A/N

Ch 11 โ€“ The picnic continues. Seems I just cannot keep things short. The story will be at least 17 -18 Chs and not 12 as I had thought earlier. You may find more errors in this one as I could not review b4 posting ( I wanted to post it for the weekend.) My apologies

Thank you all, for all the interesting feedback โ€“ as I have said many times before - its very eagerly awaited. I would be especially interested in one aspect of this chapter โ€“ When E and Miss B have their skirmish about Mary.. is the dialogue sufficiently clear or there is ambiguity/vagueness? Actually, I could not make Miss B any more shameless... so please do share your feedback ๐Ÿ˜Š

To Lisa - Thank you so much for your kind help. I do understand that illness in any form can make things very difficult. Hope you are well now.

A Little Magic Chapter 11

Darcy closed his eyes again and waited for a few minutes to let his anger abate. A few moments later, Miss Elizabeth, sitting not very far from him, let out a deep sigh and his lips twitched. 'Poor Miss Elizabeth. For her sisters, she chose to forgo the chance to explore this beautiful place, but now seems to be ruing the missed opportunity,' he thought. But he was hoping to offer her a satisfactory alternative without inconveniencing the courting couples. Opposite to the ruins of the main castle there were the broken walls of a smaller building, bordering which was a small pond and a thick copse of trees. 'I am sure that she would be happy to ramble about these pretty surroundings even if in a somewhat limited manner... and most fortuitously Miss Bingley is feeling so fatigued at present,' he thought with an inward smile.

He straightened and turned his head to address Elizabeth, "When we arrived here, I heard you express your appreciation of the surroundings - especially that pretty pond out there. Could I interest you in a walk thither?" he asked, waving his hand in the general direction of the pond. The alacrity with which a smile dawned on her face was a reward in itself.

"Oh, I would love that," she replied enthusiastically. Darcy rose in one lithe movement and offered her a hand to assist her. As he glanced around, the Hursts and Miss Lydia appeared to be dozing and he started to look forward to a cozy walk and some pleasant conversation. He was certain that Miss Bingley's recent proclamations of fatigue would let him be free of her unwanted presence. He had, however, not taken into consideration a gentlewoman's right to change her mind โ€“ especially when she sees a despised rival stealing a march over her.

Even as he was offering his left arm to Miss Elizabeth with a stately bow, he felt another hand clutch at his right one with an accompaniment of a shrill, "What a lovely suggestion, Mr Darcy."

He stiffened in dismay. As he turned his head, he found a smiling Miss Bingley attached to his right arm. The lady had not even waited to be assisted up! He was annoyed enough to let his displeasure overcome common courtesy.

"Miss Bingley! I thought that you were feeling too fatigued to go out for a walk," he said with a barely suppressed annoyance.

"But then, imagining Eliza trying to bat her eyelids at you will be altogether more fatiguing than a walk to that dirty pond." "Oh, I am feeling much restored, Mr Darcy, and I am sure that an invigorating walk to that beautiful pond with you is just what I need to recover fully," Miss Bingley said heartily and Darcy could only blink at her duplicity.

"Are you sure, Miss Bingley? I would never want the pleasure of your company at the cost of your wellbeing," he persisted, hoping against hope, while unobtrusively trying to dislodge the woman's death grip on his arm. However, Miss Bingley was not to be deterred and he was disappointed on both counts.

During her stay at Netherfield Elizabeth had seen Miss Bingley's frequent but unsuccessful attempts to monopolize Mr Darcy. At the time, those interactions had afforded her much amusement at both their expense, but that had been then โ€“ when she believed Mr Darcy to be as arrogant and dislikeable as Miss Bingley. To be honest, her sense of ridiculous still afforded her some amusement at the exchange taking place right in front of her. However, this man was someone she now considered a friend and could only feel sympathy at his current plight. She had seen his dismay when Miss Bingley had clutched at him so suddenly. For a moment she tried to imagine his relief if she went ahead and forcibly removed Miss Bingley's talon like grip from his arm. Then with a rueful shake of her head she came down to Earth. 'The only way I can help Mr Darcy at present is by trying to distract him and Miss Bingley.'

Acting on that assumption, she cleared her throat and when he turned to look at her, asked brightly, "Shall we go then, Mr Darcy?"

Darcy nodded, and finally accepting that he had been outmaneuvered by Miss Bingley, replied with a sigh, "Of course, Miss Elizabeth." The matching green of her gown made her smiling eyes appear even more alluring than usual and helped to improve his temper to a great extent. So, he heroically tried to ignore Miss Bingley, and the fact that she was trying her best to disrupt the blood supply to his right arm.

~~~ยง~~~

Unfortunately, Miss Bingley was not someone who was going to be ignored. They had not taken too many steps before she was addressing Elizabeth with her usual faux sweetness.

"Eliza, I truly envy the amity between you sisters. From trampin... er... walking miles through dirt and mud for each other, to sharing same patterns and colours of gowns - I must say, the bond between you is laudable. I am sure that I have seen you wearing a gown very similar to the one Miss Mary is wearing. And here Louisa and I find it difficult to share even a modiste," she finished with an arch look.

Elizabeth had always found the contemptuous familiarity with which Miss Bingley used her given name โ€“ without permission, of course - quite annoying. Earlier, she had found it easy to ignore because she had not cared enough. However, now she had more reasons than one to give a befitting response to the supercilious woman. Not only was there a danger that she might tease Mary about the gown, but she was imposing on poor Mr Darcy too. Only two days ago, who would have seen it coming that Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn would be so eager to defend poor Mr Darcy against the wiles of the snooty Miss Bingley!

"You are right, my dear Caro. But it is not only the patterns and the colours, we sisters are also happy to share the gowns themselves. Mary's dress appears familiar to you because it actually is... You saw me wearing it at Netherfield." Elizabeth offered a smile as faux as the one she had received, then added for good measure, "It is a shame that Lydia is already taller than me and Kitty does not really like yellow โ€“ otherwise that gown is good for another two or three years at the very least."

Miss Bingley was too surprised at the admission to respond immediately. The surprise seemed to have affected even her thought process because when Darcy glanced at her, all he could hear was an incoherent -"How... how shabby... I should have known... And... and who gave her permission to address me as Caro..." Darcy hastily covered an involuntarily chuckle with a cough and looked away from the befuddled Miss Bingley. 'Leave it to Miss Elizabeth to hoist 'dear Caro' with her own petard,' he thought in amusement.

However, Miss Bingley was not someone to stay at a loss for a long time. And her dislike of the Bennets was too strong for her to not try and show Mr Darcy their 'true nature'. Especially when she believed that she had found just the right stick to beat them with.

"For that matter, I would not have said that yellow was even Miss Mary's favourite colour... but then... I suppose the success of the task entrusted to her is far too important to let something as small as her preferences stand in the way," she said after a pause.

Darcy watched Miss Elizabeth's brow furrow in confusion. It seemed that, like him, she too was unable to understand Miss Bingley's cryptic words. His lips quirked as he heard Elizabeth's exasperated musings. "Her tone suggests that she is being her usual catty self... but for the life of me, I do not understand what she is babbling about."

"I am sorry, Miss Bingley, but I do not have the pleasure of understanding you," she finally said with a perfunctory smile.

"Ah... it is nothing. Just that I was very surprised to see Miss Mary transform so unexpectedly like a... Cinderella and... even more surprising was to see her and Mr Collins suddenly start smelling of April and Mayi. To be honest, during the ball, I would have sworn that Mr Collins had fixed his interests elsewhere..." Miss Bingley paused to give Elizabeth a sardonic smile, then added, "But then... for your family Mr Collins truly is the prince charming... is he not? He is the heir after all. So, I can understand why the mother... ahem... the fairy godmother would ensure that Cinderella is transformed inspite of her own preferences."

Darcy took a sharp breath at Miss Bingley's unprovoked insults and for one long moment, Elizabeth could only stare speechlessly at her. "I owe an apology to all the cats of the universe," the irrelevant thought struck her suddenly.

Taking advantage of the silence Miss Bingley added her final salvo, "But I can understand โ€“ both the need and the benefits of the transformation. Because I know that all your problems will be solved if Cinderella does marry the charming prince. Believe me โ€“ I do understand." Neither Darcy nor Elizabeth could miss the emphasis on 'charming' and the accompanying smirk.

"Mayhap, you, Miss Bingley,can understand because of what you believe and practice yourself โ€“ arguably not very successfully," Elizabeth replied with a cold smile and a swift glance at Mr Darcy, whose brows shot up in surprise. Her meaning was clear and Miss Bingley's mouth dropped open at the insult - her face flooding with angry colour. She had often been rude to Miss Elizabeth when the sisters had stayed at Netherfield, and although the younger sister had often parried her cuts with a smile or a clever word, she had never responded in kind, before now. The attack therefore was unexpected and its implications so mortifying that Miss Bingley found herself quite bereft of speech for a while.

On the other hand, now that she had started, Elizabeth discovered that she could not rest until she had corrected all of Miss Bingley's misconceptions.

"I do not believe that I owe you any explanations, still I would like to tell you that you are wrong - about almost everything. Mary does not only like yellow โ€“ it is her favourite colour. And while it is a fact that Mr Collins is the heir to Longbourn โ€“ I can assure you that none of us would ever marry him or anyone else only because of the need and the benefits that you seem to consider paramount. Mary and Mr Collins do have things in common โ€“ as you seem to have already noticed. If sometime in the future they come to an understanding, then we all would be happy for them and obviously for ourselves," she said and turned her head away from Miss Bingley who uncharacteristically was still grappling to come up with a response

Then almost as an afterthought Elizabeth murmured, "And whatever the outcome, I would forever be obliged to that one meddlesome busybody, who took upon himself to make Mr Collins and Mary realize the truth in their hearts, even though he had no need to do so." She threw a quick glance at Darcy as she said that, and the smiling warmth in her eyes made his heart stutter. All the discomfort caused by the surprisingly biting exchange that had just taken place between the two ladies disappeared in the blink of an eye. "I do hope he realizes that despite my jesting words, how grateful I am... we all are to him." Darcy found himself smiling foolishly as he stared into the warm pools of her eyes. He had just opened his mouth to respond when he heard a surprised cry, and with a painful wrench in his right arm he was dragged a little way away from Elizabeth.

Stifling and oath, he began, "Miss Bingley! What on earth..."

"One Bennet hussy making eyes at my brother is more than enough... I am not allowing her to do the same to you!" "Oh... I am so sorry, Mr Darcy. The ground was uneven and I nearly lost my footing... I really am sorry..."

As an angry Darcy stood listening to Miss Bingley's insincere apologies he wondered for a wild moment if he could take advantage of the uneven ground to somehow land a tight slap on that supercilious face in front of him. It was only the gentle pressure of Elizabeth's hand as she once again came to stand next to him that brought him to his senses.

"Are you all right, Miss Bingley?" Elizabeth enquired.

"Oh, I do feel as if I might have wrenched my right foot and..." Miss Bingley began but Darcy interrupted her.

"Then I would sincerely request you to sit on that bench for a while and recuperate, Miss Bingley. I am hopeful that by the time Miss Elizabeth and I come back here, you would be feeling as fit as a fiddle."

Miss Bingley's eyes widened a little at what she rightly understood was cold indifference, but she was not about to give up now. "Oh... no... no that would not at all be necessary. I am sure I can walk very well... with some assistance, of course." And with a forced smile, she once again caught hold of Darcy's right arm.

"Of course, if, you are sure."

Darcy's eyes met Elizabeth's for a fleeting moment and he heard her sympathetic voice. "I am sorry, Mr Darcy but I hope you know that a spider does not easily let go of the prey in her web." His lips quirked, and he nearly replied with a "Do I not know that!" just to see the expression on her face. He controlled the instinct and let out a deep sigh. Miss Bingley - the spider - was all well and good, but he was not really sure that he appreciated being likened to a prey โ€“ it felt too discomfortingly near the truth.

~~~ยง~~~

By the time they ambled past the pond, Darcy was once again about to develop a crick in his neck and a raging headache. The couple of times he had accidently heard Miss Bingley's thoughts, he had found them to be about Elizabeth - and increasingly insulting and vitriolic to be borne with any semblance of equanimity. He tried his best to not to look at the incensed lady, but their relative positions and she herself, were not making it easy. It was only Elizabeth's presence and her witty words โ€“ both said and especially unsaid - that were keeping him from disentangling himself from the ladies and running away without looking back. 'I know Elizabeth can hold her own, but... I cannot leave her at Miss Bingley's mercy,' he told himself for the umpteenth time, easily overlooking the fact that Miss Elizabeth was now Elizabeth to him โ€“ at least in his thoughts. He sighed and once again resisted the urge to jerk his arm away from Miss Bingley - the person he held solely responsible for his aching head and agitated mind.

Once they reached the entrance of the ruins, Miss Bingley appeared to drag her feet, but as expected Elizabeth was only too eager to go inside and investigate. "I do not believe there could be anything of value or beauty inside these broken walls. It is not even the main castle. I suggest that we should now go back to the others," Miss Bingley said, trying hard to hide her distaste.

"Why ever do you say so, Miss Bingley? These walls bear witness to the lives of people who inhabited this place so many hundreds of years ago. When we go inside, they just might give a little bit of their testimony to us. Do you not find this thought intriguing and... beautiful? What do you think, Mr Darcy?"

If he was honest with himself, Darcy was as eager as Miss Bingley to go back - just to get his right arm back to himself, but as he saw the anticipation in Elizabeth's eyes, he found himself replying with a smile, "Of course, Miss Elizabeth, I happen to agree with you completely. So many stories are buried inside the walls of these old, broken buildings. When ever I visit a place like this, I am always looking forward to discovering a few of them for myself. And now that we are already standing at the entrance of the building, it makes more sense to at least go in and have a look. But if Miss Bingley..."

The good lady interrupted him ruthlessly, already knowing the suggestion that was coming. "You know, Eliza, there was a time when I would have taken anything Mr Darcy said as a gospel truth. However, I have become a little chary ever since he told me of his extreme admiration for the beauty of what to me are a very ordinary pair of eyes. Still, for old times' sake I will take his word, and come along with you," she said with a tight smile. "Good Lord! He is smiling at her like a completely green schoolboy... and I used to think Charles is the besotted one. It seems I was too hasty in dropping my plan when Charles came back so suddenly... I will have to rethink... and soon."

Elizabeth listened to Miss Bingley's words in bemusement. It was the first time the lady had dared to bare her fangs at Mr Darcy... The whole thing did not make any sense to Elizabeth. But rather than the lady, Elizabeth was more concerned by Mr Darcy's reaction to her needling. Elizabeth had already guessed that they had been talking about a young lady. 'Perhaps a common acquaintance from London whom Mr Darcy admired?' Why the thought should suddenly make her feel a little sad she did not understand and decided to ignore it for the moment because Mr Darcy's reactions had disturbed her more. When Miss Bingley had mentioned the 'ordinary pair of eyes', a muscle had started ticking in his cheek, followed soon after by the clenching and unclenching of his hand. 'The poor man needs a break from that witch... and I am going to help him even if I have to push her in a dungeon inside that building,' she decided resolutely.Unfortunately, Darcy, who was staring in shock at Miss Bingley, missed hearing of such heroic plans on his behalf.

"Whatever are we waiting for, let us go inside," Elizabeth called out to the other two as she hurriedly stepped inside the entrance, and nearly fell down before she had taken too many steps. The reasons were twofold โ€“ in her excitement she was not really looking where she was going and the ground here was actually uneven. Although she swiftly righted herself, the incident gave her the idea she needed to help Mr Darcy.

When Darcy and Miss Bingley โ€“ who was still resolutely attached to his arm โ€“ entered the building behind Elizabeth they saw a large, well-lit, roofless hall. From the low broken walls standing here and there it soon became apparent that the large room was in fact made up a number of rooms that had been more or less destroyed over the years. To their left, he hall was opening into a smaller room which appeared very dark in comparison, perhaps because its roof was intact. Elizabeth was standing at its door and peering inside.

"Miss Elizabeth, please do not go inside that room all alone โ€“ it is too dark in there." He called sharply and hurried to her side, literally dragging a recalcitrant Miss Bingley with him.

Elizabeth waited in the same pose until Miss Bingley's cloying perfume was wafting in her nose and she was sure that the lady was standing right behind her. Then all of sudden with startled cry of, "Oh... something is in there... something just moved in there..." she stepped back... directly on the hem of Miss Bingley's gown. Her foot twisted as she stepped back but before she could fall, her hand caught hold of Miss Bingley's gown to steady herself. The poor hapless gown could not bear the double assault of Elizabeth's hand and foot, and almost immediately heard the welcome sound of tearing fabric.

"Ah... mission accomplished..."

Darcy, who had been staring in consternation at the unfolding events, felt his mouth drop open in surprise as he finally understood that for some reason Miss Elizabeth had deliberately stepped on Miss Bingley's gown! But even before he could get over his surprise... it was all noise and confusion started by Miss Bingley's startled shriek, "Eliza! Look what you have done. How could you..."

This was immediately followed by Miss Elizabeth's abject but incoherent apology. "Oh... I am so sorry, Miss Bingley. The ground was uneven and I nearly lost my footing... I really am sorry... Please... please let me help... Fortunately, I have my sewing kit in my reticule... and why don't you sit on that wall... and Mr Darcy please... I request you give us some privacy."

With a muttered "Of course," and a sigh of relief Darcy swiftly started to make his way out of the building. Just as he was about to step out, he felt a pang of conscience. He was leaving Elizabeth alone with an incensed Miss Bingley. Involuntarily, he turned to look back at her and almost fell down in surprise at what he saw. Miss Bingley was sitting on a low wall with her back to them. Miss Elizabeth had her hand inside her reticule but she was looking right back at him with a mischievous grin on her face. "... is hopping away like a startled rabbit... but who can blame him... If I had the chance, I would hop away myself..." Even as he heard her teasing words, he saw her impishly raise her finger to her lips and make a shooing motion. "But you do owe me a big favour, sir, to save your poor arm I attacked Miss Bingley's poor gown!"

Darcy's smile widened at her antics and after an exaggerated bow, he turned and left. 'She did all that play acting for... me?' As soon as his stunned brain could finally process her words and actions, a jolt of happiness shot through him. For all of a sudden, he had an epiphany - he was not going to rest until Miss Elizabeth Bennet agreed to marry him

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A Little Magic

Copyright ยฉ 2022 by S. Neha

All rights reserved.

i Smelling of April and May โ€“ A special Georgette Heyer phrase that means giving the appearance of being in love!