Mr. Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman (11 page)

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Elizabeth shuddered as she recognized the unmistakable signs that her father intended to have some sport with this awkward situation. Darcy, for his part, had instinctively paused to let Bingley answer first, as was their unspoken custom in these sorts of social exchanges. To his surprise, Bingley acted as if he had not heard Mr. Bennet and failed to respond altogether. Instead, he continuously scanned the room in a preoccupied manner, obviously searching for an absent occupant. Darcy suppressed the temptation to roll his eyes or nudge Bingley and answered for them both. “Mr. Bennet, thank you. That is very kind of you. We have eaten, but some tea would be welcome. I do apologize if we have called too early?” Darcy sat across from Elizabeth with Bingley at his right.

“No, not at all, Mr. Darcy, you are most welcome. We love visitors anytime, day or night. I must say we have had some very interesting ones lately.”

At this, Elizabeth attempted to change the subject. “Mr. Bingley, when did you return to Netherfield?” Instead of answering, Bingley simply continued to fiddle with the teacup in front of him until he sensed all eyes upon him. He looked up and said, “Oh, I'm sorry.”

Elizabeth quickly looked to her father, who had shot up his eyebrows at Bingley's inattentiveness. Sensing the danger, she said, “Mr. Bingley, I was just wondering when you had arrived at Netherfield.”

Bingley simply replied, “Oh… um… yesterday.” He then continued to absentmindedly examine the door behind Elizabeth's head.

As Elizabeth stared at him, she realized that his obvious nervousness at the prospect of seeing Jane again was making conversation with him impossible. That left only the recalcitrant Mr. Darcy and Mary, who was reading at the table, to circumvent her father from steering the conversation toward either Lady Catherine's unexpected interview or why both of Jane's supposed suitors had called together. The idea of discussing Lady Catherine's visit with Mr. Darcy in attendance sent Elizabeth into a panic. In an attempt to relieve both her own and Mr. Bingley's anxiety, Elizabeth decided to address the source obliquely. “Mr. Bingley,” Elizabeth said, with added force to garner his attention, “you must excuse us. We are all running very late this morning. My mother and sisters will be here to greet you directly. I am sure they will all be pleasantly surprised by your visit.”

“Oh… oh!” Bingley brightened. “That is quite all right. I can certainly wait for… them. I hope we have not called too early. I am very much looking forward to… their joining us.” Having understood her hint, Bingley returned to the study of his teacup as Elizabeth looked on with concern. After several minutes of silence, Elizabeth was startled to hear Mr. Darcy's voice.

“Miss Bennet, we actually arrived before dinner yesterday. The roads were in quite good condition, and we made very good time. Given that the trees were in bloom, it was a very pleasant trip.”

His effort was rewarded by a genuine smile, which made his pulse quicken. Despite his previous reflections that his uninvited presence would be a further burden to Elizabeth, when he saw how poorly things were going, between Bingley's inattention and her father's innuendo, he could not abandon her to the awkward silence and thought even his unwelcome conversation would be better than nothing. Her obvious relief at his attempt emboldened him to try his hand further. “I noticed your garden on the way here. Has the weather in the past few days been as mild as it is today? It would be a shame if you were not able to partake in its pleasures.”

“Yes, thank you for asking. On the whole, the weather has been quite good. I have been a regular visitor. As a matter of fact, I just returned from a tour of our garden earlier this morning. As you said, the trees are exquisite this time of year. It was quite lovely.”

“I am glad to hear it. I know you enjoy walking out.” Elizabeth sat in surprise. Mr. Darcy's alliance in this uncomfortable situation was more than unexpected. His attention to the flow of conversation was a marked improvement from his visits last fall when he was usually responsible for the lapse in discourse. That he would be a help in that regard when he had every incentive to succumb to the embarrassment of the situation made her all the more grateful for his effort. As she smiled at him in gratitude, their eyes met, and he gave her a tiny shrug and a fleeting smile to apologize for the inanity of his conversation and the awkwardness of the visit. She raised her eyebrows to indicate the same and asked, “And what of the weather in London? Has it been as pleasant?”

“Yes, it has. Thank you for asking.” After a pause he added, “When I first returned to London, we had some rain. I had hoped to visit Mr. Bingley directly, but he had been called away to Scarborough, so I waited until his return three days ago. I think the wet weather made the wait seem longer than it actually was.”

Understanding the implication of his statement, she replied, “Yes, we had some rain as well, and it did seem to make the time pass very slowly.”

Before more could be said, Mrs. Bennet entered the room with a great deal of flourish and with Kitty in tow. Both men rose to greet her. “My dear Mr. Darcy, how very good to see you. I was just saying yesterday how welcome a visit from you would be. Jane will be down in a moment. Oh my! Mr. Bingley! I was not informed. I… What… a pleasure it is to see you, sir.”

Upon hearing Jane's name, Bingley seemed to emerge from his stupor. As he bowed to Mrs. Bennet, he said, “Thank you. The pleasure is mine. I have been meaning…” Rather than continue his thought, though, he fell silent as Jane entered the room. His obvious preoccupation effectively silenced everyone else as they watched him watch Jane demurely move behind an unoccupied chair with her eyes cast downward. Mr. Bingley then sprang to her side to pull her chair out for her. She nodded her acknowledgment without looking directly at him.

Mr. Bennet motioned for his wife to sit. Mrs. Bennet, however, stood transfixed, trying to catch Jane's eye, all the while moving her head slightly in Mr. Darcy's direction to indicate that she should acknowledge his presence. Mr. Bennet eventually tired of the spectacle and said, “Mrs. Bennet, please, let us all eat. You have not missed much yet. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth have been discussing the comparative merits of the weather in Hertfordshire and London, but I think they have exhausted the intricacies of that topic. Am I right, Elizabeth?”

Elizabeth looked to her father in disbelief, amazed that he would choose to jest so inappropriately at a time like this. She momentarily shut her eyes and then said, “Father, we were just discussing the gentlemen's trip from London.”

“Yes,” interrupted Mr. Bingley, “we were. The trip itself was quite pleasant. I do regret, however, that it was so long in coming. It has made me realize that I have been remiss in our acquaintance and have been out of the neighborhood for far too long. I hope to remedy that directly. Please accept my apologies for not having visited your family sooner.”

Mr. Bennet stared at Bingley over his spectacles, not quite sure what to make of him. He then added in a perfunctory fashion, “There is no need for apologies, sir.”

Bingley bowed his head to Mr. Bennet and said, “Sir, you are too kind.” He then turned to address Mrs. Bennet. As he did, Jane continued to sit quietly by his side, studying her folded hands in her lap. “I was happy to hear from Mr. Darcy after his last visit that you were all well. I hope Mr. Darcy conveyed my regards to you.”

Befuddled, Mrs. Bennet stammered, “Yes, he did.”

“Good, I am glad. I was sorry I did not accompany him on that visit. But I was relieved to hear from him afterward that you were all in good health. It seems far too long since I had the pleasure of seeing you all.” Before she could reply, he added, “It is above five months. We have not met since the twenty-sixth of November, when we were all dancing together at Netherfield.”

At this, Jane glanced his way. Bingley turned and smiled at her. Jane blushed and looked down. Elizabeth felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
This
, she thought,
is a good enough beginning. Their easy natures and Jane's forgiving heart will bridge the rest.
Suddenly the awkwardness of the situation did not seem so overwhelming. Mr. Bingley's perseverance would ultimately make it obvious that his intentions were the same as last fall, and speculation about Mr. Darcy and his aunt would fade from memory without further fanfare. Elizabeth's reverie was soon interrupted by her mother's voice and the harsh realization that her calculation had neglected to include her mother's involvement.

“Yes, Mr. Bingley, it has been a very long time.” Looking pointedly from Mr. Darcy to Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Bennet added in a clipped tone, “Luckily some of our friends have been more constant.” Not satisfied with her efforts, she then turned to Mr. Darcy. “Sir, I am very glad you have come. We recently were introduced to your aunt, and I was somewhat concerned from something she said that your plans had changed from our last visit.”

Elizabeth flushed with embarrassment and turned to look away, Jane looked up in alarm, and Bingley squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. Mr. Bennet chuckled to himself as Mary and Kitty exchanged a knowing look. Only Mr. Darcy maintained his composure. “Really, madam, I cannot understand your meaning. I do not believe I ever indicated anything of my plans at our last visit, but I am sure that in any event my aunt would have no knowledge of them. Although she is a close relation, she does not speak for me. Unfortunately, she does on occasion overreact and unintentionally give offense. I hope that was not the case, but if it was, please accept my heartfelt apologies on her behalf. I think her age sometimes allows her to forget propriety.”

“Yes, yes,” continued Mrs. Bennet, “she did seem to be confused about your preferences. I think she believed you were planning to call on your cousin in the near future.”

Without flinching, Mr. Darcy continued to calmly look at Mrs. Bennet. “Really, I cannot imagine why; I just saw my cousin Anne when I was in Kent at Easter, and I have no plans to call there again until next year. While I do try to maintain familial connections whenever I can, the running of my estate restricts me from visiting there more than once a year. I think my aunt would wish for more, but I unfortunately cannot oblige her. In the end, I must make my own priorities with the knowledge that it is impossible to please everyone.”

Beaming, Mrs. Bennet nodded and concurred. “Very true, sir.”

Darcy decided to exert himself to turn the conversation to safer ground. He turned to Mr. Bennet and said, “On my last visit here I was able to conduct some interesting discussions concerning my estate with a Mr. Briggs in Meryton. Mr. Bennet, do you know him? He has some very novel ideas about planting.”

Surprised to have been addressed, Mr. Bennet stammered, “Yes, I know him, but I have never had the time to talk to him about his theories.”

“You should, sir. He is very interesting. When Bingley told me he intended to return to Netherfield indefinitely, I thought it a good opportunity to further my acquaintance with Mr. Briggs. I have been very interested of late in new ideas about crop rotation. Since Bingley will need to give the management of Netherfield more attention in the future, I also thought I could be of some service to him in that regard as I have more experience. Do you presently leave a field fallow?”

“Actually, I am not sure,” replied Mr. Bennet.

“You should look into it, sir. I would be more than happy to ride out with you to survey your fields. You can increase your yield quite handsomely by simply employing a few management techniques.”

Somewhat bewildered by the turn of the conversation, Mr. Bennet replied, “Thank you. I will discuss it with my steward.”

“But, Mr. Darcy…” began Mrs. Bennet, but this time it was Elizabeth who interrupted her mother and refused to yield the floor.

“Oh, please excuse me, Mama, I was just going to suggest that if Mr. Darcy has such an interest in planting, we should at least show him our garden. He had admired it earlier.”

“What a lovely idea,” joined Mr. Bingley. Rising, he turned to Jane, extended his arm, and asked, “Miss Bennet, would you do me the honor of taking a turn in the garden with me?”

Taking his arm, Jane replied, “Yes, Mr. Bingley, thank you.”

Darcy then inclined his head toward Elizabeth to indicate he would follow her. She nodded and led the way. Mrs. Bennet was left to stare at their retreating figures, deprived of the opportunity to arrange the couples more to her liking. At this moment, Lydia chose to enter the room, complaining loudly that she was going to faint from hunger if she did not eat immediately.

Once outside, Elizabeth and Darcy tacitly agreed to let Jane and Bingley outstrip them. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, both spoke at once.

Elizabeth then said, “No, Mr. Darcy, please continue. I am sorry to have interrupted you.”

“As you wish. I was just going to thank you for your offer to view the garden.”

“Oh, you are quite welcome. I thought that we could all do with a change of scenery and that Mr. Bingley might appreciate a more informal setting.”

As they both looked at Jane and Bingley, Darcy replied, “Yes, I think you were quite right in that regard.” After a pause, he added, “Miss Bennet, I do want to take this opportunity to apologize for my aunt's visit. She came to see me in London, and while I am not sure exactly what she said to your family, I cannot help but assume that she must have given offense. I would have done most anything to spare you and your family from such an unpleasant encounter, but unfortunately I have no power in that regard.”

In an arch manner, Elizabeth smiled and said, “I think, sir, it is now my turn to tell you that no apology is necessary. If your aunt did give offense, my mother was complicit in the turn of events that prompted it. As you know too well, I have no control over her. I think we both may have family members who give us pain from time to time. But there is nothing to be done other than simply bear it with whatever grace is possible. At this point, apologies are superfluous.”