Chapter 6: Elizabeth
"Oh no, everyone is already dining," Jane whispered, her pace quickening as they approached the open doors of the dining room.
"Are you worried they will run out of tea?" Elizabeth said.
"Lizzy, be serious. I do not want to offend Mr. Bingley or Caroline."
"There is nothing you can do to offend Mr. Bingley," Elizabeth said. "You look radiant, Jane. Please do not be nervous."
Jane stopped just outside the door and grabbed Elizabeth's hand. She squeezed and smiled at her sister. "Lizzy, I'm sorry I was agitated this morning. Let us have a wonderful day!"
Elizabeth squeezed the slight, soft hand that held hers. "We shall. I am sure of it."
And then she followed her sister into the dining room and encountered disaster.
A long table had been set up, large enough to accommodate the entire party: Mr. Bingley and his two sisters, Caroline and Louisa Hurst. Mrs. Hurst's husband. Mr. Collins. And, of course, their parents and all their sisters.
Elizabeth scanned the room. The only person missing was Mr. Darcy.
"Hello, hello!" Mr. Bingley cried, standing and bowing. He sat at the head of the table, furthest from a buffet spread out with enough food to feed all of Meryton. There was an empty seat to his left, across from Mrs. Bennet, and both Mr. Bingley and their mother encouraged Jane to take it—one kindly by sweet words and a smile, and one not-so-subtly. Mrs. Bennet bobbed her head toward the empty seat so many times she resembled a chicken.
Elizabeth was forced to sit at the other end of the table, next to Mary and across from Mr. Collins. Jane shrugged apologetically, but Mr. Bingley was already engaging her in conversation. Lizzy walked over to the sidebar and filled a plate with a small amount of eggs and a bit of every other treat, from thick cuts of ham to fresh rolls with marmalade. She knew Jane would probably be too nervous to eat, but thankfully she was not. After sitting down, she was just about to take her first bite when Mr. Collins began to speak. Unfortunately, he also began to shovel eggs into his mouth at the same time, and Elizabeth could not understand half his words. Finally he cleared his throat and ended his question with, "…and we may discuss this at a later time?"
Elizabeth had no idea what he was speaking of, nor did she wish to know more.
"A later time," she repeated, lifting her tea cup. Mr. Collins seemed satisfied with her answer and turned his attention back to the massive mound of eggs on his plate. Down the table, Elizabeth was glad to see Jane and Mr. Bingley chatting happily. Mr. Bennet caught her eye and smiled, raising his cup of tea in a small toast. Mrs. Bennet was interrogating Caroline and Mrs. Hurst about the latest London fashions, though Elizabeth's mother seemed to be doing all the talking. Mr. Hurst was eating sausage.
"You look very fine, Lizzy," Mary said quietly.
"As do you," Elizabeth said, taking a moment to take in her sister. Mary did, in fact, look quite lovely. From an early age, the girls had been taught by Mrs. Bennet that Jane was the most spectacular jewel in the Bennet's rather shabby crown. Elizabeth knew that her mother did not mean to be cruel and praise her favorites while denigrating the other girls. It was simple math: their estate was entailed to Mr. Collins. If the girls were to have any sort of life after their father passed away, they had to marry—and marry well.
Elizabeth, probably through virtue of her rather obstinate nature, had never received much of her mother's favor. Neither had Mary, for she was quiet and studious. Mrs. Bennet preferred her lively younger daughters who liked to dance and play cards and craved loud, exciting diversions.
As a result, Elizabeth had learned to ignore her mother in general, and Mary had ignored her own person in general. Mary was the Bennet most likely not to have brushed her hair for breakfast, second only to their father. She modeled herself after Mr. Bennet, preferring to read rather than socialize. And she never cared about ribbons or dresses or fashion or anything that her younger sisters yearned to discuss.
But today, although Mary was wearing her same plain, lavender gown from the night before, she had carefully done her hair. It was brushed and neat, and her lips shone as if she had stolen some lip salve from Kitty. Elizabeth just had time to wonder at this, when Mary cleared her throat and leaned over the table.
Toward Mr. Collins.
Oh no, it cannot be, Elizabeth thought.
"Mr. Collins, what a shame it is that you do not have your books with you. I was greatly hoping you would read more of Fordyce's Sermons to us."
Lydia glared at Mary, and from the jerking of her body, Elizabeth knew Lydia was trying to kick Mary's shins under the table. She missed and Kitty yelped with outrage and surprise. Mr. Collins saw none of this, but did look up gleefully at the mention of him trying to better the mind and souls of his lowly female cousins.
"I find your remarks commendable. How little young ladies today are interested by books of a serious stamp, though written solely for their benefit. It amazes me, I confess, for certainly there can be nothing so advantageous to them as instruction."
Lydia finally found her mark and Mary grunted in pain. But Mary forced a smile across her face and said, "I hear Netherfield has an expansive library. Perhaps Mr. Bingley will be kind enough to give us a tour after breakfast."
"Library, you say?" Mr. Bingley heard his name at the other end of the table. "Why, we do have a library. I must admit, I haven't spent much time in it, as of yet." He glanced sheepishly at Jane. "Only because I've been busy with the ball, you see. And touring the estate. I do love to read! Though I don't read often, but there are so many other grand things to do in the country, aren't there?"
The more Mr. Bingley spoke, the more his pale skin turned pink and then pinker. Jane laughed prettily, and Elizabeth could tell that she thought everything Mr. Bingley said was sweet and kind.
Caroline was not as impressed, however. "So many things to do in the country? Please do elaborate."
Mrs. Hurst laughed and took a delicate sip of tea. "Well, I always love a picnic."
"But a picnic today would be rather cold," Caroline said.
"Well, we could tour the library?" Mr. Bingley said, still staring only at Jane. "And then perhaps play some cards?"
"I do love whist," Jane said agreeably. "And books."
Lydia and Kitty grumbled quietly, murmuring about "dancing" and the lack of any fine partners. Mary brightened at the mention of the library, turning to see if Mr. Collins was as excited as she. Elizabeth was simply happy that everyone was ignoring her, and Mr. Darcy was nowhere to be seen. As long as he was not nearby, to distract her with his burning blue eyes and surprising kindnesses, she could return to her normal view of the world.
"Ah, it's settled, then!" Mr. Bingley cried. "After breakfast, we'll take a tour of the ground floor. I'd take you all outdoors, but for the weather. I wish you could see it; there's a lovely folly down near the lake. I was just touring it with Mr. McCaffrey, my steward, last week. I say, isn't it capital to say 'My steward'?" He smiled brightly at Jane. "I think there might be a horse-drawn sledding carriage somewhere on the estate. Perhaps later we could find it and take a tour of the grounds? It's just so splendid to be in such a lovely neighborhood, even when it's covered with snow. My father always wanted a family seat, you see. I do wish he could see us now…and meet you."
Jane pressed her hand against her heart, and the two young lovers stared dreamily into each other's eyes. Elizabeth for all the world wished the rest of the group could sneak out the doors right now, and not disturb them.
But Caroline snapped, "Charles! Please do not get distracted. We must tell our guests what the plans for the day shall be."
"Ah, yes. Well, it's a pity there's so much snow. You know what else is lovely for outdoors? Rounders! But we can't play rounders today, can we? I do love rounders. I say, we could set them up in the ballroom?"
"And break a window within five minutes," Caroline said.
"What about nine pins?" Lydia offered. "You can't break a window while playing lawn bowling. At least, it's not very likely."
"Oh yes!" Kitty said, "Nine pins would be lovely!" Mrs. Bennet applauded the idea verbally and with her hands, and Mr. Bennet sighed and met Elizabeth's glance with a helpless shrug.
"And the library?" Mary said quietly, earning her a nod from Mr. Collins. She beamed like the sun had shone on her.
Caroline made a moue of distaste, and Mrs. Hurst proclaimed that she found the library drafty and overly full of old books.
"Yes, you're correct, I suppose. Perhaps we should only tour the east wing," Mr. Bingley said glumly. Then he brightened suddenly, exclaiming, "Ah yes! I just remembered. Darcy's working in the library. It's best we don't go there right now, as we might disturb him."
"Oh, I never said we shouldn't tour it," Caroline quickly said. "Of course, as my sister points out, it is full of books—but is that not the very point? We should at least stop by so that M-M-Madge may see the room."
"Mary," Elizabeth said politely but firmly.
"Capital!" Mr. Bingley proclaimed, standing and offering an arm to Jane. "Though poor Darcy will be vexed. He said he had correspondence to attend to, and I told him he would not be bothered at all in the library. Ah well, let us go distract him!"