Page 44 of The Heroic Mr Darcy's Bad Manners
She did not see her relations till she ventured down in the afternoon. Lord Limerick was out on business, but her grandmother returned at two o’clock. Elizabeth hastened to the hall to greet her, feeling lighter than she had in weeks.
“Are you well, Eilís?”
“Oh yes, very well indeed,” she replied to her grandmother’s query.
“Let me order tea and refreshments. I have something I wish to speak to you about.”
“Certainly,” Elizabeth agreed and followed her grandmother into the parlour. She had no idea what the lady wanted to address, but her mien was serious.
“I have visited Miss Eudora Darcy,” her grandmother revealed once the refreshments had been served. “She assured me that Mr Darcy spent months searching for you after the masquerade. It was most unfortunate that we took down the knocker that night, though that could not be helped. He called the next morning, and every morning after that until some urgent business called him away. When he returned, we had left for Áth Dara, and you had returned to Hertfordshire. You know the rest…”
“If he truly wanted to make himself pleasant, he should at least have treated me with respect,” Elizabeth protested.
“Do you not believe he would have treated you with humble deference if you had sought an introduction? You had the advantage of knowing who he was, whilst he had thought that you were a tall, red-headed beauty who had absconded to your Irish estate without a thought about your beau. If I have understood the chronological order of the assembly correctly, you had more than an hour to make yourself known to Mr Darcy before he made his uncharitable remarks. You obviously have a turn for masquerading because he never recognised you. You must acknowledge that, in this instance, it worked to your disadvantage.”
Elizabeth was startled that her grandmother would put the blame at her feet for the heartache she now suffered. She would dearly like to exculpate herself from the charges. Had she done them both a disservice and acted coquettishly, or worse—like a child? The possibility caused considerable agitation and provoked her to defend herself.
“If I were to form an attachment to any gentleman, he must treat every lady of all layers of society with respect. I cannot esteem one who rejects a lady based on her lack of beauty or consequence, without any regard for her character. Besides, it was not only that which earned my disapprobation. He cruelly mocked my mother’s lack of understanding.”
“Much like your father?” her grandmother enquired. “Well, you are not wrong, but have you considered that his feelings for Eilís would have made the attempts of his friend to engage him with other young ladies unpalatable? I shall leave you to contemplate. I must get ready before the theatre this evening. At my age, that is not a small feat.”
Her grandmother left, and Elizabeth sat stupefied for a few moments before she too hastened to her chamber and rang for her maid.
Once the ladies’ preparations were complete, the three residents of Limerick House left for Drury Lane. It was a crush, and friends of the marquess delayed them so much that the play had already begun when they entered their box. Elizabeth looked at the people next to them. A married couple, she surmised, of exceptional beauty. The pair was in that regard well matched. A lady from the box beyond greeted the gentleman, who she then learnt was Lord Ponsonby, but the gentleman completely overlooked her, and his wife bent her head as if in mortification. Elizabeth regarded the snubbed lady, who was uncommonly beautiful and appeared to find humour in the insult. The fair-haired gentleman beside her turned his head in her direction, and Elizabeth gasped. She even heard his voice suggesting loudly to the entire party that they should dine at his house after the performance. There was no chance she was mistaken.
“Grandmother! Mr Bingley is here. Look, in the box beyond Lord Ponsonby’s.”
Maeve Bennet lifted her opera glass and directed the device at the aforementioned box. She lowered it slowly and nudged Elizabeth.
“Pray, do not consider greeting Mr Bingley when he is enjoyingthatparticular company.”
Elizabeth glanced at the box. There were four gentlemen and four ladies, none of whom were known to her. She could see nothing amiss. They were fashionably dressed and appeared amused by the comedy being performed on stage.
“But why?” Elizabeth complained. In her mind it was the perfect opportunity to establish why Mr Bingley had not returned to Meryton, though his business, at this particular moment, did not appear to be that pressing.
Her grandmother leant in and whispered in her ear, “The short gentleman is respectable enough. He is the Duke of Argyll.”
“A duke!” Elizabeth interrupted. She could not fault the amiable Mr Bingley for his exalted friend.
“A Scottish duke, but the ladies are courtesans. It is the three Dubouchet sisters and their friend Miss Julia Storer. The latter is the fallen niece of the Irish Earl of Carysfort, and her mother, the Honourable Mrs Storer, was one of the maids of honour to our king’s royal mother. Miss Storer received the finest education in France and finished at Hampton Court. Soon after, her mother sent her on a visit to Mrs Cotton to help her with her nine small children. Whilst there, the girl managed to entangle herself with her host’s husband. She concealed her disgrace until she was seized with the pangs of labour while paying her respects to Her Majesty in court! Her mother and uncle were enraged by her indiscretion and hastened her off to the country. Her brother even risked his life calling out Colonel Cotton. He was wounded but not fatally so. She yet again abused them by writing to the colonel, who came running, and the scandal was complete. Now she has five or six children and lives in a small remote hovel outside town. I demand that you avoid an introduction to those ladies should anyone be so foolish as to suggest it.”
“Certainly!” Elizabeth promised, but she saw the inequity in disparaging the ladies whilst praising the peer.
“You do not want to be associated with the unvirtuous, frivolous carousers, becauseyourreputation will suffer.”
If this is the superior society in town Miss Bingley boasted about, she could have no reason to look down upon the honest, decent people of Meryton.
From then on, Elizabeth took pains not to look to her right lest Mr Bingley notice her and forward the undesirable introductions. She set her sight directly across the room and met the cavernous gaze of Mr Darcy. He nodded in acknowledgement, and Elizabeth bowed her head in return. He was attending with an elderly couple of distinction, and she could just see the contours of two other gentlemen at the back of the box.At least he has not joined the disreputable party to my right, she thought wryly as the mere notion of him having a mistress sent a pang to her chest.
One of the gentlemen behind him leant forwards, his face catching the light, and she immediately recognised him. What was Viscount Crawford doing with Mr Darcy? By the looks of it, he was no more intimidated by the gentleman than she. Elizabeth directed her eyes and thoughts to the stage, and soon the comedyThe Honey Moonengaged her entirely. Mr Elliston played the duke so very chivalrously and was everything a gentleman ought to be to win his fair lady.
A commotion to her right disrupted the performance. A young buck climbed up from the pit into Mr Bingley’s box. He was received with boisterous laughter and congenial handshakes, except from Mr Bingley, who was frowning in displeasure. He might have been duped by an invitation from an illustrious duke and been caught unaware in the clutches of the ill-reputed ladies? He might not even know what they were. With that comforting thought, Elizabeth returned her attention to the play.
When the lights were turned on during the interval, Elizabeth stayed with her grandmother to avoid encountering Mr Bingley and his disreputable companions. Uncle Henry left to fetch refreshments, and Elizabeth used the opportunity to enquire about the viscount.
“Grandmother, please do not look, but opposite our box I spotted Mr Darcy with an elderly couple and two gentlemen, one of which is Viscount Crawford.”
“Yes, they are cousins, and the couple are the viscount’s parents, Lord and Lady Matlock, while the colonel in regimentals is the viscount’s brother. Please do not mention them to Henry as it will only upset him. Lord Matlock and Henry had a fall-out years ago with no hope of redemption.”
