Page 44 of Infamous Relations

“I know! Kitty whispered to me that Wickham has called regularly, courting Lydia quite assiduously.”

“What a horrifying thought!” Elizabeth shivered. “Well, we must keep a very close eye on Lydia until the regiment has departed.”

“You can’t think that she would…” Jane said, shocked.

“She has thought of nothing but officers and flirtation since the regiment first came to Meryton, and with their departure she is clearly cast into despair. Foolish girl that she is, I believe her quite capable of doing something that would cause irreparable damage to her reputation, if she thought that it might persuade Wickham to marry her.”

“We must ensure that she does nothing of the sort,” Jane said decisively, making Elizabeth blink at her uncharacteristic firmness. “She has brought enough ridicule and shame upon this family, Lizzy. She almost cost you a chance at happiness with Mr. Darcy, and I will tolerate no more of it. It is high time that she and Kitty both learned proper behaviour.”

Elizabeth sat back and stared at Jane admiringly. “I have never seen you like this, Jane!”

“Well, if I am one day to be mistress of Longbourn, it is high time that I started acting like it, is it not?” Jane smiled back at her. “I have done my best to lead by example for our younger sisters, Lizzy, as have you, I know. I believe that it is high time we admitted to ourselves that this strategy has failed us and we must adopt new tactics.”

“Strategy and tactics; you sound positively military, Jane!” Elizabeth teased gently. She was a little surprised when Jane blushed.

“Colonel Fitzwilliam and I — we talked, quite a bit, when we were trying to work out who it was that attacked you.” Jane’s voice was soft, and she looked down at her fingers, twisting them together in her lap. “He said that… that I was clever. Nobody ever called me clever, Lizzy, never in my life. Everyone just expects me to be pretty and nothing more than that, but Colonel Fitzwilliam…” she chuckled, surprisingly. “His first sight of me was when I walked into the parlour and slapped Mr. Darcy across the face. I don’t believe that he ever thought of me as just a pretty face.”

Elizabeth stared at her, astonished. “You slapped Mr. Darcy across the face?”

Realising that she’d never told Elizabeth about that incident, Jane began to laugh.

“Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?” Elizabeth exclaimed, before joining in with Jane’s laughter.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Three months later

For once, Meryton’s gossip mill did not provide the ladies of Longbourn with adequate warning of the arrival of the denizens of Netherfield. The first notice they received came when Kitty glanced out of the window one morning and said;

“Why, Mama, that looks like Mr. Bingley at the gate! And he is not alone, there are two other gentlemen with him! One of them looks like that tall, proud-looking man who was with him before, what was his name?”

“Mr. Darcy?” Mrs. Bennet said. “Well, any friend of Mr. Bingley’s will always be welcome here, to be sure…”

“He was very kind to both Jane and I in Kent, Mama,” Elizabeth cut off anything else her mother might have been about to say. “Not at all proud.”

Mrs. Bennet harrumphed. “Well, he is not here for any of you, that is for sure. Mr. Collins was always quite certain that he would marry Miss de Bourgh; I daresay he is only waiting until her mourning period is over, now that she is the sole owner of Rosings! Who is the third gentleman, Kitty?” she called. “Is it that Mr. Hurst?”

“No, mama, it is a gentleman I never saw before,” Kitty replied. “He is quite as tall as Mr. Darcy, and wears a soldier’s red coat.”

Lydia looked up at this intelligence, but did not squeal with excitement as she might once have done. It was Jane whose reaction was telling; she dropped the handkerchief she was stitching on, her face turning quite pink.

Mrs. Bennet, of course, quite misunderstood the cause of Jane’s reaction. “Mr. Bingley has returned for you, Jane!” she cried triumphantly. “Oh, I knew it, I knew you could not be so beautiful for nothing! And now that you will one day be mistress of Longbourn in your own right, there is nothing to give him pause!”

Mr. Bingley, however, knew two steps into the room that his chance to win the heart of the eldest Miss Bennet had well and truly passed. For it was not him she looked at with her blue eyes shining, a soft smile on her lips, but the red-coated Colonel at his side.

A little alarmed by the way the Colonel and Jane were gazing at each other, seeing her dreams of Jane as mistress of Netherfield (leaving Mrs. Bennet to permanently rule the roost at Longbourn) going up in smoke, Mrs. Bennet hastened to request an introduction.

Mr. Darcy lost no time in advising Mrs. Bennet of his cousin’s connections, guessing that the fact that Fitzwilliam was an Earl’s son in addition to a colonel would dazzle her entirely. He was quite correct in that assumption, and Fitzwilliam soon found himself seated in the place of honour between Mrs. Bennet and Jane, being plied with tea, cake and Jane’s smiles.

Bingley found himself at somewhat of a loss until Kitty approached him with a sweet smile. “It is a great pleasure to see you here in Hertfordshire again, Mr. Bingley. Please, will you not sit down? May I bring you some tea? I should very much like to hear how you have been spending your time since last we met.”

Mollified by Kitty’s bright eagerness and evident delight in his presence, Bingley allowed himself to be drawn to a chair beside Lydia. Though he expected to take little pleasure in the visit now, he found himself pleasantly amused, both girls behaving in a much more mature and amicable manner than he had recalled they were wont to do.

Having performed the necessary pleasantries, Darcy lost no time in making for Elizabeth’s side, but was intercepted by Mary, who planted herself squarely in front of him.

“Miss Mary,” he said with a polite bow.

“Mr. Darcy, I wish to present my very great sympathies for your devastating loss.”