An Hour Later
Caroline had recovered sufficiently to emerge from the cloak room and into the ballroom, and she was pleased when Mr. Vincent Harris, the elder son of a respectable gentleman from Essex, asked her to dance the supper dance. He was an elegant dancer and reasonably wealthy, though his father's estate was nothing compared to Pemberley, of course.
The lines formed for a cotillion, and the music began, and Caroline smiled up at her partner. The gentlemen and ladies started twirling and stepping, and then, to her utter, complete horror, she came across Miss Elizabeth Bennet, who was, as impossible as it seemed, dancing with Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.
How could this be happening? How could it be that the Bennets, despised and discarded the previous autumn, were now the belles of the ball, and she, who was far more beautiful, accomplished, and, until recently, more wealthy; was largely ignored?
She would, she decided, need to drink more wine than usual to survive this nightmarish evening.
/
Midnight
Some two dozen or so tables were placed artfully around the dining room, each shining with its own lit candelabra placed carefully in the very middle of the white linen tablecloth. Silver bowls and plates arranged around the candles shone like courtiers around their monarchs, six settings to a table. Along the walls vases of hothouse flowers had been set up, splashing the room with color and delicately perfuming the air. Liveried caterers slid with practiced ease between each table bearing platters and tureens and decanters.
Richard Fitzwilliam cast a satisfied eye over his own table. He, Darcy, and Bingley would be seated with Lady Appleby and the Bennet sisters, and he quietly congratulated himself on his own unobtrusive arrangements to ensure the seating plan. For his own part, he very much believed that Elizabeth Bennet and his cousin Fitzwilliam Darcy would be an excellent couple, were they to make a match of it. He intended to exert his own limited power – subtly – to encourage such an outcome.
"I do enjoy walking very much, Colonel Fitzwilliam," Elizabeth said in response to the military man's question. "I have been to Hyde Park and have skirted the Serpentine, but have never been to either Greenwich or Green Park. Are they pleasant?"
"They are," Richard said. "Darcy is particularly fond of Green Park, are you not?"
Darcy shot an indignant glance at his cousin and rolled his eyes, and then turned a wry look on Elizabeth. "There are cows at Green Park, with attendant milkmaids, and one is able to buy fresh milk, directly from the cow, for a very trifling sum. I, however, loathe and detest the taste of milk, so am not enamored with that particular feature of the park."
Jane laughed and said, "Well, in that case, Lizzy is entirely in agreement with you. She too abhors the taste of milk by itself."
"Though I am fond of cheesecakes and syllabubs and puddings," her sister declared. "I like things made of milk, but not the milk itself!"
"Exactly!" Darcy said enthusiastically. "I remember very well when I was a child that on special occasions my mother would order cherry ice cream for the sweets course at Pemberley, and those are some of the best memories of my boyhood!"
"Is it possible that you have a sweet tooth, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes sparkling in an enchanting way. "I would not have guessed it of you!"
"You have caught me quite out," Darcy said dramatically, as enjoying the sight of her fine eyes. "I know that I am supposed to enjoy hearty meats and the like, and I do, but oh, how I relish a cake or an ice…"
Richard, satisfied that he had promoted his cousin's courtship as much as was possible, turned to discover Bingley speaking courteously to Lady Appleby, while Miss Bennet ate her ragout with dainty bites.
"Are you also enjoying your time in London, Miss Bennet?" he asked.
"I am," Jane replied and smiled at him. "I hope that you are enjoying it more, given that you spent so many months fighting against the Tyrant. Thank you safeguarding our homes, sir."
Richard smiled and attempted to turn the subject, but it was to no avail. It quickly became apparent that Jane Bennet was a reader of newspapers and was surprisingly well informed about the war against Napoleon. He always took care to soften his accounts of war when speaking to ladies, and thus he was mindful in his report of his experiences on the Peninsula. He was surprised, when dinner ended, to find himself comforted by the conversation with Miss Bennet, who was obviously more than merely a lovely face.
/
Damaral House
Two Hours After Midnight
It was, Caroline mused, the last blow of a particularly painful night, when the Hurst carriage and the Darcy carriage were next to one another in the line of vehicles waiting at the front of Damaral House.
Caroline, who was angry, resentful, and more than a little inebriated, glanced over toward the Bennets and was outraged to observe Elizabeth Bennet, who was standing between Lady Appleby and Mr. Darcy, glance at her with what Caroline thought to be an insolent look.
Regrettably, this caused Caroline's slender hold on decorum to shatter, and she took an impetuous step toward the second Miss Bennet and snapped, "I understand that congratulations are in order, that you are now a great heiress!"
Her rival looked startled at being addressed but merely said, "Thank you, Miss Bingley. It was a surprise but also a blessing."
"Yes, quite a blessing," Miss Bingley replied with an angry titter, "though I do urge you not to reach too high in your search for a highborn husband. You are, in spite of your newfound wealth, still merely the granddaughter of a solicitor with an uncle in trade!"
Bingley, who had been gazing raptly at Jane Bennet, swung around at the beginning of his sister's speech and said, "Caroline! Please be quiet!"
"I will not!" she cried out. "I will not allow you to bring shame upon our family name by pursuing a woman who does not have anything to recommend her except a beautiful face, whose sisters are reckless hoydens, whose mother is garrulous and vulgar, who…"
"Bingley, I advise you to escort your sister away immediately!" Colonel Fitzwilliam snapped, taking a protective step toward Jane, who was now pale in the wavering lights of the carriage lamps.
Bingley, who had been goggling in shock, leaped forward, grabbed his sister's arm in one hand, clapped the other hand over Caroline's mouth. He said to the others, "My friends, I fear I must escort Caroline home. Ladies, my heartfelt apologies for this most unfortunate scene."
"Good evening, Mr. Bingley," Jane said, her stunned gaze fixed on her former friend's face. Tears of fury filled Miss Bingley's eyes, but she was unable to say anything with her brother's gloved hand across her mouth, and within a minute, her sister, brother, and brother-in-law were shoving her into the Bingley carriage.
When she had been pushed into a seat, and the others had climbed in as well, and the door had been shut, and the horses were in motion, Bingley finally removed the offending hand, and Caroline screeched, "How dare you restrain me in such a way?"
"Are you mad?" Bingley hissed in return. "How could you make such a scene in front of Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam, not to mention Lady Appleby? Did you not see that we were surrounded by the cream of the ton?"
Caroline stared at him, open mouthed, and then looked toward Louisa, whose face was in shadow.
"Louisa!" she whined. "Tell Charles to leave me alone!"
"I will not, Caroline," the older woman said, leaning forward to allow the light of the full moon to illuminate her stern face. "You embarrassed yourself and us with your antics tonight. If you cannot hold your wine, you had best go without!"
This provoked a scream of outrage from Caroline, followed by extravagant tears, and the rest of the journey was completed in silence save for the younger woman's sobbing.
/
The Breakfast Parlor
House on Half Moon Street
Noon
The late morning sun streamed in the windows of the breakfast parlor, illuminating a pair of plates heaped high with bacon and eggs and ham and toast spread thickly with marmalade and preserves. The steam curled up from two coffee cups to dance fairy-like in the sunbeams before dissolving away.
Elizabeth and Jane sat adjacent to each other, each speaking little as they addressed themselves heartily to their breakfasts, both lost in their own thoughts. Some residual weariness from the late night of the previous day clung to Elizabeth, weighing down her limbs and leaving her pleasantly lethargic.
The ball had been utterly lovely, and to her surprise, Elizabeth had enjoyed herself immensely. Quite contrary to Meryton, where the ladies outnumbered the young gentlemen almost two to one, she had not wanted for partners all night. Indeed she had found herself in the novel position of having to refuse many a hopeful young gentleman and more than one member of the nobility.
A stack of mail sat upon a silver salver in the middle of the table, brought in by the butler earlier. Elizabeth had not yet broached it but now sat eyeing the pile as she chewed her toast. A few bills she could recognize by their envelopes, but the vast majority were plainly invitations to yet more balls, and to routs, and picnics, and Venetian breakfasts. The Bennet sisters were quite popular among the society of London.
It was, of course, her wealth that was popular, Elizabeth knew. It did not entirely eclipse her enjoyment of the parties, but it was never far from her mind as she danced with some simpering fop or staid Corinthian or one of the many gentlemen who fell somewhere in between and claimed her hand for a dance.
The door opened, and Lady Appleby entered, dressed in a morning dress made of dark green poplin, with an elegant tan shawl wrapped warmly around her shoulders.
"Good morning, Madame," Elizabeth said, standing up, and Jane stood up as well, prompting a chuckle from the older lady, who said, "Do sit down, my dears, and eat. You will need your strength if you are to manage the festivities of the Season."
Elizabeth laughed and said, "You are entirely correct, my lady. I had not imagined that we would garner so many invitations!"
"You are pretty and wealthy, and your sister Jane is one of the most handsome women in London. I am not surprised in the least. Now tell me about that truly annoying young woman who behaved so rudely last night when we were departing the ball. I presume that was the younger sister of your paramour, Jane?"
The Bennet ladies exchanged longsuffering glances, and Jane said, "Yes, that was Caroline Bingley. For reasons I do not entirely understand, she has decided that I am not worthy of her brother and has plotted and schemed to keep us apart. Now that it is obvious that she failed, she seems to have lost her reason."
"I daresay she was a trifle drunk," Lady Appleby observed. "She had the look of a lady who has over imbibed. I will say that she sounds like a most unpleasant sister by marriage, and that you ought to keep that in mind before accepting Mr. Bingley."
Jane blew out a breath and said, "You are quite correct. Of course, I understand the frustration of having unruly younger sisters, so perhaps I am the perfect wife for a man so blessed, or cursed, as the case may be."
Elizabeth cast an amused, astonished look at her sister at this speech and said, "That is quite an unforgiving speech for you, Jane, and I am proud of you. All the same, if Mr. Bingley will not restrain his younger sister, that is actually quite a serious matter. You are a gentle woman, and I would not like to think of you being harassed by Miss Bingley. Now I, of course, would combat her with ease, but unless I live with you all the time, I will not always be available to manage her."
"You are always welcome to live with me," Jane said, buttering a piece of bread as she smiled placidly, "whether I am married or single, but I am confident you will make a fabulous match and will be happily content with your own husband and children."
Elizabeth huffed and said, "I do not want a fabulous match, Jane. I wish to marry a man whom I love and respect, and who feels the same about me. It really is quite frustrating, as I still have no idea how to tell whether a man admires me or is merely enamored with my money!"
"I have found your launch into society unexpected in some ways," Lady Appleby admitted as she took a seat at the table and poured herself some tea. "In general, the families of the haut ton are very aware of the fortune, or lack thereof, of the young ladies being launched each year. It is unusual for a new heiress to burst on the scene, so to speak, and when you add beauty and intelligence, well, it is no surprise that many of the gentlemen are nearly drooling."
Elizabeth chuckled at this, though her forehead remained creased.
"What do you think of Colonel Fitzwilliam?" the elderly woman inquired.
Elizabeth pondered for a minute and then said, "I like him. He is well informed, courteous, and kindly, but he does not flatter me foolishly, which I greatly appreciate."
"I am glad of that, because I spoke with Lady Matlock yesterday, and she has taken a liking to you. I told her that, if possible, we would call on her today."
The Bennet girls exchanged glances and Elizabeth nodded. "That sounds pleasant, Madame."
/
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Author Note: Thank you all! Two chapters today, so keep reading. :-)