Page 44 of An Accidental Meeting
“Elizabeth plays beautifully,” Aunt Gardiner said. “But the allure of fine weather does call to her more than her practise, I daresay.”
“Miss Bennet’s playing may not be as technical as some,” Mr. Darcy replied, “but there is a depth of feeling in it that is impossible to feign.”
“Darcy,” Mr. Bingley said, astonished. “That is a very pretty compliment. I did not even know you were capable of such a thing.”
“Thank you, Bingley,” Mr. Darcy said wryly.
“Miss Bennet could not ask for a more accomplished instructor than you, Miss Darcy,” Mrs. Hurst said cloyingly.
Miss Darcy fixed her eyes upon her plate.
“Hugh has long proclaimed that men ought to be as accomplished as women,” Aunt Nora declared. “He took up painting once.”
“Nuisance,” Judge Darcy muttered. “All the mixing of paint and waiting for one layer to dry before beginning the next. Required more patience than I possess.”
“The painting may not have gone well, but when my son Alexander was young, Hugh thought it wise to have him learn an instrument.”
“Thought it would keep him out of trouble,” the judge said. “It did not.”
“Does Alexander play the pianoforte?” Miss Darcy inquired, surprised.
“No, the cello,” Aunt Nora said.
“Try hauling that infernal instrument about to dinner parties,” Judge Darcy said, offering his niece a wink.
Aunt Nora shook her head at her husband. “And soon Alexander was attempting to discover the different rates of recurrence or vibrations at which the sounds were made rather than practicing the music.”
“We paid for a great many new strings that first year,” Judge Darcy said.
Aunt Nora shook her head. “It was all quite beyond me, I am afraid. Though he is proficient on the instrument now.”
Her husband chuckled. “It was better than the time he built his friction machine and had his grandparents all hold onto the string at once. Mamma had such a shock she never trusted Alexander again.” Judge Darcy shook his head. “Thought him quite mad.”
“He is not, of course,” Aunt Nora hastened to say. “He had read of Benjamin Franklin’s experiment with lightning and wanted to try himself without standing out in a storm.”
“Practical,” Mr. Darcy said, amused. “When I was a child, he had me testing the gaseous content of vapours with a small flame.”
“Singed you a bit, as I recall,” his uncle said.
Mr. Darcy concurred. “My mother forbade me from participating after that.”
“I do not blame her at all,” Aunt Gardiner said.
“I was rather disappointed,” Mr. Darcy said. “But I soon found myself occupied with riding lessons, no doubt orchestrated by my mother to distract me.” He took a sip of his wine. “What is Alexander up to now?”
“He is following Sir Humphrey Davey’s work on electro-chemical work rather closely at the moment,” the judge said. “I hope my son can find some useful application for his work as Sir Humphrey seems determined to do.”
“Like turning lead into gold?” Mr. Hurst asked.
Elizabeth stared. She did not think she had ever heard Mr. Hurst say anything at a dinner table beyond asking her disdainfully about her preference for a plain dish over a ragout or to ask for more of whatever was being served.
“Alchemy is not quite the same as chemistry,” Mr. Darcy replied, setting down his spoon. “I doubt my cousin has any more interest in gold than reading about King Midas.”
Mrs. Hurst nudged Miss Bingley. The latter looked at the former with annoyance.
“King Midas,” Mrs. Hurst said, “was one of Caroline’s favourite Norse myths. Is not that true, sister?”
Miss Bingley’s expression was oddly uncertain. “Yes. Of course.”
