Elizabeth sat at the table in shock as her dearest sister and beloved Papa plotted against her. After discussing the sport the gentlemen had taken part in, Mr Bennet engaged Mr Darcy, and Mr Bingley in a conversation on Robinson Crusoe, a piece literature both had read at university and one that Mr Bennet had insisted Jane and Elizabeth both read. The conversation discussing the main themes of the work flowed pleasantly, including each person at the table. It was so far from Elizabeth's previous experiences of having gentlemen callers within Longbourn she was no longer sure that she was not dreaming.
Mrs Bennet was noticeable by her absence and Elizabeth could not contrive how she had been kept away. By the time the gentlemen reluctantly took their leave after staying twice the proper amount of time, such was the impression they had made that Mr Bennet invited them to return and take sanctuary in Mr Bennet's book-room if they wished. Where he assured both men, his stocks of brandy were well laid in after seven generations of Bennet's had had the keeping of the wine cellar.
Elizabeth stood next to her sister watching as the two men left, before whirling on her father for an explanation, only to find him gone. She turned back to Jane wishing to demand from her sister an explanation.
Jane stymied the attempt by taking Elizabeth's arm and happily leading her back into the parlour. "Oh, Lizzy! You are quite right Mr Darcy is a most amiable man. Mr Bingley is still my favourite, but you have my permission to enjoy Mr Darcy's smiles. They quite transform him do you not think?"
Elizabeth gaped at her sister. "Jane!"
"Yes, Lizzy? Did you not find them both excellent companions?"
"Yes, of course, but Jane."
"Yes, Lizzy?"
"Jane, where is Mama?"
Jane laughed. "Why Lizzy, she is upstairs sleeping. Hill was in the hall when Mr Bingley and I entered, and she wished to know if I wanted Mama woken. I thought it best to let her sleep now we have Mr Collins with us. I do not wish for Mama to be overwrought with her nerves while we are entertaining our cousin."
Elizabeth stared at her sister quite sure that she had never known her dear sweet Jane to have this side to her.
"Come, Lizzy, it was not so wrong. Neither of us was left alone in the company of either gentleman, and Papa was kind enough to sit with us."
"Did you send Hill for Papa, Jane?"
"No. I rather think Hill informed Papa that we had visitors, and after your conversation this morning he chose to investigate. Perhaps if Mama had been downstairs, he would not have stayed. But I am glad he did. It is not seemly for him to appear to be disinterested in gentleman callers."
"I say Darcy, Mr Bennet is not anything like I had supposed." Bingley declared once they were on the road back to Netherfield.
"And what was that?" Darcy asked laconically. Darcy had previously thought Mr Bennet disinterested in the antics of his family, which he had not been inclined to think well of him for. Bingley had a tendency to like everyone, so he was curious as to his personable friend's opinion.
"Well, I thought him somewhat disinclined towards company, but he is quite a shrewd fellow, did you not think? I have not had a discussion like that since my university days, and the ladies were both able to contribute cleverly to the discussion as well! I found it quite diverting and most enjoyable. One does not have to think of ways to discuss the weather and roads, which you must own can be quite dull."
"It was preferable to your sister's conversations of lace and fashion you mean?"
"Ha! Yes, it was. Mind you, Darcy, I had no notion Miss Bennet had read such a book."
"Have you discussed books with Miss Bennet before today?" Darcy asked with humour.
"Why no," Bingley confessed. "Miss Elizabeth has professed to enjoy books, but Miss Bennet had made no mention of the topic."
"Perhaps the next time you are in company with Miss Bennet then, you might have more than the subject of the weather and the state of the roads with which to hold her attention."
"Yes, I suppose I shall. How long before Caroline is ready to send out the invitations do you think?"
"Bingley, a ballroom is hardly the place to hold a discussion on books."
"How would you know?" Bingley reposted merrily. "You do not dance, and I have never seen you hold more than the barest amount of conversation with anyone. Instead, you stand about the room, you could be taken for a footman if it was not for your dour expression. No one would hold with serving staff with an expression as black as yours."
Darcy shot his friend an incredulous look, slightly hurt by his words.
Bingley to his credit looked guilty. "Forgive me Darcy that was uncalled for. You would, of course, make an excellent footman."
Darcy could not stop the smile or the building chortle at his friend's ridiculousness. He had not seen Bingley this irreverent since his second term at university before Bingley's father had passed.
"You, on the other hand," Darcy replied. "Would make a terrible footman. Ever flitting about here and there. Unable to hold a simple instruction between your ears."
Bingley beamed at his friends reply. "True, true. So perhaps it is best that our lots fell where they did."
The men travelled the next mile in companionable silence before Bingley broke it once more.
"So how long do you think before we can call again? I would be much obliged to take Mr Bennet up on his offer of respite, Caroline will eventually wish to host the most outlandish ball, and there is only so much discussion of fripperies that I can follow. Netherfield's wine cellar is not all that impressive, and with Hurst in residence, I could be persuaded to take advantage of Mr Bennet's offer quite easily. It has the advantage that Caroline would never think to look for you there, unlike the billiards room, or the library, or my study."
"I believe that Mr Bennet has impressed upon his family that his book room is not to be breached," Darcy agreed. "In a household with that many ladies, it is perhaps a necessity more than a luxury."
"Good lord yes," Bingley agreed. "Can you imagine five of Caroline?"
Mr Darcy, who did not particularly enjoy the attentions that lady bestowed, shuddered at the thought of five replications of the lady. While some of the Bennet sisters' behaviour in society was lacking, none of them had shown the meanness of spirit Miss Bingley engaged in regularly. Loud, uncouth and silly the youngest two might be, but they were not cruel. Nor with sisters such as Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth did Darcy believe that they were inclined to become so.
Perhaps if they attended their education with more diligence, the refinement shown in the eldest two might pass to the youngest. Darcy shook his head jolting his mind from the train of thought. They were not his responsibility. He had a measure of hope. He had a small measure of encouragement from the visit this afternoon. Perhaps he was held in some regard by Miss Elizabeth. There was still the matter of her lack of fortune and her connections which were decidedly beneath his own. These were not easily resolved by an engaging conversation over tea.
They rode up the driveway to Netherfield, Bingley looked pensive at his side. As they returned the horses to the stables, Bingley turned to him.
"Darcy, Miss Bennet, what is your impression of her?"
Darcy sighed, he had known his friend would ask but had thought perhaps it would wait until after the ball. "Her family and connections are not as good as could be wished for. I own that she is prettyꟷ."
"Pretty?! She is an angel!" Bingley interrupted.
Darcy held up his hand, and Bingley nodded in apology allowing Darcy to continue. "She is more your type than mine, so I will own she is pretty. She is mild mannered which considering her mother is a feat of extraordinary proportions. But her dowry is meagre. You will gain only a wife from any alliance you form with Miss Bennet, there will be nothing else she can bring to the marriage. But for all that, I do not believe she is mercenary. If she likes you, then it is for yourself and not your fortune she does."
"Do you think so?"
Darcy nodded, confident that if Miss Elizabeth were not mercenary, her elder sister would not be so. The same could not be said for Mrs Bennet. Darcy could own that any mother would wish to see their daughters marry well. He did not hold that sentiment against Mrs Bennet. Her vulgar exclamations over the inevitability of Miss Bennet making a match with his friend, and how that match could then be exploited to further her other daughter's marriages, offended every sensibility Darcy possessed.
"Then that is the most excellent news!" Bingley enthused.
"Are you going to disregard the lack of connections, wealth and fortune? One uncle is in trade, her other, an attorney. She will not increase your social standing."
"It is Caroline that wishes for increases in wealth and connections by marriage Darcy, not I. I wish for a partner to go through life with. You cannot buy that, you have to be fortunate enough to find it then grasp hold as tightly as you can. It is the only advice my Mother gave me in regards to finding a wife before she passed. Darcy? Darcy, are you alright man? You've gone quite pale."
Darcy waved off Bingley's concern. "My apologies, I am quite well. I had no notion that you wished for love."
"Well, it does not do to bandy it about the club now, does it? But I should not want to marry without affection and regard. Miss Bennet might not bring much wealth to her marriage, but I am in possession of my own fortune. No heiress with twenty or thirty thousand and an Earl for a father or an uncle will forgive my own connections to trade. Even you must own my connections are not what you would wish for your sister. Why should I berate Miss Bennet for hers?"
Darcy wondered if the world had gone mad. That was the second person today that had said nearly the exact same thing in regards to marriage. His parent's marriage had been a love match, or so he had been told. His father had grieved the loss of his wife until the day he was reunited with her. But for all that, his father had impressed upon him a sense of duty.
Duty to his heritage, to his family, to Pemberley and all her dependents. He had taken that duty to mean he would need to find a wife with wealth and connections. It was certainly what his Aunt Catherine expected of him, and Lady Catherine believed that his cousin Ann fulfilled both criteria. Ann, while in possession of wealth and the De Bourgh name, did not strike Darcy as the sort of wife he needed. She was timid, she was sickly, she had never spent any time in society. She did not have a fire in her eyes that demanded so much from him. Even discussing literature, he had seen the spark in Miss Elizabeth's eyes. He had purposely fielded an opinion not his own to watch her rebut it soundly. He had immediately desisted when he realised that Mr Bennet was watching him during these exchanges. He was not yet prepared to offer anything and would not allow himself to lead her on to an expectation of something he could not see through.
