Owing to Elizabeth and the Lucases spending a night in London with the Gardiners, Bingley announced his intention to not visit, as to not overwhelm Mrs. Gardiner.
Jane first wanted to protest, but then she thanked him for his thoughtfulness.
"I will say nothing about our understating to Sir William and Maria. They cannot be counted on to keep the news for themselves and I would not want my mother to know just yet."
"As you wish, but may I ask why?"
"You will think me petty if I reveal my reasons."
Charles Bingley just laughed and said some pretty words about how he would never think so about her, but in his heart he was more than a tad worried. The last days had shown him a side of Miss Bennet he did not know existed and had no idea if he could come to terms with it.
He dearly hoped there was nothing else to discover.
"My mother all but declared us married to the neighbourhood in the Autumn. She is in fact convinced I travelled to London to throw myself at you."
"I see."
"I had no hope I would even see you. The Gardiners do not move in the same circles you do, as we all know, but she would not hear anything that did not fit in with her plans. What I wanted was to maintain my friendship with your sisters."
Bingley could not help himself snorting when hearing such naive sentiments expressed.
"Do not mock me, sir! I was hoping I could learn from them to behave with more poise."
"Very well then. I will leave the decision in your hands."
-`o´-
"I am certainly the most fortunate creature that ever existed!" cried Jane. "Oh! Lizzy, why am I thus singled from my family, and blessed above them all! If I could but see you as happy! If there were but such another man for you!"
Such were the effusions of Jane Bennet after having acquainted her dearest sister with the state of affairs between herself and Mr. Bingley.
"You have been very sly, Jane, you haven't written a thing about Mr. Bingley."
"Charles. I do believe he will give you leave to call him Charles."
"Brother, maybe. I will leave Charles for you!" Elizabeth happily declared.
"And to think that when I came to London the only thing I hoped from that quarter was to maintain a friendship with Caroline."
"What is Miss Bingley's opinion of your engagement? And Mr. Darcy's? I confess I am curious."
"I do not know. I do not know if Charles even told her."
"Why not? I do not understand."
"It just happened, Lizzy. I would like to have a few more weeks to ourselves before we sort out our relations. And Charles and Mr. Darcy had not spoken in quite some time. He is upset that Mr. Darcy was told by Caroline that I was in London and kept the knowledge to himself."
"Oh, what a wonder!"
"Hush, Lizzy. Mr. Darcy has been a good friend to Charles and I mean to convince him to talk to him again."
"If you wish it, Jane. Personally I see no benefit in having him around. There's just no pleasing the man!"
Pleasing the man? Why, Lizzy! For the hundredth time Jane wished she would have witnessed herself the famous talks between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
"He advised Charles to give me up only because he did not believe I loved him. He cared not about relations, Lizzy. Surely you must see he was worried for his friend, as any good friend would be."
"Oh, very well then, have it your way. He was a good friend to Charles. And do not worry, I will not say a thing to our parents and even our sisters at home. If Lydia can keep a secret, then so can I! I am so happy for you, Jane!"
"I can hardly believe it myself, Lizzy. All I wanted, and I told Charles that, was to meet a man that was established enough to take care of my family. I had no other thought."
"Surely not! Our uncle and aunt would not have pushed you into an unwanted marriage! I cannot believe that of them."
"No, they would not have. But after that night I felt I needed to do something. I was three and twenty, Lizzy, with no accomplishments to my name other than sewing and a tolerably handsome figure. I was afraid I squandered even the little I had. I was old enough to stop dreaming that stories like those Lydia is so fond of would come to life for me."
"I am so sorry, Jane. I do not believe I understood how much that night affected you. You, who least deserve it of us all." And it was true, Elizabeth thought ruefully. She was very much her father's daughter in this, more inclined to see the ridiculousness of a situation than anything else. And your mother's daughter too, Lizzy, she chided herself, when she was interrupted from her musings by Jane's voice cutting into her thoughts.
"It is in the past now."
"I wanted to ask you and please answer truthfully, do you blame me for refusing our cousin?" Elizabeth asked with some trepidation.
"Mr. Collins? No. Our cousin is not a sensible man. I do not know if you would have been able to make a good life with him."
"For the most part I am sorry I did. I do not believe I ever had a clear understanding of how precarious our situation was; not until that night. Do you know, Jane, from something he said to our uncle, I suspect our father meant to foist us on our mother's family. They are not rich themselves and still he meant to leave us destitute and in their care, with no help from him."
"It is possible, but are you sure? Uncle said nothing of this. I am angry with how our father acted, but I would not want to judge before knowing more."
"It hardly matters now. Our mother pestered him to give our uncle some six hundred every year to invest for our dowries. She will not let him be."
"I trust her to see this through. Our mother is nothing if not persistent where her daughters are concerned."
"Oh, yes, she is deathly afraid that Mr. Denny will change his mind before our father gathers the required amount."
"Indeed? Would that she would have thought of it before!"
"Yet I believe she was right when she pushed me to marry Mr. Collins. Now we would have both been married and between us our sisters would have been taken care of."
"Nonsense, Lizzy! I am blessed in that I have gained the regard of a good man. Now all of you will have the chance to wait for a good match. Lydia's Denny is not well off, but if he is her choice she will be able to marry him without any worry for the rest of us."
"That is true. It still doesn't make it right. I was selfish."
"No more than I was. I saw our mother meant to direct Mr. Collins towards you and I could have helped more. Mary wanted to marry him and I knew that. I was - I knew you would not marry him. I could have supported you, helped you deal with our mother at least, but I was too wrapped in my romance to care."
"It was nothing, Jane. You know our mother could never make me do something I did not want."
"You are so much unlike me, Lizzy. I let you contradict our mother and I never spoke up for you. I acceded to her wishes and schemes, even when I knew them to be wrong. I was no better than Kitty or Lydia!"
-`o´-
While his lady love was no doubt much engaged with her favourite sister, Charles Bingley was just as much engaged with a bottle of fine port.
He was not much of a drinker, but the occasion seemed to call for something strong.
He understood that Jane must have trusted him fully to have confessed her plan to marry him or anyone else who could help protect her sisters, but he would have preferred not to have known it.
He wasn't even sure what he felt, except that whatever they might be named, his emotions were not of a pleasant sort.
If he only would have remained at Netherfield and courted Jane properly, she needn't have formed such a plan. If the Bennets would have done their duty and put at least a little money aside for their own children. If Darcy would not have been so sure that Jane had no tender regard for him. If his sisters were interested in anything else other than their position in London society, they could maybe have had some useful advice for him.
It all came back to him though. He was too malleable, too eager to set aside what he wanted or needed so as to avoid strife. Was he doing the same thing again?
Was he ignoring his wishes in favour of keeping Miss Bennet happy?
He tried very hard to think what Jane wanted from him, but the port did not help matters.
-`o´-
In spite of what he had told Darcy, Charles Bingley never moved out from his brother-in-law's house. Louisa did not ask him to and she would not, seeing that he paid for the privilege to be hosted by them. Or not exactly paid, but contributed to the household, as was right.
The Hursts did not contribute anything to Nethrfield's expenses though, but it was something for another day.
He asked for a tray for breakfast and pondered again on his dilemma: was he again pushed into doing something against his wishes or did he simply not understand the situation?
Well, what were his wishes? What did he want and was denied to him?
It was a good exercise, he supposed, even if he did not get very far.
He wanted to marry Jane and he wanted her to love him. Apparently he was lucky enough to have managed to obtain her hand and her love.
What then bothered him?
Both Miss Bennet and her Gardiner relations made it clear that he was not expected nor indeed encouraged to spend his own money on the Bennet daughters.
Still his dissatisfaction persisted and it irked him. He would have liked a friend to talk to. It was too bad Darcy proved to be so… so Darcy!
Jane thought he had been a good friend, and had said so several times. Between Jane and Miss Elizabeth, it seemed to him that the latest really had the measure of the man. He had been made uncomfortable by their animosity at the time, but now that he thought about it, maybe he should have taken Darcy to task for his behaviour during the sisters' stay at Netherfield.
It never occurred to him then, especially since Miss Elizabeth seemed very much equal to the task of fending off his sisters and his friend, but it could not be right that she had to fend them off. Caroline and Darcy, and Louisa too had been really rude to her and on more than one occasion.
How could Jane not see it?
-`o´-
Before Elizabeth continued her journey the next day, she had the unexpected happiness of an invitation to accompany her uncle and aunt in a tour of pleasure which they proposed taking in the summer.
"We have not determined how far it shall carry us," said Mrs. Gardiner, "but, perhaps, to the Lakes."
No scheme could have been more agreeable to Elizabeth, and her acceptance of the invitation was most ready and grateful. "Oh, my dear, dear aunt," she rapturously cried, "what delight! what felicity! You give me fresh life and vigour. Adieu to disappointment and spleen. What are young men to rocks and mountains?"
Every object in the next day's journey was new and interesting to Elizabeth; and her spirits were in a state of enjoyment; for she had seen her sister looking so well as to banish all fear for her health, and the prospect of her northern tour was a constant source of delight.
When they left the high road for the lane to Hunsford, every eye was in search of the Parsonage, and every turning expected to bring it in view. The palings of Rosings Park was their boundary on one side. Elizabeth smiled at the recollection of all that she had heard of its inhabitants.
Mrs. Collins welcomed her friend with the liveliest pleasure, and Elizabeth was more and more satisfied with coming when she found herself so affectionately received. She saw instantly that her cousin's manners were not altered by his marriage; his formal civility was just what it had been, and he detained her some minutes at the gate to hear and satisfy his enquiries after all her family.
Elizabeth was prepared to see him in his glory; and she could not help in fancying that in displaying the good proportion of the room, its aspect and its furniture, he addressed himself particularly to her, as if wishing to make her feel what she had lost in refusing him. But though everything seemed neat and comfortable, she was not able to gratify him by any sigh of repentance, and rather looked with wonder at her friend that she could have so cheerful an air with such a companion. When Mr. Collins said anything of which his wife might reasonably be ashamed, which certainly was not unseldom, she involuntarily turned her eye on Charlotte. Once or twice she could discern a faint blush; but in general Charlotte wisely did not hear.
An invitation for dinner at Rosings soon came and their evening proved to be memorable, if a little taxing. Elizabeth had to make use of all her power to answer the grand lady without either embellishing the truth or telling more than she felt it would be wise.
"Your father's estate is entailed on Mr. Collins, I think. For your sake," turning to Charlotte, "I am glad of it; but otherwise I see no occasion for entailing estates from the female line. It was not thought necessary in Sir Lewis de Bourgh's family. Do you play and sing, Miss Bennet?"
"A little."
"Oh! then—some time or other we shall be happy to hear you. Our instrument is a capital one, probably superior to—You shall try it some day. Do your sisters play and sing?"
"Two of them do."
"Why did not you all learn? You ought all to have learned. The Miss Webbs all play, and their father has not so good an income as yours. Do you draw?"
"No, not at all."
"What, none of you?"
"Two of my sisters do."
"That is very strange. But I suppose you had no opportunity. Your mother should have taken you to town every spring for the benefit of masters."
"My mother would have had no objection, but my father hates London."
"Has your governess left you?"
"She is more of a companion to us than a governess, but no, she has not left us."
"Are any of your younger sisters out, Miss Bennet?"
"Yes, ma'am, all."
"All! What, all five out at once? Very odd! And you only the second. The younger ones out before the elder ones are married! Your younger sisters must be very young?"
"Yes, my youngest is not sixteen. Perhaps she is full young to be much in company. But really, ma'am, I think it would be very hard upon younger sisters, that they should not have their share of society and amusement, because the elder may not have the means or inclination to marry early. The last-born has as good a right to the pleasures of youth as the first. And to be kept back on such a motive! I think it would not be very likely to promote sisterly affection or delicacy of mind. To add to this, she is courted in London by an officer."
"Upon my word," said her ladyship, "you give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person. Pray, what is your age?"
"With three younger sisters grown up," replied Elizabeth, smiling, "your ladyship can hardly expect me to own it."
Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared to trifle with so much dignified impertinence.
"You cannot be more than twenty, I am sure, therefore you need not conceal your age."
"I am not one-and-twenty."
And with that Elizabeth felt she had done her duty as a guest. Lady Catherine was was going to have to corner Mr. Collins if she wished for more information about the Bennets of Longbourn.
-`o´-
Author note:
Thank you all for your comments, they are wonderful!
Yes, the last part is pure filler, but it was necessary. First of all because now we have Mary, Elizabeth, and Jane who play the piano and Lydia who draws maps and Kitty who draws something. I thought this should figure somewhere because by now this story differs quite a lot from the original.
Lady Catherine might feel superior, but Elizabeth can answer that they do have a governess / companion and some accomplishments and in a group of five siblings it is entirely natural that not all are musically inclined. If you didn't know the details of their upbring, you could not really pass judgment on the Bennets.
Reading again the interrogation at Rosings, I thought to myself that it was a bit strange that Lady Catherine did not ask about foreign languages.
To me this says that Lady C couldn't do anything at all: didn't play, didn't draw, and didn't speak anything else but English. Which is not surprising, but it's hilarious.
Guest who became impatient with the Jane Bingley arc:
I would like to say that JA took 29 chapters and about 50K words to get to Hunsford ;)
I believe if you come back next Monday, it will probably be more interesting for you. This week sets the stage for Darcy and Elizabeth, but that's about it.
Guest Mario:
I'm glad you are enjoying the story!
I'm very very glad you are noticing the small details :)
Guest who wonders if Mrs. Croft might be overcorrecting:
I hope I understand what you mean and the answer is that she won't overdo it. Or better said, Elizabeth will still be Elizabeth and Darcy is still Darcy and that's all I'll say :)
Guest losing patience because there's no Darcy and Elizabeth:
You're not the first one! The same advice as before: maybe come back next Monday.
There's too many things that have to happen and it won't happen before Monday next :)
Guest who said Bingley gets on their nerves:
And he will continue to do so. Can't go from being under the thumb of the superior sisters and Darcy to being the man in charge in a blink of an eye.
Or maybe some can, but not Bingley. And then he really is young; and so is Jane.
Guest Colleen S:
That's entirely possible. Bingley is gregarious by nature, but he might have felt he should overdo it to fit in with those who would have been very little inclined to be kind or even civil to him.
It could not have been an easy ride, even as Darcy's friend.
Guest Lisa:
They will need to learn to deal with everybody. They are rich, young, and … uh, naive? :)
They are bound to find some people who want to take advantage of them.
Guest who loves my Bingley:
That's very kind of you! I like him too, I'm helping him as much as I can :)