Page 23 of The Happiness of a Most Beloved Sister (Pride and Prejudice Variation)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

U pon reaching London, Darcy wasted no time in sending a note to Bingley requesting an audience.

In this note he was careful to express the importance of keeping their meeting private so that his friend did not make the mistake of bringing his sisters with him.

Blessedly, Bingley accepted this hint and proposed coming to Darcy House the following evening when Miss Bingley and the Hursts were expected at a dinner party at a baronet’s house, an invitation they did not dare to eschew even for Darcy’s sake.

So it was that Bingley presented himself on Saturday a little before the dinner hour and was shown immediately into Darcy’s study.

“Darcy, old chap! Good to see you,” declared Bingley as he crossed the threshold ahead of the butler, his face wreathed in his usual friendly grin.

“And you. Thank you, Clarence,” Darcy said, leaning to one side and nodding at his butler. “Tell my sister and Mrs Annesley that we shall join them in the drawing room within the half hour.”

“Very good, sir.” Clarence bowed sharply at the waist and departed, shutting the door behind him with nary a sound.

Bingley dropped himself into one of the chairs before Darcy’s desk, crossing his legs at the ankles and weaving his fingers together across his abdomen.

He looked entirely at home. “So, what was so important and secret that I had to sneak over here without my sisters, eh? You do not mean to ask me for Caroline’s hand, do you?

” he concluded with a chuckle that swelled into a guffaw at the undoubtedly revolted expression upon Darcy’s face.

Mastering his features, Darcy cleared his throat and replied, “I think we both know that I shall never be asking you that.”

“Good, else I should be forced to call for a physician and have you committed to Bedlam, for I shall know for certain that you have gone mad.”

Although Darcy could not fathom speaking so of his own sister, it was understandable in Bingley’s case.

Indeed, it had been a longstanding joke betwixt them that Miss Bingley’s ardent desire to become mistress of Pemberley would never be fulfilled, largely due to the outrageous lengths she seemed willing to go to in order to achieve it.

For Darcy, who was not naturally sociable, such obvious machinations were distasteful and disturbing to him.

“I actually called you here to discuss another young lady. Tell me, have you thought much about Miss Bennet since leaving her behind in Hertfordshire?”

Bingley’s eyes appeared to lose focus as he sighed, the sound wistful to Darcy’s ear.

“I must say that I have, old friend. Do you know, I have never gazed upon a countenance as fair as hers, either before or since meeting her? Miss Bennet is a rare diamond, indeed. A shame she did not return my interest.”

Diamond? Bah, more like a paste reproduction.

Dismissing that bitter thought, for it was no help to him if he meant to direct Bingley back to Miss Bennet, Darcy fixed his mind on what he had invited his friend there to hear.

“As to that, I have come to learn that I might have been too hasty in discounting her interest in you. I have it on good authority that she was not unaffected by your departure.”

Sitting up straighter in his chair, Bingley leant forwards with apparent eagerness. “What authority?”

“Her sister’s. Miss Elizabeth was visiting Kent at the same time as I, and she informed me that her sister has been pining for you since you left. In fact, Miss Bennet travelled to town to stay with her relations in the hope of encountering you here, though I understand she was not successful.”

“Why did she not simply pay a call to Caroline?”

“Eliz—that is, Miss Elizabeth said that she had but that her presence was apparently unwelcome to your sisters. Miss Bennet was given every indication that the acquaintance had been severed.”

“Why that scheming—” Bingley forbore saying whatever invective he had conjured for his sister, though Darcy could fill in the blank himself.

He had oft thought any number of unflattering things about Caroline Bingley.

“I ought not to be surprised, for Caroline has always had lofty ambitions for my marriage. Miss Bennet can do nothing for her in Society, so she thought to quash her expectations.”

“Indeed. I might have done the same, had I been aware of Miss Bennet’s presence here in London, much as it pains me to admit. ”

“And yet you are the one informing me of it.” His ire visibly shrinking, Bingley sank back into his chair, bewildered. “I still do not understand why you are telling me this. Has your opinion of Miss Bennet’s suitability changed?”

Darcy hesitated between the outright truth and what he knew would best sway Bingley in Miss Bennet’s direction for Elizabeth’s sake, but decided that any disguise was abhorrent.

“I cannot say that it has, only that it has been brought to my attention that I ought not to have inserted myself into your affairs as I did. I should have left you to decide for yourself, but instead I unduly influenced you to abandon Miss Bennet without regard to her feelings or yours. I was wrong to do it, and I apologise.”

“Then…do you think she cared for me after all?”

“As to that, I shall not compound my sins by offering up an opinion. I do not pretend to know the lady’s inclinations, nor is it my place to judge them. That is your purview.”

“I suppose you must be right, but I would have your thoughts in any case.”

“I am afraid I am out of the business of giving them,” Darcy replied, his tone curt with the intent of discouraging further pestering.

It was not unknown for him to resort to such tactics when Bingley became too dogged, as Elizabeth had discovered to her cost at that dreadful assembly.

“As I said, it is up to you, and you alone, to determine whether Miss Bennet is the one for you. I shall neither persuade you towards nor dissuade you from the match. I only wish to correct my past mistakes.”

Even as he said this, and meant it, he selfishly hoped that Bingley would resume his pursuit of Miss Bennet.

Not for her sake but for Elizabeth’s. She did not deserve her sister’s resentment in any measure, but it seemed that Miss Bennet was determined to punish her regardless.

Perhaps if her temper was appeased by the return of her beau, the lady might be inclined towards forgiveness, and Elizabeth’s suffering would be alleviated.

Bingley sat quietly for several seconds, apparently contemplating what Darcy had said.

When he spoke again, Darcy was vexed to hear another doubt pour forth.

“But what about her health? Miss Bennet’s feelings were only half the reason I left Netherfield, the other being her purported weakness.

What if she is not hardy enough for marriage? ”

“As to that, Miss Elizabeth had a clarification of her own to make. When she spoke to you at the ball about her sister’s ‘delicacy’, she meant delicacy of feeling , not body.

Miss Bennet apparently suffered an illness some years ago brought on by a severe disappointment.

Her condition greatly concerned her family. In general, she enjoys good health.”

To Darcy’s shock and dismay, Bingley scowled at this bit of news.

“Delicacy of feeling ? Why did she not just say that? Here I have convinced myself that Miss Bennet was unfit for marriage, and it was all nothing?” He scoffed behind his hand, glaring at nothing over Darcy’s shoulder.

“Miss Elizabeth ought to keep her tongue behind her teeth. She is as bad a gossip as her mother. At the ball, apparently in Kent?—”

The loud slap of Darcy’s palm against the desk nearly startled him as much as Bingley, who jumped and stared at him with his mouth agape.

Bringing the same hand up to point his finger directly at Bingley’s face, Darcy growled low in his throat.

“It is not Elizabeth’s fault that you misunderstood her, or that you were unwilling to discover the truth for yourself before leaving the country.

Unlike Miss Bingley, Elizabeth meant to assist your courtship, howsoever her interference was misplaced.

Furthermore, she is nothing like her mother, which is more than I can say for your Miss Bennet.

If you malign her again, you will come to regret it. Am I rightly understood?”

Bingley’s jaw swung shut, and he nodded rapidly.

“Very good.” Darcy lowered his finger and reclined back in his chair, though his posture remained rigid. “Now, on the subject of loose-lipped sisters, I also wanted to speak to you about your own.”

“Which one?”

“The younger.”

With a groan, Bingley clasped his forehead as if pained. “Good Lord, what has Caroline done now?”

“It has come to my attention that Miss Bingley left a farewell note for the Bennets before departing Hertfordshire. In it, she apparently intimated that you and my sister were imminently destined for the altar. I think you can understand my displeasure.”

Darcy watched as Bingley swallowed and his face drained of colour.

“Keep your sister in line, Bingley. If she harms Georgiana’s reputation, I shall know how to act. Am I understood?”

“P-Perfectly.”

“Good.” Taking on a more conciliatory tone, Darcy resumed the topic he had invited Bingley to discuss.

“If you are interested in renewing your acquaintance with Miss Bennet, I have obtained her direction here in London. She stays with her uncle on Gracechurch Street. The name is Gardiner, and they reside at number twelve.”

“Gracechurch Street?” Bingley winced. “Caroline will not like that.”

“I daresay she will not, but then her deceit has cleared you of any obligation to consider her wants. Do you intend to go?”

“I…I am not sure.”

Darcy sighed but forced himself to hold his peace.

He had done as intended and corrected his past error, but his conscience would allow him to do no more.

Even for Elizabeth’s sake, he would not press his friend to pursue a woman against his inclinations; to do so would be a betrayal of his own principles and make him unworthy of a woman such as her.

“Think on it, but do not make this decision lightly. You have already abandoned Miss Bennet once, and to do so again after reengaging her hopes would be cruel.” So saying, Darcy stood and swept his hand in the direction of the door.

“Come, dinner ought to be served soon. My sister and her companion are likely waiting for us in the withdrawing room now.”

As Darcy preceded Bingley out of the room, he was beset by a sinking disappointment.

Not only because his friend had failed to immediately oblige his scheme of visiting Miss Bennet, but also because he saw his relationship with Bingley with a greater clarity and did not like the image that appeared.

Their understanding and convictions were so different; was Bingley’s attraction mostly in his biddable nature and willingness to abide by Darcy’s advice?

Was their association really so unequal?

Darcy feared that, without acting as Bingley’s guiding hand, their friendship would naturally dissolve.