Page 10 of Vain and Useless

He frowned. “Is that not one of those horrid Gothic novels?”

“It is indeed. I did not expect to enjoy it at all, but when she lent it to me, Miss Elizabeth suggested that I read it as though it were intended to be a farce, and I must say I have rarely been so entertained. It is utterly ridiculous and therefore endlessly amusing.” She laughed softly, then sobered. “I should not recommend it to a young person who might take it seriously, of course. Please do not think I mean to suggest it would be suitable for Miss Darcy.”

“I had no thought of the kind,” he replied, nonplussed by this exchange. “Pray forgive me for interrupting you.”

Later, when the ladies and Hurst had retired and Bingley was occupied in replying to a letter from one of his seemingly endless supply of aunts, Darcy noticed that Miss Bingley had left the volume behind. Curiously, he picked it up and read the first several chapters. He had investigated a few works of the sort when Georgiana had expressed an interest in them the year prior, the craze for Gothics having swept her school. He had been appalled at the notion of a young girl reading such things, but now, taking Miss Elizabeth’s second-hand advice, he caught himself chuckling more than once before he guiltily shut the book and returned it to its place.

CHAPTER 8

Darcy’s opportunity came unexpectedly, early the next morning while he was riding. He had set himself to explore a little prominence to the south of Netherfield, and when he crested the rise, he found Miss Elizabeth seated upon a weathered bench there, watching a rather splendid sunrise. She stood and curtseyed.

“Mr Darcy, good morning,” said she. “I see you have discovered where you might behold our most picturesque view. I will leave you to enjoy it.”

He slid hurriedly from his mount, saying, “Please, Miss Elizabeth, stay but a moment.”

She paused and turned to face him, curiosity and caution warring in her expression.

He stepped a little closer. “I am glad of the opportunity to speak with you, as I have for some days been wishing to make an apology for my behaviour at the assembly.”

Her eyes widened ever so slightly.

“I do not attempt to excuse myself,” he hurried to add. “What I said was unconscionable. I wished to be left alone, but instead of saying so plainly, I drove my friend away by speaking harshly of a lady I did not know and of whom I had no opinion at all, certainly not the opinion I voiced.” He was fidgeting nervously with the chain of his watch and forced his hands to stillness. “I am sorry I said it, and more so that it ever reached your ears.”

She tilted her head and regarded him quizzically. “May I ask, sir, why you attended an assembly if you were so opposed to dancing that you must rout your friend from your presence for merely suggesting it?”

He flailed for an explanation, knowing that his greatest reason—the fear that Miss Bingley would have stayed at Netherfield with him—could not be voiced. “It was a combination of things. I am not comfortable in new company at the best of times, and my nature is not given to spontaneity, but I knew nothing of the assembly until I arrived at Netherfield that very day. And further, my mood was rather low due to a family problem I had been much engaged in dealing with of late. However, as Bingley had accepted for his party, I felt it was expected that I attend. He was very eager to meet all his neighbours and have them know us.”

“You yielded to the persuasion of a friend,” she said.

“Yes, I suppose I did.”

She smiled faintly. “There is a merit in the willingness to do so that I respect, sir. And I do forgive you. I hope we may begin again.”

He bowed. “Thank you, Miss Elizabeth. You are generous.”

“It is clear that Mr Bingley values you, and Miss Bingley has told me that your performance at the assembly was a great surprise to her. With such testimony of your character and your own pretty apology, it is impossible to hold a grudge even if I should wish to.”

“I am glad of it,” he replied. “I will not keep you much longer, but I hope that now we are on cordial terms, we might speak of books when next we are in company. Miss Bingley mentioned your suggestion to read a Gothic as though it were a farce, and with that in mind, I perused the first few chapters of the volume you lent her and found it amusing. I am eager to hear what else you might have to say on the subject of literature.”

“Oh, is Miss Bingley enjoying The Dire Pyramid?” she asked eagerly.

“I believe she is. Certainly she was laughing as she read it.”

Her smile was as bright as the sunrise. “I am very glad to hear it, for that was exactly my purpose in recommending it.”

“You and Miss Bingley have become fast friends,” he remarked.

“I suppose we have. I cannot say I know her well, not yet, but it sometimes happens that I will meet someone and feel, upon our first conversation, that we are destined to be great friends. It has not always transpired that way in the end, but Miss Bingley is one such and I am hopeful that we are presently forming an acquaintance which will be meaningful to us both for many years to come.”

Difficult as he found it to imagine anyone of sense regarding the lady in such a way, he could also see that Miss Bingley’s behaviour in Hertfordshire had been quite different from what he had known of her previously and that a new acquaintance might like her very well. He hoped Miss Elizabeth would not be hurt by a reversal on her friend’s part. In reply, he chose to say, “Her brother was such a one to me. I felt I wished to cultivate his acquaintance after only a few minutes’ conversation.”

“I will press you for the story of how you met at some future date, sir. At present, I feel we have been speaking alone for a little too long.”

He had no desire whatsoever to part from her, but she was entirely correct with regards to propriety. “Please, stay and continue enjoying the sunrise; I will go. Thank you for agreeing to hear me, Miss Elizabeth.”

He rode away, and when he looked back over his shoulder, she was seated once again, her face turned to the east, bathed in sunlight. He thought he had never seen a prettier picture.

The advent of new, elegant neighbours had inspired the gentry of the area to entertain more often, and over the course of the next fortnight, the residents of Longbourn and Netherfield saw each other several times. Conscious though he was of the inadvisability of paying too much attention to any young lady, Darcy always found a few minutes in which to speak with Miss Elizabeth of books. One or more of her friends were generally present, for Miss Elizabeth was well-liked and naturally sociable, but once they debated Richardson for ten minutes complete without any other attending. Darcy walked away from that conversation with a reluctance which warned him that he was in some danger. He made a resolution to better resist the temptation of her company in future, and promptly forgot it when next they met.