Chapter 6

L ydia was all atwitter, which meant Kitty was as well, because that morning Aunt Hattie had delivered the news a regiment of the Derbyshire Militia was to encamp in Meryton before the end of October.

"I will be the favourite of all of the officers and one will surely marry me, and then I will be the first of my sisters to marry," Lydia stated with surety.

"Of course you will be popular with the officers," Fanny twittered. "How could you not be when you are so very lively. It reminds me of when Colonel Millar's regiment visited the area…"

"Yes, yes, Mrs Bennet. We have heard you rhapsodise about the time the militia was here many times, hence the reactions to your sister's gossip of the two silliest girls in all of England. Until it is confirmed, you do realise Mrs Phillips may not have the right of it."

Bennet was not well pleased his sister-in-law had riled up his wife and two youngest so close to the midday meal. He preferred relative peace and quiet in the dining parlour—something that with six females in the house was hardly ever attained—but at least it was not the cacophony he was enduring this day.

"Mama!" Lydia screeched. "Could what Papa said be true? I will surely die of a broken heart if the officers do not visit Meryton." Lydia held her hand over the mentioned organ and sighed dramatically.

"You know my sister is never…" Fanny stopped herself wh en she admitted Hattie got it wrong as much, if not more, than right. She had insisted there would be more than twenty men attending the assembly with the Netherfield Park party and there had been three—one who was married, Mr Bingley, and that rude man. Instead, she said, "We can only hope your aunt has the correct information, Lyddie dear."

Lydia was not reassured and sat pouting.

Bennet's opinion was the quiet from Lydia, which meant Kitty followed her lead, was a vast improvement over the previous caterwauling. He looked at Lizzy to see if she had been as amused as he was by her mother and sisters' antics, but she looked rather preoccupied. If he did not know better Bennet would have thought his daughter missish, but he discounted that as he could not think of any reason for that state. He knew how much his second daughter loved to laugh.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was having trouble reconciling her feelings regarding her father's inaction after her slight at the assembly a sennight previously. She gave herself a mental slap. ‘ Come now Elizabeth Rose Bennet, it is not like you to be churlish, ' she thought, ‘ Papa was looking at you to see your reaction to Mama's and the youngest girls' behaviour, and instead you were lost in your own world. What did you expect? For Papa to mount his horse and go charging off and call Mr Darcy out for insulting his daughter? Of course not! ' The problem was a little voice in her head, one she ignored, told her that she had wanted her father to stand up and defend her.

Before he stood and made his way to his study, Bennet was pleased to see the look of amusement he had expected to see appear on Lizzy's countenance. He knew his Lizzy could not be missish for long. Now that she seemed to be back to her normal self, he decided there was no need to broach the subject of why she had been that way.

For her part, Elizabeth remembered they had been invited to Lucas Lodge in three days. It was one of the few places her father would attend as he enjoyed speaking to Sir William, partially because his friend amused him when he went on about his knighthood and investiture.

Mr William Lucas had been the mayor of Meryton and the owner of the general mercantile when some seven years past, Their Majesties, King George III and Queen Charlotte, had made an unscheduled stop in the market town. Mr Lucas had made a flowery, compliment laden, spontaneous speech. It had pleased the Monarchs so well, the King had knighted Mr Lucas there and then.

After the visit to St James Palace for his investiture—the event about which he never failed to retell—Sir William Lucas sold his business and purchased a small estate, on Longbourn's western boundary, which he renamed Lucas Lodge, less than a half mile from the town.

The day Charlotte delivered the invitation, she had related the Netherfield Park party had been invited as well. Elizabeth wondered if Mr Darcy would stare at her the way he had the previous time they had been together for dinner at the Longs' estate. She was sure he was staring to confirm his assessment of her looks, and to catalogue her many faults in his eyes. He spoke to almost no one other than his own party, and at least, unlike the assembly, they had arrived on time. The positive was that Jane and Mr Bingley spent most of the time together, deep in conversation.

Jane had gone to work in the still room, Mary was at practice on the pianoforte—something Elizabeth owned she did not do nearly as much as she should—and the youngest two were pulling apart bonnets and making them over. Elizabeth went to change into her riding habit once she had asked Hill to let the grooms know she wanted Penny saddled.

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Darcy could not believe he was becoming attracted to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the self-same woman he had insulted before he had ever been introduced to her. At least that had been rectified at the dinner at Longmeadow where they had been invited a few days past.

Bingley, who had rung a peal over his head for his rudeness at the assembly, had made the introductions to all of the Bennet sisters. Darcy had fully intended to apologise, but anytime he attempted to approach Miss Elizabeth, she moved away or was engrossed in conversation so he could not just interrupt her. When he did manage to get close to her, her eyes flashed with anger, so he withdrew. It was when he was introduced that he had seen just how magnificent her emerald-green eyes were—if one looked, they could see her current emotions in her fine eyes, not to mention that she was a beauty as well. She was not classically pretty like her older sister, but she was no less beautiful because of the arbitrary standards of looks which society promoted.

His friend was attracted to Miss Bennet as she was of exactly the look Bingley preferred, blonde, blue eyes, tall, and willowy. However, no matter how quickly Bingley had fallen in and out of love in the past, Darcy could see this was different, and in a conversation the two had held, Bingley had informed his friend that Miss Bennet was far more than just a pretty face. With the way Bingley had become his own man of late, Darcy was sure, if he was inclined to do so, his friend would not take kindly to any attempted interference in his romantic life. Darcy turned his thoughts back to the second Miss Bennet. He was already aware she was well read and intelligent. Also, she was like no other woman he had ever met, certainly nothing like the empty-headed debutantes the Ton churned out each season. He was quickly coming to realise not only had he never met a female like her before, but he may not ever meet one of her ilk again. The question was what could he, or should he, do about it.

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

"Welcome to Lucas Lodge," Sir William stated jovially as his man and a footman took the Bennets' outerwear as each one handed their items of divested clothing to them. "It is capital to see all of you. Come in, come in." He grinned and turned to the youngest Bennet. "Miss Lydia, I think you will be particularly happy to be here tonight."

"You know I always enjoy spending time with Maria, Sir William," Lydia averred.

"In that case I assume you are not interested that some of the officers from the Derbyshire Militia, who are scouting a location for their encampment, are present," Sir William teased.

The reaction was an unladylike squeal followed by the mother and her two youngest daughters clapping their hands in glee. In a flash, Lydia, with Kitty in her wake, was on her way into the enlarged room (the walls between the parlour, sitting room, and dining parlour had been pulled back) to discover the officers so she could begin to flirt with them.

Before Sir William could say anything else, his man opened the door to admit those from Netherfield Park. Seeing them, Elizabeth walked off to go and find Charlotte.

All Darcy could do was to shake his head when he saw Miss Elizabeth take off on noting him enter the house. Apologising to the lady would not be easy. He noted a gentleman he had not met before who, as he was with Mrs Bennet, Miss Bennet, and Miss Mary Bennet, he assumed was Mr Bennet. He looked at Bingley questioningly. His friend nodded.

Bingley approached Mr Bennet. "May I introduce my friend to you?" he requested.

The tall man was the only one of Mr Bingley's friends Bennet had not met when he had called at Netherfield Park, so he assumed it was Mr Darcy, the one who insulted his Lizzy, and about whom he had advised his daughter, who seemed to be following what he told her. "Please do, if it is tolerable for the man to meet me, unless he is worried that he will give me too much consequence ."

It amused Bennet greatly that the man's ears turned red and he looked rather embarrassed to have some of his words thrown back at him. Darcy was sure, and more than that hoped, Mr Bennet was about to demand he apologise, but the man said nothing.

"Darcy this is Mr Thomas Bennet, the master of Longbourn, Mr Bennet, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire," Bingley did the honours. Like Darcy, he expected Mr Bennet to ask to speak to Darcy in private to dress him down, but the man said nothing other than answering Darcy's bow with a half one of his own.

Bingley led his party, including his sullen younger sister, into the room where they were directed by Sir William. He made sure to greet his hostess, the Lucas heir—the younger brother was back at Oxford—and Miss Lucas was in conversation with Miss Elizabeth, before he guided Miss Bennet to a settee where they sat and were soon deep in conversation.

Caroline Bingley was silently fuming. There had been no opportunities to enter Mr Darcy's bedchamber yet. The door was always locked, and when it was not, the damned valet was within. Twice she had crept up to the door after midnight when she was sure Mr Darcy would be asleep, and each time the door had been secured!

As her elder sister had been chosen as the mistress, she had no access to the keys. She would not lower herself to search the housekeeper's office, so she would have to find a way to relieve Louisa of her chatelain. The one time she had managed to slip into her sister's chamber, she had not located any key. She had considered tripping in front of all of the country mushrooms, and she would if it came to that, but she was still determined it would be at Netherfield Park that the deed would be done. Her reasoning was simple. The more witnesses, the greater the chances word she had gained Mr Darcy via compromise would reach her friends in London, and she preferred they thought Mr Darcy offered for her because she was his choice.

While Elizabeth was speaking to Charlotte, she saw Mr Darcy approach them. She turned to her friend. "Now that Kitty and Lydia are not monopolising the officers' time, would you introduce me to them please?"

Charlotte led her friend to where the three officers were standing. "Eliza, this is Colonel Forster, the commander of the regiment which will encamp here, his Adjutant, Captain Carter, and Captain Saunderson. The man Kitty and Lydia cajoled to accompany them over there," Charlotte inclined her head in the direction of the two youngest Bennets and the officer, "is Lieutenant Denny. Gentlemen, Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn."

"Well met, Miss Bennet," the Colonel stated after he and his captains had bowed.

"And you, Colonel, Captains. Point of order, I am Miss Elizabeth as the beauty over yonder," Elizabeth inclined her head, "is my eldest sister and holds the title of Miss Bennet when she is in the room."

"We stand corrected," Colonel Forster returned with a grin. He enjoyed impertinence in a lady.

"Where is the rest of your regiment encamped?" Elizabeth enquired.

"They are in Northamptonshire, near the town of Westingham. Do you ladies have suggestions of how we should introduce ourselves to the local populace?" the Colonel asked.

Noting Mr Darcy was close enough to hear, and seemed to be eavesdropping, and knowing how much he disliked balls, Elizabeth formulated a reply aimed at the infuriating man. "You should hold a ball, Colonel. It is the quickest way to ingratiate you and your officers to the locals, and you know no one dislikes a ball."

"I will think on your advice, Miss Elizabeth," the Colonel averred. He turned to his captains. "Come gentlemen, I think we need to rescue Denny from the young ladies, or the young ladies from Denny." The three officers bowed to the two ladies and made their way across the room towards the Lieutenant.

"What do you think Mr Darcy means by coming close and listening to our conversation with the officers?" Elizabeth asked Charlotte, at a volume she was sure the enigmatic man would be able to hear. "Do you think he seeks to intimidate us with his silent, aloof brooding? Why would a gentleman listen yet never speak to anyone outside of his own party?"

Darcy was about to attempt to make his apology, but hearing the hard edge in Miss Elizabeth's voice when she spoke of him caused him to stay where he was.

"Unless you ask Mr Darcy those questions, you will never gain the answers you seem to seek," Charlotte responded. She was sure Eliza did not care to hear from Mr Darcy, she just wanted to tease the man without speaking to him. "Enough silliness, Eliza. It is time for the instrument to be opened. Do not forget you promised Papa you would play and sing for us."

"What sort of friend are you, always urging me to play and sing when you well know Mary is far more proficient on the pianoforte than I. Also," Elizabeth turned partially towards Mr Darcy, "I am rather intimidated to play before those who are used to hearing the best performers play. My playing would not be much less than tolerable ."

"You who claims her courage always rises at any attempt to intimidate her? I think not. I will not allow you to renege on your promise now, especially on so flimsy an excuse," Charlotte insisted as she led Elizabeth towards the instrument.

‘ And I thought I had implacable resentment, ' Darcy thought. How could he gain her forgiveness if she would not even allow him to make his apologies?

Darcy found himself drawn towards Miss Elizabeth as she began to play. Her playing was not technically proficient, just like she had intimated to her friend, but the feeling she infused into the music was something he had not experienced since hearing his mother perform before she had taken ill.

As he was standing and watching, he detected her overapplied scent before Miss Bingley sidled up and stood next to him. "I am sure I know what you are thinking, to be here among those so far below us…" Miss Bingley started to say when Mr Darcy interjected.

"Miss Bingley, please let me be in peace," Darcy hissed so only the woman could hear. "I neither invited your presence nor your conjectures. Your sister's allusions to your memory being that of a gadfly was correct. We are not now, nor will we ever be at the same level of society."

The woman slunk back to where she had been sitting and Darcy returned to enjoying the playing of the lady who seemed to make sure they never conversed. Next, she played a lively Scottish air and sang the enchanting words. She had an excellent contralto voice. In fact, her singing was of the best he had ever heard, in Darcy's opinion.

Elizabeth relinquished the instrument to Mary and went to sit with Charlotte who had joined Jane and Mr Bingley.

"Mama," Lydia raised her voice above the music, "tell Mary to play something we can dance to."

"Mary, play something lively, not one of your concertos," Fanny called out loudly from where she was seated rather than stand to go speak to her daughter quietly. There was no missing the moue of distaste on Mr Darcy's face, but considering how embarrassed she felt, Elizabeth supposed she could not blame him. She also noticed that her father was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle his family was making in a public setting, rather than check anyone .

Mary began to play a reel and Sir William had the rug rolled back to make an area to dance. Lydia pulled Lieutenant Denny to dance with her, while Captain Saunderson asked Kitty to partner him.

Darcy walked closer to the dancing where Sir William joined him. "Such an elegant exercise," Sir William opined as he inclined his head to the dancers.

"Yet every savage can dance," Darcy, who was not in the best of moods at his failure to converse with Miss Elizabeth, retorted.

"Have you been honoured by dancing at St James Palace?" Sir William queried, oblivious to Mr Darcy's pique.

"No, I have not, and it is not an honour I seek," Darcy managed.

Just then Elizabeth crossed the room close to the two men. "Come now Miss Eliza, why do you not dance? Allow me to propose Mr Darcy as your partner for a dance," Sir William suggested.

"I have no intention of dancing, thank you Sir William," Elizabeth said and was off before Darcy could say a word.

By the time the Netherfield Park Party departed with a more sullen Miss Bingley than she had been when they arrived, Darcy had not been close to Miss Elizabeth again. He would find an opportunity to make his amends, his honour demanded it.