Page 23 of The Heroic Mr Darcy’s Bad Manners

Jane had donned a warm dress, and Elizabeth watched her pace restlessly in the parlour. Elizabeth sat in the window seat, watching for Mr Bingley, who should have arrived quarter of an hour ago. Finally, the butler entered, but instead of announcing the expected gentleman, he brought Jane a missive on a silver salver.

“Mr Bingley has sent me a message,” Jane informed her evenly. “He is not coming. Unexpected business has prohibited him from fulfilling his obligation.”

Elizabeth could not help but think he had heard the rumours and was deliberately avoiding the acquaintance. Perhaps Mr Bingley and his sister were more alike than she had initially thought. Parvenus , desperately seeking acceptance in superior society. It was certainly a fitting description of Miss Bingley.

“Stop frowning, Lizzy. I am uninjured. My only motive for the day’s excursion was to discourage Mr Bingley from continuing his pursuit of me.”

“You have decided upon a gentleman amongst your plethora of suitors, then?” Elizabeth kept her tone light.

“Yes.” Jane’s tone was firm, but her expression softened as she looked directly at Elizabeth. “I know not what kind of arts and allurements Colonel Fitzwilliam has wielded. He is not the most handsome, nor the most agreeable man I have ever encountered. Yet, he has drawn me in and left me defenceless against his charms. I yearn for him, Lizzy!” Jane revealed in a rare moment of earnest feeling. She immediately blushed crimson and bowed her head. “Pardon me. I am uncommonly silly today…”

“No, you are not,” Elizabeth disagreed. “I understand more than you know.”

Jane’s head snapped up. “You do?”

“Yes.” Elizabeth kept her voice as neutral as possible and turned her gaze out of the window. “There is no rationality to attraction.” She had said all she wanted upon the topic, and dearest Jane knew her well enough not to enquire about what she did not divulge voluntarily. Her feelings were familiar yet new—definitely confusing, and never in accord with Mr Darcy’s. She could have said more and told her sister of the exact repercussions of being the victim of one of cupid’s arrows…

The square lay mostly empty and deserted but for one lone rider. The only joy on this dreary day—Colonel Fitzwilliam, who arrived moments later.

“Lady Jane! I had not expected to see you,” the colonel exclaimed in obvious pleasure.

“Mr Bingley is detained by some business and cancelled our ride.” Jane smiled, belying any displeasure she might have felt at the aforementioned gentleman’s abandonment. She touched her ringlets to ascertain they were in perfect order and smoothed her skirt. Jane’s unusual fidgeting with her appearance was quite telling.

“What a fool,” Colonel Fitzwilliam muttered. “Pardon me,” he immediately corrected himself. “I should not have called Mr Bingley a fool. Especially when it is to my advantage to find you at home and delight in your unexpected company.”

It spoke well of his manners that he recovered so quickly.

“I came to assure Lord Glentworth and Lord Limerick of my continuing support, and to offer my services. If I can be of aid, do not hesitate to ask,” he implored, looking directly into Jane’s eyes with a steady gaze.

Jane clutched her heart with the fervour of her emotions displayed on her countenance. The contrast to how she acted with Mr Bingley was clear to Elizabeth, as was the extent of her sentiments. Jane liked Mr Bingley, but she loved Colonel Fitzwilliam.

“I am certain my father and uncle will be pleased to hear it, as am I,” Jane boldly admitted. “There is one service I may beg of you.”

“Anything that is in my power to bestow will be yours,” the colonel promised.

“I would be delighted if you could bring Miss Georgiana Darcy on your next visit. We owe her an apology for ruining her dinner party,” Jane acknowledged. “I do hope she is not too distraught after the calamity.”

“Miss Darcy is very well. I saw her less than an hour ago, but bringing her hither may prove to be difficult,” the colonel disclosed with chagrin. “Mr Darcy is no longer in town. He departed abruptly to resolve a problem at one of his lesser estates and left my mother in charge of Georgiana. Under the circumstances, she may not allow her to visit.”

The colonel looked imploringly at Elizabeth, who turned her head and stared at the desolate street. It would not do for Jane to see the tears welling in her eyes and question what would bring neither any pleasure.

Elizabeth could not fault Mr Darcy’s decision to abscond to wherever his, real or imagined, business would take him. They had been much in each other’s company, and to distance himself from the Glentworths was the only sensible course. But she had become used to his society and attentions and was beginning to feel a very affectionate friendship for him. She despaired of ever meeting another man who showed half such intelligence and devotion to duty, or took such tender, diligent care

of his friends and family. He had paid her unremitting attention at the masquerade ball, and if she was to be earnest—also at the picnic and the disastrous dinner at Darcy House.

Mr Darcy was a man of the world, but his character was staid and reserved. How she would have relished bringing liveliness to his sombre life. But it was not to be…

The butler brought the post. The few letters these days were mostly retractions of invitations. Elizabeth had not even known such a thing existed. To uninvite someone was never done in Meryton, and she longed for home. London had lost its allure, but her father had changed his mind and decided they would remain in town and face the scorn with family pride. But not even Lydia remained her lively self when accosted with scorn and contempt. A shopping excursion to Bond Street had proved to be less pleasant than anyone had imagined, and Elizabeth had not anticipated the event at any rate. Not that society had dared cut them. It was the askance glances and fervent whispers that were disconcerting; then there were those who risked crossing the busy street to avoid greeting them. Elizabeth longed for the thrill of a ball, but the invitations were trickling down to none at all.

“What do you all say to a trip to the theatre tonight?” Grandmother Bennet suggested.

“And subject ourselves to the derision of the peerage?” Lord Glentworth looked incredulously at his mother.

“To show that we have nothing to be ashamed of,” she countered, daring her son to gainsay her.

“We would not even fit into the box if we all go,” he deflected.

“I suppose we should only take Eilís and Jane. I would not subject the younger girls to scorn, but those two have been introduced and are established favourites amongst the gentlemen.”

“Very well,” Lord Glentworth conceded through clenched teeth. “We shall do it your way, but do not say that I did not warn you. The approbation of superior society means nothing to me, but Lizzy and Jane may think otherwise.”

Lord Limerick and his entourage arrived early to the theatre in the hope of avoiding the worst crush and succeeded beyond his expectations. Very few of his acquaintances stopped to greet them. Instead, they stuck their heads together and whispered whilst looking askance at them. The evening was not directly unpleasant as no one dared disparage them to their faces, but the whispers made it impossible to be at ease. The play was not compelling enough to draw Elizabeth in, and she was relieved when her uncle and father decided to leave before it had ended to avoid the smothering crowd.

Following the disappointing excursion to the theatre and Mr Bingley’s desertion, a quiet period commenced. Two months passed in quiet pursuits and little entertainment, though they were not utterly abandoned by all their friends. Miss Eudora Darcy and Lady Melbourne were two of her grandmother’s friends who chose to overlook the rumours. They continued to visit, though Miss Georgiana Darcy never accompanied her aunt. She had retired to Pemberley with her companion, or so they said. Elizabeth enquired after Mr Darcy, but by the evasive replies she received, no one appeared to know exactly where he was, and she stopped mentioning him.

Charlotte’s letters conveyed her increasingly tenacious wish that Elizabeth should join Sir William and Maria’s planned visit to Hunsford. Elizabeth had hoped that they would return to Longbourn for the spring planting, but that was not possible because the House of Lords was in session. Lord Byron had given his first address as a member. He was in opposition to the government’s repression of Luddite violence against the manufacturing industry, particularly in his home county of Nottinghamshire. Lord Limerick and Lord Glentworth both had strong opinions on the subject, and even Lord Glentworth decided to remain in town. Her father thrived with his gentlemanly pursuits and lack of social engagements. Lady Glentworth and her two youngest daughters found happiness in shopping in the lesser part of town. Tradesmen cared but little about scandals of decades past when there was money to be earned. Mary prospered under the tutelage of a new music master, and Jane blossomed under the colonel’s unwavering attentions.

Elizabeth declined Charlotte’s invitation to Hunsford to avoid tainting the Lucases’ name with their family scandal, though avoiding Rosings Park was another incentive. Lady Catherine de Bourgh was Lord Matlock’s sister and known for her frankness. Elizabeth’s presence might provoke scenes that would be unpleasant to all.

The colonel’s devotion to his courtship with Jane had not abated. He stood steadfastly by her side, but the Earl of Matlock could not be pleased. Elizabeth, who spent much time in the window seat regarding the busy street, had noticed that he always came riding from the direction of St James’s and his barracks—never from Grosvenor Square where Matlock and Darcy House were situated. He never spoke about it, but Elizabeth would not be surprised if it turned out he had been cast off.

Jane’s engagement to Colonel Fitzwilliam came as no surprise on the first day of April. The colonel had been summoned to headquarters and was to be dispatched for Spain with due haste because the British Army was in desperate need of guiding engineering officers. The colonel refused to leave England without permission to write to Jane; he proposed and was immediately accepted.

Lord Limerick and Lord Glentworth promptly summoned their attorney to draw up the papers giving the colonel the tenancy of Longbourn rent free. They wished to provide a steady income for him to support a wife, which would allow him to resign his commission. This was not so much an act of charity as it was their means to secure the future of Longbourn, Glentworth, and Limerick.

Colonel Fitzwilliam declined. He owned a modest estate in Derbyshire yielding nigh on three thousand pounds a year—a fact that came as no surprise to Jane. He did, however, agree to resign his commission.

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Elizabeth was sitting in her habitual window seat when a commotion in the entrance hall prompted her to leap to her feet and hasten towards the door. She was halfway across the room when the door opened and Lord Glentworth entered with the most genuine smile that had ever graced his countenance.

“Be at ease, Lizzy. I have come bearing the most excellent news…” Her father’s expression turned mischievous. “You will never guess it!”

“No?” Elizabeth exclaimed and doubted that the return of Mr Darcy to town was the cause for her father’s exhilaration.

“We are saved!” Lord Glentworth informed her. “By the grace of the almighty, Gardiner has found my sister’s lady’s maid. She is in London, and even better yet, she is willing to testify that my dearest Catherine did not have the supplies to make coins or Egyptian artefacts in her dressing room but that they were placed there whilst she was visiting a friend. By the time they returned, the supplies had been found, and the former Viscount Crawford had been brought as a witness. It is nothing short of a miracle.”

Whilst Elizabeth was very happy about this news, she still harboured some misgivings.

“Will a maid be enough to prove Catherine’s innocence?” she questioned her father.

“I have doubts, but I am not completely discouraged.”

“No, I would imagine not.”

“Nevertheless, I must make every effort to clear Catherine’s name. We are going out into society with our heads held high, and no one will ever again disparage our name without facing severe consequences.”

“Lord Matlock!” Elizabeth cried. “Will he be tried at court for slander?”

“I very much doubt it,” her father mused. “His title is likely to protect him. But he will be the subject of derision and censure, which I suspect will be of shorter duration than he deserves.”

Poor Mr Darcy! His name would be tainted by association.

“I must go to Gardiner at once and interview the maid. Pray the court will accept our case, dear Lizzy. I shall compose a panegyric of Catherine to present to the judge.”