Page 203 of The Long Road Back to Yesterday

“Not at all. It was obvious.”

He crossed toward the door.

“Now tell me whether Caroline intends to bring enough wine to make a ruined castle tolerable.”

“I shall see that Charles’s cognac is included. How does that suit you?”

* * *

Darcy and Bingley drove to Longbourn that afternoon.

Mr. Bennet received them in the library. Bingley had scarcely taken his seat before explaining the purpose of their visit.

“We have come with an invitation, sir. Darcy suggested that your daughters might benefit from a gentle airing. We have arranged to visit the ruins of Berkhamsted Castle three days hence, and we hope they will join us.”

Mr. Bennet glanced from one gentleman to the other. “You mean to invite all of my daughters?”

“Certainly,” Bingley said. “Miss Bingley and the Hursts will accompany us, as will Miss Darcy. We mean to take luncheon with us and spend a few hours upon the castle grounds before returning. There will be no company beyond our own party.”

“It is very well thought out, sir.”

“My sister is in charge of the excursion,” Bingley admitted. “I merely agreed to everything.”

Mr. Bennet smiled. “A wise division of labor. I see no objection. My daughters have had little enough fresh air these past weeks, and I cannot suppose their mother would have wished them shut inside until Michaelmas.”

Bingley’s pleasure was immediate. “Then I hope the ladies themselves will be equally willing.”

“You had better ask them. Jane is two-and-twenty, and I have discovered rather late in life that daughters occasionally have opinions of their own.”

They found the sisters together in the drawing room. Jane’s pleasure at seeing Bingley appeared before she could conceal it, and his expression answered hers so readily that Mr. Bennet gave a low chuckle as he took his usual chair.

Bingley repeated the invitation. Kitty immediately wanted to know whether Georgiana was going.

“She would be very disappointed if you did not,” Darcy said.

“Then I shall certainly go.”

Mary expressed considerably more interest when Darcy mentioned the history of the castle, while Jane looked into Mr. Bingley’s eyes and smiled.

Elizabeth looked at Mr. Darcy. “And whose notion was this expedition, sir?”

“Mine, although Miss Bingley has improved upon it considerably.”

“I should have suspected Mr. Bingley.”

Bingley protested that Darcy ought not receive all the credit merely because the idea happened to be his, and Jane laughed.

Only Lydia had said nothing.

She sat near the window with some sewing in her lap, although her needle had scarcely moved since the gentlemen entered. Mr. Bennet watched her for a moment.

“And you, Lydia? Would you like to go?”

She lowered her work. “I would rather stay at home, Papa, if you do not mind.”

Mr. Bennet’s expression changed.

“You may remain at home with me. I understand.”