Chapter 3

"B ut what will Mr Darcy think if I am not with Charles to welcome him to my estate?" Miss Bingley fretted.

"As you are not his friend who invited him to join us, and neither are you my hostess, he will think it right and proper," Bingley insisted. Besides, it is not your estate." To himself he added, ‘ He will be well pleased you are not accosting him the instant he arrives. ' Bingley made his way out of the drawing room to go welcome his friend to his leased estate.

"Did the housekeeper place him in a chamber near me…us so he is in a family suite?" Miss Bingley demanded.

"No, Caroline, she did not," Mrs Hurst retorted. "Mrs Nichols knows not to carry out any order from you unless I inform her to do so, and more importantly, Mr Darcy would be greatly perturbed if he was placed in a family apartment given he is, in fact, not family."

"This is not to be borne, I should be the mistress of the estate," Miss Bingley screeched as she stamped her slippered foot.

"Yet you are not, Louisa is," Hurst observed. "By the by sister dearest , do you think Darcy hearing you screech like a fishmonger's wife in the market will make a good impression?"

Miss Bingley's mouth flapped open and closed a few times. As much as she wanted to refute what Hurst said, she was aware Mr Darcy would not be sanguine with such behaviour. ‘ I must do whatever it takes to leave here engaged to my Darcy, ' she told herself silently, ‘ I will not have Misses Grantly and Hart running around telling everyone how I failed to secure Mr Darcy since I have told them it is certain I will return to London engaged to him. '

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

In the drive, Darcy was gratified to see only Bingley waiting to welcome him. He had been prepared for Miss Bingley to pounce and make a grab for his arm as soon as he alighted from his coach. It would be much more pleasant without her to bother him the instant he arrived.

"It is good to see you, Darcy," Bingley extended his hand as soon as his friend stood on the gravel of the drive.

"And you Bingley," Darcy returned as he shook his friend's hand.

Bingley smiled when he saw his friend looking around to see where Caroline would jump out from. "I have taken your advice and am checking my younger sister. Whether she will comply is a different story. However, she is aware if her behaviour towards you is out of bounds, she will feel it in her reticule."

Not wanting to sound condescending, Darcy said nothing but he was proud his younger friend was finally stiffening his backbone and would not allow Miss Bingley to ride roughshod over him any longer. All he could hope for was his friend's resolve would not crack when his sister attempted to manipulate him.

While Carstens supervised the removal of his master's trunk from the coach, Darcy followed Bingley up the stairs and into the house. "Would you prefer to make for your suite so you may wash and change, or stop in the drawing room first?" Bingley enquired. He was sure he knew what Darcy's preference was. The longer he had before seeing Caroline, the better. The housekeeper was waiting off to the side in case she needed to show the guest to his suite.

"As a gentleman arriving at another's home, I must greet the rest of your family before I take care of my ablutions," Darcy stated.

"Darcy, this is my housekeeper, Mrs Nichols, she will wait to show you to your chambers," Bingley indicated the lady standing in the background. "Come let us go to the drawing room."

"Why Mr Darcy…" Miss Bingley began to stand so she could go claim his arm when she saw the look on her brother's face and remembered his threat.

"Welcome to Netherfield Park," Mrs Hurst interjected before the youngest Bingley could embarrass herself and the rest of her family. "I trust your journey hither was comfortable."

"It was, thank you, Mrs Hurst," Darcy averred, grateful that Mrs Hurst had cut her sister off. "Hurst," Darcy inclined his head. "Miss Bingley." Again he inclined his head. "If you will all excuse me I will retire to my chambers to wash and change." Darcy gave a bow to the room. In the hallway the housekeeper was waiting for him and showed him up to his suite.

"Did you not notice how upset Mr Darcy was that he was not welcomed as is his due?" Miss Bingley cried as soon as the man exited the drawing room.

"He was not at all upset," Bingley contradicted. "To the contrary, he appreciated being greeted as he should be and not having a limpet attach herself to his arm."

Miss Bingley sniffed disdainfully, raised her nose in the air, and looked anywhere except at her family members.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

"Lady Lucas was crowing about Sir William being the first to call on Mr Bingley, allowing him to invite the gentleman and his party to the assembly," Fanny lamented as they sat at the dinner table. "Now our daughters will die as old maids in the hedgerows because you refused to call on our new neighbour. They will never meet him, so Mr Bingley can go hang!"

"Are you saying I should not have called on him this morning? Should I send a note telling him not to return my call?" Bennet stated with a deadpanned expression.

"You called on Mr Bingley! What a good father you have girls, he did his duty and now Mr Bingley can marry Jane," Fanny gushed as her lace bordered handkerchief flapped as if in a strong wind. "Oh my, how you enjoy vexing me Mr Bennet."

"I care not a whit for this Mr Bingley unless he wears the scarlet coat of an officer," Lydia insisted. "Only an officer will do for me!"

"For me too," Kitty, as she always did, agreed with her younger sister.

"Mama, far be it for me to speak out of turn, but does Mr Bingley not have a say in who he marries before the decision is made for him?" Elizabeth asked while fighting to keep a straight face. "It is sad for the man that just because he is a single man in possession of a good fortune, it is assumed he must be in want of a wife on his first entering our neighbourhood. To me it seems the idea is so well fixed in the minds of this and other surrounding families, before he is known, he is considered the rightful property of a young lady in the area. Do not his feelings or views on said subject need to be canvassed?"

Jane shot her younger sister an accusatory look and was not fooled by Lizzy's look of innocence. Her look conveyed ‘ what of your promise? '

Elizabeth who was anything but obtuse, shrugged her shoulders as if she knew not what Jane was trying to tell her. She looked to her father who smiled approvingly at her ability to make sport of his wife without her being any the wiser.

"What do you know, Miss Lizzy," Fanny bit back. "Just because you are a wilful hoyden and nothing to Jane in beauty, and no man will ever find you attractive, does not mean it will be so for my most beautiful daughter. Jane could not be so beautiful for no reason."

Although she made like her mother's words rolled off her like water off a duck's back, they did not. Each time her mother denigrated her looks, it eroded some of her confidence to the point Elizabeth began to believe her mother's words. She looked to her father for some support, but as was his wont, he said or did nothing except showing his amusement at the antics of his family.

"I have work waiting for me in the study," Bennet informed his family as he stood. "Lizzy, I need you to look something over if you will join me soon."

What Bennet meant is he wanted his daughter to play chess against him. She was the only one he had taught the game as he considered the remaining four too silly to learn. His second daughter had begun winning more games than she lost, which made Bennet desire to play more as the challenge thrilled him. Lizzy was the only one he could tolerate for any length of time. It was not just that they had similar humour. She enjoyed reading almost as much as he did, loved to debate, and was proficient in the modern languages. Add to that she understood, could translate, and read books in Latin and Greek. When he was not engrossed in a book, Lizzy made a good substitute.

"I will be there shortly, Papa," Elizabeth averred.

"Go spend more time with your father, Miss Lizzy, and become more of a bluestocking," Fanny jibed as soon as she heard the door to the study close.

The truth was Fanny resented the fact that rather than demonstrate affection for her, Thomas gave all of his attention and time—when he was not locked in the study on his own—to her second daughter. Yes, she had wanted to marry one of the primary landowners in the neighbourhood, but Fanny had loved Thomas Bennet and thought they would have a felicitous marriage. It did not take long before it was anything but. Unlike what her husband and his protégé thought, she knew when they were amusing themselves at her expense. She had simply learnt to live with it.

Fanny was fully cognisant her so called nervous complaints were not real, but she knew not what else to do to get her husband to bestir himself and fight for his family's future security. Yes, she worried for her own future, even though she would have the interest on her five thousand pounds after Thomas's passing. With help from Edward, she would survive, but there was nothing for any unmarried daughters other than fifty pounds per annum for a few years after his death.

All her daughters would have in the way of a dowry was an equal share of her five thousand pounds, but only after she had been called home to her final reward. Fanny could not understand how someone supposedly as intelligent as Lizzy, could be so blind regarding her father's faults.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

"Lizzy, you promised," Jane remonstrated when the two retired to their shared bed that night. "Then what did you do as if you and I had never spoken? The first opportunity you have, you tease our mother in front of her husband and all of her daughters."

"But Jane, I just asked her a question," Elizabeth asserted innocently. "What did I say which was not true? Do you think ours is the only mother claiming Mr Bingley for one of her daughters?"

"I suppose not, but that does not change the fact you were teasing our mother for your and Papa's amusement. I love you Lizzy, but it does not sit well with me in the least. If you think it does not hurt Mama when you do it then you are not as perspicacious as you believe you are. Before you say it, yes Mama should not say what she does about you, but you know better."

"But is it not her duty to care for her children equally? To love all of us the same?" Elizabeth cried.

Jane had no answer. She was well aware what her mother said to Lizzy hurt her regardless of the brave, outward mask. She had tried to speak to her mother on the subject, but Mama had not been willing to listen. This was one of the times Jane's peace-making abilities were inept. She decided to change the subject.

"Papa did say the Netherfield party will attend the assembly, did he not?" Jane reminded her younger sister.

"Yes he did, at last we will be able to see how the rumours compare to the facts," Elizabeth responded. She was well pleased Jane was no longer pushing her about their mother. "When I saw Charlotte, she had heard ten ladies and twenty men, even though her father and all of the other men saw only four in residence. Charlotte did report her father related that a friend of Mr Bingley was to arrive this afternoon."

"I think that unlike the talk, there will not be anywhere close to enough men to even the numbers of the sexes. I am sure we will need to sit out at least two sets," Jane opined.

The young ladies of Meryton all decided they each would sit out a set or two in order to allow everyone a chance to dance. This had been so ever since the war with the Corsican tyrant had taken young men of the neighbourhood to do their duty for King and country. In the early days of the protracted war, it had been one, but as the war dragged on it had become two sets.

The only one who thought it did not apply to her was Lydia, who was of course supported by their mother. This was one of the few things Kitty did not follow her brash younger sister in doing. Lydia could not understand why no matter how much she demanded it, she was not asked to dance every set. She was too self-centred to associate the lack of requests with her refusal to do what all the other young ladies did at the assemblies.

"You have the right of it, Janey." Elizabeth yawned as her body told her it was time to sleep. Each sister blew out the candle on her side of the bed and they were soon slumbering.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Rather than ride the next morning, Elizabeth elected to walk out at first light. She cared not that it had turned colder already, and she wore her heavier coat and thick woollen stockings to protect against the wind.

She greeted cook and was rewarded with a warm muffin and apple pastry wrapped in a cloth. She took a carrot and made her way to the stables. She halved it, and fed one piece to Nellie, the older mare which Jane rode, and the other one to Penny, short for Penelope, who was Nellie's four year old daughter. When she rode, Elizabeth was on Penny as she was feistier and more rambunctious than Nellie. Jane preferred a more serene horse. Elizabeth smiled as she considered the horses they rode matched their own characters.

Mary would not ride either mare, or any horse, thanks to an accident she had had when she began to learn to ride. So far, Kitty and Lydia showed no inclination to ride, mainly because Lydia did not choose to do so.

After feeding the treats to the appreciative horses who nuzzled her shoulder in turn, Elizabeth struck out towards Oakham Mount. It was the highest eminence in the area which was made up of flat fields and some rolling hills. It was not high by most standards, but it was where Elizabeth loved to watch the sunrise. It was on Longbourn's land, but the Bennets were liberal about allowing their neighbours to scale the eminence when and if they chose.

Due to the colder weather, Elizabeth would wait for the sun to peak above the horizon most days, but she still rose before dawn at times and sat on her flattened rock near one of the oaks which lent its name to the hill.

She was sitting while savouring her apple pastry which she began to eat after the muffin, when she noticed three men galloping across some of Netherfield Park's fields. Two of the horses were unremarkable, but one stood out. She assumed by the size it was a stallion. It was black with a white blaze on his forehead. Before she could make out the men, the three riders wheeled their mounts away from where she was seated, presenting their backs to her.

As soon as her pastry was consumed and she had licked the last crumbs off her fingers, Elizabeth replaced her gloves and began the walk back towards the manor house.