The chapter many of you were waiting for… 😊
~O~
First Impressions
As the musicians struck up the opening notes for the first dance, Bingley led Charlotte Lucas to the floor, leaving Mr and Mrs Hurst with Sir William.
Louisa Hurst smiled at their host and suggested, 'As my brother is occupied, would you be good enough to introduce us to some of your neighbours?'
Sir William was only too pleased to accede to the request.
Soon the couple were chatting pleasantly with some of the parents of the younger people who were enthusiastically engaged on the dance floor. During the second dance of the set, Hurst was drawn to converse with one of the fathers, who mentioned having met Bingley when he called on his new neighbour. As they spoke of common acquaintances, Hurst asked, 'Mr Bennet, we met a Mrs Bennet and her daughter as we arrived. Are you perchance related?'
'Those ladies are my wife and our eldest daughter. They are always eager to meet new people,' Bennet confirmed diplomatically.
'Eldest daughter implies that you have more than one?' Louisa Hurst also showed an interest.
'I have indeed another four daughters, but two are still full young and remain in the schoolroom.'
Hurst's curiosity was aroused at Bennet's phrasing referring to their and his daughters, but instead he asked, 'Are you not inclined to meet new people?'
Bennet chuckled. 'I always am interested in meeting people because, like my Lizzy, I enjoy sketching characters, but I am quite content to wait until I am approached… also like my younger daughters.'
Mrs Hurst, who rather liked the relaxed attitude of the gentleman, enquired, 'Do I understand correctly that you have another two daughters attending tonight?'
'Indeed, and if you care to wait until the end of this set, I would be pleased to introduce you. While I would guess they are a few years younger than yourself, they are quite sensible and pleasant company. Although I will admit to some bias.'
Louisa responded with a happy smile. 'I would be delighted to make their acquaintance, sir. I am hoping to make friends amongst our neighbours while my brother learns to manage an estate.'
The trio chatted pleasantly about the neighbourhood until the set ended.
~O~
Darcy stalked around the edges of the room, trying to calm his revulsion which had driven him away from Mrs Bennet.
He felt a little ashamed that his severe reaction might influence the locals to think badly of Bingley. Yet he simply could not abide the blatant avarice in the matron's demeanour and the way she promoted her daughter.
As he calmed down, he spotted the Hursts speaking to a pleasant looking gentleman, and thinking he should ask his hostess to dance, he made his way towards the group.
He stopped a short distance away and when he caught Louisa's eye, he bowed and displayed a slight smile. 'Mrs Hurst, might I request the next set if you are available?'
'I would be delighted, Mr Darcy. But first allow me to introduce our companion.'
Darcy saw a trim man in his forties, whose dark hair was starting to grey and eyes which spoke of intelligence and humour. He nodded agreement and Mrs Hurst performed the introduction.
Despite starting to panic when he heard the name Bennet, Darcy managed to respond politely. Before he could get away, two young couples approached.
Bennet smiled as he said to Mrs Hurst, 'You wanted to meet my daughters and here they are. Mrs Hurst, these are my daughters, Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Miss Mary Bennet. Their friends are Mr Robert Goulding and Mr Brian Roberts.' The young people curtsied or bowed as their names were mentioned and Bennet continued introducing the Hursts and Darcy.
As soon as the formalities were over and before this Mr Bennet had a chance to importune him to dance with these daughters, Darcy offered his arm to Mrs Hurst to lead her to the dancefloor.
As they lined up, Darcy saw Bingley nearby beaming at Miss Bennet. Judging by his expression, Darcy was convinced that his friend had found his latest angel. He was distracted when he heard Louisa Hurst chuckle quietly as she had followed his gaze and said, 'Oh dear.'
By the time the music started, Darcy felt a little foolish as he noticed both Miss Elizabeth and Miss Mary further down the line chatting animatedly with their new dance partners.
~O~
Elizabeth and Mary were literally sitting out the current set at the side of the room, enjoying a quiet conversation.
They noticed the approach of the tall gentleman from Derbyshire but paid him no attention as he stopped a few feet away and watched Mr and Mrs Hurst performing quite well on the dancefloor. They only paid heed when, between the dances of the set, they heard a conversation between him and his friend who had approached Darcy to coax him to join the dancing. As neither lowered his voice the sisters could not help but hear.
When Bingley suggested that his friend should dance with one of the ladies sitting behind him, Darcy turned briefly and upon catching Mary's eye, recognised her as one of the Bennet daughters. Still remembering how Mrs Bennet had promoted their sister, he turned back to Bingley and declared Bingley's choice not worthy of his attentions.
Elizabeth's brows rose as he uttered his insults.
Uncertain if she should laugh or claw his eyes out as he obviously did not bother to use them. She glanced at Mary and seeing her lips twitch, Elizabeth was relieved that her sister did not appear hurt. Giving in to sudden inspiration, she switched languages. 'What do you think of the exquisite manners of our visitor from London?' she asked in fluent Greek, with her voiced pitched to be heard.
Mary answered in the same fashion. 'Elizabeth, you cannot hold gentlemen to the same standard of civility with which we were raised.'
'I suppose that all that consequence of which he is so proud must have addled his brains. How else can you explain that he thinks a stranger in our community had any consequence at all?'
'Surely you can be more charitable. Can you not see how heavy a burden his pride must be.'
Even though the sisters were looking at each other, Elizabeth could see out of the corner of her eye that Darcy had turned around, and colour was rising in his cheeks as he pressed his lips together.
'How dare you listen to a private conversation,' he blurted out, although he spoke in English.
Elizabeth merely turned her head and looked up at the fuming man. 'Pot, kettle, black,' she said succinctly in English. As Darcy's eyes widened at being called out on his own behaviour, she added, 'At least we used a language not commonly understood.'
Deliberately ignoring Darcy, she turned back to Mary. 'That reminds me. Have you had a chance to read that new book which papa bought?'
'Do you mean l'art de la guerre?' At Elizabeth's nod, Mary said, 'Indeed I did. I thought it fascinating, although rather ruthless. Yet I cannot decide whether The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli is not worse. I suppose I will have to read both of them again to make up my mind.'
Darcy stood rooted to the spot in confusion. When he had been introduced to the Misses Bennet earlier, he had dismissed them from his mind as insignificant country Misses, who would be keen to attract his attention due to his wealth and consequence.
It was mortifying that apparently, they dismissed him in a similar manner. He was not used to being scorned in such a cavalier fashion, especially after being reprimanded for his manners. In town, none of his acquaintances had ever complained about his behaviour. He therefore had always considered himself as the epitome of an English gentleman.
Yet the real reason for his confusion was that those two young ladies, spoke fluent Greek, a language with which he had struggled at university. But, since he was inherently stubborn, he had persevered enough that when he heard them speak, he could understand their words. At least enough to comprehend that they were unimpressed by his manners and perceived consequence… as perceived only by himself.
Bingley meanwhile quietly moved away, not wanting to be caught in the backlash from Darcy's behaviour. He felt since Darcy had dug this hole for himself, it was his own problem.
Darcy was roused from his stupor by a male chuckle. 'It is always uncomfortable to be proven wrong, is it not?'
Darcy turned towards the voice looking down as he expected the man to be much shorter than himself, which was the norm. What he saw was the man's hands holding three glasses, but he had to raise his eyes almost to his own level to meet the man's sardonic gaze.
Realising that he was being addressed by Mr Bennet he also noted that the man was only an inch or so shorter than himself, a fact which had not been obvious during their introduction as they had not stood so close.
Darcy was suffused by several conflicting feelings. Foremost was anger that those insignificant people had the temerity of taking him to task. This was immediately followed by embarrassment and wanting to flee this situation but also the need to make amends. During this whole time Bennet said not a word only looked at him expectantly.
When Darcy stood silent, Bennet's lips pursed in a brief and quickly suppressed smirk. He turned and handed his daughters their drinks.
That movement was enough to break Darcy out of his daze. He briefly closed his eyes to gather his thoughts. When he opened them, he took a deep breath and faced the three Bennets. 'I owe all of you my most humble apologies. I allowed my discomfort in unfamiliar company to behave in a most ungentlemanlike manner.'
Taking another deep breath, he addressed Elizabeth and Mary. 'You ladies were quite correct, I let my pride and arrogance guide my words without considering how misguided they were. Please forgive me. From now on, I will endeavour to keep my manners under better regulation.'
A tentative smile hovered about his lips as he added, 'Also, if I had paid closer attention, I could never have made such a ridiculous and untrue statement regarding your beauty.'
Elizabeth and Mary exchanged glances, and Elizabeth spoke for both of them. 'That was as pretty an apology as I have ever heard. As long as you adhere to your resolution to regulate your manners, you are quite forgiven.'
'Thank you, ladies. Will you allow me to make amends? I would be honoured if you would agree to dance with me.'
As he happened to be looking at Mary when he made the request, she answered, 'While I would enjoy dancing with you, sir, all my dances are already spoken for, except for the two sets which I am sitting out to give other ladies a chance to dance. If you look around you will see that thanks to the war, the ladies greatly outnumber the gentlemen in attendance.'
When Darcy looked to Elizabeth, she agreed. 'I am in the same position as my sister. But there are many other ladies without partners.'
Darcy gathered his courage as he requested, 'Perhaps you would be so good as to introduce me to those ladies.'
~O~
In response to his request, the trio of Bennets escorted Darcy to meet some of their friends.
As they walked, Elizabeth could not resist to tease, 'Before we throw you to the lions, I would know if you would prefer pretty or sensible dance partners. I am afraid that some of the prettiest girls are still quite young and somewhat silly.'
'Please, if it is all the same to you, I prefer ladies who do not giggle or bat their lashes,' Darcy begged.
Elizabeth gave a chuckle, which Darcy thought quite delightful, and said, 'Very well, Miss Charlotte Lucas, Miss Harriet Harrington and Miss Sarah Long it is. While they are not quite as pretty as some, they do enjoy conversation.'
Mention of conversation caused Darcy to remember something which had puzzled him. 'Speaking of conversation, I have never heard of young ladies learning to speak Greek. I was always told that it is considered too difficult a language for the female mind.'
Bennet laughed as he answered, 'Ah, but it happens every day… in Greece, although to be fair, they claim the same difficulty with English.'
Darcy groaned and he gave Bennet a disgusted look. Further conversation amongst them stopped as they reached a group of ladies which happened to hold all the prospective dance partners which Elizabeth had mentioned.
None of them were in their first blush of youth, but Darcy discovered they were eminently sensible ladies whose expectations were not raised by his offer of a dance. Having discovered that Elizabeth and Mary were going to sit out the sixth set, he made a point of keeping that set free to enjoy further conversation with these ladies.
As the evening wore on, whenever he was not dancing, Darcy sought out Bennet and discovered a bibliophile after his own heart. Even more pleasant was the fact that Bennet's two daughters could hold their own in a literary discussion and were quite prepared to defend their own opinions.
Darcy also noticed two more very interesting things that evening. The two groups of Bennets never interacted and not a single person mentioned his income. He decided that he had never spent a more pleasurable evening at a ball.
~O~
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A Most Attentive Father (working title) by Sydney Salier, Copyright © 2024
