house in the country?” The whine continued at length. She complained of the noise, the heat, the lack of fashion, and the self-importance of the guests.
“My mind was more agreeably engaged, Miss Bingley. I was reflecting on the pleasure a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow, as is the case with Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”
Miss Elizabeth Bennet! He could not be serious! If she had fine eyes, then that was the only thing that was attractive about her. Her clothes were out of fashion, and who did her hair? And what of her family?
“I agree with you, Mr. Darcy. Other than Miss Jane Bennet, Miss Elizabeth is certainly the most attractive of the Bennet daughters, and I am sure you were entertained by Miss Mary Bennet’s exhibition on the pianoforte. I do not recall if you were introduced at the assembly to the younger sisters, but they are certainly enthusiastic in dancing with all of the young officers. Then there is their mother, Mrs. Bennet, who has so much to say and is so easily heard saying it.”
“None of which affects my admiration of Miss Elizabeth’s eyes,” he answered. Nevertheless, he found it unfortunate that the lady had such a family, especially in light of Bingley’s attentions to her sister. Caroline might be right. This may not be the best place for a young man, such as Charles, whose heart was easily touched, and because of that, their continued stay in Hertfordshire would require more thought.
Chapter 3
Shortly after the gathering at Lucas Lodge, Mr. Darcy left Hertfordshire for London to visit with his sister. He was glad to be away from Netherfield Park. Although he enjoyed Bingley’s company, he could not say the same for his sisters and brother-in-law. With the exception of Jane Bennet, whom they were damning with faint praise, they found nothing to admire and considered the local society to be inferior in every way. Darcy could not agree to such a general statement, but as a rule, society in the country varied little from one month to another, which was to be expected. Anything new was immediately seized upon and shared, including what had happened at Lucas Lodge. While he was listening to Miss Elizabeth play on the pianoforte, Lady Lucas had made a remark to Mrs. Long concerning how much attention he had paid Elizabeth. As a result, he had decided not to fuel the fire by dancing with her, which was unfortunate because she was a skilled dancer and pleasant company. In addition to visiting with his sister, Darcy had another purpose in going to London, and that was to begin a courtship with Miss Letitia Montford, an attractive lady of twenty-two years, and a granddaughter of an earl and, thus, his equal in rank. Because the Darcy estate was entailed away from the female line and Georgiana could not inherit, Darcy must have an heir, and for that he needed a wife.
As soon as his carriage pulled up in the front of the Darcy townhouse, Georgiana was out the door. She had not seen her brother in weeks. While he was in Hertfordshire with Bingley, she had been in the country staying with friends. Georgiana quickly brought Will up to date on what was happening in London. Some of the families who had spent the summer at their country estates had returned to town, among them Sir John Montford and his daughter.
“Miss Montford is truly lovely and has a most pleasant disposition,” Georgiana began. “I twice invited her here for tea, and in return, I was invited to dinner. She is very accomplished. Her sketches are so well executed that they are prominently displayed in their drawing room, and she has a gift for painting tables which to my mind is unmatched. And did you know she speaks French
“I see you have decided that Miss Montford is to become my wife.”
“I would never be so presumptuous as to tell you whom you should marry, but of all the ladies who earned your notice during the season, Miss Montford was clearly superior to all of them. If you were to ask my opinion on the subject, I would not hesitate to name Letitia.”
“We shall see,” Darcy said in an attempt to tamp down her enthusiasm. If he gave any indication that he agreed with her choice, Letitia Montford would be their only topic of conversation. “I will be in town for at least a week seeing to my business affairs before returning to the country to go shooting with Bingley, and I most certainly will call on Miss Montford. I assume your plans are unchanged and that your preference is to remain in town?”
“I have no wish to speak ill of anyone, but if you and Mr. Bingley are to spend all of your time shooting, that would mean I would have to spend all of my time with his sisters.”
“I understand. You need say no more.”
In the week that followed, Darcy spent a fair amount of time with Miss Montford and her family and friends. He found Letitia to be a lovely woman, who deserved the high praise she received for her many accomplishments. Her only flaw was that she was rather dull, and he was sure he would not have noticed just how lacking she was in any sense of irony or wit if it had not been for Elizabeth Bennet.
Elizabeth was unique to his experience. She liberally voiced her opinions but seemed unaware of the accompanying hazards, or maybe she didn’t care. No matter. There was an excellent chance he would not see her again as he was determined to spend most of his time shooting and riding and had no intention of attending social events in the neighborhood. In ten days’ time, he would return to London and begin a courtship with Miss Montford in earnest.
Fortunately, the approach to Netherfield did not require that he pass through the village of Meryton as he was sure its inhabitants would assign some romantic reason for his return. As he turned down the lane, his only thoughts were about Bingley and if he had made the necessary arrangements with the gamekeeper for the shoot, but he noticed that at the bend in the drive, a woman was walking toward the manor. Much to his surprise, it was Elizabeth Bennet.
After dismounting, he took his horse by the reins and walked toward her, wondering all the while what on earth she was doing. Elizabeth turned around and greeted him, giving the appearance that there was nothing unusual about a young lady, miles from home, walking down a muddy lane.
“Miss Elizabeth, what are you doing here?”
“I have come to visit my sister. Have you just come from town, Mr. Darcy?” she asked, after looking at the amount of mud on the horse’s hooves.
“I have.”
“Then you do not know my sister, Jane, was taken ill during dinner yesterday, and I have come to visit her.”
“On foot?”
“As you see,” she answered, looking down at her dirty hem. “Because we have had so much rain, chores on the farm have been neglected, and I did not wish to ask my father for one of the horses. Besides, after dancing and teasing, walking is one of my favorite things to do.”
Although his eyes were drawn to her muddied hem and soaked boots, Darcy had also noticed her rosy complexion and that her eyes were brightened by the walk, and because of the humidity, her beautiful dark, curly hair was trying to escape from beneath her bonnet.
“I can see you are looking at my boots, Mr. Darcy. I successfully avoided every puddle, except one,” she said, laughing. “However, you need not be concerned; I promise to stay off the rugs.”
“Please allow me to go ahead and secure dry shoes for you. I believe you are about the same size as Mrs. Hurst.”
“Please do, and warn them that I am coming.”
“I am sure they will be pleased to see you again,” Darcy said, knowing that Louisa and Caroline would be anything but pleased.
Lizzy thought that Jane would definitely be happy to see her. Mr. Bingley, highly likely. Mr. Bingley’s sisters, not very likely at all.
In the foyer, Lizzy was greeted by Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Hurst, Miss Bingley, Mr. Darcy, and Mrs. Hurst’s maid, who handed her clean hose and shoes. After removing to an anteroom where she changed her footwear, Mr. Bingley escorted Lizzy to her sister’s suite. Although Jane had asked that he not send for the apothecary, Mr. Bingley, in exercising an abundance of caution, had done so. The diagnosis was that she had a bad head cold and needed to rest and recommended some draughts specific to her complaint.
Lizzy spent the whole of the afternoon seeing to the care of her sister. The Bingley sisters visited several times to ask after Jane’s health, and on their last visit offered to send for a carriage to take Lizzy home. But Jane
