Chapter 4

E lizabeth took advantage of the cessation of the rain and the drying out of the paths around Longbourn to take a ramble to Oakham Mount. It was her favourite destination in the area of her father’s estate. This morning, she left the house later than she would in the spring and summer when dawn would break hours earlier.

Being on the summit of the mount, near the three oak trees for which the hill was named, was one of Elizabeth’s favourite activities. It was even ahead of her love of sketching characters which were, in her opinion, always accurate. Thoughts of characters she had taken the likeness of brought the face of the admittedly handsome, arrogant, improperly proud, hateful, and insufferable Mr Darcy to mind.

She quickly pushed the man from Derbyshire from her consciousness. She had something else to ponder, and it was rather flummoxing. For the last two days there had been a change in both Mama and Papa. It had started with her summons to tell Papa about what Mr Wickham had told her. As much as she tried to puzzle it out, Elizabeth could not reach any conclusion which made sense to her, and she hated not being able to solve a puzzle.

Rather than make derogatory comments about her own looks as compared to Jane’s, or constantly reminding Mary she was plain, while at the same time praising Jane and Lydia to the skies, Mama had been almost kind in her comments to all of her daughters. There was nothing Elizabeth could see which explained this great change. Not one word about Jane’s beauty or Lydia’s liveliness had crossed her mother’s lips.

Even more disconcerting was Papa. He spent hardly any time in his study, but was rather in the drawing room with all of the family. To Elizabeth it seemed as if he was just watching and listening, just as he had with her in the study. Not one mocking word crossed his lips aimed at Mama or his two youngest daughters, and never once did he amuse himself at his family’s follies. Most distressing to Elizabeth was not once since she had noticed the changes had her father invited her into his study to debate a book or to share a joke at the expense of others in the neighbourhood or the family. Deep down she admitted the changes she was seeing were good, if they were permanent, but she hated not knowing what had caused things to be different.

There was one change in which she revelled. In the last few days Mr Collins had not imposed his company on her at all. Not a single allusion as to how she would soon be married to him. Best of all for her and all of her sisters, Mr Collins had withdrawn his request to dance the first set at the Bingley ball with herself, while at the same time, he had cried off to each of her sisters as well. If he had thought his withdrawal of his favour of a dance with him would have engendered disappointment, he was sorely mistaken.

The reaction of each of her sisters, except for Jane who maintained her placid mask, had been joy. Mr Collins had displayed a decidedly pinched look and had left the drawing room, muttering under his breath. Thankfully he would not be at Longbourn by the time Elizabeth returned as he had accepted an invitation to bless those at Lucas Lodge with his company for the morning before the ball.

Her ruminations were interrupted by the nicker of a horse as she approached the path at the base of Oakham Mount, which ended at the summit. As soon as she recognised the huge black stallion, she scowled. It was Mr Darcy’s horse, the one she had heard him refer to as Zeus. If his horse was at the base of the hill, then it was safe to assume the rude and prideful man was on the summit already or at least approaching it.

“Trust your master to spoil my enjoyment today,” Elizabeth bit out to the horse who turned towards her and seemed to be watching her intently. His ears were pointed in her direction so she assumed the stallion was listening to her.

Thanks to a healthy fear of horses due to falling off one when she was seven and learning to ride, which resulted in a broken arm, Elizabeth decided that discretion was needed. Her maxim that her courage always rose at every attempt to intimidate her only applied to humans. She was not about to wait around and see if the beast wanted to take a bite out of her, so Elizabeth quickly wheeled on her heel and beat a hasty retreat away from the big black horse. It was one more ill she could lay at Mr Darcy’s door. She ignored the voice of her conscience telling her it was her own choice and had nothing to do with the man from Derbyshire.

On the return walk, she thought about the ball and with whom she would dance. She knew who would not ask. It was the one who said she was tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him. Seeing the antipathy the insufferably arrogant man felt towards Mr Wickham after cheating him out of his rightful living, she was hoping said lieutenant would ask her to open the ball with him, as well as dance the supper or final sets. She was not enamoured with the handsome officer at all, it was just that it would be one more way for her to needle Mr Darcy. As she walked and thought of the two men, she allowed her sense of outrage to build at the way Mr Wickham had been treated.

She had to admit, even if it was grudgingly, that she had been surprised when Mr Bingley had articulated his intention to invite all of the officers, Mr Darcy had not said a word about excluding Mr Wickham, and from what Kitty and Lydia had reported, the invitation had been for all of the officers with no exclusions.

Unlike at the assembly when Mr Darcy had thought her slighted by other men, with the officers in attendance there would be no need for any of the ladies to sit out two sets as was done at the assemblies.

Elizabeth slipped into the house via the door to the kitchen and ran up the servants’ stairs to the first floor where the chamber she shared with Jane was located. She washed her hands and face, changed into slippers, and made her way downstairs to join the family for the morning meal.

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

“Was Uncle Martin angry that we are leaving the farm as well as the United States?” Henry asked when his father arrived home from a three day journey to see said uncle.

“No, not angry, just indifferent. His thoughts are only of politics. He was just as happy to put the farm up for sale as he was to allow us to live here and work it. Do not take his lack of interest in us personally,” James looked at his three children, each in turn. “His concentration is on having his party nominate him for the New York State Senate. As such, he does not need us to remain on the farm as long as I expected, so we will begin our journey to Montreal in the Canadas in two days. There are rumblings of war between the United States and England which has drastically reduced the number of ships sailing between the two countries. It will be a long, and possibly dangerous, journey.”

“It will be exciting, Pa,” Abraham, who loved adventure, insisted.

“That is easy for you to say,” Maria smiled at her younger brother. As one who was interested in the study of other countries, despite her tease, she was looking forward to all of the travelling they would be doing.

“Will Jemima and Jeremiah be ready to leave in only two days?” Henry worried.

“Yes, they will. I spoke to them before I did with you three, and they are more than ready to leave this country for England,” James assured his eldest. “Make sure your trunks are packed by the morning when they will be loaded into the cart. For our security, I am paying twelve men to ride with us, some of them have worked for us for some time, to act as guards. Also, we will have items to give to the native tribes we encounter along the way to allow us safe passage.”

The truth was James was even more excited than his children to begin the odyssey back to England. He had not admitted it aloud to anyone, but since his beloved Mattie’s death he had known he needed to return to England to make things right. Until he read the letters, he had allowed his fears to stop him.

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

Before all the ladies went to prepare for the ball, Bennet warned his youngest daughters that they would be expected to behave like ladies, or there would be consequences. The two had looked at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head. Knowing their father, Lydia convinced Kitty he was only having some sport and would not do anything.

At the appointed hour, with far less noise than was expected in the Bennet house, the members of the family donned their outerwear and headed for the conveyance waiting for them in the drive. Last out of the door was a rather sullen William Collins.

As much as he disliked bathing, that is, unless he was to be in Lady Catherine’s company, Collins complied with his cousin’s unreasonable demands and washed himself before departing for the ball. He was sure regardless of the way they had reacted when he had informed his cousins he would not dance with them, they would live to regret spurning his olive branch.

He was the last one waiting to enter the Bennet carriage and he smiled to himself when he imagined the jealousy of his cousins when he opened the ball with Miss Charlotte Lucas. In addition he had secured her supper and final sets as well. That would show his cousins.

His only regret was Miss Lucas was rather plain while his cousins looked especially pretty tonight—even Miss Mary. Had he noticed she was as pretty as her sisters, he may have turned his attention to her. He chided himself for thinking that way. He would marry Miss Lucas, and the day his cousin died, he would turn the widow and his five cousins—he was positive no one would ever offer for them—out of his house.

Collins was about to climb into the carriage when Cousin Bennet alighted. “Sorry Collins, you and I will be on the box, with six ladies in their finery within, there is no room for us lowly males,” Bennet drawled.

“Well I never! Lady Catherine would never…” Collins closed his mouth when his cousin raised his hand.

“These are your choices. Join me on the box with the coachman, walk the three miles to Netherfield Park, or remain here. It makes no difference to me whichever you choose,” Bennet stated. “What will it be?”

Even though he thought it an insult to ride on the box, Collins would not walk, and missing the ball entirely was out of the question. Not dancing with Miss Lucas was not an option. With a huff and a sour look, Collins, with great difficulty due to his heft, followed Bennet up onto the box. They were off with a jerk as the two horses strained against their traces, putting the equipage in motion.

Elizabeth noticed more changes in her mother that night. Not a word about more lace was uttered, and nothing about making the gowns more revealing. In fact, Lydia, much to her chagrin, had been told to wear something more modest. Then rather than insist they depart the estate early to be the first guests to arrive, Mama had been calm and had not rushed them out of the door. This just added to the questions Elizabeth had about what was causing all the changes.

Thanks to a cloudless sky and an almost full moon, the coachman had no need to slow his team too much. It was not too many minutes before they approached Netherfield Park’s gate posts. “Look at the torches,” called out Lydia who was sitting on the forward-facing bench next to her mother and Jane.

Starting at the gate to the estate, torches stretched off into the distance to where the drive turned towards the manor house. They were flickering and waving in the breeze; black smoke from the burning oil was rising. Once the coachman guided his team through the turn in the drive, the house came into view. Light was pouring out of every window giving the impression that the manor was surrounded by a golden halo.

The Bennet carriage joined a line of conveyances which was delivering those seated within to the ball.

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

Darcy was standing in his chamber, hands behind his back, as he watched carriage after carriage disgorge its occupants, all in their finery. He felt confused. He had expected the Bennets to be, if not the first, then certainly among the first to arrive, so Mrs Bennet could have as much time as possible in order to push her eldest daughter at his friend.

It was very seldom he found himself agreeing with anything the shrew that was Miss Caroline Bingley said, but earlier when the residents of the estate sat in the drawing room, she had predicted the Bennets would arrive as soon as possible. Darcy had not said anything because the harpy would take it as a de facto wedding proposal if he agreed with her. However, what she had articulated had aligned with his own opinions.

More than half of the expected guests had arrived and still no Bennets. Could they have decided not to attend for some unknown reason? Darcy did not think so. In fact, if he were honest with himself, he hoped that was not the case. Even though she was the forbidden fruit , he could not wait to see Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

Thinking of the temptress reminded him of his ride that morning. He had heard Miss Elizabeth speak of the vistas from the hill named Oakham Mount, so he rode thither, left Zeus at the base, and climbed to the top. She had been correct, even in late autumn or early winter, the view was rather good from the summit. Yes, the hill was not half the height of the one behind Pemberley, but the land was much flatter in Hertfordshire, so it had been a good prospect. He had been about to descend to where he had left his stallion when he could have sworn he had heard Miss Elizabeth’s voice. It had not been his imagination. When he reached his horse he saw her rapidly retreating back, her tresses which had escaped her bonnet flowing behind her. Who she had been speaking to he could not fathom, he saw not another living soul, other than Zeus.

Darcy was snapped out of ruminations of the morning past when he noticed a carriage with Mr Bennet, and that ridiculous parson of his aunt’s, seated on the box. Not realising what he was about, Darcy moved forward until his forehead was almost pressed up against the window. He could not help himself, even though he had sworn to himself he would not ask her to dance, he had to glimpse Miss Elizabeth when she arrived.

Bennet climbed down, leaving his corpulent cousin to lumber down on his own, and relieved the footman at the door of the carriage to hand down his ladies himself. Lydia and Kitty were followed by their mother. Bennet could not but stare at his Fanny who looked as beautiful to him this night as she had when he had first fallen in love with her. Fanny noted her husband’s appreciation of her form and blushed like she had not since she was sixteen or seventeen years of age. After a pause while he drank in his wife’s scent, Bennet returned to his self-appointed duty. Mary was next, followed by Jane, and lastly, Bennet handed down his second daughter.

In his bedchamber, Darcy would have pushed himself through the panes of the window had that been possible. There was no getting away from the fact Miss Elizabeth Bennet was by far the handsomest woman of his acquaintance. When he saw her, he was powerless. A movement must have caught her attention because Miss Elizabeth looked up. She arched one eyebrow as if she sensed he had been staring at her. Darcy jumped back as if scalded by boiling water.

Realising it was Mr Darcy who was looking at her, Elizabeth could not believe she repulsed him to such an extent that he jumped back in disgust when he saw her. This firmed her opinion that the pride-filled man would never request a dance from her, which in her mind was so much the better.

After he put himself to rights and brought himself under regulation once again, Darcy slipped his unapproachable mask into place and made his way down the stairs. There before him were the Bennets. The youngest two girls were as vulgar and misbehaved as ever, but the Bennet matron was quiet, almost demure. Even with his height, he could not see Miss Elizabeth. He just needed a glimpse to satisfy his burning urge to be in her company.

He watched as Bingley spoke to Miss Bennet for longer than he should in the receiving line. Then he saw the woman who was stealing his heart, no matter how much he guarded it. She was wearing a hunter green gown, the fabric, he knew not what it was. All he could see was how well her gown highlighted the colour of her extremely fine eyes. He saw Miss Bingley make an obviously snide comment to Miss Elizabeth, who did not descend to the shrew’s level. She did not take the bait, as she never did. He stood frozen on the second to last step, and only moved once all of the Bennets had made their way down the hall in the direction of the ballroom. He was powerless to stop them as his feet followed the Bennets.

On entering the ballroom, it took Darcy a few moments to find where Miss Elizabeth was standing. She was speaking to her friend, Miss Lucas, while the bumbling parson was attempting without success to divert the latter lady’s attention. Before he knew what he was about, Darcy was standing before Miss Elizabeth.

While she had been speaking to Charlotte, Elizabeth had been looking at all of the officers to see if Mr Wickham would approach her, but he was nowhere to be seen. Just then she saw the tall man come stand in front of her, and she wondered if Mr Darcy had come to insult her.

“Miss Elizabeth, what is your first open set?” Darcy asked before he could stop himself.

Too shocked not to respond, Elizabeth heard herself reply, “The first and second are open.” Surely he did not want to dance with her, mayhap he just wanted to amuse himself that she had no partner for the first set.

“May I have the first set,” Darcy requested without thinking about his words.

All she could do was nod her head. What had she just done? How could she agree to dance with such a man? Then she reminded herself that had she refused; she would have been obliged to sit out the rest of the night. A half hour in the company of the disagreeable, proud man from Derbyshire was a price she would bear to be able to dance the rest of the night.

For his part, Collins could not believe Miss de Bourgh’s betrothed had asked Miss Elizabeth for the first set. Since he withdrew, she was not supposed to dance. It was then he noticed as much as he wished it was not true, none of his cousins was in want of men asking them to dance.

In a daze he wandered off, and just after Mr Collins ambled away, Lieutenant Denny greeted Elizabeth, who was still trying to see if Mr Wickham was present.

“Wickham volunteered to go to London. I believe contrary to his assertions, he did not want to be in his,” Denny cocked his head to where Mr Darcy was standing, “company.” Denny clicked his heels together and made for a group of his fellow officers.

‘ He is just being gentlemanly and not wanting to have Mr Darcy make a scene ,’ Elizabeth thought. Her conscience was screaming that this was another contradiction, but she pointedly ignored it.