Chapter 21
Damaral House
The Next Evening
Caroline Bingley glanced around as she stepped into the ballroom in the mansion of Viscount Damaral. It was a proper squeeze, she saw with satisfaction. Her own family had arrived at a fashionably late hour, and while it was likely there would be more preeminent families appearing later yet, most attendees had already arrived. The ballroom was not small, but it was nearly filled with a flurry of color, bright dresses and coats of the latest fashion. Jewels winked at ears and throats and gloved hands and wrists, sparkling out of nests of hair and silken turbans, gleaming upon breasts. Plumes dyed magenta and blue and green and yellow bobbed merrily about careful quoiffures.
The chandelier above the dance floor glittered brilliantly, casting a thousand facets of light upon the polished parquet below. All around the walls and upon each table, dozens upon dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of candles shone in their matching sticks. At one end of the room, several musicians were already playing a violin, a cello, a flute, and a set of rare Pandean pipes.
Caroline glanced down at herself; only briefly, of course, as it would not do to be seen to be ogling oneself. She needed to ensure that she looked her very best.
Her gown of bright canary yellow silk flattered her figure wonderfully, she knew. An examination in her mirror earlier in the evening had shown that it was all she might have wished it to be. Pink lace rosettes at her sleeves and décolletage added a hint of the demure while subtly drawing the eye towards her greatest assets. Her ears dripped diamonds, a pale pink ruby adorning her throat. She knew she cut a handsome picture, and she lifted her head in serene complacence.
As she scanned the room again, Caroline caught sight of a familiar face, Miss Alice Rumford, dressed in light teal silk and fanning herself in the particular way she had that indicated irritation. The Bingley sisters had attended school with her, and the girls had become good friends.
As the crowd shifted, the man beside Miss Rumford became visible. Mr. Simon Rumford was dressed as befitted the heir to the barony of Montban, in Cornwall. The family was not wealthy, but they were inclined to remember their dignity as nobility, and Caroline prized the friendship highly.
Caroline caught her sister's eye and nodded across the room pointedly. Louisa glanced over, and her eyes lit up. The two sisters began wending their way over, ignoring Mr. Hurst entirely. He, unbothered, made his way purposefully for the tables of refreshments, which was situated pleasingly near the card room.
As the ladies grew closer, they caught a fragment of the conversation between Miss Rumford and her brother.
"You cannot even be certain that she will come, Simon," Miss Rumford protested and then, at the sight of Caroline and Louisa, turned a smiling face on her old school friends.
"My dear Caroline! Louisa! It has been too long!" the lady cried out. "Were you not in Hertfordshire or something of the sort over winter?"
"Only through November," Caroline replied, grimacing expressively. "My brother leased an estate in Hertfordshire but fortunately was prevailed upon to return to Town by Christmas. It was a dreadful place. The house was well enough, but the society was dreadful! The families who made up the local society were a dull, tedious lot, with no taste or refinement."
"That does sound dreadful!" Miss Rumford replied, opening her eyes very wide. "Brothers can be so foolish, can they not?"
This was obviously meant for Mr. Rumford, but he, at this moment, jerked to attention and exclaimed, "There is Lady Appleby, so one of those two girls behind her must be the heiress. Do excuse me!"
The young man hurried off in the direction of the main door, and Caroline turned a puzzled look in the same direction, which transformed into one of incredulity. In fact, she wondered if she were dreaming, and therefore turned to look at her sister, whose jaw was drooping unbecomingly.
Old Lady Appleby was walking ahead of the Bennet sisters, which was the only reason anyone paid any attention to her. She was dressed flatteringly in deep purple velvet with paler lavender highlights and was leaning on an artfully carved cane budding with wooden flowers, but she was entire outshone by the splendor behind her.
Jane Bennet was nothing short of breath-taking. Her gown of sky-blue set off her eyes to perfection, only enhanced by the delicate white spider-gauze over it. She wore demurely little in the way of jewelry, with only a simple cross around her neck. Her hair was piled high on the back of her head and pinned in place with filigree combs, and three artful curls dangled to frame her enchanting face.
At her side, her sister Elizabeth was no less stunning. Forest green crape over a white satin underdress made her dark eyes glow and leant a creamy tint to her skin. Her hair, like Jane's, was piled high, and her combs were of pearl to match her exquisite necklace. Their gloves were quite as high as propriety demanded, and when Elizabeth walked, green satin slippers peeped from under her hem.
"What are they doing here?" Caroline finally sputtered in outrage, which caused her friend Alice to peer at her in wonder.
"Do you know the two ladies with Lady Appleby?" she demanded.
"I most certainly do," Caroline exclaimed, her brow furrowed with outrage. "They are the eldest Bennet daughters, one of the local families in Hertfordshire. Their mother is the daughter of a solicitor, and their younger daughters are hoydens. I cannot imagine why they are here!"
"Which one is Miss Elizabeth Bennet?" Miss Rumford asked eagerly.
"The one with the darker hair," Caroline said and then gasped as the crowd parted sufficiently to allow two very familiar men to hurry up to the Misses Bennet. "Louisa, did you know that Charles was here? And Mr. Darcy as well! Oh, we must do something!"
Louisa, more level headed than her sister, now turned a bemused look on Miss Rumford and asked, "Why did you ask which one was Miss Elizabeth?"
"Why, because Miss Elizabeth Bennet is a great heiress, did you not know?" Alice demanded, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.
The sisters exchanged shocked glances, and Caroline declared, "That is nonsense! Longbourn, the Bennets' estate, brings in only two thousand pounds a year at most, and furthermore it is entailed away from the female line. It will go to a distant cousin, a most tedious clergyman! The Bennets are nearly penniless"
"Ah, but I understand that Miss Elizabeth inherited from a distant connection to her family and an old friend of Lady Appleby's," Miss Rumford declared.
The sisters exchanged glances again, and Louisa demanded, "How much?"
Alice lowered her voice, though there was no reason to do so in the crowd, and said, "Rumors are that Miss Elizabeth is mistress of seventy thousand pounds!"
Caroline gasped, choked, and, a long moment later, spots appeared in her vision. It could not be! It could not!
"Caroline, pull yourself together," Louisa hissed. "Do not let the Bennets see you so overcome!"
This had the desirable effect of stiffening Caroline's spine and knees, and she straightened her neck as her brother and Miss Bennet stepped out onto the dance floor, followed by, a moment later, Darcy's cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Miss Elizabeth.
She watched in disbelief as the country dance started, and the two Misses Bennet pirouetted by, while she stood on the sidelines without a partner.
A moment later, she observed Mr. Darcy standing on the other side of the dance floor, gazing gravely at the ladies she abhorred, and she made her apologies to her friend Alice and then hastily made her way to the master of Pemberley's side.
"Mr. Darcy!" she cried out. "What are we to do? This is awful!"
The gentleman turned to look down on her, his expression blank, and said, "I fear I do not understand, Miss Bingley. What is awful?"
Caroline opened her eyes very widely and said, "My dear sir, surely it is obvious! Miss Bennet has successfully sunken her claws into my brother again."
A muscle twitched in Darcy's cheek, but he merely turned back toward the dance floor and said calmly, "I think that is an inappropriate way to describe the situation, Miss Bingley. I have always thought Miss Bennet a kind and honorable lady. I merely was concerned that she might accept your brother's offer out of a sense of duty toward her family instead of true affection. Now that Miss Elizabeth is wealthy, that is no longer a concern. Nor do I feel at ease with my role in the matter. Your brother is a grown man and entirely capable of making his own decisions about marriage."
There were so many things dreadful and wrong about this speech that Caroline felt a strong inclination to faint again, but she rallied sufficiently to snarl, "That assumes that Miss Elizabeth is actually rich. I think it most unlikely; it is probably a duplicitous scheme on her part to win a husband of substance!"
Darcy did not bother to look at her but merely remarked, "Lady Appleby, who is sponsoring the Bennets, is an old acquaintance of my aunt, Lady Matlock. She is an honorable and truthful woman, and I have no doubt that Miss Elizabeth is now as rich as she is purported to be."
"Seventy thousand pounds?" Caroline demanded shrilly.
"Yes," Darcy said baldly, keeping his eyes on Elizabeth, who, based on the smile on her face, was enjoying her conversation with Colonel Fitzwilliam.
Caroline felt tears of fury spring to her eyes and decided that she had best retreat to the ladies' cloak room to recover some semblance of her poise, but when she entered the cloak room, even she was surprised by the squeal that escaped her lips. "It is not fair!"
/
"How does it feel to be the rage of London, Miss Elizabeth?" Colonel Fitzwilliam inquired, as he and Elizabeth made their way down the floor.
"I do not believe I am," Elizabeth responded promptly. "Certainly there are many gentlemen who are enamored with my fortune, but I know well enough that they are not particularly interested in me."
"A cynical view," the colonel said, "but alas, I fear a reasonable one."
"I inherited my cynicism from my father," his partner said with a smile, which faded away into gravity. "Though I will confess that I did not realize how many people would marry solely based on monetary concerns. I was rather naïve, I think, in that regard."
"It is not surprising, perhaps, given that you gained your wealth rather suddenly. As a second son, I was not raised with the expectation of riches, but both my elder brother and my cousin Darcy were. I fear it has hardened both of them to some degree."
Elizabeth looked thoughtful at these words, and after completing a few more figures, remarked, "My father said something similar, that perhaps Mr. Darcy's reserve is won from years of being pursued by avid and enthusiastic ladies who flatter and pursue him for his fortune and connections."
Fitzwilliam, who had every intention of promoting his cousin's courtship with the lady, said, "That is entirely true, I assure you. Darcy is actually wealthier than my own family, and I am confident he does find it difficult to know whether any lady cares for him because of his fortune or his person."
His companion was silent for another two minutes, before saying, "What is Pemberley like, Colonel? I have heard it is marvelous."
"It is, largely because of the hard work of Darcy and, before him, his father. My cousin is truly a decent and hardworking man. He has worked hard to maintain the tenant cottages, and promote modern farming methods…"