Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge

than just a wee tot.”

“Good God! Shurely one so young ash Mashter Robert ish not allowed to conshume shpiritsh!”

“Darcy?”

“Yesh, Flemin’, my dear old friend?”

“Please be so kind as to shut your gob.”

The Bennet carriage sat outside No. 89 Pall Mall. Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth, and Miss Lucas had been inside for well over an hour browsing through each of the four departments of Harding, Howell & Co.

“Lizzy, look at these beautiful ornamental combs. They would look very well with your dark hair and nicely complement either one of your new ball gowns.” Jane and Charlotte had both attempted to cheer up the uncharacteristically glum Lizzy Bennet all afternoon.

“Oh, Jane, what does it matter? I no longer even wish to attend the ball if he thinks I am engaged to marry Lieutenant-Colonel Dun. I still cannot believe Mr. Darcy overheard us. Are you certain it was the reason he departed so hastily?”

“I am afraid so, my dear sister. During one of the many lulls in our conversation, everyone heard your suitor’s happy exclamation. A stricken expression overtook Mr. Darcy’s face, he muttered some nonsensical excuse, and then fled the room. Regardless, Lizzy, we can very easily clear up any misunderstanding when we see Georgiana and Anna at the ball.”

“Yes, I suppose you are right … about both the solution and those lovely hair accessories. I may even consider the matching beaded reticule.” Elizabeth smiled rather unenthusiastically and joined her sister and friend as they made several purchases and then exited the department store.

When they stepped through the front door, Jane said, “Lizzy, are those not the two ladies we met at the Royal Academy?”

Elizabeth glanced in the indicated direction and saw Miss Caroline Bingley and Miss Sarah Dalrymple walking toward the entrance. The two women were dressed in their usual gaudy finery, quite inappropriate for daywear. It was obvious they had already spotted Jane and Elizabeth, because Miss Bingley pointed and began to whisper in her friend’s ear. By the store’s front door, the Bennet sisters waited to exchange polite acknowledgments with their acquaintances; and they fully expected to introduce Charlotte to the ladies. To their surprise, however, the Misses Bingley and Dalrymple lifted their noses, looked the other way, and blatantly pretended not to notice them. As they passed by, Miss Bingley was heard to say, “We may have to find another place to shop, Sarah. I believe this establishment’s standards have dropped to an unacceptable level.”

Jane and Elizabeth were mortified and hurt. As much as they disliked London society, they had never before been subjected to the cut indirect. They hastily made their way to the waiting carriage and asked to be driven home; yet it would not be the home Lizzy craved at that moment. She desperately wished to leave the city and return instead to Hertfordshire and their beloved country estate. Nevertheless, Elizabeth was the first to recover from the shock. “What have we done, Jane, to deserve such treatment? Charlotte, I am truly sorry you had to witness that rebuff.” She shook her head and looked to her sister. “I admit I do not at all understand why we were snubbed in such a manner.”

Jane took her hand and gently said, “Lizzy, darling, you do know why. Georgiana and Anna told us that day at the shoe shop. Remember? Miss Bingley has set her cap for their brother. You have his admiration, and she does not. It is merely envy and jealousy on her part, so please do not take her foolish renouncement personally. You are usually such a confident person. Please do not allow such misplaced snobbery to cast any doubt on your own mettle. You and I are certainly not to blame for another’s rudeness.”

Elizabeth regained her spirit and managed to smile and arch a brow. “Really, it is of slight consequence, Jane; and I shall simply put it out of my head … at least until my dream of a cottage on a cliff becomes reality.” Charlotte just had to ask how that was relevant and laughed when her friend flippantly replied, “I shall invite Miss Bingley to drop over, of course.”

Caroline Bingley crowed, “Oh, Sarah, that was just priceless! My only regret is, in looking the other way, I could not see the expressions on their faces. Hopefully I shall never have to suffer another encounter with those intolerable Bennet chits again. Still, if I do, I shall take great delight in giving that upstart Miss Eliza the cut direct by staring her fully in the face and pretending not to know her. Ooh, merely the thought of it makes me wish to have such an opportunity. It would be just what she deserves. Imagine having the gall to curry favour with the elite Darcy family. Who does she think she is, Sarah? If I get my way, that daring dairymaid will never set foot at Pemberley again; and when I marry its heir and am that grand estate’s Mistress, … What? Why are you giving me that look, Sarah? What is that supposed to mean? Oh.” She whispered, “Is there someone behind me?” Her friend nodded; and Miss Bingley mouthed the words, “Who is it?” Miss Dalrymple turned white and then red and was quite speechless. She only managed to shake her head and continue to stare, bug-eyed, past Caroline’s orange-clad shoulder.

With a sense of absolute dread, Caroline Bingley slowly turned around and nearly swooned at the sight that met her astonished eyes. Following her friend’s example, she turned ashen and then crimson. Caroline’s mouth opened and closed like a landed fish; however, no words passed her pale, thin lips. She waited in vain to be acknowledged by her superiors, and the foreboding silence dragged on for what seemed an eternity. The icy stares she received sent frissons of fear up and down her spine, and Miss Bingley prayed the esteemed ladies facing her would, at least, be merciful. The unnerving silence was finally broken by, not words, but the swish of four expensive silk dresses as they brushed past the two future pariahs of society.

Miss Anna Darcy, Miss Georgiana Darcy, Lady Anne Darcy, and her revered sister-in-law, Lady Rebecca Fitzwilliam, wife of the Earl of Matlock, regally swept out the front door of Harding, Howell & Co. The respected ladies, in the wake of their significant leave-taking, left behind not only the gaping Miss Bingley and Miss Dalrymple but also the dozens of important members of le bon ton who had witnessed the cut direct. Tongues immediately began to wag, and gossip spread like wildfire among ‘the Upper Ten Thousand’. Caroline Bingley knew at that moment her prospects within polite society were forever ruined.

The Darcy women entered their carriage in stunned silence, and Lady Anne reeled at the potential impact of their unprecedented renouncement of an acquaintance. She had raised her daughters to be genteel, gentle, generous girls; and she almost felt sorry for the other two young unfortunates who had become the victims of their noteworthy, and very public, cut direct. Almost.

Lady Rebecca Fitzwilliam, however, had no such qualms. As an influential member of ‘the Beau Monde’, she knew the repercussions of her action and had no regrets whatsoever. “The unmitigated nerve of that Bingley harpy to dare align herself with your family and, by extension, my own noble one!” She saw the stricken face of her sister-in-law and said, “Anne, do not dare give those two conniving, name-dropping, wheedling sycophants another thought. They are unworthy of your concern. Caroline Bingley has been a thorn in our side since Fitzwilliam and Richard befriended her brother. When she could not win your son, she tried for my James and even Richard; and now she has been dangling after your Fitzwilliam once again. I do admit I rather like the amiable Charles Bingley. Still and all, I cannot abide his social-climbing, upstart, nouveau riche … mushroom of a sister.”

Georgiana quite agreed with her aunt; nevertheless, she also felt remorse for their actions, until she remembered Caroline’s vitriolic words spoken against Elizabeth.

Although quite sickened by what she and her family had done, Miss Anna attempted to lighten the mood in the carriage. “I am afraid Miss Bingley’s character is not of a very high morel standing and she certainly has mush-room for improvement.”

Her exasperated mother sighed and said, “Anna Darcy, now is not the time. Your newly acquired sense of humour is fast becoming a punishment for us all. Do, please, have some compassion for our poor nerves.”

Charles Bingley, back in his study, impatiently waited for Caroline to return; and he was not in a very receptive frame of mind. He still had not reserved a set with Miss Bennet for the ball. He fretted over Colonel Fitzwilliam’s intentions toward her. The uninformed coachman had chosen Boodles, where none of his friends had gone that afternoon; and he worried Caroline might have exceeded her allowance by making unnecessary orange- hued purchases all day. A knock interrupted his fit of pique; he bade the intruder, “Enter.”