If I Were Mrs. Darcy by Sophia Grey

Author:Sophia Grey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Flowers Press

8

When the guests began to thin, Elizabeth did her best to extricate her mother from her circle of friends and gather her sisters. It was more difficult than usual to pry Lydia from the dance floor, but Mrs. Bennet proved to be almost impossible to remove. She had imbibed far too much of Mr. Bingley’s fine rum punch, and Mrs. Bennet’s cheeks were rosy and her already loud voice had become even louder.

“I daresay, what great luck for our girls. If Jane were to marry Mr. Bingley it would put my daughters into the path of other rich men,” Mrs. Bennet declared as Elizabeth plucked a sherry glass from her mother’s fist. “Mrs. Clarence I do recommend it most highly!” Elizabeth shot an apologetic glance at poor Mrs. Clarence, who, like the Bennets, was in possession of four young daughters of her own.

“Mama, do lower your voice,” Elizabeth said. “It is time for us to say our goodbyes. Papa has already left with Mr. Collins.”

“Oh, no, Lizzy, Mr. Collins is speaking to Mr. Darcy!” Kitty piped up helpfully as she arrived with her arms loaded with shawls. Elizabeth’s stomach dropped as she spied Mr. Collins standing near the window with Mr. Darcy. The latter was glaring down at the rather shorter clergyman with what could only be identified as complete disdain.

“No,” Elizabeth whispered, but it was too late. She could tell by the expression on Mr. Darcy’s face that Mr. Collins had mentioned his patroness and her estate at Rosings Park no less than thrice in the time that he and Mr. Darcy had been speaking. And from the look in Mr. Darcy’s eyes, it was no less than three times too many. Elizabeth groaned inwardly and focused on her mother once more. If they could remove her from Netherfield Park, perhaps all would be well. Mr. Collins was an easily explained relative who did not know how to speak in the company of his betters… but Mrs. Bennet would be far more difficult to neutralize, and Elizabeth could only focus on one calamity at a time.

“Mama,” Elizabeth said quickly. “Jane is waiting for us in the carriage. It is time to go.” It was not entirely a lie, but Elizabeth had seen her sister and Mr. Bingley walking toward the hallway as the musicians had begun to pack up their instruments. It would be reasonable to assume that Jane would wait for them at the front doors.

Reasonable enough.

“Mama, please,” Elizabeth begged. Mrs. Bennet seemed to finally realize that the ballroom was almost empty and that some of the women standing around her were doing their utmost to disguise their tiredness behind their fans or gloved hands.

“Very well, Lizzy, you can be so persuasive,” Mrs. Bennet sighed loudly. But what Elizabeth’s mother did not notice was that everyone in her immediate vicinity had heard everything that she had uttered previously—Mr. Darcy had heard it as well. Elizabeth’s face burned with embarrassment as her mother and sisters made their way down the hallway toward the waiting carriages.

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