An Unexpected Ally

Part 8

Darcy had timed his arrival at Longbourn to perfection, knocking on the door at precisely the time he was instructed to come, yet it seemed when the door was opened and he was ushered indoors, that a celebration was already in full swing.

"Mr Darcy!" Mrs Bennet was the first to spot him, marching over to take him by the arm and physically drag him into the parlour that reverberated with laughter and merriment. "Mr Darcy! What news! Your cousin has proposed to our dear Jane and she has consented to marry him!"

"Indeed?" Darcy's gaze went straight to Richard seeking confirmation but the abject delight on his ordinarily stoical cousin's face outstripped the need for a word. "Well, then I congratulate you." He turned to the rest of the family. "All of you. Miss Bennet." He bowed to Jane. "I wish you very happy."

"Thank you." Her voice was tremulous and barely audible, but Darcy put that down to delight at her happy state and turned to embrace his cousin with rather less formality.

"Sorry," Richard muttered, close enough that his words would not carry. "I couldn't wait any longer, and you see? I need not have hesitated!"

Darcy said nothing but accepted the glass of brandy that Mr Bennet thrust towards him.

"We shall toast the happy couple now, and then again after dinner." His eyes sparkled with merriment. "Especially as you were kind enough to provide us with the means."

"Yes, Mr Darcy! I almost forgot to thank you for the kind basket you sent."

"It was nothing." Darcy was a little embarrassed to be so singled out in the sight of such delight. What was a parcel of foodstuffs in light of an engagement? Nursing his drink, he allowed the family to circle Jane and Richard again, taking a slow step back and finding safety in a quiet corner.

"You do not approve."

This was not a question. It was barely even a comment and Darcy looked to his right in surprise to see that Elizabeth Bennet had somehow materialised there.

"I?"

"Oh, Mr Darcy. You must not choose now to become discreet." Elizabeth continued to smile and applaud the very tearful and longwinded speech her mother was making, the words she directed to Darcy spoken in such a low voice that he was not sure at first that he did not imagine them.

"Discreet?" He took a sip of his brandy.

"You have never shied away from saying precisely what you think about this family. You must not do so now!"

Darcy's heart sank. She referenced the slight, again. Would he never be free of that? He had spoken out of turn, he acknowledged that. He had certainly never expected his words to be overheard and turned against him at every opportunity thereafter.

"I wish them very happy," he said, with a shrug of one shoulder. "Can you say the same?"

This frank question seemed to be enough to bring Elizabeth to a standstill. Her breath caught and she appeared to be truly considering the question before at last turning to him with a smile that made him wish was intended for him.

"Yes, Mr Darcy. I wish them very happy." She turned back to her family. "Well, oughtn't we to go to dinner? Or do you plan to spend the whole evening standing around the parlour?"

"Quite right, quite right!" Mr Bennet began swiftly to orchestrate matters and the procession into dinner began, but before Darcy was able to take Elizabeth's arm, as he steeled himself to do, Lydia Bennet appeared.

"You will escort me, Mr Darcy. You do not mind it, do you?" She pulled on his arm and he felt quite unable to refuse, especially when he saw Lizzy laugh and take Jane's other side so that she walked three-abreast with the new couple.

"Very well," he said, grimly. "And how do you fare, Miss Lydia?"

"Oh dreadfully!" Lydia sighed, looking and sounding at that moment every inch her mother's daughter.

"You are not happy about the prospect of a wedding?"

"I would be if it were mine!" Lydia grinned. "Although I suppose I cannot fault Jane's choices too strongly. Your cousin will be just about bearable as a brother."

"He will be delighted to hear it."

"I do think it a shame poor Wickham could not be here this evening, though!"

Darcy stiffened. Wickham?

"He has called here often?"

"Oh, almost every time Colonel Fitzwilliam comes!" Lydia leaned conspiratorially close to Darcy. "They are good friends, you see, and of course he is so charming to us, always." She bristled. "Although Lizzy often tries to keep him to herself."

"Elizabeth?" Darcy strove to reorder his features so as not to betray his shock and disappointment at this detail. "Your sister is friends with Mr Wickham?"

"We all are!" Lydia insisted. "But he does spend far too long hovering around her. I think it frightfully unfair, for I am just as amiable a companion as she is, and far prettier. Don't you think so?"

She tilted her head to one side, peering up at him from beneath long lashes and affecting an expression she had clearly practised in a mirror.

"Charming," Darcy said, flatly. He was relieved when they reached the dining room and he was able to show Lydia to a chair beside her sisters, before seeking one for himself some distance away. With his gaze still on Lydia, he did not look as he sat down, so that it caught him by surprise to hear a muffled sigh and turn to see, too late to change his plans, that he had selected a chair immediately next to Elizabeth Bennet.

"We meet again," he said, with a grim smile.

"Anyone would think it was engineered that way," Elizabeth replied, with a polite smile. "I am surprised you do not prefer to sit with your cousin, Mr Darcy, although I suppose this offers a superior vantage point from which to pass judgment -"

"You seem to assume that I am in some way opposed to my cousin marrying your sister, Miss Elizabeth, when I have never said as much. Have I given even the slightest indication that I do not approve the match?"

"You did not approve of her marrying Mr Bingley," Elizabeth retorted, her eyes sparkling with malicious glee.

"How fortunate for all concerned, in that case, that she is not marrying Mr Bingley," Darcy muttered, reaching for his napkin and praying for strength to endure what was turning out to be a very challenging evening.