Dinner at Longbourn went very well and the conversation was lively. Uncle Philips sat at the head of the table with Jane on one side of him and Mr. Darcy on the other. Of course, Jane and Lizzy made sure that their admirers were seated beside them. Aunt Philips sat at the other end of the table and had Mary and Georgiana to the sides of her. Kitty sat beside Georgie as she was very impressed by this young lady. After talking to Miss Darcy, Mrs. Philips knew that she would be a good influence on her younger nieces. She was very glad that they had accepted the invitation.
After dinner, the ladies left the men to their port while the Aunt led the ladies to the drawing room. Mr. Philips was able to talk to Darcy, even though Bingley naturally was the more garrulous. Mr. Philips developed a more positive view of Darcy, and noted that he seemed to be quite different from how he had been while here last autumn. The men did not stay separated long as they heard such fine music, even though they were enjoying their port and manly talk. They were lured to the music just as surely as ancient sailors were unable to resist the lure of the Sirens. However, rather than landing on dangerous rocky shores, they found their feet led them to much more desirable attractions.
After enjoying very fine musical entertainment, their Aunt and Uncle said that it was time for them to go home, so Darcy and Bingley knew that they had to leave as well. Before all the guests left, Bingley said, "Mr. and Mrs. Philips, Darcy and I would like to thank you for taking the time to come here to act as hosts so we could all get together. We have enjoyed ourselves so much that I would like to ask you if you would repeat your courtesy by coming to Netherfield to act as hosts for me so I could have everyone come to dinner there. Is everyone available and agreeable to this? May we schedule this for two days hence?"
Uncle Philips looked at his wife and saw her nod. "Mr. Bingley, we would be pleased to do this for you. Nieces, Miss Darcy, are you all in agreement as well?" Of course, the ladies readily agreed, so the plans were set.
Darcy said, "Ladies, I know that Mr. Bennet took his carriage, so I will send mine to pick you up. We would not want you to have to walk and arrive at Netherfield with the hems of your gowns and petticoats six inches deep in mud." As he said this, he looked pointedly at Lizzy, who understood that he was referring to a previous time when she had walked to Netherfield to nurse Jane and had arrived with her hems all muddy, as Bingley's sisters had noticed. She had the graciousness to blush even as she smiled at his sally.
When the guests were about to depart, the Philips carriage was the first to be ready, so they left just as Darcy's carriage pulled up. Jane and Elizabeth walked the gentlemen out to it and Darcy quietly asked, "Miss Elizabeth, will you be walking early in the morning?"
"Yes, as long as the weather holds. I will not be able to stay out too long as your sister does not sleep as late as my sisters."
"I will come over to walk with you, if I may?"
"I will watch for you." She smiled at him as he kissed her hand, then entered his carriage. She and Jane stood watching the carriage until it disappeared down the lane.
On their way back to Netherfield, Darcy thought that this evening was much pleasanter than he had expected. From the discussions he had been able to have with Mr. Philips, he was impressed by his intelligence and business knowledge, even though he was only a country solicitor. He had also noticed that there were no instances of silliness or childish behaviour such as he had encountered when the whole Bennet family had been together before. The Bennets who were present this evening acted quite normally and genteelly. He realized how his impression of the unsuitability of the family was coloured entirely by those members who were not there: namely Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, and Miss Lydia Bennet. He thought that forming a close association with the family could be managed simply by excluding these three members whenever possible.
The next morning was clear, so Lizzy rose early and dressed to go walking. She was not surprised to see Mr. Darcy ride up just as she left the house. One of the Longbourn grooms came out and took the horse while Darcy offered his arm to Lizzy. They walked away from the house and he complimented her on the pleasant evening he had enjoyed the night before. They then spoke of inconsequential things, mainly just enjoying each other's company. Darcy asked how Georgiana was getting along with her sisters and she told him how she seemed to be bonding very quickly with both Mary and Kitty. With Mary, she said, they spent a lot of time at the piano; with Kitty, Lizzy was not sure what they talked of but they seemed to find sufficient topics of mutual interest. It helped that the two were just about the same age and so had similar interests.
Lizzy said, "I expect that Georgie's influence will be very beneficial to Kitty as she seems to be much more mature than my sister. This is especially true as Lydia's influence is definitely not good—too much talk of red coats and flirting. I have not heard the term 'red coat' even once since my sister left."
Darcy said, "As for Georgie, I expect that just being with your sisters will help her overcome her shyness. She already is different from how she has been since her attempted abduction last autumn. Even though it may not have been obvious to anyone who did not know her as well as I do, she was greatly affected by it. I can only thank you again for what you did. Has she spoken to you about it?"
"Not much at all, which I assume means that it is no longer bothering her much. Now that I have had a chance to get to know her, I am so glad that I helped prevent her abduction. From what you say, that villain would have ruined her life no matter what he actually did to her. I like her very much and must compliment you on how you have raised her."
"Thank you for saying that, but I can see now how it would have been better for her if she had had more female influence in her life. She has had governesses and companions, but that is just not the same as someone closer to her own age."
They had walked around the Longbourn gardens and were again approaching the house. Lizzy said, "I should go in to see who is up. Will we see you later?"
"Yes, I believe that I could not keep Bingley away, for some reason." Lizzy was pleased to hear him be witty, no matter how slight his attempt. They parted and Darcy went to find his horse.
Jane and Elizabeth talked about the propriety of receiving the gentlemen at Longbourn while their parents were absent and decided that visits during the day would be acceptable as long as they were all together or were just out walking with chaperones. As the day continued to be sunny and warm, they decided that it was too nice to stay inside, so they arranged for tea to be served on the lawn when the gentlemen arrived. No matter that Darcy had planned to spend time with his sister, they found that they naturally formed into three groups, with Bingley talking to Jane, Darcy to Elizabeth, and the other three ladies chatting amiably apart from the two couples.
The next day, Darcy again came over early to walk with Elizabeth, then he and Bingley visited in the morning as they would all be getting together later at Netherfield for dinner. This dinner again went very well with the Philipses acting as hosts.
This routine continued for the next few days as Uncle and Aunt Philips were pleased to assist their nieces in any way they could. Every second day they all dined together, alternating between Longbourn and Netherfield. Each day they got together to walk in the gardens or to have tea, or to walk into Meryton to look at the shops for new goods.
However, these very pleasant days came to an abrupt end when the Longbourn carriage arrived carrying Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and Lydia. Fortunately, Mr. Bennet had given them notice when their arrival was to be expected, so no special dinner had been planned that evening and the gentlemen were very careful not to visit that afternoon. Immediately, Lydia dominated the conversation, bragging about the number of balls she had attended and the conquests she had made with the most handsome officers in the land. The introduction of Georgiana was barely noticed, except that Mr. Bennet surprised his daughters as he greeted her most politely, welcoming her to his home, saying how sorry he was not to have been home when she arrived. He then asked Lizzy to join him in his office.
"Well, Lizzy, how have things been while we were away? Has Jane seen much of her gentleman?" He smiled when he said this. He was not aware of Lizzy's interest in Darcy.
"As a matter of fact, things have been very quiet. Mr. Bingley has been in our company just about every day, accompanied by Mr. Darcy. I have been very careful to make sure they were always properly chaperoned." She decided to tease him. "I am not sure if the peace and quiet is because you were away, or it might have been Mama, or perhaps Lydia, or all three of you together?" Her father smiled at her teasing.
"Before you hear any rumours from anyone else, I will tell you that we dined with the gentlemen several times, both here and at Netherfield. Papa, before you get excited, we were very careful and asked Uncle and Aunt Philips to act as hosts both here and at Netherfield. They seemed to have been pleased to do this for us. The only other times we saw them were some mornings and some afternoons. We either walked in the gardens or to Meryton, and even had tea on the lawn.
"I will also say that Miss Darcy's presence has been very pleasant and she has become good friends with both Mary and Kitty. She and Mary have been practicing duets together on the piano and her influence on Kitty has been very positive. Kitty is not the same as she is when Lydia is here. I just hope she does not revert back to being as silly as she was."
"Any problems with the estate while I was gone?"
"No, everything seems to be going well with the tenants, but I was busy with our guest so I did not visit them at all this past week."
Meanwhile, Mrs. Bennet was asking Jane about Mr. Bingley and she was told the same story about how they managed to get together. She decided that this called for a visit to her sister to get the details and decided that this is what she would do first thing in the morning. Jane volunteered no information about Mr. Darcy's attention to Lizzy.
During dinner, Lydia was not pleased when she found that Kitty was not at all interested in listening to her prattle on about red coats, but spent most of her time talking to their guest. This was not what she expected as she was not used to being ignored. Poor Georgie was not used to the noise of the different conversations that went on at the same time, especially from Mrs. Bennet that centered on the joys of Brighton and all the officers that were there. After dinner, Mary and Georgiana entertained everyone by playing duets on the piano and Mr. Bennet was very pleased to hear how much better Mary sounded after such a short time with a much better pianist. He regretted that he had not found a master with whom she could have learned to play more proficiently.
The next morning, Mrs. Bennet took Lydia with her in the carriage to visit her sister and asked that the other ladies walk to Meryton to join her there for tea. This they did and were pleased to meet the gentlemen who were just riding into the village.
Elizabeth said, "Good morning, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley. Our parents arrived yesterday as expected and our Mother and Lydia are now with Aunt Philips. We are on our way to have tea with them. Would you like to join us?"
Bingley answered, while looking at Jane, "We would be pleased to join you, right Darcy?" They dismounted from their horses and joined the ladies. Again, three groups were formed while they walked through the village.
When they arrived at the Philips house, the gentlemen tied up their horses and they all went in. Mrs. Philips greeted them warmly, saying, "Good morning everyone! How are you all this morning?"
Once again, Lydia was not pleased at all the attention the others were receiving. Conversation was lively as they had come to know each other very well from their dinners together. Mrs. Philips had been describing the dinners that she had hosted for her nieces and Mr. Bingley and had complimented them all on their gentility and excellent manners. Of course, Mrs. Bennet took this as almost an affront to her as she considered herself to be the consummate hostess. She quickly offered to host them all at Longbourn for dinner that very evening. This offer was quickly accepted by everyone.
When they left, Mrs. Bennet offered the use of her carriage to anyone who wanted to ride, but everyone refused, even Lydia, so she rode back to Longbourn alone. The young people had to wait until the gentlemen collected their horses, then they began to walk back. The three groups formed again, and Lydia walked with Mary, Kitty, and Georgiana. However, she found that the conversation was not about officers, so she tried to tell them again about the fun that she had had in Brighton. She was not pleased when they were not interested to hear all the same stories again, but continued to talk about the fun they had been having over the past week, even though it was not nearly as exciting as that to be enjoyed in Brighton. Lydia considered walking with one of her oldest sisters, but she saw that they were each totally involved with their own gentleman. She was not happy with the situation.
When they arrived back at Longbourn, the gentlemen mounted their horses to continue their ride and the ladies went in after promising to see them later for dinner. When Darcy and Bingley arrived later that afternoon, they found that the noise level in the drawing room was much greater than it had been when the parents and Lydia were in Brighton. This made Darcy cringe, but Bingley seemed not to notice as he went to sit by Jane. The dinner conversation was not as enjoyable to the gentlemen as neither Mrs. Bennet nor Lydia seemed to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation.
However, after dinner, Darcy and Bingley were again pleased to find that Mr. Bennet could be very witty while carrying on an intelligent conversation. Darcy noted that he seemed to be assessing each of them with his probing questions. It was apparent to him that Mr. Bennet was trying to ensure that his daughters had suitors that were worthy of them. He had noticed, during dinner, that Darcy was paying a lot of attention to Lizzy, which surprised him as he had not been aware of her interest in him. The last he had heard, she had disliked him.
When they rejoined the ladies, they were again entertained in an entertaining manner when Miss Darcy, Mary, and Elizabeth took turns on the piano. They were surprised when Elizabeth joined Georgiana in singing a duet while Mary accompanied them on the piano. Their voices blended very well, much to everyone's pleasure. Even though the dinner was not as enjoyable as the others they had had with the Philipses, the entertainment after made up for it.
