Miss Bennet & Mr Bingley (2 page)

‘I would not be so fastidious as you are, for a kingdom! Upon my honour,
I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life as I have this evening;
there are several here that are uncommonly pretty.’

Darcy half smiled at him. ‘You are about to dance again with the only
handsome girl in the room.’ He nodded towards the eldest Miss Bennet.

‘Indeed! She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is
one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, and she is very pretty, and I
daresay, very agreeable. Let me ask my partner to introduce you.’

‘You mean her?’ Turning round he stared at Miss Bennet’s sister, then
catching her eye withdrew his own and said rather coldly. ‘She is tolerable;
but not handsome enough to tempt
me
; I am in no humour at present to
give consequence to young ladies who have been slighted by other gentlemen. You
had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, you are wasting your
time with me.’

Charles watched him walk off, disappointed by his attitude. He wished
Darcy would be less particular, would put himself out to be more agreeable. He
turned and went to claim his partner for the second time, pushing the
unpleasant incident to the back of his mind.

‘Miss Bennet, I have never had such a delightful evening in the country
before this. And your sisters, so amiable and pleasing.’

‘It is kind of you to say so, Mr Bingley. Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst are
charming; I believe that Miss Bingley is closer to you in age than Mrs Hurst?’

‘Yes, she is indeed. I am most grateful to her for agreeing to be my
hostess, my sister knows exactly how things should be done.’ He saw her glance
admiringly in Caroline’s direction. ‘Do you know, she has hired the extra
servants that I require for my stay at Netherfield, she is so much better at
dealing with the staff than I.’

They were separated by the dance but when they were rejoined Charles
smiled at his partner.

‘It is fortuitous that Caroline is still unmarried, I do not know what I
should do without her. I should not be able to entertain, neither have my
friends around me.’

‘I am sure, sir, that she does everything with elegance. I do so admire
her gown, it is the height of modernity, I have seen every lady present admiring
it.’

 
‘That is kind of you to say so, I
shall be sure to pass on your compliments. It is her suggestion that I purchase
an estate of my own, but I decided it would be more beneficial to rent
initially.’

The music paused whilst the set regrouped for the second part of the
dance. Charles kept her hand firmly through his arm, he was not going to allow
any other gentleman to steal her away. ‘Louisa has recently married Hurst and
Caroline was her bridesmaid. Louisa is dependent on her judgement, she is very much
attached to her sister consequently they are often with us.’

‘Lizzy, Elizabeth, is my dearest friend and closest to me in age. She is
kind and clever, but not a bluestocking like Mary. Kitty and Lydia are
different again, there’s no doubt you have noticed they are popular and
high-spirited, but good girls and I love them dearly.’

He saw her glance to the group of military men who surrounded these
younger Bennet girls. Lydia stretched up and whispered into a gentleman’s ear,
causing a ripple of dismay to pass along the row of seated matrons.

‘Oh dear! She should not have done that.’

He laughed down at her rueful expression and she returned his smile. He
liked the way she loved her sisters in spite of their foibles. Miss Bennet must
be the most amiable girl in the room. The violins began to play and he whirled
her away down the line admiring her grace; she danced quite as well as anyone
he partnered at society balls, he doubted there was anyone more elegant than
his current partner.

‘Miss Bennet, I had thought of giving a ball at Netherfield. Do you
think I shall have enough acquaintances to fill the room by then?’

‘More than enough, Mr Bingley. I suspect that everyone here would
consider themselves most favoured if they were to receive an invitation to such
an event.’

‘But would you? Would you come if I invited you?’

She blushed and in her confusion trod on the hem of her gown and he was
obliged to lead her to one side for a moment. ‘I do beg your pardon, Mr
Bingley, for being so clumsy. There, I have been lucky, I have not torn the
silk.’

‘Shall we rejoin the set, Miss Bennet? I have no wish to miss a moment
longer of the dance.’

The dance ended far too soon and he was obliged to relinquish his partner
and seek the next.

 
He was satisfied with the
evening, had enjoyed every moment he had spent with the delightful Miss Bennet.
It was Darcy’s loss if he chose to remain aloof from the company.

When eventually the evening ended and they returned to their carriages
he was pleased with the outcome of his first venture into local society. He was
determined to further his acquaintance with Miss Bennet and was hopeful that an
invitation to dine at Longbourn would arrive the following day. Indeed, he would
send his sisters to pay a morning call on the Bennets to ensure that this was
forthcoming.

It was after midnight when the Bennet family returned to their carriage.
The distance to the village of Longbourn was short, but no one of any
consequence would consider walking to an assembly. Jane sat in the corner, Mrs
Bennet next and Elizabeth in the other. Kitty, Lydia and Mary occupied the seat
opposite.

It was a sad squash. The rattle of the wheels over the cobbles as they
pulled away was accompanied by a continuous stream of chatter from the three
youngest Bennet girls and their mother. Jane and Elizabeth were happy to sit
quietly each lost in her own thoughts.

Jane recalled every moment she had spent in the company of Mr Bingley
and the way he had smiled down at her. She felt her cheeks flush as she
recalled how particular he had been in his attentions. He had not danced twice
with any other young lady. The younger girls had danced every dance, not being
as particular in their requirements as Elizabeth and she, and Mrs Bennet had
not seemed to object.

 
They descended from the carriage
in high spirits, to find that Mr Bennet was still up. If he was not exactly
eager to hear how the evening had progressed, he was at least willing to sit
and listen with a degree of attention.

‘Oh! My dear Mr Bennet,’ her mother trilled as she rushed into the
drawing-room. ‘We have had a most delightful evening, a most excellent ball. I
wish you had been there. Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it.
Everybody said how well she looked; and Mr Bingley thought her quite beautiful,
and danced with her twice. Only think of that to my dear; he actually danced
with her twice; she was the only creature in the room that he asked a second
time. First of all, he asked Miss Lucas. I was beside myself that he stood up
with her; but, however, he did not admire her at all; indeed, nobody can, you
know; and he saw our Jane as she was going down the dance. So, he enquired who
she was, and got introduced, and danced with her next. He also danced with Miss
King, with Maria Lucas, and the fifth with Jane again, and the six with Lizzy,
and than the
boulganger
…’

‘If he had any compassion for me,’ her husband said impatiently, ‘he
would not have danced half so much! For God’s sake, say no more of his
partners. Oh! That he had a sprained his ankle in the first dance!’

‘Oh dear,’ continued Mrs Bennet, ‘I am quite delighted with him. Mr
Bingley is so excessively handsome. His sisters are charming woman; I never in
my life saw anything more elegant than their dresses. I daresay the lace upon
Mrs Hurst’s gown… ‘

Here she was interrupted again as Mr Bennet protested against any
further descriptions of finery. As he refused to listen to any thing more about
clothes she regaled him in great detail about the rudeness of Mr Darcy and how
everyone had thought him proud and far too high in the instep.

When Jane and Elizabeth were alone in their bedchamber, Jane, who had
been cautious in her praise of Mr Bingley before, expressed to her sister how
very much she admired him.

‘He is just what a young man ought to be, sensible, good-humoured,
lively; and I never saw such happy manners! So much ease, and with such perfect
good breeding. Did you not think so, Lizzy?’

‘He is also handsome, which a young man ought likewise to be, if he
possibly can. His character is thereby complete.’

‘I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time. I
did not expect such a compliment.’

‘Did not you? I did for you. But that is the one great difference
between us. Compliments always take
you
by surprise, and
me
never. What could be more natural than his asking you again? He could not help
seeing you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room. No
thanks to his gallantry there. Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give
you leave to like him as much you wish. You have liked many a stupider person.’

Jane leant forward to squeeze her sister’s hand. ‘You are dear, Lizzy.
And so funny. I do wish you had had a better time yourself.’

‘I did enjoy myself, Jane. But you are a great deal too apt, you know,
to like people in general. You never see fault in anybody. All the world is
good and agreeable in your eyes, I never heard you speak ill of a human being
in my life.’

‘I would wish not to be hasty in censoring anyone; but I always speak
what I think.’

‘I know you do; it is
that
which makes me wonder. With
your
good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others!
Affectation of candour is common enough, one meets it everywhere. But to be
candid without ostentation or design - to take the good of everybody’s
character and make it still better, and never say anything of the bad - belongs
to you alone.’ Elizabeth turned so that Jane could begin to undo the buttons at
the rear of her gown. That done Jane carefully slid the dress over her sister’s
shoulders and held it so that it could be stepped out of without damaging the
delicate material.

‘Thank you, Jane. Now, let me do the same for you.’

Being tidy girls they didn’t drop their ball gowns upon the floor but
carefully took them into the closet to hang them up. Although they shared a
maid servant, Sarah, who would have done the task for them in the morning, they
had no wish to make extra work.

‘I am not at all fatigued, shall we go down and make ourselves a drink
of milk? I believe I heard our parents retiring a short while ago.’

Jane thought this an excellent notion. ‘Yes, I am far too excited to
sleep at the moment. My head is buzzing with the delights of the evening, I
have never met
anyone
like Mr Bingley.’

Her sister sniffed. ‘And you like this man’s sisters too, do you? Their
manners are not equal to his, you know.’

‘They certainly were not, at least not at first. However, they are very
pleasing women when you converse with them privately. Miss Bingley is to live
with her brother and keep his house; and I am much mistaken if we shall not
find a very charming neighbour in her.’

‘I am not so sure, Jane. They were certainly not deficient in good
humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of being agreeable when they
chose to, but I believe they are both proud and conceited. We must enquire
further about them and also Mr Bingley and his disdainful friend. I am certain
that both Mrs Long and Lady Lucas will know everything there is to know about
the Netherfield party.’

Indeed that was the case, and when Charlotte and Maria Lucas arrived
with their mother the following morning to discuss the details of the ball,
Jane was able to ask them, without appearing too bold, for the information she
desired.

‘Oh yes, Jane, we know everything about the Bingleys,’ Charlotte told
her eagerly. 'His sisters were educated in one of the private seminaries in
town, and they have a fortune of £20,000 each. They are used to associating
with people of the highest rank. They must, indeed, find us poor company after
that.’

Jane shook her head. ‘I am certain they do not, after all why should
they choose to come and live amongst us if they thought that?’ She didn’t like
to enquire directly about Mr Bingley but Elizabeth was not so inhibited.

‘What about Mr Bingley? What have you discovered about him?’

This time it was Maria who replied. ‘Well, Lizzy, it seems that Mr
Bingley inherited property to the amount of nearly £100 000 from his father,
which will bring him five thousand a year from his investments. His father
intended to purchase an estate but did not live to do it. Mr Bingley cannot
make up his mind where he wishes to settle, and he is, as it were, trying out
Netherfield to see if this is where he wishes to live. It is possible, of
course, as he has such a favourable lease, according to my Papa, that he will
not bother to purchase, but merely rent.’

Jane waited for her sister to enquire about the tall, handsome man who
had snubbed her so rudely, but she remained silent, her eyes sparkling with
humour. ‘Charlotte, what about the married sister, Mrs Hurst? Mr Hurst did not
have a great deal to say for himself, I do not believe he danced more than
twice the whole evening.’