Chapter 8
Mr. Bennet received his children with his customary dry wit, remarking on the amazing benefits to the health that a little holiday could have.
"Although I never knew Hertfordshire was such a fashionable destiny, I am glad I need not to send you further than three miles to restore you to good health. You must tell me in what aspect of the property Netherfield's marvellous healing powers reside, as being landlocked, it cannot be on the sea water," he paused, Edward guessed, for effect, and afterwards added with a pensive tone, "Perhaps it has nothing to do with the estate itself, and more with its inhabitants."
Edward was sure his father would have been surprised if he could have perceived how his raillery, patently directed at Jane, affected him. It took all his self control to avoid blushing.
Despite Mr. Bennet's dry tone, his eyes were worried and his hands gentle when he welcomed his daughter. Edward could not avoid noting that he looked her over seriously, as if searching for hints of fever and weakness.
"I would not try to organize a holiday resort around Netherfield, my father; if indeed we have come back in good health, it is because neither of us was really out of it. And as for its inhabitants, in their favour I can say that they idid/i keep us well entertained."
"Never out of health! But I am sure I received a note in your hand that said Jane had a fever, should I look for it? Do you suppose my old mind led me astray and I imagined it all?"
Jane looked at Edward reproachfully and went to their father, "You know how Edward is; he preoccupies himself needlessly. If he was worried for me, I can assure you there was no need. I had only a little trifling cold."
"Mmph, I have not known your brother to excessively worry about anything in his life. Much like his father, I should say. But if you say you are well, my dear, then I suppose I must believe you. Go on with you and rest. I must steal Edward; he has played the gentleman of leisure, with neighbours keeping him so well entertained, long enough—five long days—and there is business that needs attending to in the library."
Edward was soon absorbed by both the usual matters of the estate and the not so usual ones of breaking the entail. The time had come for them to break it, now that Edward was very nearly old enough.
The daylight hours were spent locked inside the library with his father, and if Edward's mind tended to wander away from the curly script and ridiculous vagaries of the common recovery parchment to even more puzzling subjects that resided three miles away, he thought he hid it successfully.
Three days after their sojourn in Netherfield, Edward was again with his father finishing papers. All the pertinent decisions regarding the entail were soon made, including who was going to be the trustee in charge and who would be the attorneys who would represent both of them in the Common Pleas Court.
Although he had been looking forward to witness what he considered one of the greatest farces in modern law, Edward let himself be convinced not to go. If his father was surprised he was so easily persuaded, he did not show it, and Edward himself preferred not to dwell on the reasons that kept him home.
In the aftermath of that discussion, Edward looked at the final version of the document that would begin it all. The deed looked important and he was well pleased with the elegant hand he had been able to use in drafting it. He had not always had as much patience with such pursuits. He raised his gaze and encountered that of his father, who beheld him from across the desk with eyes that spoke of pride and sadness, although the latter, Edward could not account for.
"It is done," he said, lacking any other subject. "We can send this today and put the process in motion. Have you thought about what we must do once the land reverts into fee simple?"
Mr. Bennet sighed and looked away, taking some time to compose his response; Edward was already fidgeting when it finally came.
"Indeed, I have done so."
He said nothing more, and Edward could not restrain himself. "May I ask, my father, what have you resolved?"
"You know me, Edward, resolve is not one of my strengths; I have thought long and hard about it, and resolved nothing."
His attempt at a self-effacing joke fell flat in the silent room.
After a while of tense silence, Mr. Bennet began again, "I have thought that it may be wise to settle the whole on the girls; a suitable portion to enlarge Jane's dowry, if she has not married by then, and the rest on Elizabeth."
Edward started, "Father!"
"Indeed, Edward, you must not speak in haste. Nothing is decided. I am only considering the possibilities."
"Have I done anything to displease you?"
"You know very well you have not. I just think that Elizabeth has been forgotten long enough by this family."
Edward looked away for a moment. He had trouble finding his voice, but when he did, he was surprised at how calm it sounded. "And what if she wants to be forgotten?"
"She does not know what she is about, then. I have made enough mistakes in my lifetime, and the only thing I am proud of is that I have left a way for her to return to us. We have spoken of this several times already; you must trust me that in the future you will change your mind."
Edward could not keep bitterness from tainting his words, "Indeed, I will do so once you trust me enough to know my own mind."
"I trust you, Edward, can you not sense it? It is not a matter of trust. When your mother died….You have no way to know what it is to live without love, but if you persist in following this path, you will know it soon enough. I have kept you apart from your given destiny; someday, you will resent me for it."
His father's voice was as warm and kind as it had ever been.
"There is no given destiny; it is only what we do with ourselves that matters. Or have I not served you well? Is that why you wish to settle upon your daughters?"
"My child, must you wilfully misunderstand my every word? It is I who has served you ill!"
"But I do not see it; I am as happy in my life as any other gentleman living in the King's Lands. If you will not trust my assurances, then where is the trust you speak of? And as for love, why should you worry on that account? It is not as though I intend to marry."
Mr. Bennet observed Edward for a few moments and then sighed in a defeated fashion before speaking.
"Very well, then, you must not worry. I will not change my will any time soon, and as I do not expect to die in the near future, we can defer this conversation to a more appropriate time. Now, off you go, enjoy the day, and take your sister outdoors for a while; so much time cooped in is beginning to show on her complexion."
Mr. Bennet's whole stance was dismissive, and Edward knew his father well enough to know that he would not be able to pry another word from his lips on the subject. His temporary victory did not appease him, as he well knew his father would try to carry his point to the end, and so it was with a downcast mien that Edward went looking for Jane.
He found her in the drawing room, and was about to propose an excursion outside when Darcy and Bingley were announced and brought in. Jane's change of countenance was obvious to Edward, her whole face lighting up with joy at Bingley's clearly besotted looks.
Edward could only be glad at their coming, as it brought happiness to his sister and a welcome distraction to himself. Promptly, before the gentlemen took their seats, Edward proposed going out. He was wild for fresh air and the sun on his face.
Bingley was the first to immediately acquiesce. Edward knew it was because it was the only arrangement that promised a modicum of privacy, but he did not care. Indeed, he was of the same mind, and he did not hesitate to suggest Oakham Mount—the longest walk without going into the village—as their destination. They walked out, and were soon separated into two couples: Edward and Darcy in front and Jane and Bingley lagging behind.
Initially, there was silence between Darcy and Edward, although the latter thought that it was the most comfortable silence that had ever reigned between them. It was Darcy who broke it, hesitantly.
"How is your father? Is he in good health?"
"He is; he remains in his library, which can only mean he is enjoying incomparable health," said Edward with forced joviality.
"Miss Bennet appears to be in good health also. I trust there was no set back in her illness?"
Now Edward could be honestly amused, and recover his usual merriment; Darcy's strict civility in awkward moments was indeed diverting. He had to keep his answer short to avoid laughing.
"As you see."
For a few moments they were silent again, Darcy apparently at a loss of subjects, and then Edward, his good humour restored, decided to help the conversation along.
"I am glad you have come to call on us; I cannot claim an interest equivalent to Jane's in the visit, but I do appreciate it."
"Bingley has been buried in estate matters; Netherfield is not in as good condition as could be wished."
"You need not to use Bingley as an excuse to visit me, you know," said Edward looking sideways at Darcy, "I can honestly say that I enjoy your company. I am a very dull fellow without anybody to tease; Jane has become too easy a target."
"We, too, have been extremely bored without you," said Darcy with a slight smile, and to Edward's frustration, changed the subject, "although Miss Bingley denies it; indeed, she talks about how glad she is you are gone almost every day! I do think the lady doth protest too much."
Edward hid his smile; indeed it appeared that way, but he should not laugh at it.
"I hope she does not regret having made our acquaintance, or at the very least, that she values my sister's friendship," he said, trying to feign nonchalance.
"She has not said as much; but she laments that 'dear Miss Bennet' has such a disagreeable brother."
Edward made a gesture towards the direction the two lovers should be, and said, "I think she will have to learn to endure me, difficult as I may be. I am not as disagreeable as all that, am I, Darcy?"
"You are not as disagreeable as all that, no," Darcy answered, raising a eyebrow at him in mocking strictness.
"Ah, I see now what you are about, but I will not fall for it," said Edward with a twisted smile. "I will not ask at what exact measure I am disagreeable, I am determined."
"Very well then, if you need reassurance behind that mocking gaze; you are not disagreeable at all. Are you resigned then, to make of Bingley your brother? That will make Miss Bingley your sister in a way, and if she is not disagreeable, she is not exactly agreeable to you either."
"I am sure that no other man besides Bingley will do for Jane; she has not spoken about it with me, but I know her well enough. I suppose that if she must marry, she cannot do better than Bingley."
"If she must marry? Are you perchance against marriage? I would not have guessed it, by your pushing the matter with me."
"For men, I am sure it is all the same; life changes very little. We are our own masters, before or after. Women, on the other hand, never govern themselves unless they have money and are particularly lacking in husbands and fathers; and even then, they are more constrained by propriety."
"Do you not approve?" Darcy's voice was completely neutral, and once Edward looked, his face did not offer him any hint of his feelings on the matter either.
He decided to answer truthfully.
"I do not. I would not wish to be a woman under those circumstances; would you? To be forever at the mercy of the decisions of others?"
"It is thought that they need the guidance, while we men do not."
Edward, thoroughly tired of conventional wisdoms and Darcy's neutral responses, spoke more forcefully than what he would have liked, saying –
"You are an intelligent man, Darcy, and you have a sister; you must know that it is only education that makes the sexes' minds different from one another. How can women be fully rational if the only thing expected from them is to play and sing, draw and speak the modern languages, like trained animals taught to entertain to catch a husband? Their education does not equip them for anything else."
"You feel strongly about this," said Darcy; it was more a statement than a question.
Edward vacillated only a second before answering, "Who in their right mind would not?"
He knew he was being insulting, and argumentative, and he at that moment regretted having put Darcy in an uncomfortable position. Trying to lighten the mood, he said "One does worry about one's sisters—and daughters, if my father's reaction to Jane's illness is any indication. He would go to any length to provide for his daughters' happiness."
"Indeed," said Darcy, and then he returned to the previous subject. "And you have been reading Wollstonecraft, I can tell. There is nothing like a good dry tome to inflame the righteous feelings."
"You can tell? Have you read her?"
Darcy caught the incredulity of his tone, and looked at him sharply while answering. "Why would you think I have not?"
"You did not agree with her, then."
"Again, you are jumping to conclusions. Can you not wait a second and hear a fellow out before you jump for the jugular? I have read her, and I find myself of the same mind on many subjects."
"You do?" Edward was astonished. Astonished and relieved, if he was honest with himself.
"Not in all subjects," responded Darcy with a significant look, "and my sister does need my guidance more often than not."
"Your sister is very young, is she not? Are you saying that at her age, you were already the wise man I have before me?" asked Edward slyly.
"You must take care, my friend; you sound remarkably like Miss Bingley."
Quicker to feign offence than to actually take it, Edward answered, "Even if we may say similar things, I am sure we never do it with the same feelings!"
"Indeed, I can readily believe it; nonetheless, it would behove you to take care all the same. The shock would surely kill that fine lady if she could hear you—she is convinced you could never agree on anything."
"She may very well believe it! And I see you have evaded my earlier question. You are indeed very sly, Darcy. Were you all-knowing when you were your sister's age?"
"I am sure I am not all knowing now."
Seeing that Darcy kept avoiding a direct answer, Edward decided to let the matter drop. He finished the discussion with a last jab before changing subjects to more conventional themes, saying, "I am sure that to someone, whom I shall not name again, you certainly seem so!"
Darcy only raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, having heard as much from him before, and let himself be swayed into another topic.
A/N: Thanks to my incomparable betas from this last edition, Heather and Julie.