Elizabeth could not suppose what she had done to impress both Lady Melbridge and Lady Shillingford, but invitations from both ladies came quite regularly. Within a fortnight they were invited to five dinners, two teas, and a card party. In addition, there was to be a house party lasting a fortnight that they were also invited to attend. Mr. and Mrs. Vanstone could not attend at all, for they had to see to their shop. Mr. and Mrs. Collins could not attend the entire party, but would remain a few days. Mr. Collins was needed in town, so he was required to return. Elizabeth, however, had been invited with the Vanstones until her aunt and uncle came to collect her in July, for they had ultimately decided on visiting the Peaks. Thus, she would remain at Brawnstead under Lady Melbridge's chaperonage for the duration of the party and perhaps longer. Lady Melbridge was highly confident that she could persuade Miss Bennet to remain in the north and to reside at Brawnstead instead of with her relations, thus ensuring she was in frequent contact with Darcy. That is, if she could keep Darcy at Brawnstead as well.
Lady Melbridge did not have any easy time with the latter. Whenever Miss Bennet was around, Mr. Darcy would find an excuse to avoid her presence. She would be invited to tea and he would escape to the stables for a ride. When she was invited to dinner, he often made other plans for the evening. Despite this, he knew that if he did it too frequently, people would view him as very impolite, so he was made to dine with Miss Bennet and her relations on several occasions.
Lady Melbridge was ever conscious of Mr Darcy and Miss Bennet when they were together, often watching them surreptitiously. There was a noticeable awkwardness between the pair during the first two dinners. Lady Melbridge had seated them together, but although the conversation was pleasant, the words they exchanged were shallow and formal. Miss Bennet often directed her discourse towards the gentleman on her other side. At the first dinner, it was Lord Barlow and the second Mr. Garron. Mr. Darcy glowered at the other gentlemen throughout the dinners, amusing the former and cowing the latter.
After a few days, Lord Barlow finally got the chance to speak with Mr. Darcy, as he was certain his cousin was under the wrong impression about his relationship with Miss Bennet. He firmly declared to Darcy that he had no interest in Miss Bennet. He was certain that Miss Bennet was not expecting anything from him beyond friendship, and Lord Barlow was doing what he could to further Mr. Darcy's purposes.
"I have no purposes," said Mr. Darcy in response.
"No purposes!" Lord Barlow exclaimed. "You mean that you do not wish to court the delightful Miss Bennet?"
"Of course I do not. She is the handsomest woman of my acquaintance and I will admit I am taken with her. Yet it is quite impossible. Her family is decidedly beneath our own in society. That, however, is not my primary objection. If it were only the want of connection and the situation of her family, I might overcome such objections. You have not been introduced to her younger siblings and her parents. The total want of propriety so frequently, so almost uniformly, betrayed by her mother and by her three younger sisters forms my primary objection. How such relations might cause embarrassment, even to the extent of damaging Georgiana's reputation! Mrs. Collins and Miss Bennet are everything charming and genteel, but I cannot overlook such evils as a connection to the rest of her family might bring. It would be a degradation to both the Fitzwilliam and Darcy names."
When they heard the sound of feet scuffling in the corridor, they were drawn to the noise, only to find the area completely empty. Darcy was mortified that one of the servants might have overheard him speak so freely of a lady who would be a guest at Brawnstead. He hoped the servant would be discreet.
It was not, however, a maid that overheard the conversation, but the subject of discussion herself. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on their private conversation, but she had gone to the library to fetch shawl and heard them speaking. When she heard her name, she found herself rooted in place, overwhelmed by the content of their conversation. How surprising it had been to her that Lord Barlow was attempting to forward a suit for Mr. Darcy! She certainly had no expectations of Lord Barlow beyond friendship, but she had not thought he had any motive besides making her think a little better of Darcy and enjoyable companionship. Never would she have supposed that he was attempting to forward a match between her and Mr. Darcy!
Then Darcy had responded to his cousin. How shocking to learn that Jane was right that Mr. Darcy was taken with her. But how repulsive and degrading his next words were! Her sisters were silly, and her mother had a mean understanding of the world, but there was no malice in them. Even if much of what Mr. Darcy had spoken was true, Elizabeth had considered him a friend. Much like his earlier comment about her looks, he had no regard for the feelings of others. Neither comment was meant to be heard by her, However, it was bad enough that he spoke such insults aloud at all. He might think and feel such sentiments, but he ought not to speak so to others. Elizabeth could not believe he would speak so freely and cruelly of people so wholly unconnected to him. Lord Barlow was unlikely ever to meet her sisters and parents, but now he, and perhaps his parents, would think very ill of them.
Elizabeth, trembling from her agitation, stumbled over a chair as she fled the room. She quickened her pace as the gentlemen inevitably heard the clamour. She did not desire them to be aware that she had heard their conversation if they looked for the source of the noise.
Elizabeth made haste back to the parlour where she and Georgiana had been partaking in tea and stated simply that she had not noticed the shawl. Georgiana called for a maid so that it might be searched for. Hardly five minutes passed before it was returned to her.
Lady Melbridge, who had been delayed in attending them by estate business, soon joined them for tea. They talked over the arrangements for the upcoming house party together, proposing games and other amusements that might be shared with the guests. Elizabeth tried to prevent her anguish from showing on her face, but she suspected Lady Melbridge could tell something was not right. By the time Elizabeth returned to the Vanstones' apartments that evening, she determined to treat Mr. Darcy with civility out of consideration for his sister, cousins, and aunt, but she wouldn't consider him a friend any longer.
The impact of Mr. Darcy's words was greater than Elizabeth realised, for his disapproval had left an impression that influenced her dreams. She had dreamt him to be in Hertfordshire, disavowing the notion of any intentions towards her in front of all and sundry, belittling her family and calling any alliance with the Bennets a degradation. She had arisen with tears and in a state of agitation. When she saw Jane during breakfast, she knew she would not escape being questioned as to the reason for her puffy, red eyes.
"I must know what happened, Lizzy!" Jane said when they were alone. "You came home from the Brawnstead quite melancholy and today you appear as if you stayed awake the whole night crying."
"I did not stay awake crying," Elizabeth assured her sister, "but I did awaken crying."
Elizabeth relayed to her sister all that had transpired and what Mr. Darcy had said, both in actuality and in her dreams. Jane struggled to find fault in anyone, so she praised his good taste in admiring her sister and tried to explain away Mr. Darcy's other words, reminding Elizabeth that he thought he was talking in confidence to a near relation. Jane could not bring herself to agree with his words, for to do so would mean speaking badly of their parents and sisters, which she refused to do. Instead, she focused on their small portions and lack of connections, supposing that Mr Darcy must feel the expectation to marry well very strongly. It was only natural that he would wish for a wife among the ton, one who could help his sister navigate the society in which she would move.
"You do him too much kindness, dear sister," said Elizabeth. "He was quite explicit that it was our parents and sisters that decided him against me."
"Are you in love with him?" asked Jane, as gently as she could.
"I am not. I must admit that I did think him one of the finest gentlemen of my acquaintance, but I am not distressed at his not wishing to marry me. Only that our family should be so ridiculous as to invite such censure and that it should be widely spread."
Jane was not entirely convinced by her sister's assurance but chose to leave it be. Instead, she asked if Elizabeth wished to return home with her and Mr. Collins instead of remaining until the Gardiners came north.
"You know, dear sister, that my courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me. I shall not forego the amiable company of Mr. Darcy's relations simply because he is unkind. I shall attend."
Jane was glad for it, as a house party at the home of one so illustrious as Lady Melbridge was a great opportunity for Elizabeth. Perhaps, even, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth might have an opportunity to make amends, for she did not like to think of the pair quarrelling.