Page 28 of A Most Favourable Match

“No, Mother,” Jane answered. “Lord Grantchester sends you his best wishes, however, and looks forward to seeing you again soon. He says they will host a supper party at Belton Manor next time he is in the country and welcomes your advice on guests.”

At this, Mrs Bennet smiled gleefully.

“A supper party to plan for the Earl of Grantchester! Yes, I shall certainly be happy to advise him. How sensible of him to ask for guidance, for he does not know the neighbourhood at all, and there are some that like to think themselves more important than they are…”

“Lady Catherine always says that…” Mr Collins began, trying unsuccessfully to break back into a conversation that he must sense would be neither relevant nor sympathetic to him.

Mrs Bennet continued speaking over him, appearing deaf to her guest’s comments. “What of Lord Keeble, Jane? Will he return with Lord Grantchester? I dare sayMr Bingley might come back too if the other gentlemen are here, and that would be a very good thing for a certain young lady.”

At this mild innuendo, Elizabeth declined to catch her mother’s eye. “I hope that if Mr Bingley does return, he does not bring Mr Darcy again,” she said simply. “Mr Darcy has never taken great pleasure in Hertfordshire, and perhaps his remaining in London would be a relief to all.”

A restless impatience ran through her veins as soon as the memory of this infuriating man was recalled. Elizabeth had tried hard to banish Mr Darcy from her thoughts now that he was no longer at Netherfield Park, but she had so far failed. Against her will, her mind regularly revisited their past meetings and disagreements, coming up with improvements to her words or delivery.

Oh, how Elizabeth longed to tell Mr Darcy exactly what she thought of him, in even starker terms than she had used already! Yet propriety would always demand a certain amount of good manners, at least from her side. He seemed to feel no such obligation, and she had never met a man who riled her so much with a mere glance of his deep-blue eyes.

“Lord Keeble will certainly accompany Lord Grantchester, I believe,” Jane confirmed. “I cannot say what Mr Bingley might do. Lord Grantchester writes little of him, although he did say he has seen Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley at various events in London.”

“We must all go to the Meryton assembly again!”

News of Lord Keeble had revived the spirits of Lydia, who leapt up from the table and waltzed Kitty about the room in imitation of that merry gentleman, trying to get Mary to her feet so that she could have two dancing partners at once. Having his toes trodden on by both careless dancers, Mr Collins beat a retreat to the sofa beside Mrs Bennet.

His hostess acknowledged his presence no more than her youngest daughters, however.

“What else does Lord Grantchester say, Jane?” Mrs Bennet demanded, leaning towards Jane.

Jane smiled gently and took the letter from her pocket. “Why don’t I just read it to you, Mother? It is not too long, and I cannot think that Lord Grantchester would mind. In fact, he writes so many messages for my family that I can only suppose he intends it.”

“Oh, yes, do read it to us all!” Mrs Bennet enthused. “Lord Grantchester writes so well.”

As Jane unfolded the pages, Mr Collins made some further fatuous remark on the power of love letters in winning the hearts of ladies, but his words received no acknowledgement beyond vague smiles from Elizabeth and Mary.

While not wishing to encourage Mr Collins, Elizabeth had begun to feel that perhaps her mother ought to pay more attention to their guest. Before Jane’s engagement, and the visits of so many well-monied young bachelors to the neighbourhood, Elizabeth could imagine Mrs Bennet dancing attendance on Mr Collins and working far harder for an alliance that would secureLongbourn in the direct family line.

With Jane betrothed to an earl, however, Elizabeth destined for a man with five thousand pounds a year (at least in Mrs Bennet’s imagination), and Lydia and Kitty both finding favour with the highly eligible Lord Keeble, their mother was more relaxed about a lesser prospect like Mr Collins. He might take or leave Mary, as long as Mrs Bennet could marry off some of her other daughters so richly.

Now, their mother smiled and nodded as Jane began to read the letter, Lydia and Kitty too ceasing their dancing and coming over to listen. Mr Bennet had slipped out of the room unnoticed at some point, likely escaping into his own library, and Mr Collins shifted awkwardly on the sofa, unsure what part he ought to be playing in the scene.

After an amusing account of an overcrowded ball where one of the chaperones singed her wig on a chandelier, Lord Grantchester went on to describe the morning walk of the great and good in Hyde Park. Then he turned to more domestic affairs.

My mother longs to meet you and your family, Jane, and hopes it will not be long before some gathering can be arranged in London. She intends to write directly to your mother to express her happiness and make clear how much you will be welcomed into our family.

Jane read these lines in a light and unemotional tone. It seemed to Elizabeth that she might have been reading an article from a newspaper about government investment bonds or new roads for all the personal feeling communicated by either the writer or the reader.The same had been true of two earlier letters, both of which had been read aloud at the breakfast table.

Lord Grantchester wrote engagingly, and Elizabeth enjoyed listening to his accounts of life in London as much as the rest of the family. Still, it seemed odd to her that he wrote to his betrothed in the same tone that Elizabeth would write to any friend, and that Jane was willing to share her lover’s letters so easily with the rest of the family.

Elizabeth had always imagined that love letters would be more emotional, intimate, or even passionate. These were certainly none of those things. Their absence of any emotion beyond mere friendly civility seemed just as odd to Elizabeth as Jane admitting that she barely thought of Lord Grantchester at all, except when she received his letters.

Weren’t lovers supposed to think of one another constantly and long to be in one another’s presence? Weren’t their letters supposed to be full of declarations of such sentiments? Nothing in Jane’s situation seemed quite right to Elizabeth, yet it was equally impossible to say what, if anything, was wrong.

Anyway, what did Elizabeth know? She had never been in love. The thought sent her back yet again to her clash with Mr Darcy at the garden party. Elizabeth would warrant that ill-mannered, unreasonable, and unfairly handsome man had no more experience or understanding of love than she did.

If he had, surely he would better understand that character and liking were at least as important for a happy marriage as rank and fortune.

“What a lovely letter,” Mrs Bennet commented as Jane came to the end, finishing with a cordial sign-off that included best wishes to every member of the Bennet family. “I only wish that Lord Grantchester had confirmed the date of his next visit.”

Jane folded and put away the letter with the same apparent equanimity with which she had produced it.

“Oh, I cannot wait for Lord Grantchester to come back again!” Mrs Bennet exclaimed. “Do be sure to tell him that when you write back, Jane dear. For Lizzy’s sake, tell him that Mr Bingley must come to Netherfield Park again soon too.”