~MoL~
Surprises
Miss Bingley's wish was not granted.
Only an hour later, four wet and muddy gentlemen staggered through the front door.
The ever-efficient Mrs Nicholls had blankets, towels and slippers ready in the foyer.
Darcy, Hurst and Henry were only too grateful to exchange their wet and muddy footwear for the slippers while Bingley protested, 'Since I made it this far, I can make it too my rooms in these boots.'
Darcy raised an eyebrow at the comment. 'And if you do not remove your boots here, you will traipse mud all the way to your rooms, making a lot of unnecessary work for the servants.'
Bingley looked at his feet and appeared to notice the state of his footwear for the first time. 'Oh,' he said and allowed a footman to assist him out of the boots, which were covered in mud up to the ankles. Once relieved of the soggy boots, he stepped into the slippers, while another footman relieved him of his wet outerwear.
Mrs Nicholls, who had arrived on the scene, gave Darcy a grateful smile and quietly said, 'Thank you,' before addressing the men. 'We have hot water ready for you to have baths to warm you up,' she offered.
Hearing those words, the gentlemen were all only too pleased to hurry to their rooms, sans dripping coats and hats.
They had barely reached the bottom of the stairs when their progress was interrupted by a most unusual sound. Cheerful, tinkling laughter emanated from the small parlour.
Darcy would have recognised that sound amongst a thousand others. He turned to Mrs Nicholls. 'Do Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst have guests?'
'Yes, sir. Mrs Hurst invited Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth to tea, and due to the rain, the ladies became stranded here.'
Even though she did not show it, Mrs Nicholls was amused when the faces of three gentlemen lit up at the news. She even kept her usual composed countenance when all but Mr Hurst suggested that they would join the ladies as soon as they were presentable again.
~MoL~
Since Jane and Elizabeth did not have a change of clothes at Netherfield, Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst decreed that they should have a casual evening in the small parlour.
They had drawn up comfortable chairs by the fire and chatted about nothing in particular.
After a while, Elizabeth noticed that Caroline had become very quiet. 'Is anything the matter, Caroline?'
Miss Bingley roused herself out of her reverie at the question. 'Not really. It is simply that the last time I remember an evening like this must have been at least seven or eight years ago. Perhaps even ten,' she said with a wistful smile.
'We have been most fortunate that we have had evenings like this quite frequently in recent years,' Elizabeth said.
'Why in recent years only?' Caroline was curious.
'Once upon a time, our mother was of an excessively nervous disposition due to the entail on our estate. But since our cousin took over as the master of Longbourn, she has become more relaxed and peaceful which in turn affected our whole family. Now we habitually gather to enjoy each other's company on rainy evenings or when it is snowing. At those times we often take turns to read aloud to entertain each other,' Elizabeth explained.
Jane added, 'That is Lizzy's favourite form of entertainment. Mary prefers to play the pianoforte for our amusement.'
'What else do you do for entertainment?' Louisa was curious. 'Those seem like very quiet and genteel amusements.'
'I confess, there are evenings when things are a little more boisterous when we play parlour games. Lydia and Kitty are simply wild about charades,' Jane replied.
Caroline addressed Jane. 'You have mentioned the favourite amusements of all your sisters. What about yourself. Which activity do you favour?'
When Jane blushed, Elizabeth said with a mischievous smile, 'When she is not working on her embroidery, Jane is our undefeated spillikins champion. She has the best eye and the steadiest hands of all of us.'
'But that is a children's game!' exclaimed Caroline.
'True, but our youngest sister is still in the schoolroom and the rest of us are not so very old yet,' Elizabeth defended their amusements.
'And of course, at Christmas our aunt and uncle come for a visit with their children. Our youngest sisters are very good at playing games with them,' Jane added.
'I have often thought that due to her patience and steady hands, Jane is the best at embroidery of all of us,' Elizabeth suggested.
The ladies continued to exchange anecdotes from their childhoods which at times occasioned hilarity and laughter.
Jane was in the middle of relating a story of Elizabeth winning a bet by being able to climb higher in a tree than the Goulding brothers when there was a knock on the door and the butler entered.
'Pardon me for interrupting, but the gentlemen have returned and expressed a desire to join you,' Mr Prentiss announced.
Caroline looked around at her companions who were comfortably curled up in their respective chairs. On hearing the butler's announcement, they started to straighten up.
Miss Bingley made a decision. With a mischievous smile she held up her hand to her friends before turning to the butler.
'Please inform the gentlemen that since they wished to spend the evening without female company and without considering the wishes of the ladies, the ladies now have no wish for male company,' she declared in ringing tones, ensuring that she could be heard outside the room.
Thanks to many years of training, Mr Prentiss was able to suppress a smile as he bowed. 'As you wish,' he said and closed the door behind him as he quit the room.
Caroline grinned as the others relaxed back into their chairs. 'That should teach them to ignore us.'
~MoL~
Bingley and his companions had been in the process of stepping forward, amused at the officiousness of the butler who seemed to think he needed to announce them, when they were stopped in their tracks by the crisp refusal.
Mr Prentiss might have seemed officious to Bingley, but the butler had noticed the relaxed attitude of the ladies the last time he had delivered a jug of mulled cider and a plate of sandwiches. Having known the Bennet sisters all their lives, he was determined they should not be embarrassed by the gentlemen barging in and discovering them in their less than refined postures.
When the gentlemen had declared their intention of joining the ladies, he had done his best to dissuade them, but to no avail. All he could do was to give the ladies time to collect themselves.
Keeping a straight face, he turned back to the gentlemen. 'I am sorry, sirs, but the ladies do not wish to be disturbed.'
Darcy was the first to overcome his disappointment of not being able to be in company with the ladies, Miss Elizabeth in particular. He suggested, 'In that case, why do we not remove somewhere else for a libation.' He turned to the butler to enquire, 'Which of the rooms has a good fire?'
'Upon your return, I had the fire stoked in the library. I hope that will be satisfactory?'
Darcy agreed and led the way to the indicated room. There was some grumbling, but the others followed his recommendation.
~MoL~
As promised, the fire in the library was giving off a pleasant heat. While the baths had leeched the worst of the cold from their bones, the men clustered around the hearth, gratefully soaking up the welcome heat.
Despite that, once they were seated with their chosen tipple, Henry complained, 'Well, I expected a better reception from the ladies. We spent an hour in the pouring rain getting back, and now we are not being appreciated.'
''You did not choose to come back for the ladies, but only because there was nowhere dry to sleep in the camp,' Hurst pointed out in between sips of brandy.
'True, but that is beside the point,' sulked the young man.
Darcy laughed. 'Did you expect to be welcomed like the conquering hero for having braved the elements?'
'What is wrong with that? After all, for a while I was afraid that we would not make it back at all. And not only that, I ruined my second best pair of boots.'
Bingley chimed in, 'I suppose we should have listened to Darcy and Hurst and left the carriage at the camp. If we had used the horses to ride, we could have gotten back much quicker since we would not have had to get out of the carriage and walk to get it out of the mud.'
Henry shook his head mournfully. 'I cannot understand the allure the country holds for some people. I have decided that I greatly prefer cobbled streets to muddy lanes.'
'You are fortunate then that your parents want you to pursue a career as a barrister. You can stay in town all year and never have to deal with the inconveniences of country life again,' Darcy said, while thinking that Lord and Lady Matlock knew their sons exceedingly well and were prepared to sponsor them to the career most suited to them.
Bingley listened and wondered if the life of a country gentleman was for him.
They continued in desultory conversation until the fire burned down, at which time they all repaired to their rooms.
~MoL~
The ladies had retired to their rooms as well without seeing the gentlemen, whom they could hear speaking in the library as they made their way upstairs.
Jane and Elizabeth found that nightgowns and robes had been provided for them. Once the maids assigned to them had assisted them to get changed, their dresses were taken away to be laundered and pressed ready for the morning.
As Elizabeth snuggled under her blankets, she could hear noises in the corridor and several doors opening and shutting, which she assumed to be the gentlemen retiring for the night. She let out a contented sigh. This evening had gone so much better than she had expected.
Caroline Bingley had turned out to be much better company than she had expected. Once she had been reassured that none of the Bennets had any designs on Bingley or Fitzwilliam, Caroline had allowed herself to relax.
Elizabeth had a quiet chuckle. That lady was intelligent and amusing company, but she was also mercenary, ambitious and, Lizzy suspected, could be quite ruthless to achieve her aims.
Yet there was another, more pleasant side to her. She had gone out of her way to ensure that Jane would not be hurt. While Caroline claimed that it was purely for selfish reasons, Elizabeth was not so sure. But irrespective of the reasons, the fact remained that Caroline Bingley tried to protect Jane. That was an quality which Elizabeth appreciated, and that was the reason why she had offered her friendship.
~MoL~
The house had gone quiet, but Elizabeth still could not fall asleep despite the bed being exceedingly comfortable.
She tossed and turned for a while and in the end got out of bed. She decided that since she could not sleep, she would get a book and read for a while.
Putting on her dressing gown and slippers, she opened the door and checked the hallway. Seeing that a few candles in wall sconces were providing sufficient light, she made her way to the library. Borrowing a candle from a sconce outside the library, she quickly scanned the meagre collection and settled for a copy of Much ado about nothing.
Replacing the candle, she made her way back upstairs and was approaching her room, when a door opened and she felt a hand brushing down her back and heard a male voice saying, 'Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Have you come to keep me company?'
~MoL~
~MoL~
Master of Longbourn (working title) by Sydney Salier, Copyright © 2023
