Page 10 of The Vanished Bennet Sister

Chapter Five

Darcy

Mrs Lavinia Bingley had two modes of operation: the performance of delight, and the assessment of threat. She moved between them with fluid ease and the remarkable thing, which had always impressed Darcy against his better judgement, was that most people never identified the seam between them.

He had known her since Bingley was at school. She had been a handsome woman then, and was a commanding one now. She was well-dressed and possessed of a bearing that announced consequence before she had spoken a word.

Her son had inherited her sociability and mercifully little else.

Darcy had called at the Bingley townhouse to speak with Bingley, but found his mother in the morning room instead, newly arrived from Scarborough the previous evening and already in full possession of the season's relevant intelligence.

"Caroline tells me that Charles has developed a considerable interest in a young woman, Miss Jane Bennet."

"So I have observed."

"I had not previously heard the name. They're a Hertfordshire family, Caroline says." She pronounced the word Hertfordshire with clear distaste. "New arrivals to the better circles, one assumes. You have met them, haven't you? What do you know of them?"

"Very little. From what I have heard, the family appears comfortable. They are staying in Portman Square, after all."

Mrs Bingley's answering sniff suggested that Portman Square, while not without merit as an address, was not the final settlement of the question.

"I shall be the judge of comfort. I have been around long enough to know that the appearance of a good address and the notion of a good family do not often reconcile. I attended Lady Montague's private soirée yesterday evening. Mrs Bennet was there."

He waited for her to continue.

"Her behaviour," Mrs Bingley continued, "suggested she was very pleased indeed to secure the invitation, which I found somewhat unnerving. Lady Montague's invitation list is immensely exclusive, yet the matron of a family newly arrived in Town, not previously known in these circles, was on it. That speaks either to a very determined social effort or to an unknown connection. But she is a pleasant enough creature, Mrs Bennet. Quite forthcoming and rather more eager than the average person."

"In what sense?"

"When she learned I was Charles's mother, she took my hand in both of hers and insisted that I must call upon them the very next day. It was as if we were already the greatest friends in the world. There was an earnestness to her request, which I presume to be either genuine or she's an excellent dramatist. I'm inclined towards the latter, but even if I did imagine that she was being honest, that too is a cause for concern. A mother with daughters to see settled does not have the luxury of being genuine."

"And what do you plan to do?"

"I intended to call on the Bennets today with Charles, but he appears to have gone out. He did not state where, which is a fairly reliable indication that he thought I might not approve of the destination. As you know, I am justifiably rigid in taste." She reached across the table opposite for a cup of tea. "I should like you to accompany me instead, Darcy. You know the family. Your presence would give the call a degree of propriety."

What she meant was a degree of cover. He was to make their presence look like a social visit, instead of what it was: an investigation into the bearer of her son’s interest.

It was not a role he had ever been prepared for, not even when he was a young lad being paraded about by his nosy aunt, Lady Catherine.

He considered declining. He had no specific reason, after all, to come along on such a visit.

"Very well," he said instead.

It would be a fair use of his time since his plan to see Bingley was disrupted.

Mrs Bingley nodded, almost as if she had known he would agree. Why she would ever think that was unclear to Darcy, but he refrained from saying so.

"She is a simple woman," Mrs Bingley explained in the carriage as it raced steadily along the road. "Not unintelligent, but simple in the sense of having clear ambitions and little skill concealing them. I can tolerate that. What I am less comfortable with is the situation at hand. Charles can do considerably better than a Hertfordshire gentleman's daughter of uncertain connections. I want him wed to a worthy lady, her relations properly vetted. I have told him, he must purchase and estate and become a proper gentleman, and then he must marry up. A baronet’s daughter at least, if not better. A viscount would do nicely. That would help Caroline also, since Louisa decided to settle for a mere merchant."

Darcy wanted to remind her that she, Mrs Bingley, had also settled for a merchant, and one who had kept her comfortable, but refrained.

She turned her steely gaze toward Darcy, her face twisted in displeasure. "I should like to know what I am dealing with."

Darcy reflected that knowing what one was dealing with was a reasonable ambition when it came to the matter of marriage. But Mrs Bingley would be disappointed if she expected him to encourage it.

He did not intend to be involved in intricate parts of her schemes, especially given that his friend would not approve of it.

They were received into the townhouse the Bennets occupied by Mrs Bennet, who clapped her hands in delight at their arrival. An unaware person would think it was a fortune requiring immediate celebration.