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Jane and Elizabeth led the rest into the drawing room.
“Where have you three been?” Fanny demanded upon seeing her three eldest daughters file into the drawing room. Anything else she was about to say was lost when she saw the proud Mr Darcy, and a gentleman she did not recognise. Mr Collins followed them, and behind him were the Hursts and Mr Bingley. Fanny did not see Miss Bingley, but she cared not as long as Mr Bingley was present. “Does my Jane not look good?”
Her mother putting her forward in this manner only caused Jane to blush furiously. She did not know where to look. Thankfully, Lizzy gripped her hand and squeezed it which calmed Jane down considerably.
Seeing that his angel was embarrassed, Bingley knew he needed to distract the matron. “Mrs Bennet, I have the invitation for your family to the ball to be held on the morrow. I am very sorry it is so late, but I am afraid my younger sister was taken ill, so the invitations were not sent out in a timely fashion. I told Mr Collins that he is more than welcome as part of your party.”
Fanny was about to ask for an introduction to the other man. However, he asked for an introduction first. She soon learnt that he was the second son of an earl and a colonel in the Royal Dragoons.
“If you are a colonel, why are you not wearing your scarlet coat?” Lydia demanded rudely.
“Because, Miss Lydia, I am not on duty. That does not make me any less of an officer. Unlike the militia officers I saw in your town, I do not have to pretend to be an officer, as I am in the regulars,” Fitzwilliam responded with a grin. The girl was exactly as Collins had described her. Brash, forward, and silly. The one next to her, Miss Kitty, looked on with a silly smile.
Lydia did not like the reply. The officers she liked were real, not pretend officers. What did this man know? He was not even in his scarlet coat!
“Miss Bennet, and especially Miss Elizabeth, I must beg your pardon for not checking my younger sister while you were my guests at Netherfield Park. She was unpardonably rude, and it was made worse by virtue of the fact that she used to be my hostess,” Bingley stated.
“I would like to add to that by begging your pardon as well, Miss Bennet, and as my brother said, especially Miss Elizabeth. In trying to placate my sister, I behaved in an unacceptable way,” Mrs Hurst added.
“It must have been Lizzy’s fault with her impertinent ways…” Fanny began.
“I hate to disagree with you, Mrs Bennet, but the fault belonged to my younger sister. Miss Elizabeth’s manners were impeccable,” Bingley replied firmly.
Fanny huffed and looked away. Then, she almost fainted dead away when the proud and rude Mr Darcy apologised for his behaviour at the assembly and beyond. What was the world coming to?
As the guests began to leave, William leaned towards Mary. “Will you take a turn in the park with me, please?” He was happy that Mary blushed and agreed.
Chapter 21
Mary walked out into the park on Cousin William’s arm, with Jane and Elizabeth following. The day was cold but not freezing; all three sisters and William Collins were wearing heavy outerwear and fur-lined gloves.
Jane and Elizabeth found a bench in the weak sun from which all the park was visible. The former bent her head towards the latter. “Who would have ever thought that Mary would be the first of us to have a serious suitor? She deserves her happiness as much, if not more, than any of us,” Jane opined.
“I agree,” Elizabeth responded. “Have you noticed how Mary has come alive since our cousin has been paying her unofficial court?”
“Indeed, I have. However, I am confused. How is it that Mamma does not see how well suited they are and still uses every opportunity to push you and Cousin Collins together?” Jane asked.
“Unfortunately, Mamma and I share the trait of stubbornness. I always tried to tell myself that I am nothing like Mamma; however, thanks to our cousin forcing me to reevaluate my former opinions, I have been able to see that error in my character. I so much wanted to paint Mr Darcy as the villain that I disengaged all logic when I listened to the tale Mr Wickham spun for me. Had I not been driven by my pride and prejudices, I would have been able to identify all the inconsistencies in his speech. This is a long way of answering your question. Like I have before, when Mamma makes up her mind, she will not allow facts in front of her nose to sway her. She has decided that I am for Mr Collins, so that is all she is able to think about, which makes her blind to the truth.” Elizabeth shook her head. “It is humbling to realise that I share stubbornness and wilful blindness with Mamma.”
In the past, Jane would have tried to excuse both people Elizabeth had mentioned, but since the meeting in the parlour, and Mr Bingley and Mrs Hurst apologising for the way Miss Bingley behaved, she was trying to see the world as it was and not as she wanted it to be. “I dare say there is truth in what you said, Lizzy.”
She raised her eyebrows at Jane who was not looking for the best explanation, but Elizabeth chose to carry on without comment. “Seeing how Mary has reacted to receiving attention from our cousin, do you think that perhaps we did Mary a disservice by excluding her from the circle of our friendship?” Elizabeth queried. “By the by, Lydia will not be happy that Mary is first in an area she has long claimed would be hers.”
“I always thought that Lydia’s claim that she would be the first of us to marry was a hollow one. She is clearly not ready to be a wife to some man,” Jane replied. “As far as Mary goes, yes, I think we did her a disservice by not including her.”
“All we can do is not repeat the same errors in the future,” Elizabeth mused.
“Lizzy, how do you feel after all the revelations about Mr Wickham and Mr Darcy’s apologies? Did you find them sincere?” Jane enquired.
“As to sincerity, yes, I do believe Mr Darcy was. Mamma was so fixated on Mr Bingley and the Hursts, I wonder if she even heard what Mr Darcy said when he apologised to her. You know how single-minded Mamma gets when she thinks she is helping you catch a suitor. Add to that she was distressed that I had somehow upset the elegant Miss Bingley, which would cause Mr Bingley to leave you,” Elizabeth responded. “After discovering how easily Mr Wickham pulled the wool over my eyes, I almost feel like I do not know myself. I was wrong about Messrs Darcy and Wickham, and I am happy that Mr Darcy proposed that we begin again. I can scarcely credit that he has felt an attraction to me from almost the moment of our meeting.”
“It just shows he has good taste,” Jane stated. “Have I not always told you that no matter what anyone says, you are as pretty as I am purported to be? At least now, I am willing to own that Mamma only sees those of us who look like her as pretty.”
“Enough about us. What do you think Mary and our cousin are discussing?” Elizabeth cocked her head to the other side of the park and the seated couple.
After a few circuits of the park, during which time they had spoken of nothing of consequence, William Collins led Mary to a bench. He waited for her to be seated before he also sat, allowing enough space between them to satisfy propriety.
“Cousin Mary…Mary, even had we not spoken of it on this bench, you could not have missed the marked attention I have been paying you,” William began.
