An End to Estrangement - A Pride and Prejudice Variation

Part 5

The low rumble of conversation soon recovered its original pitch, although Darcy remained convinced that the content of their neighbours' conversations remained forever altered since the newest party's arrival in the assembly rooms. Charles seemed neither to notice nor care the stir he and his guests had caused by their mere presence in the room and played his part with gusto, meeting and making acquaintance with almost everybody he passed. There suddenly seemed to be an inordinate number of eager Mamas who thrust their unwed daughters forward to make his acquaintance, and Darcy's behind him, which introductions Charles met with rather more patience than Darcy managed. After the fourth or fifth such encounter, Darcy withdrew, turning to speak to Caroline and deciding, in a moment, that he would bear whatever significance she read into his decision if it meant he would no longer be forced to smile at yet another simpering young lady eager to secure herself a husband.

"Well!" Caroline beamed at him, and Darcy began to rethink the wisdom of his course of action. "What an...interesting cross-section of society we find ourselves thrust into the midst of!"

Darcy smiled grimly, certain that Caroline's idea of interesting was synonymous with his own. She appeared to have swept the room with a glance, dismissing the whole as unworthy of her time and paused only as often as her brother forced her to, by naming her in his own introductions. She seemed as eager to avoid this as Darcy was, and took a skipping step away from Charles and simultaneously closer to Darcy, where she might whisper more freely without fear of offending her brother, who she cared about, and her new acquaintances, who she did not.

"I can't imagine why Charles was so eager to attend this evening." Caroline's shoulders hunched up around her ears, as if to ward off an imaginary chill. Darcy sensed it was more an affectation than a necessity because, if anything, the room was too warm, crammed as it was with every person for miles around. He could not recall the last time he had been surrounded by so many strangers, and his eyes flickered almost subconsciously towards the door as if to remind himself the way out was there, should he have need of it.

There was a shadow lurking there and it took him but a moment longer to recognise it. Elizabeth Bennet. She had fled the room almost immediately he arrived there, indeed he wondered whether it was a reaction to his presence that caused her so abruptly to leave. Of course she will not care to see me! , thought, biting down on the inside of his mouth with more ferocity than he meant to and wincing in pain. Their fleeting association was many years in the past, but evidently, she cared as little to be reunited as he did. What a cruel twist of fate to bring them together again, now!

"Dear me, I thought nobody alive could be as miserable as I was with Charles's peculiar desire for company and now I see you also long for an escape, Mr Darcy!" Caroline cooed, following the line of his gaze towards the door and misreading the pain that must have shown in his face.

"I have no enthusiasm for standing around making conversation with strangers," Darcy said bluntly.

"Oh, indeed! I am sure the atmosphere will improve once the dancing begins."

Darcy opened his mouth to correct her misapprehension: if there was one thing worse than conversing with strangers it was being pressed to dance with them, and despite himself, Darcy felt his gaze stray to the door once more. He and Elizabeth had danced together before, might they now be afforded the chance to do so again? Dare I ask her? His heart beat against his chest and he was almost decided on his course of action, however daring and out of character it seemed, when he felt the piercing heat of Caroline's eyes on his, pinning him in place. There was a slightly desperate edge to the smile that remained fixed in place on her thin, pointed features and he realised that her words in answer to his predicated a response: indeed she evidently anticipated one in particular. There was no means of extricating himself from it without offending her, and by extension Charles, and Darcy seized the only answer open to him in a moment, dropping his chin in a curt little nod.

"Of course, I trust you will be willing to dance once with me, Miss Bingley." He did not wait to hear her reply, nor to witness the brilliant smile she foisted on him, so wide that it bordered on painful. "Excuse me," Darcy began, feeling that he must seize another opportunity now before his courage failed him, and wondering whether it would not be better to have the stiff, awkward reunion with Elizabeth Bennet in the ante-room rather than the great hall, and thus at least a little shielded from the prying eyes of every person in the county. He took a step or two towards the door, when a hand clamped heavily on his shoulder, arresting his progress and turning him abruptly from his goal.

"Darcy, these are the neighbours I was telling you about. Mr Bennet, Mrs Bennet, and the eldest of their daughters - how many was it you said you possessed?"

"Five." Mr Bennet's grey eyes shimmered with amusement. "Although I must assure you, Mr Bingley, the word possess attributes rather more control than I have ever been able to exert over my womenfolk."

His eyes met Darcy's, unblinking, and Darcy felt his cheeks redden, wondering if this particular gentleman was aware he stood face to face with a man who had, once, dreamed of becoming his son-in-law.

"My friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy!" Charles exclaimed, clapping him warmly on the back. "He has come with me to Hertfordshire for some much-needed rest and relaxation, and I always say that it is more pleasant to have a party than to spend time alone."

"Do you?" Mrs Bennet - at least, Darcy assumed this fussy-looking woman must be Mr Bennet's wife. Neither were particularly like Elizabeth to look at, although he wondered, now, whether the image he cherished of Elizabeth in his memory was indeed true to life. He had seen her but fleetingly that evening, and was too stunned at being suddenly thrust into her orbit to take the time to examine her closely. Mr Bennet cleared his throat, shifting his weight from one foot to another, and fixed a canny smile on Bingley, interposing with a word that prevented his canny wife from extracting any more intelligence from them.

"My dear, I am sure Mr Bingley does not care to discuss the particulars of his household with us at present. You shall care to dance, I suppose?" He smiled, grimly, before turning his wife abruptly towards the collection of tables and benches that lined the hall. "And that is our cue to vacate the area and allow the young people to enjoy the first dance of the evening. Jane, dear, do not leave poor Mr Bingley friendless and alone amidst the masses, will you?"

Darcy caught Mr Bennet's glance as he left and saw something familiar in those twinkling eyes - lighter, yes, than Elizabeth's had been, but with that same spark of intelligence and wit he had first admired in her.

"Yes, do let us dance, Miss Bennet!" Bingley said, wasting not a moment longer before offering his arm to the pretty young lady before him, who blushed prettily and accepted with a smile.

There was a pointed cough to Darcy's right and he realised Caroline was still standing there, waiting patiently - or not so patiently - for him to do the same. His eyes flew to the door, but all trace of Elizabeth Bennet had vanished.

Wordlessly, and with a pang of regret he could not quite explain, he offered his own arm to Caroline, and the two couples took their places amidst their neighbours to begin the first dance. Darcy's mind was not in the steps, though, and the music may just as well have been cymbals clanging tunelessly together, for his mind was on another dance, another partner, another assembly room altogether...