Mr and Mrs Darcy 02 Suspense & Sensibility (3 page)

"You cannot fault her for harboring the same aspirations as every
other young lady in town." A servant arrived with Elizabeth's wrap and
helped her drape it over her arms.

"Georgiana anticipates the evening more soberly."

"Your sister has experienced previous London seasons, so the
prospect of a society affair does not hold the novelty it does for Kitty. Yet
despite her natural reserve, I believe Georgiana, too, looks forward to
increasing her limited acquaintance this evening."

"Her present circle is quite large enough."

"Darcy, you have shielded Georgiana from the fashionable world
since the day she came out. You cannot sequester her forever."

He turned, avoiding her gaze by inspecting his appearance in the trumeau
mirror. "I do nothing of the sort."

Behind him, she raised a brow. He saw the accusation in her reflection.

"I merely restrict her exposure to men whose motives or merit I question,"
he clarified, setting his hat down on the table to adjust the shoulders of his
coat.

"That is to say, any men at all."

He faced her and shrugged. "Am I to blame if all the gentlemen one
encounters these days are rowdies who lack purpose? Or worse - rakes and rogues
who engage in less than noble behavior?"

She sighed, knowing that a single conversation could not surmount Darcy's
natural protective instincts toward his sister, nor
his
self-reproach for what he considered an inexcusable failure of watchfulness on
his part. When Georgiana was but fifteen, even before she was officially out in
society, she'd almost eloped with a fortune hunter - the same ne'er-do-well who
had eventually seduced Lydia. That another, more sophisticated friend of theirs
recently had been similarly deceived by another "gentleman" only
increased his mistrust.

"Not every potential suitor is a secret scoundrel, Darcy. Honorable
men yet exist."

"I should like to know where." Though he spoke lightly, she
could read disillusionment in his eyes.

"I found one."

She crossed to the table, lifted his hat, and placed it on his head. As
she met his gaze, she offered a playful smile. "Unless you really married
me for my vast fortune?"

"Nay," he said, taking her hands in his as she lowered them.

"My superior connections?"

"Mistaken again." He held her gaze and returned her impish
grin. "In fact, I believe it was
you
who drew in me."

"Indeed? I had no notion of my own talent for scheming. To what do
I owe my success?"

"Your honeyed tongue. Who could resist being told that he was full
of arrogance, conceit, and selfishness? Or that he was the last man in the
world whom you could ever be prevailed upon to marry?"

"With enticements like that, you must have wondered that no one had
whisked me to the altar already."

"I wondered only whether I could change enough to lure you there myself."

She studied him a long moment, grateful that they had found their way
past early misunderstandings and to each other. "First impressions are not
always accurate reflections of one's character, are they?"

"No. Thank heaven."

They arrived at the Middletons' quite late, even by fashionable standards.
Kitty practically leapt from the carriage when it came to a stop in Conduit
Street. They entered to find the formal receiving line ended and their hosts
circulating among the guests.

To Kitty's obvious delight and Darcy's equally evident despair, the
event was indeed a squeeze. The rooms were packed so full of people that
Elizabeth wasn't sure how anyone managed to converse, let alone dance. Yet
strains of music from the next room indicated that couples made a noble attempt
amid all the noise and heat.

"Have you ever seen so many people of consequence in one place?"
Kitty exclaimed. "And so many gentlemen! Elizabeth, surely there is someone
here to whom you can introduce me?"

Elizabeth scanned the room but saw not one familiar face. Luckily, she
was spared the necessity of replying with a disappointing negative by the
approach of an older man with a ruddy, genial countenance. "Is this our
host?" she asked Darcy
"Indeed."

"Mr. Darcy! I'm glad you are come!" Sir John clapped Darcy's
shoulder heartily, suggesting an acquaintance of years rather than barely a
se'nnight. "I was just talking with Carville and Hartford about organizing
a shooting party, and you must promise to be among our number."

"I would be honored, though my skills could but poorly complement
any party led by you."

"Nonsense! I can tell by the look of you, you're a fine shot."

"Fair," Darcy demurred. Though he enjoyed shooting and
hunting, he was not a man who liked to boast of his skills or
recount
every detail of his last chase. "However, they tell me at the club that
you are a sportsman without equal."

"Whether that is true or not I shall leave to the judgment of
others, but I can think of nowhere I would rather be than out of doors with my
hounds." He smiled broadly at the women. "These lovely ladies must be
your wife and sisters."

"Sir John Middleton, may I present my wife, Mrs. Darcy, her sister,
Miss Catherine Bennet, and my sister, Miss Darcy."

"Charmed!" The baronet, to Elizabeth's relief, bowed rather
than offer the same effusive welcome Darcy had received. "Please, you must
come with me to meet Lady Middleton. She will not want to defer the pleasure of
your acquaintance another moment."

They found their hostess in the card room, attempting to complete a rubber
while half-listening to the whines of a girl about six years of age. A
flustered nursemaid was trying to discreetly steer the girl from the room, but
Lady Middleton's distracted murmurs only encouraged the child to continue her
campaign to be allowed to remain.

"Marguerite, what are you doing out of the nursery?" Sir John
gave the child a playful pat on the head as if rewarding one of his hounds. He
turned to the Darcys with a smile. "My youngest," he said, as if
birth order provided sufficient explanation for the child's presence.

"I'm sorry, sir." The nursemaid tried to take Marguerite's
hand, but the child jerked her fingers away. "She dashed out the door and
down the stairs before I could stop her."

Sir John rubbed the underside of Marguerite's chin. "Don't want to
miss the party, do you, little dove?"

"Let me stay, Papa! I want to stay! Make Mama let me stay!"

Elizabeth generally liked children - indeed, she cherished hopes of having
her own before long. But allowing such a young girl at a formal society
function was an indulgence she'd never
witnessed before, and for good reason.
Marguerite's pleas and cajoles so distracted both parents that Lady Middleton
could scarcely focus as Sir John made a rather disorganized introduction to the
Darcys.

"It is a pleasure - hold still, please, Marguerite - to meet you,
Mrs. Darcy," Lady Middleton finally said to Georgiana.

"No, no, my dear." Sir John interjected. "That's - in a
moment, dove - that's Miss Darcy The other ladies - I said one moment, my
little angel - "

"Lovely to meet you all. I have been dying to make your
acquaintance for ages, ever since Tuesday." Lady Middleton turned her attention
back to her cards. "Marguerite, do cease tugging on my arm."

Whilst the Middletons were thus besieged, three gentlemen entered the
room. Two of them appeared very much alike: large, athletic young men who
looked like they could sit a horse or box in Jackson's Rooms with equal skill.
They wore close-fitting single-breasted coats - one claret, one brown - and
fair hair carefully styled to appear as tousled as if they had just come in
from a foxhunt. The third gentleman wore his dark locks in the same mode, as
deliberately arranged as his cravat. He had a more slender but no less vigorous
build, his broad shoulders and narrow waist shown to advantage by a blue dress
coat so up-to-the-minute in fashion that it could have been cut that morning.
Tight-fitting pantaloons and silk stockings revealed muscular legs, and his
polished shoes competed with the chandelier for shine.

By all appearances, they were typical London bloods, all three -
-aristocratic gents with too much time and money, and little ambition to do
anything productive with either. Elizabeth dismissed them without another
thought, until she heard Kitty sigh beside her.

"Look at them, Lizzy - pinks of the
ton
if ever I saw one."
She sighed again. "Oh, they're coming this way!" Kitty looked
as if she
might swoon with the effort of keeping her excitement in check. "Quickly -
is my hair still in place?"

"At least as well as theirs."

The gentlemen reached Lady Middleton's table. "Mother," said
the young man in brown, "Lady Carrington is looking for you. We left her
in the dining room."

"Thank you, William. I shall go to her directly I finish this
rubber."

"William, tell Mama to let me stay!"

William looked somewhat amused by his sister's demand, but the other
fair-haired gentleman cast her an impatient glance. "Marguerite, ought you
not be in bed?"

"Go away, John. You are always such a spoiler!"

"A soiree is no place for children."

Marguerite was on the verge of another retort when the third fellow intervened
to diffuse the family squabble. "Miss Marguerite, if I asked your mother
very sweetly, do you think she would honor me with an introduction to this gentleman
and the pretty ladies with him?"

"They are only a Mr. Darcy and his sisters. Mama, if you do not let
me stay, I shall scream. I shall!" Her shrill voice already carried above
the din.

"Nonsense, child. You will behave like a proper young lady while
Nurse escorts you back upstairs." Lady Middleton turned to the Darcys as
the nursemaid stepped forward once more to take her charge. "Forgive me.
These are my sons, John and William Middleton, and their friend Mr. Harry -
Henry - Dashwood. Gentlemen, this is Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, his wife, and their
sisters - "

"Nooooooo!" ' Marguerite's shriek brought the burbling room to
abrupt silence. Lady Middleton gaped at her daughter, her expression flashing
from horror to embarrassment to anger to self-consciousness in rapid
succession. Marguerite regarded her
mother warily, realizing too late that even
mothers worn down by the demands of seven previous children have thresholds of
tolerance that cannot be crossed.

"Now that you have caused a scene, we need not indulge you further
to avoid one," Lady Middleton said quietly.

The young nurse, whose further attempts to lead her charge away had
occasioned the outburst, apologized profusely to her mistress and reached for
Marguerite.

"I think you have sufficiently exhibited your ability to control
the child," Lady Middleton said to her servant. She took her daughter by
the hand. "We are going upstairs. Now. And if you want Nurse to keep her
position, you will stay in the nursery and behave yourself for the remainder of
the night."

Those at the card tables went back to their games of whist and lottery
but awkward silence lingered in the air.

"Mr. Darcy, was it?" Mr. Dashwood stepped toward them. "I
believe I've heard of you down at White's. You have an estate in Derbyshire, do
you not
⁷
"

Darcy bowed. "Yes, Pemberley Near Lambton." He studied Mr. Dashwood.
"Your name sounds familiar to me, as well."

"Perhaps you are thinking of my father, Mr. John Dashwood - a longtime
member of White's."

"Of course. How is your father?"

"He passed away last autumn."

After Darcy and the rest of their party offered condolences, Sir John
cleared his throat.

"Mr. Darcy, if your wife will excuse us, Carville and Hartford are
in the billiards room, along with some other gentlemen I would like you to
meet. You must hear Hartford recount his last foxhunt. What a tale! To tell it
properly takes a full half-hour."

"Half an hour?" Darcy stammered.

"At least."

He turned to Elizabeth, his expression revealing to her alone
the
felicity he anticipated. "Can you get on without me for a while?"

"We can survive." She suppressed a wry smile and lowered her
voice so that it reached only his ears. "Will you?"

Before Darcy could respond, their host addressed his sons and Mr.
Dashwood. "I'm sure you fellows will attend to the ladies?"

"Of course, Father," answered William.

Darcy departed with the baronet to enjoy Hartford's regaling account,
and William immediately fulfilled his filial obligation by asking Georgiana to
dance. She accepted, and the two went to join the reel just beginning.

John Middleton suggested that perhaps the two remaining ladies might
care for some refreshment. Though not hungry or thirsty, Elizabeth welcomed the
opportunity to move to another room of the house. No sooner did the party pass
through the doorway, however, than Mr. Middleton spotted a chap he simply had
to speak to about a horse, or a hound, or something or other, and would the
ladies please excuse him? He abandoned them before they could answer, leaving
Elizabeth and Kitty in the sole custody of Mr. Dashwood.