Title: Miss Bingley's Herbal Tea
Setting: Regency
Rating: T
Chapters: 11/17 (PIP)
Blurb: Mr Darcy doesn't want to drink Miss Bingley's new disgusting, sketchy, ancient-recipe-directly-from-China herbal tea. Lizzy does instead.
I would be very happy if you could let me know about any spelling or grammar mistakes :) Thanks and enjoy the chapter!
Mr Bennet left Netherfield with the promise to send back some clothes for his wife. Immediately after that, Mrs Bennet proclaimed Elizabeth to be too pale to stay downstairs and sent her to bed for the rest of the day.
That was how Elizabeth found herself interrogating a maid.
"Now, Anna, I'm sure you can help me."
Anna, who had gone to Miss Elizabeth's room simply to tend to the fire, was most confused. "But I don't know whether there will be a full set of footmen serving supper."
"How are the valets now? How is Thomas? Are they better?"
"I suppose so, madame. We were not told any news."
"Could you enquire about it?"
The girl blushed and protested that she could not go to Mrs Nicholls to ask after young, unmarried men. "I beg your pardon, ma'am, but what would she think of me if I did?"
Elizabeth rubbed her fingers against her temples. "Very well, then. What about Miss Bingley's maid?"
"Are you in need of a lady's maid, madam? I could send for Mrs Hurst's, she did not fall ill."
"There is no need," Elizabeth rushed to say, "I would just like to enquire after her health and speak to her if possible."
"That is most kind of you, madam. Miss Dupont is still in bed but no one has ever spoken to her. She only speaks French."
Elizabeth could have howled in exasperation. Of course Miss Bingley's maid would be French. Why hadn't she applied herself to her studies as a girl? She rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming.
Being confined to her room was making stealing the herbal tea an even more impossible mission. She had wondered, in a moment of weakness, whether refusing Mr Darcy's help had been a mistake. Her mother was in residence now and the pantry inspection would commence as soon as the London physician arrived. Yes, she had almost regretted alienating Mr Darcy. But from that moment of self-doubt had arisen pride and stubbornness: she didn't need that incompetent man, she would do this on her own.
She prepared to resume her interrogation but before she could ask anything else, Jane knocked at the door and entered the room. Elizabeth dismissed the maid and ran to embrace her sister.
"Oh, Jane! I am going mad in here."
Jane patted her back soothingly. "I came to see how you are getting on. Mama wanted to come too but I feared that you would end up fighting again."
Elizabeth smiled. Her mother may have won in the end but she hadn't gone upstairs without a fight. "How was dinner? How is it going down there?"
Jane frowned. "I am not sure… Mama is treating Mr Bingley with very poor civility."
"Indeed? She must be truly angry at him."
"And she can't stop and thanking him Mr Darcy and… praising him."
Elizabeth laughed at her mother's sudden change in sympathies but that brought forward thoughts of Mr Darcy. She almost got lost in them before suddenly remembering the urgency of her situation.
She grabbed Jane's hands. "Jane, I need your help."
"Again? Lizzy…"
"This will be the last time, I promise. I only need you to gather some information about the house. I can not explain it to you now, but I will as soon as we'll back in Longbourn. You only have to discover where Miss Bingley's room is."
"This morning you wanted for me to distract Miss Bingley if she brought the tea caddy in the breakfast room, now you need to discover where her room is. Lizzy, what is happening?"
"Jane, trust me—"
"No, I will not. You are not behaving like yourself ever since Mr Darcy brought you back to Netherfield. And how were you supposed to know that Miss Bingley would bring the tea caddy at— Oh." Jane inhaled sharply. "You knew because you knew that Mr Darcy would ask her!"
That was too close to the truth for Elizabeth to be comfortable.
"I will not leave this room until you tell me what is going on, Elizabeth Bennet!"
Jane was wearing the stern older sister face. Elizabeth knew that it would be impossible to dissuade her from her questions now. With a sigh, she went to lock the door and proceeded to tell her the whole truth.
Mr Darcy, Mr and Miss Bingley and a chatting Mrs Bennet were sitting together in the drawing-room, waiting for Miss Bennet to bring them news of Elizabeth's health. As they waited, Mr Darcy was discovering that the unpleasantness of being despised by Mrs Bennet was only comparable to the embarrassment brought on by being on the receiving end of her esteem.
Trying to mend his ways, Mr Darcy had been everything courteous to Mrs Bennet all throughout lunch. This change in attitude, combined with the great service he had done to her family by finding Elizabeth, had made Mrs Bennet forget every grievance she had ever had against him.
The opposite was happening to his friend. No matter what he did or said, Mrs Bennet's displeasure with him was never-ending. And as Mr Bingley became paler and paler, Darcy felt himself blush at the unjustified praise of his person.
To make matters worse, he had not had occasion to speak with Elizabeth after their last confrontation, as Mrs Bennet would not allow Elizabeth to join them downstairs. In his opinion, being stuck in her room for the rest of the day would make Elizabeth restless more than help her recover, but he had been trying to be kinder towards his future mother-in-law and that included going along with her decisions.
She certainly meant well and the fact that she now seemed to hate the very sight of Bingley made her less mercenary than she had appeared at first.
He had briefly considered convincing her to help him in changing Elizabeth's opinion of him, but he had then realized that unleashing Mrs Bennet on the daughter would probably have the opposite effect.
"Mr Darcy," whispered Miss Bingley, sitting by his side, "I'm sure you find this unbearable too."
"I don't have the pleasure of understanding you, madam."
She nodded snappily toward Mrs Bennet and Mr Bingley, who was attempting to lure the matron into a conversation. "Mrs Bennet's presence here. All she will talk about it gossip. What do we care that there will be new additions to the militia?"
"You should make your remonstrances known to Bingley, then, since it was him who invited the Bennets to stay. On my part, I found receiving news of the outside world after these last two days very refreshing."
Darcy had listened with attention to Mrs Bennet's report, looking for any reference to an unknown couple scandalously kissing in a field, but had found none. Fortunately, no one seemed to have witnessed his and Elizabeth's encounter.
Miss Bingley had not imagined that Mr Darcy would side with Mrs Bennet. She tried to hide her confusion by scoffing. "In any case, I can't wait for dear Jane to be back."
Thinking of Jane made him think of Elizabeth, which made him remember that he had to create a plan to help him enter her good graces. What to do? He could not sneak in her room again, as he had done many times already because during all those many times he had been propelled by the certainty of their eventual union. He still hoped that that would be the case, but a forced marriage after being found in her room was not how he intended to reach that happy outcome.
Miss Bingley prodded his arm. "Mr Darcy? Are you listening to me?"
"I apologize, Miss Bingley, I was lost in thought."
"I was wondering whether you would prefer the tea to be served now or later."
"Tea?"
"Yes, Mr Darcy. The tea."
"It really is indifferent to me, Miss Bingley. Perhaps you should ask Mrs Bennet.
"Tea, Miss Bingley? Why, I would gladly take a nice cup of tea."
Hearing that, Mr Bingley sprang to ring the bell. "Where is Mr Davies? Davies!" He shouted in the hall. "Have the tea be served. With the freshest pastries you can find. Immediately!"
"Now, Mr Bingley. That is not the way to treat your butler."
Mrs Bennet started berating Bingley, Miss Bingley grimaced at the scene that she had involuntarily caused and Mr Davies rushed in with two maids to prepare the table. As he observed the scene and was served a cup of tea, Darcy felt slightly annoyed. He wondered just how many times Miss Bingley would try to have him drink the herbal tea before resigning herself.
And then he realized: the tea. The answer was the tea. How had he not thought of that before?
Mr Darcy downed the cup and then stood up. Everyone hushed down.
"I have suddenly remembered that I have an important engagement in Meryton. I will return shortly. Mrs Bennet, Miss Bingley, Bingley, please excuse me."
As he left the room, he could still hear Mrs Bennet's voice, praising him to Bingley for his elegant way of saying goodbye.
Jane was shocked. Miss Bingley using a poisonous herbal tea to compromise Mr Darcy? Never in her life could she have imagined such wickedness taking place at Netherfield.
After discussing the matter and all its protagonists at length, Jane wanted to talk of Elizabeth and Darcy's 'compromise'.
"Oh, Lizzy. Why did you not tell me sooner? About… About what truly happened in the field."
"I do not know. I was confused— I still am." It was the state of constant uncertainty that she had come to hate. Never before had she so doubted her opinions or herself.
"And then yesterday, he asked you to marry him."
"Well, not exactly." She would have gone on to say 'He only asked out of duty' but then she remembered — I believe we shall be exceedingly happy together – and she bit her tongue. She had not told Jane that part of the evening.
"You refused him." Jane continued summarizing. "But now you think that he doesn't really hate you?"
"Yes." Elizabeth straightened, fortifying herself to listen to Jane say that she was deceived, that he hated her more than ever because the night before and that morning—
"You know," Jane said at last "I have not seen the two of you together lately —only today, and of course, at the time I did not know of all that had happened — but… He is really trying to be kind to mama."
Elizabeth felt her heart drop from her throat to her stomach. "He is?"
"He listens to her and engages her in conversation. And with our father too. While we were in the drawing-room, he asked me if I found the fire was too hot or cold, even before—"
Elizabeth smirked. "Even before Mr Bingley could ask you?"
Jane blushed profusely. "What I do not understand, is why you refused his help this morning."
Elizabeth could not explain that either. She only knew that facing him once again alone in that library as he had started to suggest would be… Something. Something new, and yet more confusing, and strange. Something she was not ready to think about.
"I was angry at him for not retrieving the tea leaves. I can see now that it was not his fault… But alas, what is done is done. I will have to settle this matter by myself." She concluded with mock cheerfulness.
Jane observed her for a moment and then averted her eyes, playing with her sleeve. "I could— I could take his place and go with you."
"Oh no, dear Jane! I could not ask that of you. And I fear that my new plan would scandalize you too much. But you can find out some information from Miss Bingley for me. Please?"
Jane still seemed conflicted, but at last, she relented. "Very well. And what, pray, should I ask her?"
Elizabeth smiled. Jane was truly the sweetest of sisters.
"Now, listen carefully…"
It was not Mr Lawrence's day. The poor shopkeeper received another blow that afternoon when Mr Darcy decided to cross the threshold of his humble shop for the second time in one day.
This time it was even more surprising, as who could have ever imagined that the great Mr Darcy would need to buy another half a pound of tea the same day he had bought the first? Life was full of wonders indeed.
This time, Mr Darcy was attended by Mr Lawrence's son, who after having spent the whole morning teasing his father for his reaction to the visit of a gentleman, found himself quite at a loss of what to reply when Mr Darcy made comments about the weather and the state of Meryton's economy.
When he was just about to exit the shop, Darcy turned around and asked Mr Lawrence:
"This morning you talked about a millinery. Where can I find it?"
Mr Darcy was looking through the millinery's store window, wondering with a critical eye if gloves, handkerchiefs and bonnets would do as romantic gifts when he was addressed by Captain Carter.
They had met the same night that Miss Bennet had fallen ill at Netherfield, when he, Bingley and Hurst had attended with the officers a dinner organized by Colonel Forster. Darcy had liked the man but had found him a little too intrusive.
"Mr Darcy! What brings you to Meryton? And where is Mr Bingley? Horrible weather yesterday!" He said indicating the many puddles left by the rain from the day before. "We soldiers don't like it, I can tell you."
"Captain Carter." He answered while shaking the Captain's hand. "Bingley is at Netherfield, I am here on business"
"I see, I see. And say, what business could you have with a millinery shop? Is a lady involved, perhaps?"
"Indeed. My sister just wrote that she needs a new pair of gloves."
The Captain looked disappointed. "Ah, I did not know you had a sister. I too have just received a letter, but not from a lady. It is from Lieutenant Denny. I don't think you are acquainted."
"I'm afraid not."
"Nice chap. I think that he will make a good career in the army if he'll manage to stay out of trouble. He is full of initiative… For example, in this letter here he writes that he has found a new recruit for us."
"Indeed?" He remembered Mrs Bennet gossiping on the subject.
"Yes. It seems like there will be a new addition to our regiment." Mr Carter took the letter from a pocket of his uniform. "Hear what he say: 'Sir, while in London on duty I came upon a distant acquaintance of mine', look how eloquent he tries to be, 'I found him inclined to join our regiment, provided his present engagements will allow him to'. He goes on and on about the merits of this young man… Well, he is not as young as other recruits, Mr Wickham is about thirty."
"Mr Wickham!" Mr Darcy could not help exclaiming. "A George Wickham?"
"I believe so. Do you happen to be a distant acquaintance of this gentleman too?" The captain was smiling.
"No. Excuse me, I am awaited at Netherfield for tea."
And without another word, Mr Darcy jumped on his horse and rushed out of Meryton.
Author's note
Sorry for the delay but I spent the whole of yesterday trying to come to terms with Roe v Wade being overturned. I'm not American and this may not be much, but my heart goes to all the people who are already being affected by this.
On a lighter note:
1 A bit of the dialogue between Darcy & Captain Carter is lifted from North and South (a conversation between Mr Thorton & Doctor Donaldson) as I was reading the book when I started to write this story.
2 I've decided to not split the next 6.000 words chapter in two but to post it as 1 chapter. So the next chapter is going to be LONG. I also have half an idea of adding a scene at the very end. Therefore if I'm late next week, that's why.