Fangs and Prejudice

Chapter 2

Mr. Bennet made sure to be one of the first to call on Mr. Bingley upon his arrival at Netherfield Park. He was rather cautious when leaving, as to avoid his wife having any knowledge of the matter. When hearing the news that a young man had let Netherfield Park, he immediately decided in his mind that he would call upon him. He was more than delighted to allow his wife  to wallow in misery at the thought of missing out on such an opportunity, resulting in her believing that Mr. Bingley would in fact marry some one or other's daughter.

"Perhaps you would consider reading a book, Kitty. I'm sure Mr. Bingley would be impressed over a young women's ability to speak of things other than soldiers and bonnets." Mr. Bennet responded to his daughter's dramatics about how there was nothing remotely entertaining for her to do.

"But we shall never know of such things, will we, Mr. Bennet." Mrs. Bennet turned her head towards her husband and glanced at him haughtily with wide eyes and tight, pursed lips as she pushed a needle through the embroidery cloth she had been working on that afternoon.

"Let it be known, that the only reason to cause Kitty to pick up a book, would be in attempts to charm a handsome young man." Elizabeth added to beckon the conversation elsewhere. She was tired of hearing her mother moan over the lost prospects of Mr. Bingley falling in love with one of her beloved daughters.

"And let it be known, that I, Kitty Bennet, concur full heartedly," she acknowledged before tearing her empty gaze from the garden and pushing herself up from the window sill seat to join her sisters on the settee that was nearer to the fireplace.

"I as well. " added Lydia, her closest confidant, with a raised finger and wide grin. Kitty looked over to Lydia and they chuckled.

"I'm ashamed that the both of you are proud over the matter." Mary had paused her decent-at-best attempt at the pianoforte to rebuke her sisters.

"What you should be ashamed of Mary, is your pianoforte playing," Kitty countered, causing all of the Bennet sisters to laugh under their breathes and share discrete, amused looks with one another.

"Papa!" Mary shouted as she glared at her sisters.

"Alright, enough, girls. With continued practice, Mary will improve," Mr. Bennet cleared his throat and crossed his legs. "Do not be surprised to find that I have a sudden interest in the garden.." he added causing all his daughters, besides Mary, to laugh once again.

Mary huffed as she pushed the piano bench away and sat in a seat, joining the rest of her sisters, but making sure to sit in her own separate chair. She opened her book with force and held it up to block everyone from her view, irritation radiating off of her.

"Come now, Mary. We are all simply enjoying some light humour," Mr. Bennet said.

Mrs. Bennet's bitter gaze was once again fixed on her husband, to which Jane, the eldest, was well aware. She wrapped a single arm around her mother.

"Do not worry, mamma. To-morrow fortnight, a party will be held and we will have the opportunity to meet him then. You must remember that Mrs. Long has promised to introduce us to Mr. Bingley at the assemblies." She spoke gently with a smile and hoped that her comment would ease the tension between her parents.

"Oh, yes. Mrs. Long." Her once wide eyes had decreased twice their size as her squinted glare was now focused in one corner of the room, as if Mrs. Long was standing there herself. "There is no doubt in my mind that that...that," she sputtered, "woman, will keep Mr. Bingley all to herself and those two nieces of hers." She scoffed and shook her head before rather forcefully shoving her needle through her embroidery cloth while mumbling under her breath.

"Mr. Bingley has just arrived in Netherfield Park and is already causing animosity among acquaintances." Mr. Bennet commented.

"I do not think it is just among acquaintances that he causes animosity." Elizabeth inserted, looking quickly at her mother before sharing a smirk with her father. He winked for only her to see before dramatically sighing out loud. Mrs. Bennet looked towards her husband and scoffed.

"The audacity for you to sigh with despair at this moment! Tell me Mr. Bennet, what is it that has caused you such hardships as of late?" As expected, she did not desire any sort of answer from her husband which was clear to see when she continued straight away to her next choice of words.

"Would you like to know what troubles me so? That dastardly Mr. Bingley, is what. I wish to never hear his name again!" She yelled fervently and slammed the embroidery onto her lap.

"Well that is most certainly bad timing. I do wish you would have notified me of your resentment of the man before I called upon him this morning. I fear that it is too late to rescind my invitation to him, as acquaintances have already been made."

Everyone's heads, including Mary's, seemed to snap in unison to look upon their father, each of them adorned with a shocked expression, as if a goat was resting on top of his head. He smiled in turn, this being exactly the response that he had hoped for.

"Mr. Bennet, this is most definitely not the time for another one of your games." Mrs. Bennet's eyes twinkled with hope, but like many times before, when it was for once actually safe to believe upon her husband's words, she was rather hesitant.

"It appears that you will be the one who must introduce Mrs. Long to Mr. Bingley. That is, if you find her tolerable enough to do so." Mr. Bennet cleared his throat and opened the book that laid on the small table next to his chair and began to read once again.

Silence continued to fill the room after relaying his news, causing Mr. Bennet to remove only his gaze from his book and look past his spectacles, a common thing for him to do when his wife normally pestered him. He expected his wife and daughters to be shouting at the top of their lungs in that moment, but it appeared that his sarcasm must have been quite abundant as of late, causing them to stay in a state of disbelief over such news.

"I called upon Mr. Bingley this morning at Netherfield Park. We had a rather insightful conversation over a few books that we both happened to read. He is quite a learned gentleman, especially for someone so young. A perceptive eye as well. He noticed the book inside my coat and was most interested in it, so naturally, I lent it to him, to which he will return upon his visit."

Mr. Bennet determined that this was suffice information to please and assure them that he in fact, did visit the esteemed Mr. Bingley. He was correct. Mrs. Bennet jumped up from the settee, her embroidery falling onto the floor. She shouted with delight as did Lydia and Kitty, who excitedly jumped up and down while holding hands. Their mother, just as quickly as she sprung from the settee, joined them in their manner of celebration. Jane and Elizabeth laughed partially with them and partially at them, but were both equally as exuberant over the wonderful news. Mary on the other hand, looked quite fearful, but it was unclear if it was towards the reaction of her sisters and mother, or over the notion that she would be meeting an actual potential suitor. After everyone's nerves had calmed down some, Mrs. Bennet sat down once again, picking up her embroidery.

"I knew you would call upon him, Mr. Bennet! Oh, I just knew it!" Mrs. Bennet gleefully said, causing her husband and daughters to chuckle.

"Oh, yes. Your behavior as of late most certainly would convince anyone of that." He sarcastically added, remembering all too vividly the bitterness from his wife after she had first heard from Mr. Bennet his announcement that he had no plans at all to call upon the young gentleman.

"Merely to go along with your charade, my dear!" She replied, happily working on her embroidery once again with the biggest grin Mr. Bennet had ever seen on his wife's face.

He shook his head with amusement while their daughters laughed at their mother.

"The desire to read a book has suddenly washed over me, wouldn't you agree, Kitty?" Lydia asked, causing both of them to giggle. Mary shook her head while everyone else laughed at her remark.

The rest of the evening consisted of all the Bennet girls pestering their father with every question imaginable about Mr. Bingley, most of them being quite impossible for him to be familiar with after such a short meeting with the new acquaintance. Nevertheless, he attempted as best he could to answer every and other question.

AN: Enjoy! Party scene is coming soonnnn... haha ;)