Page 46 of Roses from Pemberley
Nobody spoke for a few moments. And Elizabeth began to feel that there was more to Mr. Wickham than the charming soldier who had fallen on hard times. Had she made a terrible mistake in trusting him so implicitly, and on so short anacquaintance? But she needed time to think things through. She was feeling feverish again and could not seem to sort out her thoughts. Wickham. Darcy. One open and engaging. The other reserved but…honorable.
Bingley abruptly spoke, as if reading her thoughts. “My friend is an honorable man, and - despite his officious interference and reserved manner - he has always behaved as a gentleman ought. And a truer friend there never was.”
He turned to Jane and gave her a small smile which she returned with a tentative one of her own.
Darcy, on the other hand, stood up and said, “I bid you good day, Mrs. Bennet, Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth.”
“But you cannot just leave like this,” cried Mrs. Bennet, “especially now that we are getting to the truth of the matter!”
“But I am just so weary,” said Darcy to no one in particular, “of always being imposed upon by that…smarmycad.”
He took a step back and Bingley went to join him. The two gentlemen walked towards the door.
“But will you call again?” asked Mrs. Bennet.
“I suppose so,” said Darcy, without turning around.
“Yes, we shall call,” said Bingley.
The two gentlemen left.
CHAPTER 20 More Rain and Guests
“That did not go as I expected,” said Bingley, as they walked back to Rosings.
“Though it began well enough,” muttered Darcy.
The gentlemen proceeded in silence for a while, each lost in thought. It was so like the last time they had been at Hunsford, but even worse. Darcy did not mind being taken to task for his interference in Bingley’s affairs, nor for his behaviour in Hertfordshire, nor even for his insult of Elizabeth at the assembly. But what he could not stomach was Elizabeth taking Wickham’s side against him. Did she have to be as gullible as the rest? And was there no one who believed him over Wickham?
“Thank you for standing up for me,” he said abruptly to Bingley.
His friend shrugged. “I only spoke the truth. Indeed, I felt that they were judging you unfairly simply because they did not know you. Although…”
“What?”
Bingley turned to him pointedly and responded, “It would be nice if you could exert yourself once in a while. Particularly with people you do not know.”
“Yes, I see that now.”
They walked once more in silence.
*****
Back at the parsonage, the Bennet ladies were having a conversation of their own.
“I apologise for questioning you in front of the gentlemen, Mamma,” said Jane.
“I do as well,” said Elizabeth.
Fanny Bennet did not speak for a while and Elizabeth began to think that they had offended her irrevocably.
She was about to apologise again, when her mother suddenly said, “So my behaviour - and the behaviour of your younger sisters - were to blame for Bingley’s defection?”
“Well…”
“Be honest, Lizzy. Does our behaviour truly make such a difference in how our family is perceived?”
But it was Jane who said, “Yes, I think it does, Mamma. I believe that our respectability is diminished by such unguarded behaviour.”
