The Gentleman & The Rake

A Man of Few Words: Chapter 3

Elizabeth Bennet Comes to Stay at Netherfield, and Darcy Gets All Flustered 

Several days after Sir Williams's party, Darcy and Charles spent the evening with Colonel Forster, who commanded the militia quartered in Meryton. Colonel Forster was a affable man who spoke more about horses than troop movements. Darcy didn't put this down to a frivolous mind. Colonel Forster was simply the kind of man who thought he should entertain people with innocuous topics. 

They returned to Netherfield near ten. Miss Bingley greeted them with the news that the elder Miss Bennet, who had come for dinner, was ill and currently resting in an upstairs room. 

Charles peppered his sister with questions: "Is she feverish? Should we send for someone? Fetch some draughts?"

"I hope she feels better," Darcy said and went to bed. 

In the morning, he was told that the Bingley siblings had sent for the local apothecary, Mr. Jones. Charles insisted on giving Darcy a detailed account of what he said to Mr. Jones and what Mr. Jones said to Charles and what Miss Bingley said to Mr. Jones and what Mr. Jones said Miss Bennet said to him and so on and so on. Darcy ate his toast and coffee and waited for Mr. Hurst to finish with the newspaper. 

Towards the end of breakfast, the door opened to admit a visitor: Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Darcy scrambled to his feet and looked beyond her, expecting Mr. or Mrs. Bennet. But Miss Elizabeth was alone. 

He frowned. He hadn't heard a carriage. "No," Miss Elizabeth was saying to Miss Bingley, "I walked from Longbourn," which was quite a distance even if she cut across the fields, which she obviously had. She looked exceptionally well, Darcy acknowledged, her eyes bright and cheeks glowing. He folded his arms so he wouldn't smile daftly at her like, well, Charles. 

Charles was beaming as he shook Miss Elizabeth's hand and told her all about what Mr. Jones said. Miss Bingley took Miss Elizabeth upstairs to her sister. Darcy went to the library to figure out exactly how many miles lay between Longbourn and Netherfield. 

Miss Elizabeth was a hearty walker. 

* * * 

Darcy spent the rest of the day with the stable master. Charles came out towards mid-afternoon, agreed with every recommendation Darcy and the master made, and returned to the house. Darcy sighed. Maybe the Netherfield experiment would only last four months. He realized Miss Jane Bennet was a concern, but Miss Elizabeth was more than capable of coping with any contingency. Charles needed to accept that being a landowner meant more than the occasional comment on the condition of the roof. It was a life-role. 

Darcy’s trust in Miss Elizabeth’s commonsense was confirmed at dinner. She answered Charles’s questions thoroughly and equably, allaying all his concerns. In fact, Darcy acknowledged, she handled Bingley with finesse. Bingley needed firmness without meanness; meanness simply bewildered him.

Darcy was grateful as well as impressed. Now, perhaps, he could convince Charles to focus on his new property’s easements. Miss Elizabeth returning upstairs, Darcy retrieved Netherfield’s plans from the library.

When he re-entered the dining room, Miss Bingley was babbling about some subject or other. Darcy unfolded the plans, forcing Mr. Hurst to move his dessert plate.

"You observed it, Mr. Darcy," Miss Bingley said, and he raised his head. "I'm sure you would not wish to see your sister make such an exhibition." 

"Certainly not," Darcy said. Georgiana shrank from making exhibitions. 

"To walk three miles, or four miles--" 

"Three point four," Darcy muttered. 

"--shows a conceited independence, a most country-bred indifference to decorum."