A Plethora of Peers Chapter 6 - Assembly, a pride and prejudice fanfic

~~PoP~~

Assembly

Once Mr Bingley had taken his leave, Elizabeth turned to Mary. 'It seems that you have made yet another conquest,' she teased.

'Lizzy, what am I to do? If I had known that Mr Bingley was going to visit today, I could have stayed in my room or gone out to visit the tenants.'

'Or you could have resorted to your old trick of wearing unbecoming dresses, made up your hair in a tight bun and worn glasses.'

Mary blushed. 'Why do men place such great value on looks? It is no achievement to have a pretty face.'

'Young men are very shallow creatures,' answered Mr Bennet who had returned in time to hear the question. 'Once they mature a bit more, they sometimes become more discerning.'

'Are you speaking from experience?' Elizabeth teased.

'As I have told you on many previous occasions, I fell in love with your mother because of her mind when I was only nineteen years old. But I confess the intelligent sparkle in her fine eyes did not hurt either,' Bennet retorted with a wistful smile at the bittersweet memory. 'And you have no cause to complain, since you are the spitting image of your mother. How many proposals of marriage have you rejected so far?'

'Two. But you know perfectly well that I received those proposals mostly for my connection to my grandparents.'

'Instead of complaining, you should thank me for choosing such an excellent couple to fill that role.' He gave an exaggerated bow to his mother. 'Of course, we are the envy of the county due to my exquisite foresight to be born to such an exceptional woman.'

Mrs Bennet laughed at her son's antics. 'Thomas, I could swear that during your time at Oxford you visited Ireland.'

'That is not so. I came by my erudition from my maternal parent.'

The lady rolled her eyes. 'I should have known you would find a way to blame me.' She turned serious again and addressed Mary, 'Since you are not smitten by Mr Bingley, I would give you some advice.' She paused a moment while Mary nodded vigorously. 'Are you afraid that at the assembly he might request a second set?'

'Indeed. I could not refuse to dance with him when he requested me to reserve a set for him, but I have no wish to raise any expectations by dancing a second set with the gentleman.'

'I thought as much. You could excuse yourself by saying that due to the dearth of gentlemen, you would not wish to deprive your friends from an opportunity to dance by dancing a second set with any gentleman.' Mrs Bennet grinned at Mary. 'As long as you do not accept a second set from anyone else, you should be safe.'

Elizabeth laughed at her grandmother's ingenuity. 'Who said that the lack of gentlemen cannot have a positive aspect.'

'Every other young lady in our community,' Bennet muttered. He thought it sensible for him to attend, even if it would probably be unnecessary to protect his daughters.

~PoP~

Fitzwilliam Darcy was not in a good mood.

He had spent the past several days at Rosings Park in Kent, the estate of his aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh, dealing with a problem which had been caused by the lady's reluctance to spend money on essential maintenance. She had been even more irritated that fixing the problem had cost almost ten times the amount which she had refused to spend initially. Instead of displaying even the least gratitude to her nephew for coming to her aid, she had berated him for wasting her money. Their parting that morning had been acrimonious to say the least.

After leaving her estate later than he had planned, Darcy had spent most of the day being jostled in his carriage, despite the excellent springs which it boasted. By the time he had arrived at Netherfield Park in the late afternoon, all Darcy wanted was a long hot bath, a good meal, followed by several glasses of brandy before going to bed.

Instead, he was only able to have a brief bath to wash off the dust of the road, followed by a good meal.

As for the rest… it was not to be.

His host at Netherfield Park was Charles Bingley, whom Darcy had met at school. Bingley was leasing Netherfield and had invited Darcy to help him learn how to run the estate.

While Darcy, whose own father had died five years earlier, leaving his son in charge of Pemberley, was an experienced manager and had been happy to agree to teach his friend, he had not expected to discover that Bingley had accepted an invitation to an assembly for himself and his whole party for the evening of Darcy's arrival.

Darcy had been tempted to remain behind, but he would not risk being alone in the house with Bingley's younger and unmarried sister who had her cap set on being Mrs Darcy… or more accurately on being the mistress of Pemberley.

While they waited for Miss Bingley to finish her toilette, Darcy informed his friend, 'You do realise that I am only going to this blasted assembly because I have no wish to risk being alone in the house with your sister. I have no intention of being sociable, let alone dance.'

'I am sorry. I had not known that you would only arrive so late today when I accepted the invitation. It had just seemed like such a good opportunity to meet all my neighbours.'

Darcy sighed. 'I understand, but I hope that you understand that no matter what your sister may think, I have not the slightest intention of ever offering for her.'

'I will try to make her understand,' sighed Bingley. He was saved from promising anything else, as Caroline Bingley chose that moment to make her entrance.

When she tried to attach herself to Darcy and delay their departure even further, he stalked out towards the carriage. He waited for the others to enter first since he did not wish Miss Bingley to have the opportunity to seat herself next to him in defiance of propriety.

When he was about to climb aboard, he saw that Miss Bingley had somehow managed to get the others to sit on the bench opposite to her, leaving the only available space at her side.

He gave the group a disgusted smile as he said, 'I shall ride on top since it is too crowded in here.'

'But Mr Darcy, there is plenty of space next to me,' cooed Miss Bingley, patting the seat beside her.

Darcy gave her a thorough examination from the feathers in her hair, letting his gaze travel all the way down to her slippers, before he looked at her again. 'According to the rules of propriety, which you failed to learn at that expensive seminary you attended, I am not allowed to sit next to you… I am pleased to say,' he uttered with scorn and closed the door.

Seeing that he was going to ride on top of the box, a footman rushed out with a cape to keep his ensemble free of dust. Darcy smiled in gratitude and handed the man a coin for quick thinking before climbing onto his seat. As the vehicle made its way into Meryton, Darcy grinned as he could hear the argument going on inside.

'Well, Caroline. Are you satisfied that you have insulted our guest with your machinations?'

'How was I to know that Mr Darcy would be so very proper?'

'This has nothing to do with propriety, no matter what he said. If you had listened properly, you would have realised that he has not the slightest wish to be anywhere near you. Quite frankly I wish I had had enough sense to also ride on the box because your perfume could kill a heard of elephants.'

'How dare you. This perfume is exquisite.'

'Perhaps it would be if you had not drowned yourself in it,' snarled Bingley. 'On second thoughts, I wish you had done a proper job and truly drowned yourself in it.'

As the argument continued, Darcy looked at the coachman who was glancing at Darcy and trying to stifle a grin of his own. 'Is it always like this?' Darcy asked.

'Purty much,' the coachman acknowledged before focusing again on the horses.

~PoP~

The assembly hall was ablaze with candles and to compensate for the heat, the windows had been thrown open to let the cooler air inside.

As soon as the Bennets arrived, they were greeted by Charlotte Lucas, the oldest daughter of Sir William Lucas. Bennet's old friend had been elected mayor of Meryton after he had taken over his father's shop. Not long afterwards, he had had occasion to address the King during a brief stop in their town. His erudition on that occasion had earned him a knighthood, whereupon he immediately sold his shop and purchased a small estate nearest to Longbourn and named it Lucas Lodge. His elevation had made no difference to their friendship and the daughters of both families were close friends in turn.

Bennet was perfectly happy to leave his daughters with their friend to catch up on news while he went to enjoy the company of his own peers.

Charlotte was eager to hear the sisters' opinion of their new neighbour. 'Pray tell what you thought of Mr Bingley. I hear that he has come to call at Longbourn.'

Elizabeth and Mary exchanged glances before Elizabeth answered for both of them. 'He is an excessively amiable and good-looking young man,' she answered carefully, while emphasising young.

'Oh dear. I know that look. Am I to understand that he was struck by the beauty of one of you?'

'I am pleased to report that he could hardly keep his eyes of Mary,' Elizabeth answered with a grin while Mary appeared none too pleased.

Charlotte knew her friends well enough to interpret Mary's reaction. 'Seeing that you have no interest in him, who do you think we should steer his way?'

Mary huffed, 'I do not care, as long as it is not me. Apart from being too young myself to consider marriage, I wish for a man with more… substance. If I should wish for a puppy, I am certain that papa would be only to pleased to purchase a Cocker Spaniel for me.'

'Is he truly that bad?'

Mary sighed ruefully. 'I could be doing him an injustice, but to me he appears to be all enthusiasm and not a single serious thought.'

Charlotte gave a small shrug. 'At least he sounds as if he would be pleasant company. I wonder what his sisters are like?'

Elizabeth did not repeat what their father had reported hearing while at Netherfield. Perhaps the lady had had only a bad day.

~PoP~

As expected, the party from Netherfield arrived late at the assembly. Bingley led his sister inside and was followed by the Hursts, with Darcy trailing behind.

The first person they met was Sir William Lucas, who was pleased to be introduced by Bingley to the rest of the party. In return he introduced his own family. Bingley, gracious as ever, immediately requested a dance from Miss Lucas.

As soon as he had a chance, after the barest civilities, Darcy withdrew to the side of the room which he explored until he found a spot behind a pillar and next to a large pot-plant which provided sufficient shadow to mask his presence. He only left his hiding place whenever Miss Binley drew near, whereupon he returned to his circumnavigation of the room until he found another convenient pillar.

During his exploration, Mr Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report, which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.

Mr Darcy did not dance at all, and declined being introduced to any lady, and spent the evening in walking about the room, speaking occasionally to one of the gentlemen in his own party. His character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come there again.

~PoP~

While Darcy stalked the edges of the room, Bingley was pleased to claim his promised sets, first from Mary and then from Elizabeth.

In the interval between the sets, Bingley introduced the Benet sisters to his family. Caroline Bingley accepted the introduction with a supercilious hauteur, which amused Elizabeth and mortified Mary.

After a few general pleasantries Caroline thought that it was time to show her brother how unsuitable these sisters were for someone of their own standing. 'I understand that your family is blessed with a significant number of ladies. Do you not have an aunt who also has two daughters of her own, as well as a brother in trade?' she said with false sympathy.

'Indeed. It is a pleasure to have so much… congenial company,' Elizabeth answered with an amused smile as she let her gaze wander over Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst.

Caroline did not notice the implied insult and continued her campaign. 'It must be most convenient to be able to purchase the fabrics with which to make your own dresses from a relative, who, I am sure, can get them for you at a discount.'

'You are quite correct as I am sure you have found the same advantages at being able to source your fabrics from your father's mills,' Elizabeth again agreed pleasantly with a guileless smile. 'Especially as cotton and wool are so much more practical than the muslins and silks which Mr Gardiner imports.'

Mr Hurst, who had listened to the exchange with great amusement started coughing as he had made the mistake of taking a swallow while Elizabeth added the last statement. His coughing fit lasted long enough to distract everyone until the music started again. At which time Bingley led Elizabeth to the floor while Robert Goulding came to claim Mary for their set.

Being denied retaliation, Miss Bingley could only glare after the Bennet sisters.

~PoP~

~~PoP~~