Elizabeth Bennet sat on her horse between Charles and Caroline Bingley surveying the grounds of Netherfield Park. Though it ought to have been one of Charles's male friends to visit him in Hertfordshire and approve of the home he had let, Elizabeth had been his first choice.
“It is not Pemberley to be certain, but it is a fine home with plenty of good land,” Elizabeth remarked and then glanced to Caroline, her eyes warning her friend not to speak the words she repeated at least once a trip whenever they were all together.
With a smirk, the lady replied as always. “Charles fancies you, my dear. If he is able to have a country home he believes your mother might see him as a suitable match.”
Elizabeth nudged her horse closer to her friend. “Charles and I are like brother and sister, Caro. Do not vex him for wishing to improve himself.”
Mr. Bingley's face burned with the uncomfortable shade of red his sister's teases always brought. His letting of the estate in the country had left her with an ill humor. Though her humor was never admirable to begin with. “There is no need to be crass, Caroline.”
It irked him that there was a bit of truth to his sister’s words. He had always favored Elizabeth. But he knew her mother would never approve of a union between one of her daughters and a gentleman whose money was made in Trade, even if he decided to purchase Netherfield.
The Bennet family held much land to the North in Derbyshire and more wealth than Bingley could ever amass.
“Let us return and prepare for that blasted Assembly in Meryton. I shall suffer an evening of dreadful fashion faux pas and self-important chatter to please my only brother,” Caroline muttered, urging her horse back the way they had come.
Elizabeth sighed as she watched her friend canter away back the way they had come. The Bingleys were her dear friends. She and Caroline had met at school as young girls and their friendship had grown as they visited one another in Town over the years. Charles had become the brother Elizabeth had always hoped to have, though she dearly loved her sisters.
She looked at him now, admiring how the country suited his easy manner. “Charles, she truly desires your happiness. I believe Netherfield Park will be the perfect home if you wish it so. Shall we speak with your steward? Father taught me quite a bit about crops and tenants, you know.”
Mr. Bingley forgot his sister, happy to ride along with the woman he admired but who would only ever be his friend. “He will meet with us tomorrow. Caroline is right, we must prepare for the dance in town. I have become acquainted with several fine families and am eager to introduce you to them.”
Elizabeth smiled at the contentment her friend exuded. How she wished the polite company of a country town had the same effect upon her own temperament. She was most comfortable in London circles preferring Town over the society in Lambton near her family home.
Her mother, Lady Francine Bennet, would be appalled Elizabeth was in Hertfordshire with the Bingleys giving advice on land and crops.
Why the life of a country gentleman irked her mother so was a mystery. Her father was a very successful gentleman farmer to have won the heart of the second daughter of an Earl.
Elizabeth's grandfather still held a deep and abiding admiration for her father. Mr. Bennet's skillful handling of his lands had built a fine fortune and made him an excellent son.
But Lady Francine would have nothing less than titled suitors for her five daughters. Mr. Bennet had argued fruitlessly in the past that his daughters ought to marry for love.
Elizabeth had agreed with her mother to a point. But her father's romantic notions had crept into her heart as she reached the age of twenty and one.
Pushing away thoughts of her parents, Elizabeth sought to improve her friend's mood. “Let us race the horses for sport. If I must endure the provincial society of your country friends, you must indulge my whims.”
Mr. Bingley loved nothing more than indulging his friend’s every desire. He spurred his horse into a gallop and called back over his shoulder. “I will not allow you any advantage, Elizabeth.”
Catherine de Bourgh found her nephew in his study at Longbourn and rushed into the room full of the good news her friend had imparted. “My dear nephew, have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”
Mr. Darcy said that he had not, decidedly uninterested in the matter.
“But it is, Mrs. Long has just been here and told me all about it. A young man of large fortune from the North is come. It is reported he has five thousand a year. You must go and make his acquaintance for the sake of Anne and Georgiana!”
Mr. Darcy placed the letter he had been reading upon his desk. His aunt would not quit his study until she had persuaded him to do her bidding. “What have the girls to do with a wealthy gentleman, Aunt?”
When she answered, Mr. Darcy heard the impatience in her tone. Catherine de Bourgh was not pleased to call Longbourn her home.
When her husband died in the fire that consumed their modest home in Kent, she had little choice but to bring her daughter Anne and stay with her departed sister’s only son.
Mr. Darcy’s aunt looked at him as though he were the stupidest man of her acquaintance. “He is a wealthy, young gentleman in want of a wife. Would you not like to see him fall in love with your cousin Anne, or your sister?”
Mr. Darcy stood and paced behind his desk. “Do you suppose he has come to Hertfordshire seeking a wife? There are any number of wealthier young ladies to be had in London.”
“A single man in the possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. I cannot think why you would not want the advantage for the young ladies of your family.” His aunt’s voice rose higher in her consternation.
Mr. Darcy relented for he did not wish to endure the imperious speech that would continue into his dinner hour if he did not appease his aunt. “I will pay a visit to Netherfield Park on the morrow if it pleases you, Aunt Catherine. But you must not pin your hopes upon the man. Longbourn is your home now and you shall never have to leave it as long as I live. You and Anne want for nothing here.”
She came round his desk and rested a hand on his shoulder. Her countenance had changed and her voice was much warmer and not so strained. “You have been most gracious, Darcy, but I had nearly put away my dreams for Anne's happiness. Now there is the chance she may be chosen by Mr. Bingley!”
When she turned to hurry from his study, Mr. Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. He retrieved the letter on his desk and read it from the beginning.
It was from his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. He wrote that he might pay a visit to Longbourn before Christmas. It would be a very welcome visit in Mr. Darcy’s eyes. He was outnumbered three to one with all the women under his roof.
The Assembly was crowded and the music a bit loud for Elizabeth's refined tastes. Caroline jabbed her with an elbow as they stood just inside the door. “See how they point and whisper? The matchmaking has begun.”
Elizabeth could not fault the mothers who gossiped as they watched her party with undisguised interest. Though she herself held no romantic feelings for her friend Bingley, he was a handsome, amiable gentleman with perfect manners.
His five thousand a year was certainly no small consideration wherever matchmaking mamas congregated.
Sir William Lucas approached and introductions were soon made around the room. Elizabeth had soon become bored and stood gazing into the distance beside Caroline when a gentleman, who looked to be Bingley's age, approached with three women.
One was an older lady and the other two much younger. Elizabeth thought the older woman could not be the man’s wife for there seemed too much of a difference in age between them.
Soon the man, his sister, his cousin and aunt, were happily introduced to the Bingley party by Sir William.
The older woman, Mrs. de Bourgh, eyed Bingley with what Elizabeth could only call glee. It was obvious she wished to thrust her daughter, Anne, before Elizabeth’s friend.
If either of the young ladies might attract Bingley’s attention, it would be Miss Darcy for her countenance was friendly and she was more beautiful than her paler cousin.
“How lovely to make your acquaintance sir! We are truly blessed with such fine company. Just the other day, my Anne was remarking on how she hoped we might see your party here tonight.” The woman fairly swooned when Mr. Bingley took her hand.
Elizabeth maintained an air of disinterest in the conversation but Caroline snickered behind a gloved hand.
For his part, Bingley smiled and was pleasant. His countenance brightened as he glanced at the young ladies of the woman’s party. When he turned to introduce his sister and friend, Elizabeth noticed Mr. Darcy again, the gentleman who had led the ladies to Sir William’s side.
He carried himself with an air of easy confidence and looked at her with a gleam in his eye that called her father to mind. He seemed amused to make their acquaintance. Unexpectedly, she found herself pleased that the older woman of his party was only a relation.
As the musicians returned to their instruments, Sir William asked Caroline to dance and her brother chose Mr. Darcy’s sister as his partner.
Elizabeth was not surprised by her friend's choice, but she saw that Mrs. de Bourgh was pained. She had thought Mr.Bingley might choose her daughter. With such a beautiful cousin, poor Anne de Bourgh could never have drawn her friend’s eye.
It mattered very little to Elizabeth. She only wished for Bingley to one day wed a woman who truly loved him and not his money.
Refusing the offer to dance with a young man who happened to be Sir William's son, Elizabeth moved as far from the dancers as possible.
Mr. Bingley was the most sought after partner as the musicians played through several sets. It was plain he would break many hearts if he did not choose one daughter of Hertfordshire to marry.
After another set finished and the musicians broke for refreshments, he approached Elizabeth. “Why do you stand about in such a silly manner, Eliza? You truly ought to dance. If not with young Mr. Lucas, perhaps with Mr. Darcy? He is a handsome gentleman and quite kind according to his sister. The de Bourghs would have been cast to the hedgerows without his care."
He motioned to the right where the man in question stood with Sir William. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her friend. “That is quite a dramatic tale, Charles. I am in no humor at present to give consequence to a man with three women under his roof. Besides, he is not wealthy enough to tempt me.”
Bingley shook his head in disappointment. “You have money enough of your own, Eliza. I do not think he is like any other gentleman you have met before, but the point of this evening is to dance and enjoy the company.”
Elizabeth waved him back towards the dance floor and cast a surreptitious glance to Mr. Darcy. To her great surprise, he was watching her. She wondered whether he had overheard her slight.
He moved in her direction and Elizabeth fanned herself, the quick motion giving away her annoyance.
She thought of walking towards the door of the assembly hall but instead remained still. She had nothing to fear from a simple gentleman farmer.
Caroline made her way to Elizabeth's side. "Eliza, could you imagine dancing with any of these men? It is simply insupportable. If only Lord Aisling or Lord Spencer had come with us to this horrible place.”
Mr. Darcy had stopped to speak to one of his circle nearby and Caroline smirked as she pointedly looked him up and down, her expression revealing she found him lacking in the way that mattered most. He was not as wealthy as any of the gentlemen in Town she wished to marry one day.
“I cannot imagine it Caro, but every savage can dance. Why has Charles come to such a place? It makes little sense. I thought he was in love with Lord Aisling’s sister just last month. What happened?” Elizabeth asked as she continued to fan herself. The room had grown quite warm with everyone exerting themselves to please the opposite sex.
Caroline made a sour face. “He waited too long to declare himself, I suppose. She is recently engaged to the second son of the Earl of Durham.”
Elizabeth sighed. It had ever been so for Bingley and she often wondered if he dallied in such relationships with the hope he might one day offer for her hand.
Mr. Darcy approached and Caroline smirked as he continued past them. Elizabeth breathed deeply to maintain her composure.
She had not truly wished to dance with him, but watching him pass by and go to another young lady not half as beautiful nor as gracious secured her opinion of the man.
Elizabeth turned away and looked about the room. There was no one she wished to speak with and certainly not a man besides Bingley she could imagine dancing with her.
Sighing, Elizabeth wandered back to an alcove near the door and remained there brooding while Caroline continued to make snide remarks about all in attendance.