Dinner at Netherfield turns interesting
The storm increased its severity after the local pompous knight departed with many bows and flowery, irritating words, giving Darcy a welcome excuse to keep to his room, reading Udolpho. Warm stained paneling, substantial wooden furniture and fine fabrics surrounded him—it was probably the best of the guest chambers at Netherfield. The furnishings were clearly worn, but of good quality, probably bought long before the manor began its slow descent into disrepair. Though clean, the room smelt vaguely musty, probably coming from the room across the hall that had been shut up for quite some time, or so the maid he had inquired of told him.
Hopefully he could convince Bingley that this was not a place to settle in the long term. Not if he was hoping to improve his standing in society. A house in disrepair would do him no favors in that corner.
Miss Elizabeth’s uncle was a local solicitor. Perhaps he might know of another suitable property, if Bingley was decided upon being in this part of the county. It would be worth inquiring of her about it.
She had been right about Udolpho. It would provide opportunity for many telling conversations with Georgiana. He might even begin one in a letter—Georgiana was usually a good correspondent. Hopefully the distractions of Ramsgate at this time of year would not keep her from that duty. Surely Mrs. Young would keep better watch over her than that.
The chimes of the longcase clock at the head of the stairs marked the passage of time and the impending dinner hour. With the help of his valet, he entered into the essentially silent ritual of dinner preparations, girding his loins, as it were, in preparation for being in company. Even pleasant company required preparedness.
Richard, his shoulders stiff and at attention, but his expression relaxed, even pleased, and Caroline, all but glowing in her deep rose evening gown and the opportunity to play hostess, awaited him in the drawing room, debating something he could not make out. The two seemed to revel in their verbal sparring. Odd how Caroline never conceded defeat and Richard never declared victory. Their pleasure seemed to be in the engagement of it all. Very odd. And a little uncomfortable.
As drawing rooms went, large and bland described this one best. The curtains a deep green and the upholstery a complimentary brown stripe did not offend the senses. Enough couches, settees and chairs populated the room to accommodate a party at least twice the size of the current house party, with tables, small and large, to suffice. Candelabras and wall sconces lit the room, sufficient to most drawing room activities, though reading might be a bit tiresome.
A bombe chest with drawers stationed between the windows opposite the fireplace threatened to hold cards and board games to which they might be subjected later in the evening. Such joys to anticipate. If he were required to play charades he just might—
“Miss Bennet! Miss Elizabeth!” Caroline cried and hurried to join the ladies at the doorway. “I am so pleased to see you both.”
Bingley, whose valet must have spent extra time on his efforts this evening, edged past them into the room. “I am so please to see you joining us for dinner this evening—”
“Of course, of course! And if there is anything that might be done for your comfort, Miss Bennet, pray do not hesitate to tell me.” Caroline beckoned Darcy and Richard. “Let us go to the dining room directly.”
Darcy offered Miss Bennet his arm—Caroline all but pushed her into his path. Her color was high and her movements lacked the vivacity he had seen her demonstrate upon their first meeting. But that was only to be expected. They paraded to the dining room between Caroline and Richard and Bingley and Miss Elizabeth.
On the whole, Miss Bennet was a pretty girl. Probably the local beauty, all told. It was difficult to tell whether it was her looks or her deportment which would give her that moniker. With perfect posture and grace, the classic lines of her face were reminiscent of a marble statue. Her manners were reserved and pleasing, especially when one considered she was the daughter of a minor country gentleman. Her white muslin gown, trimmed with embroidered sprigs and bits of lace was hardly the height of fashion, but it did speak well of her breeding.
They entered the long, narrow dining room behind Caroline and Richard. She directed them to the far side of the table. With long black chinoiserie sideboards along both walls, there was barely enough room to move comfortably around the table.
In all likelihood, this room had not been intended to be the main dining room. The more appropriate chamber was one of those shut up because water leaked down the fireplace and blew in through the windows, if he recalled correctly. At least there were sufficient mirrors on the walls to reflect the candlelight and provide sufficient illumination for a meal.
Miss Elizabeth stopped behind the chair Bingley pulled out for her. “Pray, Miss Bingley, would you permit Jane to sit here instead. I think she would be more comfortable nearer the fire.”
And next to Bingley. That was interesting.
“Oh, ah, certainly. I had not realized the other side of the room would be a hardship in her delicate condition—how thoughtless of me.” Caroline’s cheeks colored just slightly.
Darcy escorted Miss Bennet to the other side of the table and assisted Miss Elizabeth to sit next to himself. “She does mean it, you know.”
“Of course, I believe her. But it does seem you are very quick to come to her defense.” She cocked her head, eyes sparkling in the flickering candlelight. A fine, red net overdress, embroidered with gold roses and green vines covered her simple white muslin gown. Understated and flattering. She sipped her soup—a creamy sort of affair, potato perhaps—a little smile peeking above her spoon.
“Forgive me if it is unseemly. I have known her for quite some time and know she means very well. Unfortunately, she is the sort of person who is apt to be misunderstood.” Especially by other women who invariably assumed something nefarious was afoot.
“You mean an attractive, wealthy, single woman? Yes, I have often seen how they are subject of bad assumptions.”
“Indeed, you have? I am surprised that you would say such a thing.”
“But it is true is it not? Just not something that women are apt to admit outside their own counsel.” She spoke so plainly, so directly, so unlike other women he had known.
“I cannot argue. Forgive me for observing that you are very direct. Unusually so.”
Miss Elizabeth blushed from her collarbones to her cheeks. He had probably said the wrong thing. Again. “I suppose you are correct. Pray forgive—”
“There is nothing to forgive. I find it refreshing— I have not the talent which some people possess of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, especially when directness is eschewed.’’
“A man who relishes directness, particularly in a lady, is a rare creature indeed.” She smiled, an expression he had hardly seen before, genuine, open and warm, guileless.
Soup plates were removed and Bingley carved the joint before the odd flutterings in his chest subsided.
“Pray tell me, what are you talking about? It seems very agreeable. I love to have a part in agreeable conversations.” Caroline leaned toward Darcy.
“I never knew you were so particular. I never knew you to avoid any conversation.” Richard drew a large sip from his wineglass and chuckled.
“You are such a tease. You would give our new neighbors the wrong idea about me.”
Miss Bennet drew in a sharp breath, her eyes wide. “We could hardly think ill of you, not when you have been so gracious to us. Pray do not be alarmed.”
“But how do you know it is not some reprehensible scheme…” Richard leaned forward on his elbows, smile broadening.
“Perhaps it is good you have retired from the army. You are starting to see plots in all the shadows.” Bingley’s glance was as near to a rebuke as he ever got. Was he annoyed for his own sake or perhaps for Miss Bennets?
“So now I am the mad old soldier?”
Miss Bennet glanced from Bigley to Richard to Caroline, hand pressed to her chest. “Heavens, no. I am sure nothing —”
“Never fear, Miss Bennet,” Richard held up an open hand. “We have been excellent friends for so long enough that I well know what he means.”
Bingley tipped his head at Miss Bennet. “Pray do not create expectations I can never live up to. I would leave perfection to Darcy’s realm.”
Everyone but Darcy laughed. To be accused of perfection only opened one up to unwelcome scrutiny to find one’s flaws.
Miss Elizabeth raised her eyebrow at him before returning to her slice of mutton.
What was she thinking? Why was it so difficult tell what she might be thinking of him? And why could he not get that unspoken question out of his mind through the next course of the meal?
“With such good company, perhaps we should adjourn to the drawing room together?” Miss Bingley placed her napkin on the table and rose.
Bingley all but applauded. “Excellent notion. I whole heartedly approve.”
They adjourned to the same bland green drawing room they had left two hours before. Somehow, upon returning though, it did not seem quite so bland anymore.
Thankfully, Miss Bingley gathered the ladies near the cheerily flickering fireplace, instructing Bingley to move the fainting couch near the warmth for Miss Bennet.
With a nod Richard invited Darcy to join him, apart from the others. He was in the mood to talk, it seemed, and he had had enough wine to loosen his tongue. That could be a good thing or not.
Richard settled himself into a large, leather wing chair, half-turned away from the fireplace, cool and shadowed, adding to the potential gravity of whatever might be said “Quite the place Bingley has gotten himself saddled with, is it not?
Darcy pulled a matching chair a little closer, close enough they might not be easily overheard. “Thankfully, he only signed a lease for the season.”
“Good for him. He has no idea what a burden a leaky, drafty old house can be.”
“More problems at Fox Hollow, I imagine?”
“I approached Father for a loan to go toward the latest repairs on the damned place. One would think such an inheritance from dear Mama’s departed brother would be a boon. And one would be wrong.”
Ruddy bad luck Richard had with that place since the beginning. That fire— “Surely he did not refuse you. That place is your home—where you might raise a family. It is not as though you are paying off some woman for your bye-blow.”
“It is not as though he has not offered that service to both my brothers.” Richard rolled his eyes.
“If he refuses you, I —”
Richard lifted open hands and shrugged. “I know I can come to you, and I appreciate it. I am hoping my absence will make him open his purse. Mother is rather put out that I have left.”
“To flee her matchmaking, no?”
“Or his bombastic tirades, you know how he can be.”
“I did not realize he had become unstable again.” Darcy chewed his lower lip.
“Unstable, or drunk and ill-tempered. One might argue the semantics, but it boils down to the same thing.” The way Richard shrugged so dismissively—how bad had things become?
Bingley strode past them and opened the liquor cabinet in the corner. He pulled out cut crystal glasses and nodded at them.
Richard went to Bingley and returned with two glasses. “Caroline seems quite in her element here. Look how solicitous she is of Miss Bennet’s health. The extra blanket and special tea Nicholls has now set out.”
“You do not sound pleased.” Darcy took a glass and sipped at the brandy. Fiery stuff, not quite to his taste. If he was going to stay here long, he would have to find something smoother to drink. Perhaps the local vintner would have something.
“Have you not noticed what Caroline is about?”
“Surely you jest.”
“You do not see it? Really?” Richard lifted his glass toward the ladies near the fireplace. “She is at it again. See how she has contrived to put Bingley near to Miss Elizabeth. I am certain she has already decided she is for her brother. And unless I am very, very wrong, she has chosen Miss Bennet for you—such a superior man should have the loveliest woman.”
“Nonsense. Fantasy and nonsense.” Miss Elizabeth was the sort of woman who would be a boon to Bingley. With her connections to the gentry and her lively good humor, she could definitely help him be accepted among her peers. I could be a good thing.
But he and Miss Bennet? Hardly. No. She was a pleasant girl, but hardly cut out for the rigors of the ton or administering an estate like Pemberley. She lacked the quickness, the rigor—
“She sat Miss Bennet next to you at dinner, or tried to at least. And she encouraged her to talk to you the whole of the night.”
“Caroline was simply being kind and considerate.”
“While she has the capacity to be both of these things, tonight she was being conniving and cunning every bit as much as that pompous oaf Lucas, the local knight of the realm.” Richard grunted and pinched his temples.
Lucas was exactly the sort of man who Richard had little tolerance for. Title without substance. Not to mention manners and intelligence.
Darcy shuddered. “Comparing Bingley’s sister to him is an insult—to her.”
“She is not nearly so boorish as he, far more subtle in her machinations than he. She would never announce her intentions to a room of strangers, even before introductions are made.” Richard swished a mouthful of brandy before swallowing it.
“I do not think I have ever heard anything so mortifying as his speech this morning.”
“And with Aunt Catherine in the family, that is saying a very great deal, no?”
Yes, it was, but hardly the sort of thing one should say about one’s family. Not to mention that Uncle Matlock resembled his sister in that way, especially after a few glasses of port. No, that was not entirely fair to Aunt Catherine. She tended to be outrageous, but not prone to fits of temper.
“Savage society in these parts, simply savage.” Richard leaned back, glowering a little at the unsubtle brandy, and clucked his tongue
“Then why did you make such a to-do about staying? It seems you would like to be away from these confines as soon as possible. A small market town has little in the way of your sorts of amusements, and with that knight on the list of the county’s best company, what is there to stay for?”
“Where else would I go and be so unlikely to be found by the very family members I wish to avoid? Can you see either Lord or Lady Matlock making it to this remote destination? Where would they stay? There is not a single local inn to their standards and Mother would not deign to stay with Caroline. Ever. Besides, someone must keep and eye on her and keep her from making a cake of herself again.” Richard stared at Caroline.
What was Richard so concerned about that Bingley was not sufficient keeper for his sister?
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