The Lady Said No
Chapter 1
"Mr. Bingley" Darcy's butler announced.
"Sorry I'm so late" Bingley said as he entered Darcy's study, "I had a meeting with my solicitor which ran late."
Bingley did not volunteer what his meeting was about and Darcy did not ask.
"I'm glad you could make it" said Darcy as he gestured at Bingley to take a seat. He poured two glasses of brandy and handed one to Bingley. "We've something of import to discuss." He sat down behind his desk.
Bingley looked at his glass and then at Darcy. "Import? How so?"
Darcy sighed. "I've just returned from my annual Easter visit to my aunt at Rosings." At Bingley's nod, he was well aware of Darcy's annual pilgrimage to the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh and was very glad he had never been asked to accompany his friend, Darcy continued. "While there I met with Miss Elizabeth…"
Bingley interrupted "Miss Elizabeth who?"
"Bennet. We had …"
Bingley held up at his hand. "Wait a minute. What was Miss Elizabeth Bennet doing at Rosings?"
Darcy sighed again. He was never going to get through his difficult confession if Bingley kept interrupting. "She was visiting her cousin, Mr. Collins, who holds the living at Hunsford, my aunt's parish. You remember him, he was visiting the Bennets at Longbourn while we were in Herefordshire – he attended your ball. Something of a buffoon. Anyway, he married …"
"Miss Bennet!" Bingley practically shouted.
Darcy held up his hand "Please let me finish." After Bingley mumbled an apology Darcy continued "Miss Lucas. Mr. Collins married Miss Lucas, Miss Elizabeth's special friend, and it was she who invited Miss Elizabeth to visit the Collins over Easter. Lady Catherine has a habit, whenever no one more exalted is at hand, of inviting the Collins to tea or dinner. Consequently, I found myself in company with Miss Elizabeth on a number of occasions. I also chanced to meet her a few times while touring the grounds at Rosings. I enjoyed several conversations and a number of debates with her."
Darcy lapsed into a momentary pleasant contemplation of those 'number of occasions' and 'few times' but was jarred out of it by Bingley making an impatient motion 'to get it on'. "To make a long story short, the day before I left Rosings, I had a rather violent argument with Miss Elizabeth. Words, not blows, but quite a bit of metaphorical blood was shed. On both sides."
The not so pleasant contemplation Darcy then fell into took Bingley asking "About what?", twice, to break Darcy loose. To help regain his composure Darcy drained his glass of brandy. It did not help as anticipated.
"About two, no three, things. Firstly, there was the matter of Wickham. It seems Miss Elizabeth has something of a tendre for that rogue."
"Well, I hope you set her straight." Bingley took a small sip of his brandy.
"I communicated the facts to her; I hope they were sufficient in number to overwhelm all the lies he told her about me. I don't know if they did, she didn't let me know." Darcy did not feel there was any need to tell Bingley that the communication had been by letter, delivered to Miss Elizabeth the next day; that would raise questions he did wish to answer.
"Secondly, Miss Elizabeth called me out for my criticisms of her family, and in particular, her mother; the most egregious matchmaking mother I have ever encountered."
Bingley tilted his head and stared at Darcy. "Moreso than Mrs. Grantley who came within a hair's breadth of succeeding in having her daughter compromise you last summer?"
Darcy shrugged. "Touché."
But Bingley was not finished. "You said this to Miss Elizabeth while you were both in the domain of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who, ever since I've known you, has been insisting to all and sundry that you are betrothed to her daughter. If that is not egregious, I had best consult Dr. Johnson's dictionary."
"I concede; I never should have said anything against the lady."
"But you did. As I recall, you and Caroline quite entertained yourselves at Netherfield vilifying Mrs. Bennet." Bingley snapped his fingers and pointed at Darcy. "Miss Elizabeth must have overheard you and Caroline while she was at Netherfield caring for … for Miss Bennet."
Bingley stared at Darcy. "You mentioned there was a third point of contention. Am I correct in assuming that it concerned Miss Bennet?"
Darcy sighed to himself. At last, they had reached the crux of the matter. He did not want to proceed, but proceed he must. To delay the inevitable Darcy refilled his glass with brandy, then held the decanter out to Bingley. Bingley shook his head. When Darcy did not immediately start speaking Bingley started to glare at him.
"Miss Elizabeth told me, in no uncertain terms, that my assessment that Miss Bennet did not care for you was wrong. It seemed that Miss Bennet's natural reticence was such that her affection for you would not be apparent to an indifferent observer."
"Which you were?"
Darcy said "Yes" but without enough authority, there was a slight quaver in his voice and that set Bingley off.
"You were indifferent. Caroline was indifferent. Louisa was indifferent. You all told me Miss Bennet had no affection for me." Bingley snorted. "The three of you will remain indifferent until I marry someone of your choice no matter what my wishes are."
"We were only trying to protect you."
"From what? Being deliriously happy?"
"We didn't think Miss Bennet would make you happy. She has no dowry. Her only connections are in trade. And you would be stuck with her family."
"Did you ask me what would make me happy? Because if any of you did, I can't remember it. I'll tell you what would make me happy right now – you marrying Caroline and taking her off my hands. And while you're at, taking the Hursts on as well. As for a lack of a dowry I don't need one anymore than you do; especially as Miss Bennet is a pearl of great price. As for her connections being to trade, have you forgotten, like my sisters so desperately want to, that I am in trade? In fact, unless Pemberley had a very good year, isn't the majority of your income from trade? And as her family, I can handle them – and I would take them over your future mother-in-law, Lady Catherine, any day."
As Bingley spoke, spitting out his words, really, his face got redder and redder. He was angrier than Darcy had ever seen him. Bingley stood up and started pacing, back and forth, waving his hands about. Darcy had an uneasy moment wondering if Bingley shared his sister's predilection for flinging ceramics about when in a temper – there was a figurine of a horse on his mantle he was rather fond of.
"But enough of poor, pitiful me" Bingley cried. "Did you and my sisters deign to think that while you were saving me, you were savaging Miss Bennet? Leaving her with her expectations dashed; leaving her to the derision of her family and neighbours for being the victim of a feckless cad."
"That's not fair, we …" Darcy objected.
Bingley held up his hand. "Don't bother. We both know you didn't think at all of Miss Bennet." Bingley went to the door and with his hand on the knob turned back to Darcy and said "Well I'm off to Hertfordshire to see if Miss Bennet will forgive me."
"She's in town" Darcy said.
Bingley turned, walked to Darcy's desk, put his hands on it and leaned in. His face was so close to Darcy's that Darcy could smell the brandy on Bingley's breath.
"What? How do you know?" demanded Bingley.
Darcy should have just said that Miss Elizabeth had told him but in his guilt he confessed. "After Christmas, Miss Bennet came to town with her relatives, the one's in trade. In January she paid a call on your sisters, which they returned a month later, in February." To forestall Bingley's obvious question Darcy said "We didn't tell you because we wanted to protect you …"
Bingley slapped the top of Darcy's desk. "You conspired with my sisters to hide Miss Bennet's presence from me." Bingley pointed a finger at Darcy. "You conspired with my sisters to deceive me about Miss Bennet's feelings towards me. Now that I think about it, you conspired with my sisters to close up Netherfield when you knew I intended to return after my business was concluded. You seem to have developed quite a taste for conspiracy, maybe you should go into politics."
"That's not fair."
"Don't whine to me about being fair. How do you know Miss Bennet is still in town?"
"Miss Elizabeth told me that she would be coming to town from Kent in a week's time. She will be meeting her sister at their relatives in Gracechurch Street and then they will go home to Hertfordshire together."
Bingley turned back to the door. He looked at the clock on the mantle and said, more to himself than Darcy, "It's too late to call on her today."
Darcy stood but did not go around his desk. He did not want to be within swinging distance while Bingley was in this mood. "Bingley, I am truly sorry. Can you forgive me?"
Bingley stared at Darcy. "It depends – will Miss Bennet forgive me?"
Bingley did not slam the door when he left which Darcy thought might be a good sign, albeit small.
Darcy drained his glass of brandy, drained what was left of Bingley's glass of brandy, and then recharged his own glass. He wondered if there was enough brandy in the decanter to sustain him in feeling sorry for himself. 'Bingley, your lady will say yes to you' he thought, 'my lady said no.'
