A/N
Chapter 4. I know most of you were waiting for Darcy's next visit to Longbourn, but as I said brevity is not my strong point. This chapter which was supposed to be only one half of Ch 4 grew to be near 3k words and I decided to post it today, thinking some of you might like the continuity even if its not exactly what you were expecting to read. Hope you enjoy. In case you feel that this particular section is overly long etc, please feel free to let me know.
Thank you so much for your comments and suggestions, I wait for them very eagerly perhaps more eagerly than some of you wait for the next chapter of the story ๐
To Lisa โ As always, Thank you!
A Little Magic Chapter 4"I believe it will be better if you lie down now, sir," Banes said when Darcy started to make his way towards a chair near the window after donning fresh clothing.
"Er... you mentioned that we need to keep up the appearances. Had you really been injured, then that's how the maid would find you when she brings in the poultice," Banes said apologetically, when Darcy raised his brow at him in inquiry.
"Oh, of course, Banes," Darcy said as he changed direction. 'Banes seems to have thrown himself fully in the charade,' he thought with an amused smile. He had just adjusted the coverlet over his legs when there was a knock at the door. Surprised, he turned to look at the door and saw Banes crossing the room towards it. Suddenly, a wave of apprehension hit him. 'Who could it be? It cannot be Miss Bingley come to enact her dastardly plan, can it?' He wondered, then shook his head at his stupidity. 'Really, Darcy, use the brain the good Lord blessed you with! Why would she come to your door in the middle of the day, especially when she knows Banes will be with you? She wants to compromise you, not invite herself to play chess with you!' Miss Bingley and chess! He couldn't help but smile at the absurd thought and his sudden paranoia. But truth be told, he had been greatly disturbed by Miss Bingley's musings. Something did not feel quite normal about her thoughts, and for a moment or two, she had even sounded a little demented. He shook his head to dispel the disturbing thoughts.
Another impatient knock sounded just before Banes opened the door, and in came Bingley, bounding with his usual energy, although looking somewhat worse for wear.
"Bingley! Oh, Thank God..." Darcy couldn't help himself from crying out in relief and delight.
Bingley grinned. "Well... had I known that you will be missing me so much, Darce, I would not have gone at all. Frankly, I feel strangely blessed, for I have never seen you welcome anyone with so much delight."
Darcy flushed, feeling a little foolish at his overly enthusiastic reaction, especially as he knew that he could not tell Bingley why he was so relieved to see him. Unable to respond, he chose to maintain what he considered a dignified silence.
"Leave all that aside and tell me what is this I am hearing about you falling of Poseidon? I could not believe my ears when Caroline told me what happened. I have never heard of you losing your seat in all the years I have known you. By any chance, you made free with some port after I left this morning, Darce?"
Darcy stared at his friend for a long moment, then gave in to the laughter bubbling into him. He almost always imbibed sparingly, and it struck him as exceedingly funny that he had been accused of inebriation for the third time in as many hours and as many people - all because he had decided to be the gentleman that he was! If his laughter had a slightly wild quality to it, he could not really be blamed. Beginning with the Bingley sisters' rant in the morning and finally culminating in Miss Bingley's viciousness moments ago, the last few hours had been pretty harrowing for him. And less said about the 'special power' he had acquired, the better. Seeing Bingley back at Netherfield had suddenly engendered in him such a sense of relief that it left him feeling quite lightheaded and hence the release of hilarity.
Bingley noticed the uncharacteristic brightness in his friend's eyes, the overloud laughter, and felt a pang of unease. "What is it, Darce? Is the injury causing you too much discomfort?" he asked hesitantly.
Darcy stopped laughing immediately. For one moment, he felt very tempted to tell Bingley the complete, unvarnished truth โ about the power he had acquired. The power that had made him aware of Miss Elizabeth's predicament, Miss Bennet's true feelings, and Miss Bingley's vile plans, but even as he recounted these facts to himself, he realized the utterly fantastical nature of his tale and knew that he could not speak of it to anyone. "Oh, I am well, Bingley. It was my pride that was mostly bruised and my foot only a little," he finally said with a sigh.
Bingley still looked perturbed and opened his mouth for further questioning, but Banes inadvertently came to Darcy's rescue. "Yes, Mr Bingley, there is no cause for worry. I have examined Mr Darcy's foot, and he suffers from only a mild sprain. I am now going to get a poultice prepared for him โ one application of it now and one in the night โ and I feel certain that he will be as good as new tomorrow morning."
'Good old Banes,' Darcy recollected the valet's own words with a wry smile. Bingley's return had eliminated the need for any further pretense of an injury. Now Banes' expert diagnosis had conveniently provided him with the solution he had been seeking โ the freedom to travel to Longbourn on the morrow. 'Well, a man as good as new can obviously travel wherever he wanted, including the neighbouring estate,' he thought in amusement.
'But... why is Bingley here in Netherfield and not in London?' The question he should have asked the moment he laid eyes on his friend, finally occurred to Darcy, and he immediately addressed it to Bingley.
"Bingley, what exactly are you doing back here?"
"Strangely, you and I faced the very same problem, Darcy โ horse trouble. I had not travelled very far from The Red fox when Duke threw one of his shoes. We then had to walk back to The Red fox as the next inn towards the metropolis was much further away. It took us nearly half an hour to walk back, but when we reached there the smithy was nowhere to be found and another half an hour was wasted searching for him. By the time the smithy was located, and the shoe refitted, I had wasted more time than I had spent travelling, and I was obviously much nearer to Netherfield than London. I did not think it safe to resume my travel to the metropolis at that late hour and decided to come back. And here I am," Bingley finished with a flourish.
"It was a very sensible decision under the circumstances, Bingley," Darcy expressed his agreement even as he mentally blessed Duke for throwing his shoe so expediently.
"You will not consider me very sensible if you come to know the real reason I am back at Netherfield, Darce. You will think I have run mad if I tell you that while I sat in the Red Fox, waiting for the smithy to be found, I had this sudden strange feeling that I am needed here at Netherfield, and that is really why I came back. And while I have not seen anything here that justifies what I felt at the inn, somehow, I am glad that I am home."
Darcy could only shake his head as he listened to Bingley's thoughts. 'If only you knew, Bingley. Your inner voice was very much warranted - you are needed here in Meryton for more reasons than one! And after my own experiences today I am perfectly willing to believe what you underwent at that inn. But if I tell you what has been happening with me since you went away, I am sure you will be hurrying to get me committed to an asylum!"
"So, if you are not at death's door, Darcy, I will take your leave and refresh myself. Then I will try to find out what ails Caroline. When I met her just now, I had the curious impression that she is not very happy that I am back at Netherfield," Bingley said as he got up from his chair.
"I will bet," mumbled Darcy. 'Of course, Miss Bingley is unhappy. First, I wreck her plans, and then you come back to annihilate them entirely! How do you think she is feeling right now?' he thought with a vindictive satisfaction, completely alien to his temperament.
"Eh?" Bingley looked at him vaguely. Darcy pondered for a while, then decided to tell Bingley the truth โ at least the part he could disclose. While he had believed that Miss Bingley had her brother's best interests at heart, he had thought of supporting her despite not being happy with her methods. However, now that he had understood the kind of wickedness she was capable of, he was not at all sure of her intentions. 'The least I can do is let Bingley know what he is up against,' he decided.
"Bingley?"
"Yes, Darce?"
"I... ah... I want to tell you something. We all were planning to follow you to London tomorrow."
"But... but... why? I don't understand. No one said anything to me about it. Did Caroline plan a sudden shopping trip?"
"No, Charles, Miss Bingley was planning to remove from Netherfield, with an intention of not returning to Meryton, at least not anytime soon."
"What? But... why? And she did not think that I needed to be informed about it, at the very least?"
Darcy sighed, feeling very uncomfortably like a snitch, but then he remembered Miss Bingley's musings and deliberately ignored the discomfort. "To tell you the truth, Bingley, the purpose of the hurried exercise was to ensure that you did not know about it until the deed was done."
When Bingley's eyes widened in surprise, he explained, "She and Mrs Hurst believe that you are in... in danger of making the mistake of offering for Miss Bennet when she is quite indifferent to you and would accept you only for the material benefit of her family,"
"How... how dare they malign Miss Bennet! She does not have a mercenary bone in her body! And how did they decide that she is indifferent to me? That is not the impression I get when I am with her," Bingley retorted heatedly.
For one craven moment, Darcy thought about glossing over his own mistakes โ of misreading Miss Bennet and agreeing with Miss Bingley but then years of habit of sticking to the truth kicked in. "To be honest, Bingley, Miss Bennet does not display her feelings overtly. Until this morning, I was under the same misapprehension as your sisters. To my shame, I even acceded to their request when they asked me to convince you of the fact. It was only later that I realized that you were to be denied even the opportunity to return here," he revealed doggedly even as he noted the look of shocked disappointment on Bingley's face.
However, before Bingley could react in any way to his disclosures, Darcy hurriedly continued with his explanation. "Although I was not very happy with how we were going about the whole thing, I would have travelled to London tomorrow with the satisfaction that we were acting for your benefit. It was only because of a fortuitous meeting I had while out riding this morning that I was prevented from committing, what I now I consider, an injustice to you."
"Oh, and with whom this fortuitous meeting took place if I am allowed to ask?" Bingley asked dryly.
"Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I met her today when she was out on her morning rambles. Since she was alone, I offered to accompany her to Longbourn. There, I, of course, met Miss Bennet. After my discussion with your sisters this morning, I was paying special attention to her reactions - particularly with regards to you. While I would not like to bore you with chapter and verse, suffice it to say that it was soon apparent that whatever maybe her feelings, indifferent she certainly is not."
Bingley's displeased expression disappeared, as if by magic, and he leaned forward eagerly. "You believe she cares for me, Darce?"
Darcy watched the anxious expressions play on Bingley's face and nodded with a smile. "I believe so, Bingley, although it would be for the best if you make sense of her feelings for yourself when you meet her next. And If I were you, I would make it soon as I got the distinct impression that she was very disappointed that you did not visit Longbourn before you left for London."
"Oh, I would have gone today itself had it been seemly at this late hour, but I am definitely going there tomorrow," Bingley replied with a pleased smile. "I hope that Banes' poultice works its magic, and you are fit enough on the morrow to come along with me," he added.
Darcy pondered a little, then decided to go the whole hog. "Oh, I will be able to accompany you tomorrow because I am well at this very moment. As it happens, I neither fell off Poseidon today nor did I suffer an injury."
"What? But... then why..." Bingley broke off, appearing thoroughly confused.
"I pretended to suffer an injury because that was the only way I believed I could stop Miss Bingley from leaving here tomorrow without too many arguments and heartburn. Once I knew that I had been mistaken in my reading of Miss Bennet, I was no longer convinced that it was in your interest that we leave this place. The decision, whatever you decide โ should be yours alone," Darcy explained.
Bingley stared at his friend in wonder. "You chose to undertake this pretense... for me?" He had known Darcy for several years and understood how uncharacteristic this behaviour was for him. Bingley also knew his friend's aversion to overt displays of emotions. So, he swallowed hard and instead of rushing forward to hug his friend as he wanted, he extended his hand with a smile and a heartfelt, "Thank you, Darce."
"You are very welcome," Darcy smiled as he shook Bingley's hand. 'I just wish that you and Miss Bennet come to an understanding soon, Bingley โ the happiness of a few more depends on yours.'
"I am only surprised that Caroline and Louisa have suddenly turned so averse to Miss Bennet. They always said that she is a sweet girl, and they are very happy to call her their friend," Bingley said in a voice in which puzzlement and hurt both were apparent.
'But not their future sister,' Darcy wanted to say but did not. Even if he had a reasonable explanation for how he became aware of Miss Bingley's vile temperament, he would not have wanted to cause a permanent rift between the siblings. He knew Bingley was fond of both his sisters. He had only wanted his friend to be aware of the realities and felt satisfied that he had achieved his objective. He was also hopeful that with Bingley back in Netherfield, Miss Bingley would not dare to enact her despicable plan, after all, she had been banking on his absence to influence Mrs Hurst. So, he said noncommittally enough, "As I said, it is not easy to decipher Miss Bennets' feelings, Bingley. Perhaps your sisters are mistaken about her as I was."
Although Bingley nodded and replied, "Perhaps," he did not appear very convinced, and his thoughts conveyed his doubts. "If only it was that simple. Caro is my sister, but I am not unaware of her temperament. It seems I will have to keep an eye on her..."
"I will see you later, Darcy. It is because of me that you are being forced to while away your time in this manner. The least I can do is offer you a game of chess," Bingley said as he finally made his way to the door.
"I'll be waiting." Darcy smiled.
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A Little Magic
Copyright ยฉ 2022 by S. Neha
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