Page 22 of The Blackmail of Mr. Darcy
“Yes, indeed, that is her. Mrs. Wickall did not have a rainbow library in her home—far from it. Instead, she removed almost all of Mr. Wickall’s books, other than the few that were a particular shade of deep red with gold-leaf titles on the spines. And then she bought many more books and ended up filling the shelveswith books bound in the same deep red colour with gold-leaf titles.”
Georgiana’s eyes were wide, her eyebrows were high, and she looked as though she was attempting to suppress a smile. “Oh, yes, I remember Mrs. Wickall’s red and gold library very well indeed. It was quite a sight!”
“It must have been!” Miss Elizabeth said. “What think you, Miss Bingley?”
Miss Bingley’s eyes were shining. “Decorating with books, by colour…. This is a very good notion, one I have never contemplated before. I think I shall redo the Netherfield library!”
Georgiana gasped. “All red and gold?”
“Oh, no, indeed.” Miss Bingley was silent for a few seconds and then, preening, said, “I hope I have better taste than that! Red is not a very soothing colour, and a library should have a quiet, hushed, erudite feel to it, a soothing feel. I shall do only books in deep blue, pale green, and many different shades of grey. What think you of that colour scheme, Miss Eliza?”
“That sounds truly lovely, Miss Bingley. Very restful. And, remember, it will not necessarily be the entire cover that must be those colours; only the spines will show.”
“Yes! That will make the entire endeavour easier, I believe,” Miss Bingley said. “Thank you!” She seemed to catch herself a moment later, startled that she had thanked Miss Elizabeth for anything at all. She frowned as if she could take back her warm words with a chilly glare.
Miss Bingley talked and talked through two additional courses, planning how she would tie in the the colours of the book spines with those of the wall coverings and curtains and rugs and decor. Darcy would have attempted to busy his mind with other concerns, as he often did when Miss Bingley spoke, but he was utterly entranced by watching Miss Elizabeth’sexpressive face. She mostly kept her face turned towards Miss Bingley, looking riveted by their hostess’s decorating prowess, displaying a smile that did not seem even the slightest bit sarcastic. But her eyes…. Darcy could see all of her mirth in her sparkling eyes.
Darcy approached Miss Elizabeth after dinner, when the group was gathered in the blue drawing room. “Is this the name of the men, and their towns?” he asked, handing her a piece of paper. “Mr. Wickley of Hatfield? And his uncle, Mr. Wickley of Ramsbottom?” he asked.
Miss Elizabeth read the note, which asked “True? Rainbow library?”
“Oh dear, you have misspelled his name. Let me correct it for you,” Miss Elizabeth said. She moved to a desk in the corner, got out the ink and quill, and wrote, “I do not know that he has an uncle with a rainbow library. But, on the other hand, I do not know that he does NOT have such an uncle, with such a library!”
She blew on the paper and gave it back to Mr. Darcy. “I wrote the direction as well, so you will be sure to find the Mr. Wickleys.”
Mr. Darcy glanced at the note, then folded it and put it carefully inside one of his pockets. His eyes were warm, but he kept their contact as brief as possible under Miss Bingley’s disapproving scowl.
Georgiana had taken up a book she had been reading earlier in the day, and she began giggling.
“Oh, dear Georgiana!” Miss Bingley said. “It is so pleasant to hear your laughter. That has been a rare sound of late. Pray tell us which book you find so humorous. Although, never mind; its spine is not the correct colour, so I suppose we will not be keeping it.”
Georgiana laughed harder, and Darcy hurried to say, “Oh, no, Miss Bingley. This book is one we brought with us, and weshall be keeping it with our things and taking it away with us, never fear.”
“I must go see to my sister,” Miss Elizabeth said as she rose from her chair. “Georgiana, would you like to come for a few minutes? Bring your book; I am certain that my sister could use a laugh, and it sounds as if your book is quite amusing.”
Georgiana managed to rein in her laughter long enough to say a proper good night, and Darcy watched the two young women leave the room. He could not keep his lips from twitching into a smile as he considered the ridiculous dinner conversation.
But soon the smile left his face as his thoughts turned to the other tactic Miss Elizabeth hoped to utilise to protect his sister. To discredit Miss Bingley as an information source could be somewhat dangerous, could it not? Miss Elizabeth had suggested pretending to set up an important private meeting and ensuring that Miss Bingley heard about the time and location of the meeting. The attempt to draw Miss Bingley in would involve the meeting participants deliberately stating falsehoods. Miss Elizabeth had said that they would only spread misinformation that could easily be refuted; should Miss Bingley take the bait and spread the untruths, the misinformation could then be fully disproved.
However, would that still not involve some risk for the person the misinformation concerned? Even refuted, disproved rumours sometimes spread….
Darcy decided that his cousin Richard might be able to help with this sort of campaign, and he sat down to write a message to the colonel. He was currently stationed in London, working on gathering and deciphering intelligence while he recovered from a significant injury. He might be able to obtain leave to work on safeguarding his ward’s reputation. But it would not do for him to come to Netherfield at first. They must meet somewhere else,a place far from Miss Bingley’s prying ears, where they could lay their plans.
The following morning,Darcy checked in with Mr. Tomkins and was assured that, unless he was a skilled carpenter, there was nothing more he could do at this point. The steward shared that Mr. Philips had let him know that workmen would be arriving that afternoon to begin to make the structural repairs, plus a team who would be working on repairs of the damaged kitchen items. “I have already informed Mr. Bingley, sir, and he knows that he will have to make arrangements to house the workers.”
Darcy nodded and said, “Let me know if it turns out I can be of service.”
He broke his fast and then went to the library to deal with the correspondence he had neglected the day before. Several hours later, Darcy put his completed letters out for posting and saw that the first two workmen had arrived concurrent with the arrival of a luncheon sent by Lucas Lodge.
When the Netherfield residents sat down together to enjoy the luncheon, Georgiana began to talk about Margate. Darcy immediately remembered that the seaside town was one that Miss Elizabeth had suggested for the confusion campaign. Since Miss Elizabeth was not present to assist Georgiana, he listened with the goal of furthering the conversation.
His sister started off in a minor way: “Miss Bingley, Mrs. Hurst, have you ever been to Margate?”
It turned out that Mrs. Hurst, before she was married, had travelled with a friend to Margate.
Georgiana asked, “And did you like it there? I have heard that the assemblies at Margate are more engaging than those at Bath or Brighton. I myself have been to Margate and found the beaches quite delightful.”
“Yes, it was lovely,” Mrs. Hurst began to say, but her soft voice was almost immediately overwhelmed by Miss Bingley, who said with a calculated air, “I am sure it is not so nice as Ramsgate, would you not agree, dear Georgiana?”
