Jump to new as of November 25, 2004
Posted on Saturday, 17 April 2004
Lady Elizabeth Bennet stood in the middle of drawing room of the Clairmont Manor alone, devastated and confused. For seventeen years she had lived in this great house and had spent many an evening playing cards or reading a good book with her father. Of course, she had been to the continents for her studies like any other elegant young woman who wanted to pursue her studies to the highest possible limit; but Elizabeth had never cared for elegance; she only cared for her Papa and always came home to him after every trip she had taken. Her world revolved around her Papa since the day her mother had died; now her world had collapsed.
She didn't know what was wrong. Her father, Count Edward Alexander Bennet de Clairmont had seemed so fit only a week ago and yet here she was, mourning for him in a tight fitting elegant jet-black gown that was designed by her most fashionable French seamstress.
Even now images of those fun filled evenings came back to her. Just last week they had sat near the card tables laughing at her amusing experiences in Austria, France, Germany and Italy that she had gone with her companion, Mrs. Fetcher. Elizabeth had decided at the age of fifteen that she would travel the world and see places and learn as much as possible. Now how she wished she had stayed home like every other lazy young woman with fortune!
The doctor from London had said that the cause of the death could not be determined at all! What was the use of Science that was developing in other parts of Europe if they could not have treated her father? In one week he had got chills, and then came the fever and he died. No reason; no explanation.
Mrs. Fetcher stepped into the room and saw her charge was in deep thought. Indeed, the poor thing was in a lot of pain!
"Elizabeth, my dear, why don't I ring for some tea now?"
"Yes, that'll be refreshing, thank you."
Mrs. Fetcher rang and soon they were seated and drinking tea when the butler, Mr. Munich entered the drawing room and discreetly informed the ladies that there were two gentleman waiting for Lady Elizabeth.
"Could you please tell the gentlemen that we are not receiving any visitors at the moment? We are in mourning." Elizabeth said bitterly. Who would have the audacity to call on a house in mourning? Peaked with curiosity, she asked, "Who are these gentlemen?"
"One of them is your father's London lawyer and the other, a man named Mr. Edmund Bennet, I believe, your ladyship."
"Really? Bennet, you say?" she asked in a very unladylike manner. Elizabeth was never the one to observe the rules of propriety with familiar people.
"Yes, your ladyship."
"Well, I shall make an exception and receive them in here." As she said this, she rang for more tea.
"As you wish, ma'am."
Mr. Bennet remembered how warmly his father had spoken of the Clairmont Manor; but nothing had prepared him to this grandeur. The taste in furniture was elegant, yet simple and looked very cozy to sit on. Not at all what he had expected. He had expected a house where the wealth and prestige of the residents would be shown vulgarly. The paintings that hung from the wall were beautiful. They were very inviting and colorful.
"Mr. Bennet, Mr. Vrez, Lady Elizabeth is ready to see you." Mr. Munich said with no emotion that revealed on his face or his tone. He was the perfect butler.
"Come Munich, tell me how the young lady fares?" Mr. Vrez asked in a light tone, but his concern for the young lady was clearly shown through his facial expression.
"I'm afraid that she is very depressed and repentant; but she fares better than expected." The butler's face softened as he spoke of the mistress of the manor.
"Good, good."
"Mr. Bennet and Mr. Vrez to see you, ma'am," the butler said as soon as the door was opened and stepped aside to let the visitors go in. He bowed and left the room.
"Do sit down, gentlemen. Perhaps some tea would make us all comfortable?" Not a question, but an indirect order. Mr. Bennet glanced at the young lady in a fashionable, but simplistic mourning gown. She certainly was a pretty young woman. A very young woman; why, the poor thing didn't look more than sixteen years of age! And yet so mature! As his youngest daughter always said, 'La, how strange!'
May be it was the manners that only high-class society people strangely inherited; or may be the tragedy that life had put her through made her look and sound mature? He accepted the cup of tea and thanked her. She glanced at him and gave him a questioning look. A look that ran in the Bennet family, it seemed. Bennets had always been curious and stubborn people. The look on her face seemed to demand the reason of his being there.
"I am truly sorry for your loss, your ladyship," this received nothing except a nod of Elizabeth's head. "You must be curious as to why I am here," he said and offered a small smile.
"I confess I am, Mr. Bennet. I do not know if it is a coincidence that you and I share the last name or if we are relatives." Mr. Bennet seemed to be a perspective man until now. But Elizabeth was truly intrigued by this old man with kind eyes.
"We are related. I should probably start from the start: you see my father and your grandfather were brothers. You are my late cousin's daughter. My father was disowned by his family because he married beneath his station. My mother was not a nobleman's daughter, but only a gentleman's daughter. She did not bring too much fortune and she was looked down upon," here he stopped. Even now the memory of it all hurt him.
"Yes, society. I find it very absurd with the fact of disowning someone in the family because of a small rift or two in the family. It does not make them any stranger to them because they will always be blood relatives." Elizabeth stated simply.
Mr. Bennet thought her to be too young to be giving such decided opinions, but as it was often observed, the nobles seemed to follow an entirely different set of rules than the gentry. "Yes, we seem to agree on this topic," he remarked. "Anyway, he was disowned, but his father did not want him to suffer and gave him one of the many estates that the Bennets own; Longbourn. It is very small compared to the other estates, but does give enough money for a family to live in comfort and once or twice indulge in spending a little more money.
"My father needed only little pressing to accept this since he had no where to turn; but he did not go back to his father. And so the separation has continued till the recent years when I received a letter from your father talking of reconciling. I was, of course, happy to do so and we continued to communicate, but we never saw each other. Then I got a letter from Mr. Vrez and after hearing the news, I joined him as fast as I could."
Elizabeth processed this piece of information. Clearly, she had missed many things while she was away. "I see."
"Lady Elizabeth, your father has made a very peculiar wish in his will," Mr. Vrez said after a moment. This caught Elizabeth's attention. She had not even thought about the will! How silly of her! What would it say?
"What does he wish?"
"First, he wishes that you be away to a country of your choice in the continents for at least three months with Mrs. Fetcher with you of course. He then wishes for you to be presented to society with your maternal relative, Lady Sofia Bentley's guidance on the first season in London when you will be back. He also wishes that you read a letter that he wrote. Then, there is also the wish that you stay with the Bennets in Longbourn when you are not in London during the season. When you turn one and twenty, you shall be in complete charge of the Bennets of Clairmont estates. If you are married by then, your husband shall run it in your name. But it will be in your power to decide which of your children would inherit it. Your pocket allowance will be controlled by your Godparents, the Matlocks..."
Elizabeth waved her hand and said in a very controlled voice, "We will look at that later. But tell me, will I be able to come back to Clairmont Manor for a visit now and then?" Mr. Bennet was pleasantly surprised. Having four daughters himself, he expected her to be eager for her to know her allowance. This proved that there were women who did not care for wealth too much now a days!
"Of course, your ladyship; it is after all your house."
"Do you have the letter that he wished that I read?"
"Yes," he handed her a thick bundle of paper. "Thank you for the time, but I fear I must take leave of your ladyship now," Mr. Vrez said as he got up. "Do contact me if you have questions, my dear," he said familiarly taking the advantage of knowing the prestigious family for years.
"Of course. Thank you for everything, Mr. Vrez. I shall write to you about the business about my allowance later."
"Yes, ma'am," he bowed and exited.
Elizabeth looked at Mr. Bennet and asked him if he were staying at an inn and when he answered that she had guessed right but he also had his oldest daughter, Jane with him since she had been visiting her aunt and uncle in London. She had accompanied him here and they would directly leave to Longbourn in two to three days time.
"Would it be too much to ask for an introduction, Mr. Bennet?"
"Not at all, not at all! I'm very honored to do so. If you do not mind my questioning, my dear, you do not mind staying in an estate as small as Longbourn? It offers no such comfort as you are accustomed to. Are you willing to leave this grand manor?"
"If my father wished it, then I will. My Father never suggests something without reason. He must have a very good one for this."
"Yes, indeed." They discussed further when Jane would meet Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet's family. He had four daughters: Jane, Mary, Katherine (for short, Kitty) and Lydia. Mr. Bennet then took his leave. Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth were pleased with each other; the former with her observant nature and intelligence; the latter with the warmth he spoke of any topic and his wit. She could not wait till she would meet Jane!
She thought about what society of the ton would say if they heard her opinions. She was not as narrow-minded as the other ladies that were considered a good catch. As much as she wanted to find something to be prejudiced against Mr. Bennet, she could not. He reminded her of her father a lot. Her father was very witty and humorous. She then remembered she still had a letter to read; the last letter she would ever receive from her father. She held a sob and excused herself and reached her chamber as fast as she could from not running.
Posted on Saturday, 17 April 2004
Elizabeth opened the seal and sat in the window seat. Her father's neat masculine handwriting could be seen. He had written the date and the address and the main part of the letter began as follows:
'My dear Elizabeth,I'm so sorry for doing this, my dear. You, my dear daughter, are a precious piece of treasure. The moment I saw you, I vowed to myself that I would never willingly bring pain to you; but here I am, dead. I told Mr. Vrez that should I die, he should give this letter to you. The reason I am writing this letter is because I fear I will not be able to wish you farewell properly. I hope I have done a good job raising you without your mother's help. She was a darling as you are. Sometimes I have wondered if I should have remarried for your sake, but we both know how the society ladies are leeches when it comes to fortune.
I want you to know that fortune has nothing to do with a happy life or luck. It has to do with whom you share your life with; no matter who it is; either a spouse, a sibling, children, family or friends. But I regret that you do not have siblings or a huge family to know this. This is the reason I want you to spend your time with the Bennet's. I will not force you to do so, but knowing you enough, I dare say you shall opt to live with them and become a member of their family after meeting the charming family.
They might not be as rich as we might be, but they are a happy family. The Bennets are a family of four daughters, a mother and father. I must warn you about the mother though; she is a woman that will only see single eligible male that will suit her daughters well. She is a tad bit silly too. We both know what eligible means. But she does this with good intentions; she wants to see her daughters happy and according to her, her daughters will experience this happiness materially. Think of her as a mother hen when you meet her. This information I gained by reading between the lines with my correspondence with Mr. Bennet.
I want you to go to the continents because you like traveling. You are now officially a highly educated and accomplished woman. I do wish you would take one of the Bennet girls so that you will get to know them better. Enjoy there and don't dwell on bad memories too much. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.
Well, then you must come back to England and be presented to the society under your Aunt Sofia's guidance and you must be introduced as Lady Sofia's niece, Lady Elizabeth Anne Alexandra Bennet de Clairmont. It is usually aimed by young ladies to marry soon after their first season of coming out. But promise for my sake that you will aim no such thing and even if you do get married, you will only marry for love. Trust me, my dear, and take this advice from me, marrying for material and connection is as good as not marrying at all! I wish you to be happy and enjoy life as it comes to you. Know that I will miss you; but I have stayed far too much on this earth missing my Katherine. I am glad to join her at last. We will always be watching you and try to bring you happiness from wherever we are. Know that I have loved you a lot and will still love you for love does not have a beginning nor does it have an end.
God Bless you child,
Father.'
This time Elizabeth did not even try to hold back a sob; she fell on the bed and wept uncontrollably and slept out of wariness from crying. The whole day was spent this way.
The next day, the mistress of the Clairmont estates was seen sober and depressed. However, this changed when the Bennets came to call on her. Elizabeth thought Jane was an angel from not only looks, but also personality and Jane thought Elizabeth was the most sensible and beautiful lady in her acquaintance. Mr. Bennet was very happy to see the girls bonding.
Elizabeth decided that Jane would accompany her to the continents but decided to tell Mr. Bennet about this later in the day. She was sure that he would be pleased with the suggestion. Ah! The assumptions made by the rich!
She was very much surprised when Mr. Bennet started to hesitate to give his permission. He started to question her on the things like who is to accompany her, where were they to be accommodated and if she had done this before.
"Oh please Mr. Bennet, I have gone on many journeys as such as these! My father actually encouraged me to see the world and learn all I could from these little travels. He even mentioned in his letter that I take one of your daughters so that I would know what it was like to have a sister to talk to..." Elizabeth told Mr. Bennet when he started to object to the idea.
The last sentence did the job of making the stubborn man agree to this 'mad suggestion' as he called it. He imagined a lonely young girl with no one to talk to and share her burdens with. If not for the young lady herself (that he had come to appreciate), he agreed for her father. Jane was ecstatic and gratified that her friend had chosen her as a companion.
Jane had never had a real thirst for knowledge though. She was a serene person that was happy with what ever she had and was even afraid to ask something in fear of hurting someone. She would not judge a person as being 'bad' until she had all the facts at hand. She always had something kind to say to people that even the cruelest person could not help but love her. She was very much of an angel. But traveling to the continents with Lady Elizabeth! - even she could not help but be flattered that Elizabeth had chosen her company.
"But Papa, how are we to approach this subject delicately to Mama? I'm sure she would love to have Lydia in my place!" Jane suddenly exclaimed.
"Yes, I have been thinking about that as well. But I think she will think this a fortunate circumstance to make contacts with the high society ladies."
"Then what have we to worry? Won't Mrs. Bennet be pleased with her accompanying me to the continents? I can talk to her if you want me to, Mr. Bennet."
"Well, you see, it is very hard to expect my wife's feelings on meeting you... she wants her daughters to be happy to be sure, but..."
"In mama's case, we have to always assume that her feelings will vary to the greatest extent; either she will see you as nice young lady with a title who would introduce her daughters to the better society or hate you for being the sole heir of the estate that my grandfather would have had a share in if he were not disinherited." Jane finished in a long sentence very rapidly out of nervousness of what Elizabeth would think of this. "But she is he kindest and most caring of mothers," she added for she was Jane.
"Nicely put, Jane." Mr. Bennet commented regarding his wife's thought process. "I could not have done better."
"Thank you, I try, Papa." Jane responded with a smile thinking that he was complimenting her for her praise of her mother.
Elizabeth took the scene with amusement and said, "I think I will quite like your mother even if she will hate me, Jane. She has a very humorous character to be sure! I would be delighted to meet her!" The father and daughter were astonished to such an extent that the daughter even gasped! Noticing their reaction, Elizabeth asked, "What is the matter? Have I said anything wrong?"
"No... it is only that anyone who even hears of Mrs. Bennet of Longbourn wishes to be a mile away from the estate in fear of her endless prattle about her wonderful girls!" Mr. Bennet said comically. Elizabeth and Jane laughed at the exaggeration of Mr. Bennet's comment.
"Now I am truly intrigued! A woman who can scare men away when she starts to talk! There aren't many of the types like her! Mr. Bennet, she would so perfectly fit in the ton , for I know many young ladies who may be in need of her."
"Make sure you do not put that idea into her head, my dear!" Mr. Bennet said alarmingly.
This made Elizabeth laugh as she said, "You can be assured of my secrecy of my own thoughts, Mr. Bennet!" And so ended their day. Elizabeth found herself liking these people very much indeed; so much that she had forgotten for two full hours of losing her father. She could see her father had made a wise decision in letting her live with the other Bennets after his death.
Posted on Sunday, 18 April 2004
"My dear Mr. Bennet, what is it that you mean when you say that Jane will be traveling to the continents soon? You are too mysterious! I hate mysteries!" Mrs. Bennet's sharp cry could be heard in the main drawing room of Longbourn.
"Do calm down, Mrs. Bennet," her husband soothed his wife with a mischievous glance at Jane. Jane could do nothing but stifle a laugh; they had predicted exactly this to Elizabeth. "I shall explain it all in time."
"Mr. Bennet, Jane cannot possibly go to the continents! She will have chaperons nor proper dresses; and besides, there are not many young eligible men that travel there!"
Jane stared at her shoes in fear that if she were to catch her father's eyes, she would burst out laughing. "Mama, I'm sure that you have heard the Bennet's of Clairmonts?"
"Yes, of course! Who hasn't, Jane! What a silly question to... no, this cannot possibly be true! Mr. Bennet, are we truly related to those Bennets?" Mrs. Bennet did not even let her husband answer her question; she rambled on, "Oh! Jane! How lucky we are! We are related to the Bennets of Clairmonts! Oh, I must say Lady Lucas and Mrs. Long; I can scarcely wait to see their faces when they hear this! Oh! This is just too much! I have to call on my sister, Jane, be a dear and ring the bell, I shall get ready to make calls now."
"But Mama, surely, it is not the appropriate time to call now! It is not even eleven o'clock! Think what people will say!" Jane exclaimed, horrified with the picture her mother painted.
"Oh, Jane! Mrs. Long always calls when she thinks a young man is chasing her plain nieces when I have four talented, pretty girls related to the Bennets of Clairmont! Think of how many rich gentlemen will fall in your way! Dear Mr. Bennet, I knew we were Bennets for nothing!"
"Mrs. Bennet, I'm sure you would like to go calling after I have told what I had intended to tell before you made plans for your day. I believe that you were curious as to why Jane would be traveling to the continents this year?"
This time, Mrs. Bennet only looked at her husband with huge exciting eyes. Mr. Bennet continued in his satirical tone, "We are connected to the Bennets of Clairmont, but I would rather have you keep it a secret until otherwise said. I received a letter from their lawyer saying that Count Bennet died. He leaves behind a seventeen-year-old daughter. Since our ancestry has been traced to the French and the Spanish royal blood, it is possible for Bennets to pass the titles to the female line. She inherits it now, but it must be kept a secret because she is not out yet; she will however be out when she is eighteen. She also will help tending to the estate business as much as possible at her age. Her steward and guardian will take care of it. But her father has expressed in his Will that she go to any European country as to ease the pain she feels for she is very fond of traveling.
"He has also requested that she travel with one of our girls so that there may be a sisterly bond be formed. She is to live here until her debut in London during the season. She has liked Jane very much and asked for my permission if Jane could join her when she tours the continents, and I have consented of course; but she has to live in this house for quite a while, Mrs. Bennet, will that be agreeable?"
This was the longest speech Mrs. Bennet had received from her husband in her whole marriage. She felt flattered beyond belief that he chose to tell a family secret to her and even trusted her to keep it a secret still; indeed, her husband had never done this before, even Mrs. Bennet got the idea that this was serious business. "Of course, Mr. Bennet! What kind of question is that? I would love to receive the lovely girl who has bestowed Jane the honor of accompanying her to the continents! I will make sure her needs are always attended to! Oh, this is too much! My daughters may even be introduced to nice young men in the ton! Oh, Jane! My beautiful, pretty, pretty, Jane! I always knew that you were not good for nothing!"
"Mrs. Bennet, this secret will not go outside the family!"
"Of course, Mr. Bennet! What do you make of me! I do not go around telling secrets to everyone like Lady Lucas!"
"Good. Lady Elizabeth is to arrive on Friday; I hope the rooms will be prepared for the guest?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Excellent! Now, if you ladies excuse me, I shall tend to my business."
Mr. Bennet swore all the ladies of the house to secrecy; the guestrooms were prepared, the servants were told to attend the special guests and in short, Mrs. Bennet took her responsibilities as a hostess very seriously. The only thing that everyone awaited for was this young lady who had the whole house in frenzy. Mr. Bennet smiled at the thought.
A fine carriage with beautiful horses pulled up to the house. Elizabeth observed that though Longborne was small, it was well kept. It had a delightful garden and the structure of the house from the front was very welcoming. She made note of the occupants of the house waiting anxiously for her from her window. The matron she guessed to be Mrs. Bennet was what one would expect to be a pretty lady in her youth, but now she only had pleasant features. Next to her was Jane, looking very angelic and forgiving. Beside her were three girls; one of them had a disapproving frown as she saw the other two spirited young ladies giggle. When the carriage came to a halt, her footman opened the door and helped Mrs. Fetcher and her out. Mr. Bennet stepped forward and bowed and offered his arm.
"Mr. Bennet, you have a charming house here," Elizabeth commented with a smile.
"Thank you. May I introduce you to the rest of the family?"
"Of course!"
"This is my wife, Mrs. Fanny Bennet; you already know Jane. Next to her is Mary, then Katherine and Lydia." They all curtsied as their name was called.
"Delighted to have you here, Lady Elizabeth." Mrs. Bennet said with her best welcoming smile.
"Delighted to be here, Mrs. Bennet! But I believe that you must call me Elizabeth or Lizzy for I we are family now!"
"I'm honored!" Mrs. Bennet said, sounding very satisfied. Indeed, by the looks of the young lady, she would like her very much indeed! Elizabeth had done everything to please Mrs. Bennet; she had expressed her joy in being here, commented on the pretty place they lived in, and went to extent of insisting her to call her ladyship by her given name! How could any person hate such a modest noblewoman? It would be safe to conclude that though there was a little hostility found in the youngest sister, the simple Bennet clan was immensely satisfied with their new relative.
"Elizabeth, if you are free and not overly tired from your journey, I should like to talk to you in the study." Mr. Bennet requested after the family had tea.
"Of course, Mr. Bennet. I am not at all tired from the journey since I am very much accustomed to traveling. Lead the way." The two left the warm room to talk business.
"Elizabeth, do you think it wise to take a trip to the continents with Jane?" Mr. Bennet hastily added, "Economically, I mean?"
"Of course! I will take care of all the things she spends on, Mr. Bennet, you do not need to worry on that matter!"
"How about the fare? If I am not mistaken Elizabeth, it does cost a fortune!"
"Well, yes, but it need not be any worry to you, Mr. Bennet; my steward will take care of it." Elizabeth was very puzzled as to where these questions led.
"What do you mean?" Mr. Bennet exclaimed.
"It is obvious that I am going to pay for the whole traveling cost and the expenditure in the continents, Mr. Bennet. Why must this come as a surprise to you, Sir?"
"Elizabeth, you are no doubt free to spend on anything you wish for, but for Jane, I believe that I must see to her allowance..."
"No, Mr. Bennet. I must absolutely insist on paying for Jane's travels and expenditure. I wish to be her sister and a sisters do not mind paying for each other."
"Elizabeth dear, you cannot pay for both Jane and yourself; it is a big amount!"
"It is all right, Mr. Bennet; if my father were to be here, he would wish the same."
"Are you quite sure, Elizabeth?"
"Very sure, Sir."
"Very well, then! Do you wish to rest before you read the letters you have received?"
"Letters? From whom?"
"From your other relatives and even your godparents."
"But how do they know that I am here?"
"Mr. Vrez took care of that; he did not want to worry you with the useless things."
"How kind of Mr. Vrez. Could you please give me those letters so that I could read them in my room?"
"Of course!" He handed her a stack of thick letters.
"Please make my excuses to Mrs. Bennet for I will not be able to join her after I am refreshed. I will see her when dinner is summoned."
"I will be glad to; let me ring for Mrs. Hill (our housekeeper); she will show you your room. Mrs. Fetcher's room is to the left of yours and Jane's is to your right, I believe."
"Thank you, Mr. Bennet." She curtsied and left the room behind Hill. It would be interesting to see what the Matlocks had to say.
Posted on Tuesday, 20 April 2004
Elizabeth was very curious as to what her godparents had to say. She had only met them thrice in her whole life; during her mother's funeral, when she came back from Italy with Mrs. Fetcher and recently during her father's funeral. She knew that they were good friends of her late father and mother and that they were genteel people from meeting them, but otherwise she knew nothing of them at all. She read the letter and it started off with the Earl's condolences on her loss of her father and how terrible it was that such an incident should happen to her at such a young age; the eye-catcher of the letter was when he questioned her about when would her father's would be officially read and where. He also addressed the issue of her visiting them while she was in London during her 'coming out' and even assured her that he would do everything in his power to ensure her comfort since he was now her guardian. It introduced his whole family; his two sons, Edward, the eldest and Richard, the second son who was a Colonel in the British army, and his daughter Henrietta, who was happily married with children. Elizabeth thought it odd that Richard's name and praise took up a whole page of the letter. But overall, the letter had a warm, welcoming touch to it and Elizabeth decided that she was very much inclined to like them.
The next letter she picked up was from her aunt, Lady Sofia Bentley; Lady Sofia was very much of a society person. She was very cynical in nature and a person had to be very careful under her scrutiny. She was very kind once a person made a good impression and it usually lasted a lifetime unless one did something very terrible like having no regard to propriety. If one was lucky enough to be in her good graces, they were guaranteed to have a good position in society since she was good friends with all the Ladies that ruled the Almanak's, especially the Lady Patroness. Having all these qualities, one would expect her to be an empty headed woman who cared for nothing except fortune; but she was exactly the opposite.
She was the most levelheaded person that Elizabeth ever knew. Lady Sofia was the person who helped Elizabeth and her father when they were consumed with grief of the death of her mother. She was the one who dared to argue with her father about the amount of attention Elizabeth received after the death of her mother and even went as far as advising him on who was the most qualified lady to be Elizabeth's companion. She was person Elizabeth trusted and valued the most after her father. Lady Sofia was also very open-minded and generous towards the 'less fortunate' (but she tended to be quite condescending towards them). In short, she was the mother figure in Elizabeth's life.
Lady Sofia's letter began with condolences and offered as much comfort as could be offered through words on paper. She expressed her grief upon losing her beloved brother-in-law and what injustice he had done by recommending that Elizabeth live with the 'low' Bennets. This came with no surprise to Elizabeth because she knew that her aunt was a person who valued propriety and social position very much, but she also knew that one her aunt met the Bennets, she would not object with Elizabeth staying with them.
The other letters were from her friends in London: Lady Nicola, Lady Sarah, Lady Sylvia, and Miss Susan Baker; all who were to make their debut into society with her. They had apparently got the address of Longbourn from Lady Sofia. They were all very intelligent girls. Lady Nicola being the most. The rest had a pinch of silliness to their character. They were very trustworthy and pretty creatures from different perspectives. One was tall and slender while other was of medium height but had a very curvaceous figure. One was voluptuous and had no classic beauty except for some distinct feature of her face that made her pretty while the other was a classical beauty. All the young ladies including Elizabeth promised each other that the girls would never compete against each other for having the best debut in society. The girls wanted to be friends, not enemies after so many years of friendship!
Their letters comforted her in an odd way; perhaps it was because they never dwelled too much on the fact that she was now an orphan, but rather they only offered condolences for the introduction of the letter and the rest was filled with gossip, amusing stories, and how they hoped all of them would go shopping for ball gowns and have fun with their debut. All their letters ended with their wish to see her soon in town.
She wondered what their reaction would be after meeting the rest of the Bennets; she was quite nervous about what their attitude would be towards Jane after they saw her; she did not wish to hurt an angelic soul like Jane. She knew that Nicola would welcome Jane with open arms, but the other four were heavily influenced by the society ladies since their mothers were very haughty and conceited. She desperately hoped that Nicola and herself would be enough to persuade her friends otherwise and accept Jane as their own. She got down to business and attended to answering her friends' letters first and decided that it was time to write to Mr. Vrez about her father's will. Only then could she answer her mysterious guardians' questions.
Life was cheerful in Longbourn during those few months when Elizabeth and Jane stayed before they left for the continents. Lizzy found a great friend in Jane and found herself being happy with repeating all the amusing memories about her father and herself instead of moping around with anguish at her father's death. She did exactly what her father had advised her to do in his letter: She remembered the past as it gave her pleasure.
Elizabeth pointed out all the famous paintings, sculptures, and all the ancient buildings in many places and even went as far as telling her the history of some of the places to Jane. Mrs. Fetcher did her job subtly; she corrected Elizabeth's history when Elizabeth had the facts mixed with some other or she corrected her French, Italian, German and Spanish when she had the wrong pronunciation. Mrs. Fetcher was glad that her charge had finally attained the air of liveliness that had died with her father; she also became very attached to Jane; she was glad that the young lady was a good influence on her charge.
Jane had never been so happy in her entire life. She thought that she was lucky to have a friend like Elizabeth. Her respect and affection grew for Elizabeth as she discovered all her vulnerable qualities. The more Jane spent time with Elizabeth on their trip to the continents, the more she appreciated her friend. With all the sisters that Jane had, she still felt lonely because no one in her family understood her. She found more understanding and compassion in Elizabeth than all put together in her family. Not only this, but she was also surprised at her own ignorance on the world. She never knew that so many things existed and immensely enjoyed trying to learn the different languages and custom of each country they traveled to.
So when the ladies returned to Longborne, Mr. Bennet found that their reviews about the places they visited yielded to the positive side and was quite satisfied with the results and thought that perhaps his cousin did take the right decision after all when he saw Elizabeth's beaming face.
Posted on Friday, 30 April 2004
The first order of business that Elizabeth saw to was reading all the correspondence from Mr. Vrez and Lord Matlock. When Lord Matlock had inquired as to when her father's Will was to be read officially, she had contacted Mr. Vrez and made arrangements to read it after her European tour. Now, she was impatient to get along things quickly.
Lord Matlock had requested that Mr. Vrez only write to only the concerned party members and request their presence for the reading of the Will. Mr. Vrez obliged and Elizabeth was glad that her guardian had taken care of things even though she was a little annoyed since she was used to being independent.
She thought that it would cause some problems in the future. She was sure that his lordship was not used to independent young ladies such as her since his own daughter followed every rule of the ton. His daughter had married in her first season to an Earl and had two children-both males; one heir and another for spare. However, Elizabeth had never met Henrietta before so she wasn't enlightened about Henrietta's character.
The official reading of the Will was to be held at the Clairmont Manor-it was only for namesakes. Everyone present knew what was to be on the Will. Everyone knew their share of the responsibilities and possessions. Everyone was just there for the sake of being there.
The Will stated nothing that the others did not know about; Elizabeth was the sole heiress of all the Count's and the Countess' possessions. The Count fortunately left no debts being a very honorable man and even his wife had no hidden debts after her debt since she was no card player. The entire process was for nothing. It was a waste of time, but Elizabeth perceived it as some time to spend with her guardians and charm them.
Charm them she did indeed. They were thrilled that their young charge was a nice mannered girl. She had a confident air about her that they thought many youths lacked and she was very charismatic on the whole (as much charisma she could administer under the circumstances, of course). She was knowledgeable and was able to hold her own fort in many of the conversations they had.
Lord Matlock was particularly amused at her attempt to persuade his wife to shop with her in London. His wife was entirely too charmed and agreed to pay for the whole shopping excursion for Elizabeth when she would come to London. He often compared that persuading his wife to do something was like entering a lion's den unarmed. The problem with women!
He mused that were Elizabeth a man, she would have been a great negotiator. She would have been a great Ambassador to the United States, or even France. He chuckled at that thought. Silly women! They would never think of anything but of shopping and bonnets! But women nonetheless had to be respected for being such queer creatures. A man could not understand them at all! Women, he thought, can't live with them; can't live without them.
Posted on Thursday, 20 May 2004
Some months before Elizabeth's debut into society, Lady Sofia called at Longborne unexpectedly. This caused a great commotion at Longborne; it was not everyday that a grand lady like Lady Sofia called! Mrs. Bennet, to the surprise of all, showed a restraint in her behavior near the noble lady and even went as far as chiding her youngest to not complain! This was clearly a new side of Mrs. Bennet the whole household had seen; they were astonished when she spoke to Lady Sofia very respectfully and full of dignity in herself.
But Lady Sofia had not called at Longborne to talk to Mrs. Bennet; she wanted to talk to Elizabeth about how her debut into society. She wanted Elizabeth to go with her to London in order to prepare for the major event. Elizabeth had to be trained in the ways of social etiquette near the Queen and there was no time to be wasted; besides, there was the dress itself to be considered! A young lady as grand as Lady Elizabeth entering the ton was one of the biggest events that the society mamas' and bachelors had been anticipating for a long time.
Elizabeth had a long talk with her aunt and Mr. Bennet and it was decided that Jane and Elizabeth would leave for London for in two weeks. Mrs. Bennet could not be more pleased with herself; her most precious child was to enter society like she herself never could and Elizabeth soon became Mrs. Bennet's most precious, wonderful niece ever!
The girls were trained in every aspect of behaving a lady and how just to gracefully courtesy when presented to the Queen and how to compose their emotions in embarrassing situations. Jane even met with Elizabeth's friends and they were just delighted with her sweet and unassuming manner and accepted her immediately but not before feeling a little superior to her when it came to social standing.
Admist the uproar of training and shopping for the grand event, Elizabeth had unexpected, but not unwelcome visitors. Her Godparents called on her and shared a cup of tea with her; they shared tea with her many more times from there on. They told her all their memories of her parents and showed portraits of their relatives; the Darcys, the deBourghs, the Callingtons, the Smiths and many more. Unfortunately, Elizabeth met only a few of them; she met the Darcys, but not their son since he was taking the grand tour of the continent with his cousin, Mr. Richard Fitzwilliam. She was amused at the cost of her godparents when they started singing praises to the roof of this young man; if she was vain, she would have been quite offended that they only talked of him.
The time had finally come when the girls were to be presented to the society and they were labeled as the society's toast. Elizabeth was instantly accepted into the ton just for being rich and the added privilege of carrying an important title gave her power over many men and women alike. She observed that being rich gave her an unspoken permission to offend anyone in her circle, although she rarely used this power.
Lady Sylvia, Lady Sarah, unsurprisingly became engaged and settled to a very comfortable marital life. It was the way their grandmothers had married, it had been the way their mothers and sisters had married-following tradition was as important as honor for the girls, Elizabeth thought caustically when she heard the news. Their fiancés were at least sensible people and most importantly, rich and titled with a lot of land and connections.
Ms Susan Baker, being a gentleman's daughter, rather a social climber's daughter, was promised to wed the most Honorable Lord Nicholas Fitzhugh. His lordship was not a bad man, he agreed to marry Susan only after his uncle, who held his funds, insisted that he marry her. As soon as he glanced her way, he was grown towards her. Susan was tempted to defy her father, but after she looked his way, she knew there was no way out of this arrangement.
The dandies and rakes alike thought Jane not the ideal target of their affections in the beginning, but after they caught a view of the lovely earthly Angel, they swarmed around her like bees. Jane, being the Angel she was, could not but blush under every man's admiring gaze, but she was determined to marry for love. Years of observing her parents had taught her that.
Elizabeth was going to be one-and-twenty this coming June and she felt just fine with it. She was going to be the rightful owner of the Clairmont Estates. Mrs. Bennet had taken it to herself to find matches for her other three daughters who came out very early. The hopes of her eldest and prettiest Jane get married soon dashed as January came to an end. Mrs. Bennet really was worried about her niece and her daughter but kept her mouth shut firmly on the topic since Lady Susan was constantly in the picture. But the girls were not getting any younger at all! In three or four years, they would be regarded as old maids.
On the 1st of February, the whole of Meryton was full of buzzes about the new occupants of the Netherfeild Estate. The wives of prominent landowners in Meryton persisted their husbands to call on the young single man as soon as possible to be the first to get the information. A Mr. Bingley had taken up the resident of Netherfeild and he was single, had many sisters, brought his two sisters, one brother-in-law and a friend who was a Lord and Mr. Bingley made about seven thousand a year and his family came to this position through trade. Shipment to be more specific.
Mr. Bennet, who was one of the first gentlemen callers on the young man, was very pleased. He would do just fine for his gentle Jane. Yes, it must be Jane and no other. Then he realized that he was thinking like Mrs. Bennet and immediately stopped his musings and picked out a book on farming from his library. But he could not stop thinking about it.
The Meryton Assembly was to be on the fourteenth of February; it was always on Valentine's Day. It was a tradition of the little town and the residents there were proud of it. Many couples had met there for the first time and instantly fallen in love on this prestigious occasion. The only prominent were invited to the Assembly to socialize and they were curious to see if Mr. Bingley would be there. To their great joy, he accepted the invitation!
Elizabeth and Jane pitied the young man. "I really feel sorry for Mr. Bingley, Lizzy. He is already talked of as if he is a material sold at the town shops."
"Yes, but never fear, Janey, for we are also talked of in the same way! Perhaps we all could form a little group by ourselves and you and Mr. Bingley can get married and live happily ever after. It will give me a chance to teach my niece and nephews the piano very ill and live the rest of my life as an old maid!"
"Dear Lizzy! You play the piano very well! And you know that most of the men in our acquain-tance in London would propose to you in a heartbeat if you let them!"
"Now you sound just like your mother, Jane. Those men are in love with my money, not me! Besides, you are the prettier one out of us, anyway!"
Jane blushed and just exclaimed, "Lizzy!" Elizabeth, full knowing that she had embarrassed Jane, changed the topic.
"Why does the name Bingley sound so familiar to me, Jane?"
"Perhaps we have met them already?"
"It most certainly must be the case! I can not think of where though!"
"It might have been in Paris? We met so many people there Lizzy!"
"Did we not? It was a delightful experience to be there! I do believe even many a rake was ready to commit to marriage for you dear Jane!"
"Dear Lizzy! I do beg you not to tease me so much on one day!"
"Well, since you ask so passionately, Jane, I shall stop teasing you ruthlessly! Come, instead let us go inside and drink some tea and see if Aunt Fanny has any good gossip today!"
Posted on Sunday, 4 July 2004
The Bennet household was in an uproar on February 14th evening. Kitty and Lydia were arguing as to whose ribbon the blue one belonged to and Mary was ready to recite the Fordyce sermon to anyone who was silent and sitting right next to her. Mrs. Bennet was her room shouting for Hill, the housekeeper, to get her salts. Jane and Lizzy were in Lizzy's room preparing for the Assembly. And Mr. Bennet, as usual, could not bear the noise his family was making and locked himself up in the library and refused to come out until his family was ready to leave.
When they were finally ready, they got into the two fine carriages (courtesy of Elizabeth) and set forth to the assembly. People had just started to arrive and the Bennets were quite fashionably late when they arrived.
Elizabeth and Jane immediately sought out Charlotte Lucas and had a chat with her. The ballroom suddenly went silent as the Bingley party arrived. There were three gentlemen and two ladies. One of them had an easy huge grin on his face that would have looked silly if he hadn't had his sandy colored hair and shiny blue eyes; he was a handsome man. The other gentleman had a bored air about him. His eyes were searching for something and if an observant person discreetly turned to see what it would be, one would see the refreshment tables. The third gentleman had a charming but enigmatic smile on his face. His every appearance suggested a very mysterious character to the onlookers. He was undoubtedly a handsome man with his above six feet of height and dark hair and deep brown eyes that seemed to give personality to his whole face.
The ladies, however, if observed closely, had a condescending air about them that implied that they thought themselves very superior to the company around them. They were finely dressed in the newest London craze of fashion; they had ostrich feathers for their party bonnets and half-smiles on their faces. It made them all look silly-Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet shared a knowing smile as soon as they saw them. They would talk about it later.
Sir William Lucas fervently rushed to their side and welcomed them. Elizabeth asked Charlotte who each man was and got her answers as, "Well, Eliza, the man with the light hair is Mr. Bingley himself and the one staring at the refreshment table is Mr. Hurst, his brother-in-law, and the one you are staring at is Lord William Darcy... the women, the one in the lime green dress is Mrs. Hurst and the one in orange is Miss Bingley."
Mrs. Bennet, by this time became frantic in her efforts to call attention to her daughter and niece; Jane and Elizabeth decided to go to her just to hear, "My dears, smile, Mr. Bingley and his party, I think, have requested an introduction!"
"Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Bingley and his friend has requested an introduction of your lovely daughters," Sir William started as he saw Mrs. Bennet.
"Oh, Mr. Bingley, it is a pleasure to meet you," Mrs. Bennet beamed with pride as she looked at him and over his shoulder to Mrs. Long.
"The pleasure is certainly ours, Mrs. Bennet! Do let me introduce you to my friend Lord William Darcy here!" Mr. Bingley returned the greeting with the same excitement as he looked over at Jane.
"A pleasure to be sure, ma'am," Lord Darcy bowed courteously.
"Oh! You gentlemen do us great honor! Do let me introduce my daughters and niece to you, this is Jane, my eldest, Mary is talking to her acquaintance there and Kitty and Lydia are dancing with our well-known neighbors. This is my niece, she is almost like a daughter to me, most Honorable Countess Elizabeth Bennet de Clairmont," those who were present curtsied and smiled prettily at the gentlemen and the courtesies were returned by the gentlemen. " Are you fond of dancing?" Mrs. Bennet asked the gentlemen; she was eager to have her daughter and niece dancing. Mrs. Long could not best her in this!
"I love dancing, ma'am! I was wondering if Miss Bennet would be so kind as to dance the first set with me," Mr. Bingley asked.
"It would be a pleasure to dance with you, Mr. Bingley," Jane said softly, thus making Mr. Bingley grin boyishly.
"And you, my lord, do you dance much?"
"Not as much as I would like to, Mrs. Bennet, but if Lady Elizabeth is free for the first set, I would be very happy," Lord Darcy replied with a charming smile directed to Elizabeth.
"As much as I would love to, Lord Darcy, I am afraid that my uncle has reserved the first one; however, I am free for the second one," Elizabeth answered looking at him in the eye.
Taken aback by her bold manner, he merely said, "Thank you, it will be a pleasure to dance with you."
"What conclusion have you arrived to, my dear?" Mr. Bennet asked his niece as they walked around for the first set.
"Oh! I believe that they will prove to be interesting enough in this small neighborhood. I do, however, still prefer to study the salons of Paris, Uncle Edward," Elizabeth answered with a ready smile. She knew that he would ask her the question.
"Well, I do think you and Jane have been spoilt by the time you have spent in Paris! You do not find characters in Herfordshire humorous anymore!" Mr. Bennet continued the game.
"I'm afraid you are mixing me with angelic Jane, Uncle. I said no such thing! Pray, how do you find the Netherfield occupants?"
"Well, the ladies certainly have more arrogance than you, Lizzy! That much can be perceived by their attitude tonight!"
"Now I know what you think of me, dear Uncle Edward! I am arrogant indeed! Well, you will find that your opinion of them matches with mine at every aspect!"
"You are my niece after all! We are bound to share most of the opinions anyway."
"I'm sure you will agree with me when I say that Mr. Hurst looks at the refreshment table more than he does people and talks more of food than any other topic! He is amusing in his own way."
"You are not being specific about it, Lizzy! He looks at the wine more than anything on the refreshment tables," Mr. Bennet said with a smile. Niece and uncle both laughed at that with great amusement that drew a lot of attention of the crowd.
"Mr. Bingley seems to be very eager to please all those around him; a pleasant man, to be sure... his friend however..."
"What about Lord Darcy, dear? Very enigmatic, would you not agree?"
"Yes, very." Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth approached the refreshment table just in time to see Mr. Hurst snatch some food to eat. Uncle and niece shared a glance and tried and failed miserably to suppress their mirth.
The first set was over and the musicians were to start the next dance in five minutes and Mr. Bennet saw Lord Darcy coming towards his niece to claim his dance.
"I had assumed that you would dance the first set with your uncle, Lady Elizabeth," Lord Darcy asked in a bold manner. He completely understood that this manner was considered improper, but he had never cared for the proper things of society unless it had suited him before, so why did he need to start now?
"Very presumptuous of you Lord Darcy, if you had paid more attention to what I had said, you would have noticed that I said that my uncle had reserved the first set, but I did not mention anything about dancing. He abhors dancing a lot, I can not make him do something he does not like."
"That would be very cruel indeed! I still do not understand the reason as to why you refused to dance the first set with me, however."
"You are being very bold, Lord Darcy. It is not very polite to ask such questions to a Lady!"
"Oh, but it is so boring to be polite in society, would you not agree?"
"Tell me, Lord Darcy, what exactly is considered to be polite and proper in your terms?"
"That, I am afraid, Lady Elizabeth, I cannot do without being acquainted with more."
"Oh, but we are!"
"We are?"
"Yes, you see, I have met your entire family."
"You have? When was this? I am certain that I would remember our meeting; our meeting would be too important for me to forget for who could forget a lively lady?"
"Really, Lord Darcy, I expected better from you. I have not met you in the past in particular, but I have met your family during my come out in London. My Godparents are Earl and Countess Matlock. If I am not mistaken, then they must be your uncle and aunt. They introduced me to Lord and Lady Darcy and your sister. How is she, by the way? It has been long since I saw her, she was only about fourteen when I last saw her!"
"She is very well, indeed! What a coincidence, Lady Elizabeth! Pity we have never met before."
"I wouldn't say that!" Elizabeth muttered under her breath. She was miffed by his impropriety, though she had heard stories of him being a rake in London, she did not really think that anyone remotely related to her Godparents could behave in such a way.
"Oh, you hurt me, Lady Elizabeth! Here I was thinking how wonderful to talk freely to a person who knows me..."
"Lord Darcy, you really have a way with words. I'm sure that your English Professors will be disappointed to see the beautiful language used so dramatically!" She was being cruel and offensive, but she did not care. She wanted to see how he would get out of this.
He was surprised by her. This evening would be interesting after all! Lady Elizabeth was a very different woman; she was bold enough to insult him to his face. Not even the women he had left behind after secret encounters were this offensive. "On the contrary, Lady Elizabeth! They loved Shakespeare; so you see, they would be happy that I have been so influenced by one of the most appreciated English authors of our time." She had to smile at that. Well done, your lordship. The music by this time had ended and the dancing partners returned to their parties.
"How wonderful to meet you at last, Miss Bennet! We were told that your family was the most prominent in the area." Caroline Bingley sneered at the girl.
"Oh, thank you, Miss Bingley. I'm also very pleased to meet you at last," Jane said sweetly.
Charles Bingley could not believe his luck; on his arm, he had the most beautiful lady on his arm. She was the sweetest creature he had ever encountered. He knew by the time that they had started the first dance that he would love her all his life. Now, seeing her not even take offense to Caroline's sneering attitude, he was sure that he would marry this Angel. No one could bare Caroline like her.
"It is unfortunate that we have not met in London, Miss Bennet." Caroline said assuming that the Bennet family could not afford to go to London.
"Yes, it is. But you see, my cousin and I prefer to go to Paris at the height of the Season. We only went to London for only one Season."
"Indeed?" The Bennet chit had more connections than she had been given credit for. Traveling to Paris, Caroline knew was no small thing. A person spent a fortune going there! Not only must a lady take care of the traveling expenses, but also her clothing and jewelry must be the most fashionable. Then she would have to go shopping with the other ladies in Paris just to be popular with their brothers-shopping cost a lot in Paris since everything was so wonderful there. Just how did the Jane Bennet get so much fortune?
"Did you not say that you had a cousin, Miss Bennet? Pray, is she present here today?"
"Oh, yes. I am surprised that you have not met her already. She is dancing with Lord Darcy there."
"What!" Caroline exclaimed. Lord Darcy was to be hers alone! She had invested too much time and money on him. A mere Bennet chit trying to take him over was horrendous. Lord Darcy had not even dance the first with her! "Pardon me, Miss Bennet. I was just taken aback. Pray, who is your cousin? I have not had the pleasure of making her acquaintance."
"My cousin is Lady Elizabeth Bennet, Countess de Clairmont. It is through her desire that I had the pleasure of visiting Paris during the Season. It is the most fascinating place in the world, Miss Bingley!" Jane was content to praise Paris and Elizabeth. She went on in this manner and all Mr. Bingley could do was look at her with adoration and agree with her that Paris was one of the best cities in the world.
Miss Bingley on the other hand was alarmed. She did not hear to anything that dear Jane said after 'Lady Elizabeth Bennet.' The insecurity of not being a gentleman's daughter was soon showing its ugly head. Caroline was forever ashamed of her ancestors and felt it even more keenly in front of the other noble society ladies. If Caroline had the fortune of catching Lord Darcy, she would be the toast of the marriage market and would have nothing to be ashamed of anymore; no one would dare insult a Darcy. Sometimes, when a person is determined too much, one does not exactly be sensible. That was the case of our dear Miss Caroline Bingley. She would stop at nothing to gain Darcy as her husband. Nothing at all.
Posted on Wednesday, 28 July 2004
Darcy was intrigued by this creature-and what a pretty creature she was! A pity that she had too sharp a tongue to get any flattery past her. She was too quick-witted to be out-witted and too clever to put anything past her. She would have been perfect for the Parliament if she was a man. A pity.
Darcy laughed at his thoughts. A woman in the Parliament-a laughable idea! Darcy, when first had gone to Cambridge held the opinion that women were just as able as men were, but after a few more years and a lot of experiences with the opposite sex, he no longer held that opinion. He had seen too many women worry only about their appearance, money, prestige and all that came with snaring a wealthy husband. But whenever he saw his mother or women like Elizabeth Bennet, he was reminded of the olden days when he had a lot of respect for women.
He had met countless of women who would have gladly given him anything for just a single ray of hope of them being married and countless times he had refused them. He saw the danger of them being single; he only went for the ladies who had married old gentlemen and were bored to tears. They were safer; they never expected anything from him except perhaps jewelry on a rare occasion and an oath that he would never get bored of them. If they were fortunate enough to get him to that stage.
"It seems that my cousin is waving at me, Lord Darcy, she is next to your friend. Perhaps we could join them?" The creature asked coyly.
"Of course, Lady Elizabeth. Though it would be an added pleasure if your dinner and last dance was danced with me."
"I'm afraid that dinner won't do, your lordship. It will have to be the last then."
"Any dance with you would be a pleasure, ma'am."
"Sir, if you please, until now, we have not had a regular polite and civilized conversation, I'd rather not have you start now. It will not do to cover your blunders now. I never pegged you as the type of crying over spilt milk."
"Lady Elizabeth, you wound me so! I was just trying to be the part of a courteous gentleman that I am, ma'am."
"Any wounds inflected were self-inflected, m'lord, and you are very much aware of it." Elizabeth presented the argument with a coy and smiling expression on her face. Lord Darcy smiled in return. This was the last statement uttered by her before they reached the Bingley party.
Caroline saw the expressions on their faces and was ready to spit fire with her eyes and made an odd noise. Luckily for her, Louisa pinched her elbow as a signal that she was not subtle anymore. Caroline flinched at the pain it caused, but got the subtle message. She plastered a huge smile on her face and made it even more obvious to the party that she was displeased.
"Lizzy, I would love to introduce you to my new friend and I'm sure wonderful neighbor, Miss Caroline Bingley." Jane introduced as soon as Lizzy and Darcy approached the party. Elizabeth bowed her head as a sign of acknowledgment with a cold smile. Lord Darcy caught this and thought it interesting that she was so cold towards Miss Bingley.
"Miss Bingley, it gives me the greatest pleasure to introduce you to my cousin, the right honorable Lady Elizabeth Bennet, Countess de Clairmont." Miss Bingley deeply curtsied but kept her cold eyes on Elizabeth.
"Dear Jane, Miss Bingley and I have already met before, albeit we did not know each other names. In London, if I am not mistaken, Miss Bingley? Or was it Paris?" Elizabeth asked in a tight voice.
"In both places, your ladyship. It is a pleasure to know you at last." Caroline smiled nervously.
"Is it? Indeed, it is, is it not? What a coincidence that we go to the same places, but never get introduced? Well, it does not matter now, does it? I am very glad to know you at last, Miss Bingley." Elizabeth made sure that enough sarcasm was there to get the point across that she was feeling everything but glad and its synonymous expressions.
Darcy thought he detected too much tension. "You have been to Paris, Lady Elizabeth? Pray, when did you go?"
"I have been going to Paris these past few years, Sir. It simply is an enchanting city; pray Miss Bingley, do you remember Count Jean LeFuete?" Elizabeth asked with a twinkling smile. It seemed that she was back to normal. Only Jane could sense that something was terribly wrong and she was afraid Elizabeth would do something irrational at the moment. Elizabeth was not ready to let Miss Bingley go too soon. Jane did not know who this gentleman was or even when Elizabeth had met him, but all she could claim was that Elizabeth's loyalty was very strong, perhaps too loyal at times.
Caroline was taken back-she did not expect the Countess to be so overwhelmingly bold. Now it became more clear as to where she had met her 'Most Esteemed Ladyship'. Caroline blushed with embarrassment. "Indeed I do, my lady."
"Well, since we are aquatinted with a the mutual party, I do not think it will do much harm to inform you this!" Elizabeth made her voice gushy enough to put Lydia to shame. "Did you know he is coming to London this Season to meet his betrothed?" Elizabeth asked with a sweet smile knowing that she had hit the bull's eye.
"Is... is he indeed? Well, that is quite surprising news-I mean, I did not think-" poor Miss Bingley was so terribly discomforted that she was almost speechless.
"Yes, is it not surprising? I, myself, just received the letter from his sister about a week ago." Elizabeth thought this enough humiliation for even Miss Bingley. She turned to Lord Darcy, "And you, Sir, are you acquainted with Count LeFuete?"
"No, I have not had that pleasure," he said curtly. Darcy looked like he wanted to say more, but alas, Bingley finally came out of his reverie and heard the first strains of the waltz and immediately asked Jane. No matter how much Darcy was reluctant to dance with Caroline, he was not cruel enough to let suffer discomfort. He applied for her hand immediately.
Caroline was glad and even more determined to get Darcy after his gallant way of showing concern. She gave Elizabeth a triumphant grin and attached herself to Lord Darcy's extended arm with pretended unaffectedness.
Everything Caroline did was calculated in some way or the other. Elizabeth just shook her head. Caroline Bingley was just a hopeless case; and any man who willingly let himself get snared up in her net was a fool and she was had thought Lord Darcy was an intelligent man, but after this incident, Lord William Darcy shrunk in her esteem.
"What do you think of the people here, your lordship? Such savages! I do not quite know how Charles tolerates these people; such boors!" Caroline exclaimed during their dance. She latched on to him more tightly as she saw Lady Elizabeth being escorted by a gentleman for the waltz from the corner of her eyes.
"Well, as for Charles, he is happy as far as there are enough of his 'Angels' to go around," Darcy replied distractedly. He too, was watching Elizabeth intently. They just then passes Mrs. Bennet whispering rather loudly to Mrs. Phillips how great it was that Jane was the recipient of Mr. Bingley's affections. It would be only a matter of time when they got married. A shrill of unladylike laughter filled their ears as they passed Lydia and Katherine Bennet and their respective redcoat officer partners. He shuddered to think how embarrassing it would be to have such a low family. He pitied Lady Elizabeth to be stuck with such a family. No wonder she had such low manners; her upbringing had led her to put down a lady in the presence of other people.
Posted on Monday, 9 August 2004
"Lizzy, are you still awake?" Jane whispered through the doorway.
"No, come in Jane," Elizabeth smiled and continued to brush her hair. Jane walked almost noiselessly, a skill acquired after years of practice walking in her sleeping mother's room.
"I could not sleep today," she sighed and smiled dreamily.
"I can only imagine what occupies your mind so, Jane. Perhaps a particular gentleman who has rented Netherfield has put you in this dreamy state?"
"He is just what a young man ought to be, Lizzy," Jane confided. "Sensible, good-humored, lively; I never saw such happy manners! -so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!"
"Mr. Bingley is also handsome," replied Elizabeth; "which a young man ought likewise be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete."
"I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance twice. I did not expect such a compliment."
"Did you not? I did for you. But that is one great difference between us. Compliments always take you by surprise and me never. What could be more natural then he asking you twice? He could not help noticing that you are about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room. No thanks to his gallantry for that. Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person."
"Dear Lizzy!"
"Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in my life."
"I would wish not to be hasty in censuring any one; but I always speak what I think."
"I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candor is common enough-one meets it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design-to take the good of everybody's character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad-belongs to you alone. And so you like this man's sisters, too, do you? Their manners are not equal to his."
"Certainly not-at first. But they are very pleasing women when you converse with them. Miss Bingley is to live with her brother, and keep his house; and I am much mistaken if we shall not find a very charming neighbor in her."
"Then I shall refrain from commenting on what exactly I thought of them since I do not want to upset you over something so small."
"Dear Lizzy! You shall never be able to upset me! Why is that you were cold to Miss Bingley today at the assembly. Who is Count Jean LeFuete? You were quite cruel to her today."
"If you too knew the story of the Count and Miss Bingley, you too would be disgusted by Miss Bingley, Jane."
"What did she do to antagonize you so?"
"That is rather a long story, Jane, but I think suffice to say, it involved dishonoring a very honorable lady in front of a gentleman she cared for because of Miss Bingley. What shocks me to this day is that the lady in question still cares for him after all the accusations laid at her door by him. The gentleman is no one other than Count Jean LeFuete. This incident occurred in France when I father was still alive."
"That is a very unfortunate event, Lizzy, but I'm sure there is some valid explanation why Miss Bingley acted in the way she did."
Lizzy gave a soft laugh, "I don't think I can ever change your opinion now, Jane, but when you meet the lady in question, I'm sure you shall understand what happened."
"Oh! But Lizzy, you must promise to be nice to Miss Bingley and not insult her the way you did today. Please, promise me."
"I promise, but don't expect me to be more cordial towards her, Jane. I do not think I may be able to do more than that."
"Just be civil," Jane replied with a satisfied sigh. She walked around the room and stopped when she viewed a signature on a letter-Lord Matlock. She looked at Lizzy in question as she held the letter up. "Is he going to call his ward back to his house?"
"Yes, in fact, he wishes you to come too." It was a practice for Elizabeth to go to her guardian's estate or house in town for a long visit in a year and this year it came no surprise that they had invited Jane as well. "Do you want to come with me? I shall leaving in mid-March."
"Well, I'm not too sure now, do you mind if I tell you later if I am available to do so?" Jane and Elizabeth both knew that this was in hopes of Jane receiving a better offer from a certain gentleman by that time. Jane would never reveal her feelings openly, but this was the extent she would go to.
Lizzy bit her tongue for she was tempted to tease her cousin, but she could not stop that all knowing smile of hers to appear. "Very well, then. I do hope you will come though, it shall make the trip all the more pleasurable, not that I do not care for Lord or Lady Matlock." With a big sigh and a yawn, Jane bid her goodnight and walked back as noiselessly as she came to her chamber.
When Jane Bennet went to bed that night, she could not but be pleased at the outcome of the ball. She was not a stubborn person; she accepted life as it came. Today she met the man she hopefully would marry. She had met the man she may possibly love for the rest of her life. Charles Bingley was her other half, she only hoped her family would be well behaved whenever he called upon them next. She loved her family and tried seeing past their flaws, but she could not repress the feeling that something would go wrong when he would come calling next.
Insufferable Darcy! Try as she might, Elizabeth could not get him out of her mind, even while trying to sleep; especially while trying to sleep. If not for his blasted arrogance and blast it, she did not care anymore that she was thinking of him again. She got up from her dressing chair and looked at herself in the mirror. 'Does he not see Miss Bingley for what she is? Does he intend to propose marriage to her just to continue his rakish nature even after his union with a respectable lady? Would he really drop that low in character?' Elizabeth could not help but ponder over such issues.
What would her father's advice be if he were here? "Only you have to tell me, papa! Send some sign down to me, why in the world am I thinking of that detestable man now of all times?" she asked determinedly as she pointed upward. Elizabeth always did that when she was deeply troubled. It helped her come to terms with the loss of both of her parents; usually, she got a sign in some way, it was almost like her parents were there with her and were privy to her thoughts and actions. In the beginning, she was troubled by the thought that her parents could sense her guilt and would be ashamed of what she did sometimes, but as time slowly passed, she was no longer ashamed of doing things. She adapted a method of grieving by telling herself that her parents would help her rather than condemn her if she was troubled. The anger at her father for leaving her alone in this world, the resentment at herself for never taking every chance she had to spend quality time with her father and the guilt that she never could lead a life that would make her father happy were some of her feelings when her father passed away. Now she was at a point where she accepted her father's death and cherished her memories of the moments they shared together. She was melancholy, yet content at the life she led. Lizzy just twisted again in her bed and was resolved to act upon the matter just as soon as she got her clue.
Life was just beautiful for Charles Bingley. He had met his angel at last. He was going to call on her at last. No matter what Darcy said, he was sure of himself today that his attentions, albeit informal, would be reciprocated with as much enthusiasm as his. He let his valet knot his necktie in the proper manner impatiently. He could not wait to see Jane Bennet today.
He practically ran out of his chamber just as soon he was dressed appropriately and entered the dining parlor to see Darcy and Hurst sitting in comfortable silence and drinking coffee. "Good morn, gentlemen! Is it not a fine day? Where are Louisa and Caroline?"
"Really, Bingley, I never thought you so naïve before, they are partaking in the relaxing activity of sleeping, of course. They need their rest after judging so many women unfit for their companionship the whole day."
Bingley did not know what to say anything to that but could not help to think that Hurst and Louisa were completely different in character to even have any decent conversation. He wondered why Hurst even married Louisa but did not do so for Louisa's reasons for marrying Hurst. Money and fashion were enough for Louisa to chase Hurst. If he remembered correctly, Hurst was actually quite a catch of the season when Louisa was in London but he was quite surprised when Hurst announced his intentions to marry his sister to him one day out of the blue since he hadn't even courted her first. But Louisa seemed happy enough in that strange way of the ladies. He wondered if Jane would be that way; nay, she could not even if she wished to be. Jane was angelic.
"Ahem..." Bingley coughed, "So Darcy, want to call on the Bennet's today? It seems to be a promising day."
"Do you not think it is too early, Bingley? I do understand your anxiousness to see the ladies and even be in company of educated ladies such as Lady Bennet and Miss Bennet, but I do think we should wait longer so they may anticipate our presence more. As the famous thoughts go, distance makes meetings even more pleasing." He didn't think he had to be un-gentlemanly by mentioning the other Bennet ladies since he did not find them particularly intelligent.
Bingley smiled slyly and replied, "I never did mention anything about visiting the ladies, Darcy, I was merely suggesting that we visit Mr. Bennet since he seems to be more aware of the vicinity around here than anyone else." Bingley smirked, "But if you are so eager to visit the ladies, I have no problem with it. It did seem as though you were quite taken with one of the ladies yesterday at the assembly, though I refuse to name names in fear that Caroline might be eavesdropping on us..."
And indeed she was; in spite of her habit to raise later in the day, Caroline Bingley was up and about since Charles had quit his chamber. She was just in time to hear what they were discussing. If she wanted Lord Darcy, she needed to be all eyes and ears. The lady he admires better not be Lady Bennet. Poor Caroline could not do anything particularly spiteful to Lady Bennet since she was quite scared as to what she [Lady Elizabeth] would do. She looked around her to see if anyone was watching her and went back to sticking her ear to the door.
"Nonsense, Bingley! You know me quite well that I only tend to show interest in the bored married ones, not the dangerous unmarried ones. I refuse to believe that I am taken with any lady that we were acquainted with yesterday." Darcy wanted to change the subject as soon as possible. What better subject that Bingley's current Angel of Mercy? "I know that you were showering quite a bit of attention to the older Miss Bennet just as I predicted you would just as soon as I saw her."
"She is an Angel sent from Heaven, isn't she?" Bingley sighed, "She is the sweetest creature I have ever met, Darcy. She even found Caroline quite sincere, isn't she loveliness itself?"
"More like Ignorance herself," Hurst muttered as he drank his third glass of brandy. Luckily for him, Bingley was too wrapped up in his feelings for Jane. Darcy took in the scene amusedly, he had near him two drunks, one drunk on alcohol and unhappiness and the other drunk on infatuation; two circumstances he would be caught at just as soon as he was married. Ha! Like that was ever going to happen!