A few weeks after the assembly, on a lazy summer’s day, Charlotte and Elizabeth were walking along the wagon road between Lucas Lodge and Longbourn, discussing how their friend and sister seemed to have captured Mr. Bingley’s heart. And they were not the only ones who had noticed. Ever since the dance, the town was humming with rumors of an engagement between the two, and some of the shopkeepers were busy circulating the news that Miss Bennet had been in their shops looking at bonnets and ribbons and other paraphernalia, which would obviously become a part of her trousseau. This greatly amused Lizzy because Jane and she often went into the shops to see what new goods had come in on the London coach, but now everything Jane did had a hidden meaning.
Another topic of conversation was Mr. Darcy of Pemberley. Because Lizzy was one of the prettiest girls in this corner of Hertfordshire, Mr. Darcy’s remark that Lizzy was only “tolerable” had insulted every lady who was less attractive than she was. But Charlotte Lucas was of a different opinion.
“Lizzy, at the risk of challenging one of your reasons for disliking Mr. Darcy, I must say that I do not think his comments were directed at you.”
“Really! Mr. Darcy’s comments were not directed at me?” Lizzy said, laughing. “Charlotte, it will not do. He looked right at me, and please do not concern yourself. This matter is no longer of any interest to me. Any hurt I might have felt has long since passed because my father has assured me I am definitely more than tolerable.”
Because Charlotte lacked the good looks possessed by many of the young women of her neighborhood, she often found herself without a dance partner. No matter how unenviable her situation, it afforded Charlotte an opportunity to observe the subtle beginnings of a new relationship: the covert smile, the accidental touch, the whispers, and the long gazes. Lovers rarely realized how obvious they were to others.
“You must hear me out, Lizzy. Mr. Darcy was directing his remarks to Mr. Bingley, and before you start laughing again, let me tell you what I think actually happened. Despite Mr. Darcy repeatedly telling Mr. Bingley that he did not intend to dance, he would not let the matter rest. That was the cause of the harshness of his reply. I was looking right at Mr. Darcy, and I can tell you that from where he stood, it was impossible for him to take your likeness, especially since he merely glanced at you over his shoulder. Contrary to what you think, Mr. Darcy admires you.”
“Nonsense, Charlotte! Mr. Darcy spent most of the evening in the cardroom. If he had wanted to make amends, there was ample opportunity to ask me to dance, but he chose not to do so.”
“But you did not see how he looked at you when he came out of the cardroom. At first, I thought he was looking for Mr. Bingley or one of the sisters, but then he walked by his friend and kept looking until his eyes had settled on you. And the same thing happened the other night at Lucas Lodge. His eyes followed you everywhere you went, and when you challenged him about listening to your conversation, he admitted he had been doing that very thing.”
“That is because we were speaking of dancing. Earlier, Mr. Darcy had been talking to your father about that same subject, in which he expressed the opinion that, ‘Every savage can dance.’ And I do not care what Mr. Darcy thinks of me. I shall be very glad when I hear he has returned to London or to his grand estate in Derbyshire.”
“Lizzy, I do believe you are making a mistake. When a man of consequence such as Mr. Darcy admires you, you would do well to take notice.”
Chapter 2
In light of all that followed, Darcy regretted that he had not left Hertfordshire shortly after the assembly. The dark-haired Elizabeth Bennet had succeeded in capturing his attention as no other woman ever had. With each subsequent meeting, his admiration grew, and he soon found her occupying most of his waking moments.
While attending a gathering at the home of Sir William Lucas, he had listened in on her conversations and had followed her movements like some lovesick puppy. When Elizabeth came to stay at Netherfield Park to care for her ailing sister, her proximity exposed an underlying sexual tension that he found disconcerting. But it was no longer just the physical that he found so alluring. A series of conversations had revealed a woman who possessed a natural intelligence and who was confident enough to challenge the opinions of those with whom she disagreed, including his own.
Humiliated by his behavior, he had returned to London. But Elizabeth had followed him there. In his dreams, her presence was so real that he had imagined that he could taste her lips, smell the scent of her hair, and feel the rhythm of her body as she moved beneath him. And although it had been his intention to send word to Bingley that his business affairs required that he remain in town, after less than two weeks, he was on the road to Hertfordshire to attend the ball Bingley was hosting at Netherfield Park.
It was during his absence that George Wickham had made his first appearance in Meryton, and in that short time, Wickham, a man without scruples, had managed to convince Elizabeth that Darcy was someone who could not be trusted and who did not keep his promises. But Darcy did not know that at the time and was caught unawares when Elizabeth had remarked during the Netherfield ball that Wickham had lost his friendship “in a manner for which he was likely to suffer from all his life.” That remark, and the general consensus that Bingley would shortly make an offer of marriage to Miss Jane Bennet, spurred him to action.
The next morning, he wrote a letter to George Bingley, in which he informed Charles’s eldest brother that there were expectations within the neighborhood that Charles would soon become engaged to Miss Jane Bennet, and he outlined his objections to the match. With all of his being, he believed that such a marriage would be a disaster. It was not just a matter of the lady’s inferior position in society or the lack of propriety displayed by her family; Darcy believed the lady did not love his friend. But because it would be financially beneficial to her and her family, she would agree to an offer of marriage.
However, George Bingley’s intervention was not required as Charles yielded on the matter the day after they had reached London. He relied heavily on Darcy’s superior knowledge of such affairs, and considering his sisters’ emphatic opposition to the match, he had allowed himself to be convinced that any such union was doomed to failure.
The next day, Charles left London to attend a horse fair in Surrey. Although he valued his friendship with Darcy above all others, Charles resented his role in separating him from Miss Bennet, and because Darcy was a reminder of what he had lost, he decided he could do without his company for a while and sent word to his sisters that he would remain in the country.
With no communication between the two gentlemen, Darcy realized that Bingley was taking the forced separation from Miss Bennet much harder than he would have expected because it was Darcy’s experience that his friend was often in love.
Upon learning of Charles’s return from Surrey, Darcy immediately went to the Bingley townhouse. While waiting for his friend, he was sitting in the drawing room trying to figure out what it was that he found so annoying about Caroline Bingley. There were nine Bingleys, and he had met seven of them. But it was only Caroline who got under his skin. Not even her intellectually challenged sister, Louisa, came anywhere near to irritating him as much as Caroline did just by entering a room, and that is exactly what she had done thirty minutes earlier.