Chapter Three-and-Twenty
The day of the ball eventually dawned and with it came excitement, nerves and a spot of drizzle – it was London after all. The Earl of Alfreton had made himself scarce from him own home before his wife had finished breaking her fast; he cared for her a great deal but did not believe their marriage would benefit from him questioning her decisions or contradicting her orders as she made the final checks ahead of the evening's festivities. Instead, he made his way across the greenery in the centre of Grosvenor Square to the front door of Matlock House. The two peers had known each other for many years and Alfreton had always considered the man to be an obliging sort of acquaintance, one who could be relied upon to vote rationally on matters in the House of Lords and not bring scandal with his or his son's behaviour. Lord Alfreton had also long known that Matlock was his cousin's husband (their eldest son bore his family name as a permanent reminder in case his mind ever failed him), and a familial connection to another powerful house was always welcomed. Until Jane and Elizabeth had been forced to flee their childhood home, however, he had not considered the man a friend. That had quickly changed when the two men recognised their own protective instincts in the other and began to bond over their desire to see the girls happy. That topic of conversation soon gave way to matters of war, business and law and since then the two could often be found in each other's company.
"Come in, come in," said Becket Fitzwilliam to his guest, motioning to a large chair near the fireplace of his study, "I see you are in need of refuge. Here, drink this." And without ceremony he handed James Walker a cup of coffee.
"Yes, well the club does not open for another few hours, though that is probably for the best as my Sarah is likely to murder me if I am completely sloshed before we even open this damned ball. I hope you do not mind, Matlock, but you are the safest option I have to remain breathing long term."
The older man laughed heartily at his friend's assessment of his options, if Lady Sarah was at all similar to his own wife, he knew it was only a slight exaggeration at most. The pair spent the next hour playing chess and discussing items from the morning papers, which they passed back and forth between moves. As the two were finishing up some cold cuts of meat which had been brought in around noon, the study door opened to admit the unexpected Colonel Fitzwilliam.
"Richard, my boy, I did not know you were returning today." Exclaimed his father in evident surprise.
"Mother tells you nothing, or you did simply not listen. Either way, she at least was expecting me. Hastings said she was out however, so I have come to find you."
"Aye, she may well have told me but my ears are not what they used to be." Matlock tried to excuse himself but knew it would be fruitless, "Are you up for a ball tonight? How was your Aunt? I must admit, now that I think about it, I am surprised you did not find some reason to run back here sooner."
After a bow and greeting to Lord Alfreton, Richard replied, "Aunt Catherine was as well as you might expect given her favourite nephew ran off without notice. She complained bitterly about Darcy's poor behaviour and all but held me captive. Mother wrote of Walker's happy news and told me of the ball. I had hoped to return sooner but was guilt tripped into reviewing Rosings' books; my God it was a boring, thankless task. I beg you, if you care for me at all, do not leave me an estate in your will. Anyway, after convincing Aunt Catherine her presence at the ball was not needed, I travelled this morning and now the celebrations may begin in earnest."
That evening, after what Elizabeth could only think of as an unnecessary amount of time preparing, she and her sister stood with their Aunt and Uncle in a receiving line to welcome the first of the guests. The Fitzwilliam and Gardiner families had arrived early to show their support and the surprise attendance of Richard helped to put Elizabeth at ease immediately.
Darcy was also keen to arrive in plenty of time with the hope of getting to speak with Elizabeth a little before she became too busy meeting and greeting new acquaintances. The plan had not come to fruition however and he found himself stood in the line like everyone else. Darcy had decided to blame his sister for the delay, whether it was deserved or not, as reluctantly he had permitted Georgiana to attend as well. His initial response had been in the negative but Darcy was worn down by the ladies he cared most about. After confirming she would only by permitted to dance with those within their own party, he agreed that Georgiana could enjoy the happy occasion too. However, Darcy had failed to accurately anticipate the amount of time his sister would require to ready herself and therefore they found themselves slowly moving through the anteroom towards the front of the receiving line with the rest of the guests. Georgiana's excitement to be attending her first ball was palpable to her brother and he quickly found himself forgiving her tardiness; and she did look elegant in her white and gold gown, Darcy had to admit. It troubled him sometimes how grown-up she had become, she had matured into a young woman without his realisation or permission.
The pair soon made it to their hosts and exchanged warm greetings before moving swiftly along to pay their compliments to the two Miss Bennet's. Darcy was speechless as he took in the sight of Elizabeth, something which did not go unnoticed by others in the vicinity. If he could have found any words to say they would surely have been lost once more when he opened his mouth for the breath in his lungs had also been stolen from him. To him, Elizabeth was exquisite. As the night went on, he would acknowledge to himself that he had a preference for her in plainer dresses, walking boots and fly-away-hair rather than ballroom apparel, but that did not detract from her beauty as she danced and laughed in her finery.
Lord and Lady Alfreton led the first dance to open the ball, with their nieces and their lovers paired off immediately next to them in the line. Everyone was eager to see how the young ladies conducted themselves and whether anyone could find substance in the tales of scheming harpies and entrapments which had been making the rounds. It quickly became clear, however, that there was no unwillingness on the part of either gentleman and the Bennet sisters were plainly smitten themselves (either that or they were better actresses than most).
The Bingley's late arrival, towards the end of the second set, was due to Caroline's refusal to leave with her sister dressed in the gown she had on. An ordinary observer would have been hard pressed to find fault with Louisa Hurst's attire, however it was deemed by Miss Bingley to be gaudy and inappropriate given the types of people she anticipated mixing with. At first, Charles Bingley had suggested that she simply not go with them if she did not wish to be associated with their sister, but this sparked an argument which Bingley was unprepared for. Mrs Hurst ended up changing.
When the Bingley party arrived, their presence was noted by Lady Rebecca who moved quickly to point them out to her friend and hostess. They exchanged critiques on her hair, dress and jewellery before turning their focus elsewhere as the aspiring social climber was not worth all of their attention.
Once the second set had concluded, Darcy walked his sister, whom he had been dancing with, towards the refreshment table. Their arrival at the punch bowl coincided with that of Elizabeth and some Lord or other's son who had approached her earlier in the evening to request the dance. The Derbyshire gentleman had quickly noticed the stares she was attracting during their first dance together, it was in that moment that he had decided he despised the fact that it was considered inappropriate to dance the whole of the night with the same lady.
"Did you enjoy your set, Georgie?" asked Elizabeth after taking a sip of her drink.
The move to a first name basis between Darcy's two favourite young ladies had occurred earlier in the week and had delighted him whenever he heard it. Their relationship was something he wished to see flourish and he was pleased that they so clearly respected and cared for each other.
"Very much so, Lizzie," replied the younger girl, "my brother is a fine dancer, is he not?"
"Very fine, I agree. Although I would not let him hear you say so too often, he will think himself to have mastered the discipline and use that as an excuse to avoid the practice in the future." Elizabeth said with a tease, all but ignoring her most recent partner in favour of her friends, much to Darcy's amusement.
"I shall not give up the practice just yet Miss Elizabeth, I still have your supper set to claim." He answered with a wink.
Only Miss Darcy noticed when Elizabeth's companion left the group and was replaced by another young man coming to claim her next set. So engrossed in each other were Darcy and Elizabeth that the change went unnoticed until the first notes rang out to indicate the start of the next dance. Darcy gave a short nod to the gentleman, one he recognised but whose name escaped him, and moved off to stand near his uncle as the pair took their places.
Relief eventually found the brooding gentleman when the time came for him to claim his next dance with Elizabeth. The lady, too, was glad to be back at his side. Elizabeth could make no particular complaint about any of the young men she had danced with that night, however neither could she recall anything specific about any of them. One had curly blonde hair, but she could no longer remember if that was Mr Whittle or Mr Perryton. Another had told her he enjoyed going to the theatre but said it with such a flat affect she was disinclined to believe him. In short, she was happy to once more be in the company of a handsome gentleman who could entertain and spar with her during their set.
Once the dance began though, neither was much worried about finding something to say. For the first few minutes they simply revelled in being back in the others presence, barely taking their eyes of each other and letting their hands linger when they could. To Elizabeth, it felt as though he was the only other person in the ballroom. Fitzwilliam Darcy, in his well fitted coat and elaborately folded cravat, took up all of her focus and she was not sorry for it.
When the time came to take their seats at supper, the pair moved slowly to a table near the Alfreton's which had been claimed already by Mr and Mrs Gardiner. Once everyone had found a seat, Lord Alfreton stood and began his speech, "Some of you may well remember my elder sister, Amelia, may God rest her soul. She was taken from us far too soon but we were blessed that her legacy lives on with her two beautiful daughters, Jane and Elizabeth Bennet, whom we have had the pleasure of introducing to you all this evening.
"They have recently taken up residence with myself and my dear wife, making it my honour and privilege to also inform you all that our Jane has accepted an offer of marriage from the estimable Walker Fitzwilliam, Viscount Westerleigh. It is a pleasure to announce their engagement and I hope you will join me in raising a glass to toast to their future happiness."
Miss Caroline Bingley, who had drunk perhaps too many glasses of wine as a consequence of so few gentlemen asking her to dance, blurted out rather loudly, "I told you all that she was going to trap one of them!"
Caroline was sat with the Hurst's in the centre of the room meaning her remark was heard clearly by most of its occupants; it was met with a mixture of gasps, tuts and condemnations. Without saying a word in response to Miss Bingley's outburst, Lady Rebecca rose from her seat and walked over to Mr Bingley who was say with a young lady not far from his sister. "Your sister is well into her cups Mr Bingley. I would take her home if I were you before she embarrasses herself beyond repair."
Lady Rebecca had little faith that the man in front of her had the backbone to get his sister to do anything, but she refused to engage with the woman herself after what had just been said. It was plain to all to see the pair were in love and no entrapment or arrangement had taken place. Avoiding the chit directly, however, did not remain an option.
"I am not drunk, your ladyship," Miss Bingley shouted as she stumbled from her chair and came in their direction. "I was merely pointing out that I had warned people the Bennet's were not to be trusted and I have been proven right. Your honourable son, I am sure, is only going through with this arrangement to save face after some compromise she set in motion. Miss Bennet may be an Earl's niece but she was raised by a tradesman's daughter!"
That was fresh information to no one, but it still spread through the hall in whispers like it was.
"Yet it would appear that, in this case at least Miss Bingley, blood tells. I would rather my cousin's daughter, my own future daughter-in-law and a sweet girl of noble heritage, be raised by someone from trade, than be someone with uncouth manners that no level of genteel education appears capable of fixing, a daughter of trade destined to the life of a spinster." Without saying anything further to the spluttering Miss Bingley, Lady Rebecca turned to the brother, raised an eyebrow and walked away.
When he did not immediately make a move to silence his now ranting sister, or remove her from the room, Lady Sarah approached him and said, "If you do not remove her, Mr Bingley, I shall have my footmen do it. That woman is no longer welcome here."
The message was a simple one, Caroline Bingley had ruined herself, and by extension her brother, in the eyes of some of the most influential members or the ton and her actions would not be forgiven, overlooked or forgotten. Bingley was quick to his feet then and with some cajoling, and the assistance of Mrs Hurst, managed to convince his sister to leave. The endeavour was by no means a quiet one and once the loud woman had been removed from the room chatter erupted amongst the guests. Mostly it focused on how unhinged and jealous Miss Bingley appeared to be, how nothing she said could be taken seriously and that it would probably be in her best interest to take an extended visit to a relative some place far away.