Page 34 of An Accidental Meeting
Miss Darcy turned her attention to Elizabeth. “I wanted one, but my brother laughed at the idea.”
It tickled Elizabeth to think of Mr. Darcy being faced with such a request. “I find I must agree with Mr. Darcy,” she said kindly.
“Of course you must,” Miss Bingley said, “for he is right.”
“But Miss Bingley,” Miss Darcy replied, her expression bemused, “did you not support me and say we should approach him about it when we arrived? I remember quite clearly, for it was only a day ago.”
Mrs. Annesley shook her head at Miss Darcy, and the girl closed her eyes briefly once she realised she had erred by questioning a guest on an inconsistency. It was fine to note such a thing, but not polite to point it out.
“I daresay the question of a hermit’s practicality is enough to create conflicting sentiments,” Elizabeth said playfully. Miss Bingley’s cheeks were still flushed with mortification, so she kept speaking to give the woman time to compose herself. “There is more dignified work, perhaps, but I find I must defend my mother in this. She rather purposefully hired a man who had lost his tenancy on a nearby estate because he grew too old to tend the farm himself and had no family to assist him. Sitting about pretending to be a hermit may not be the work he is used to, but it has allowed him to earn a wage sufficient for his comforts without forcing him to perform labour for which he is no longer suited.” She smiled. “Besides, it affords him somestature when he goes to have a drink at the tavern, for I am told he is happy to laugh at the quality who pay him so handsomely to sit about and say odd things.”
Miss Darcy was vaguely disappointed at such an unromantic picture of a cherished wish, but Mrs. Annesley smiled.
“Never you mind, Miss Darcy,” Elizabeth concluded. “You are welcome to Longbourn at any time, you know, to visit us and our hermit.”
The girl’s face lit up. “I should like that, Miss Bennet,” she said.
“I must warn you, Miss Darcy,” Miss Bingley said, “Hertfordshire is not at all what you are used to.”
“And what fun would that be?” Elizabeth replied. This entire conversation was ridiculous, and she meant to treat it as a lark—though if Miss Darcy ever did decide to visit, Elizabeth would be happy to show her about. “We cannot always do the things we have always done. How dull a life that would be!”
Miss Bingley fixed her eyes on Elizabeth’s, and to her utter surprise, there was a flash of interest in the look. She might have been mistaken, of course, for it did not last long.
“My goodness,” Mrs. Hurst tittered after a look at her sister that had Miss Bingley straightening her back. “You are quite the radical, Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth grew thoughtful. “Perhaps such a desire is believed radical, Mrs. Hurst, but I cannot agree. Why would a desire to learn more about the world in which we live be threatening in any way?”
“Women are meant to be home with their husbands, Miss Bennet.” Mrs. Hurst lifted her teacup to her lips.
“As you are?” Elizabeth inquired sweetly, glancing around the room. Had the woman forgotten that only a few hours ago she was in a carriage, travelling?
“My husband wished to make the journey, and I do my duty as his wife to accompany him.”
Elizabeth considered this. “Do not both the husband and the wife benefit if she can be a true partner to him and he to her?” she asked, genuinely curious. “How can a woman be of any true assistance to her spouse if she stops questioning or learning once the vows are spoken? It is not as though the world itself ceases to change simply because one has wed.”
“Questioning your husband?” Mrs. Hurst replied loftily. “Spoken like an unmarried woman.”
Someone moved in the doorway, and Elizabeth lifted her eyes.
Mr. Darcy was watching her. Listening to her.
“It may not be a fashionable sentiment,” she said, meeting his gaze and arching one brow, “but surely improving oneself with all those accomplishments Mr. Darcy deems necessary must have some higher purpose than merelycapturinga husband.”
“You cannot fault Mr. Darcy for wishing his wife to possess talents that make his life more comfortable,” Miss Bingley said when her sister glanced at her.
Elizabeth returned her attention to Mrs. Hurst. “I am certainly not advocating neglect of a wife’s obligations, but do we not owe ourselves the right to pursue those things that interest us, solely because theyareof interest to us? Men certainly do.”
“Like the pianoforte?” Miss Darcy asked.
Her aunt shook her head fondly, and Elizabeth felt emboldened to conclude. “Precisely, Miss Darcy. You have the right to play a piece of music your future husband may not prefer, simply because you do.” Mrs. Hurst shook her head, and Elizabeth wondered how she could turn the conversation, for she would never convince the woman that her view of matrimony was superior, particularly if her own marriage was nothing like Elizabeth’s ideal. “I understand that many men wish their wives to live only for them, but I cannot think that an agreeable union, not even for him. It is not one I would choose.”
“I see. Have you many suitors lining up for the honour, Miss Bennet?” Mrs. Hurst inquired blithely.
Elizabeth did not dare look in Mr. Darcy’s direction. “I do not,” she replied with a laugh, as it was no one’s business how many proposals she had declined. She addressed Miss Bingley and Miss Darcy. “We shall have to face society together, ladies, and insist that any man who intends to court us be of a more enlightened nature.”
Again, Elizabeth noted that flash of interest from Miss Bingley, though it was quickly concealed.
“An equality of mind and spirit in marriage is a romantic notion, to be sure, but we must accept that it is not a practical one. And when there is no fortune or significant connection, a woman may find herself without a husband at all," Mrs. Hurst said sharply.
