheme before Lizzy jumped in front of the racing horse. Why? I know your reputation might be slightly damaged by an accusation of compromising a nominal lady, so why go along, or pretend to? Is it because of your sister? Were you just stalling or seriously considering it?”

He sighed, looked at the both of us, and came to a decision. “You have the right of it, Miss Bennet. May I ask, Miss Elizabeth, was that the conclusion you came to in less than five minutes?”

“It was. Absent genuine concern for your sister’s welfare, you could drown the Bingleys like rats and send them scurrying back to the north with their tails between their legs, never to be seen in polite society again.

I assumed Miss Darcy did something compromising, and you do not want all the gossip mongers of the ton looking for dirt. ”

“Too smart by half, Miss Elizabeth!” he said with a sigh.

“You are correct. Last summer, she agreed to elope with the son of my father’s steward.

He is a reprobate, womaniser, gambler, seducer, and professional liar.

He worked with her companion, who was in league with him, to seduce her into thinking herself in love.

He did not take her virtue, only because he knew my cousin, a colonel and her co-guardian, would think nothing of making my sister a widow.

He was only after her fortune of ￡30,000. ”

He stared at the floor, looking sadder than I had ever seen a man look, before continuing.

“I chanced upon them a couple of days before they planned to leave for Scotland and stopped it by pure luck. I paid off everyone to keep quiet, but it would not take much digging to restore their memories. My sister is a shell of what she was, and she was not outgoing even before. It will take a long time for her to recover—if ever.”

I was surprised when Lizzy reached across and squeezed his arm in sympathy.

“If that was last summer, then you must have been frantic when you came here… and then that annoying whelp dragged you to an assembly… then nagged you relentlessly to dance with an unknown lady… with a loud and mercenary mother.”

He just nodded, and I could almost see Lizzy’s compassion rise. She squeezed his arm another time. “I am so sorry! You are completely forgiven for the assembly. I should have let it go long ago. My mother says worse about me to my face every other day.”

He frowned ferociously at that assertion but did not argue since Mama had done so in company at Netherfield when she visited.

“Out of curiosity, why not have your father talk to me, or let it go? Have you been nursing a grudge this whole time… not that I did not deserve it of course?”

She sighed in chagrin. “My father remarked once on a broken courtship of a neighbour’s daughter, ‘Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then. It is something to think of, and it gives her a sort of distinction among her companions.’”

She frowned and looked at him carefully.

“Your slight was something like that. I perversely enjoyed being the object of such scorn. It gave me a distinction to be so summarily dismissed. It was not as if anyone in this county would entice someone of your stature anyway. I was slighted, but at least I was not ignored.”

She shrugged as if it was of no moment, but I was not fooled. She had been hurt, but she had recovered and was done with it.

Elizabeth might have been finished with the slight at the assembly, but Mr Darcy was not.

Lizzy’s tender heart would know forgiveness in an instant.

It was the only way to get through a typical day at Longbourn.

For Mr Darcy, only time would do the job.

It is always harder to forgive yourself than someone else.

He would get over it, but not that night.

“My plan is simple enough,” said she. “We will go to Longbourn and work out how to protect your sister’s reputation.

My parents will be invaluable in that regard.

My father will go through the forms of denying consent, and after the dust settles, we can begin again.

Perhaps we can even be friends next time. ”

The gentleman sat in thought for a moment. “Out of curiosity, aside from ending our phantom betrothal, how will your parents be of assistance?”

I had been passive long enough, so I laughed. “I hope you realise what you are in the middle of.”

He just looked confused, while Lizzy nodded in agreement.

“This is a matter of reputations, and we all know how they are damaged or spared. Tonight, the Bingleys fired the first shots of a gossip war. They have no idea that they are as thoroughly over-matched as if they brought a pillow to a knife fight.”

That did not seem to quite answer the question, so I took the liberty of assisting.

“Mr Darcy, gossip is like four streams on a muddy plain. They mix here and there, but there are four primary threads. There are both the male and female streams on the gentry side, and the same for the servants and tradesmen. They can trickle out to nothing or create a flood. My mother and our housekeeper are the undisputed masters of both female streams, and my father and our butler have ready access to the male.”

“Whatever story we choose will spread before luncheon here in Hertfordshire, and to town before supper.

“Gossip always gets distorted, but it is my mother’s lifeblood. She understands it far better than you would give her credit for. The story we choose will be told, regardless of what the Bingleys do.”

He looked as if manipulating gossip was a brand-new concept that should be studied at Oxford, but he gave us the courtesy of thinking about it for a while.

“I see. Now that you point it out, the whole thing makes sense.”

Lizzy said, “We must decide on a story, but once we do, it will spread very quickly. That is why I do not want the Bingleys to know we are gone. The element of surprise is invaluable in war. Hours may make the difference between success and failure, so our story will disperse before the Bingleys leave their beds.”

We all nodded, trying to think through what we wanted the story to be.

I finally said, “We should not spend all night thinking with just the three of us. We need our parents’ council.

My mother is a bit flighty, but you will be surprised how sensible she can be when she wants to; and I can assure you that she will.

I can well picture her rubbing her hands in glee at the challenge. ”

He nodded and was thoughtful for just a moment, then looked carefully at Lizzy.

“Miss Elizabeth… I applaud your thoughtfulness more than I can possibly express. I must admit, that at least today (and probably most days), you are smarter than I am. I like your plan very much. I would, however, like to suggest one small modification that may enhance its chances for success.”

Elizabeth laughed. “It is a work in progress. I am certain your cousin the colonel would assert that no battle plan survives the first strategy session, let alone contact with the enemy. What would you like to change?”

“The change regards Mr Bennet denying consent for the engagement. I have a preferred solution.”

Elizabeth looked intrigued. There was nothing she liked better than an improvement on a clever plan.

“What do you suggest?”

“I would very much prefer he give his consent and blessing!”