Assembly

There was much chatter and laughter in the Bennet household. When five ladies are trying to get ready for a dance, things can get somewhat chaotic.

In due course Mrs Bennet and the four oldest girls assembled in the parlour dressed in evening wear and their hair becomingly arranged. Their gowns were simply elegant and understated.

'Girls, you all look lovely. You will struggle to sit out any set to give the other ladies a chance. Please be considerate as usual.' She said with a proud smile at all of them.

She turned to her husband and youngest daughter, 'Will you two find something to amuse yourselves with?'

Lydia laughed, 'Papa has accepted my challenge to a game of chess. That should keep us amused.'

'Very well, do not wait up for us. Good night my dears.'

With that the ladies entered the waiting carriage to take them to the assembly.

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Fitzwilliam Darcy was in a foul mood.

He had come to Meryton, where his friend Charles Bingley was leasing Netherfield Park, to help Bingley establish himself and learn to run an estate. Bingley had brought his sisters, Miss Caroline Bingley and Mrs Louisa Hurst, as well as his brother in-law, Mr Phillip Hurst, to stay with him.

Darcy had hoped for a quiet time to get over the shock of his sister Georgiana's near elopement from Ramsgate this summer. Instead, Bingley had dragged him off to this assembly the day after his arrival. Staying at the manor was not an option since he was certain that Bingley's younger sister Caroline would have insisted on keeping him company. Miss Bingley's company was about as welcome and as subtle as the ten plagues of Egypt.

So now he was at this assembly, unwilling to be pleased by anything. He had done his duty by his host and danced one dance each with Bingley's sisters and now he was prowling the edges of the room, scowling.

Bingley had of course homed in on the beautiful blond 'angel' as soon as they arrived and was pleased to be introduced to one and all.

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Elizabeth Bennet had, as promised, decided to sit down for two dances, and during part of that time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it.

'Come, Darcy,' said he, 'I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance.'

'I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.'

'I would not be so fastidious as you are,' cried Bingley, 'for a kingdom! Upon my honour I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life, as I have this evening; and there are several of them, you see, uncommonly pretty.'

'You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,' said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.

'Oh! she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me introduce you.'

'Which do you mean?' and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, 'She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.'

'Don't flatter yourself, Sir.' came a voice from behind him.

Darcy whipped around and found himself face to face with the women he had just insulted.

'As a stranger in this community you have no standing, therefore you cannot give consequence to anyone. You are not in London anymore and here nobody cares who you are. Here you will be judged on your character, not on your status elsewhere.' She continued with a smirk. 'You are safe to dance with anyone who finds you tolerable enough to stand up with.'

Darcy winced at having his words thrown back at him.

'I do not believe we have been introduced madam.' Darcy resumed his haughty demeanour to cover up his confusion at being thus addressed.

Elizabeth turned to Mr. Bingley who still stood dumbstruck behind Darcy. 'Mr. Bingley would you do the honours?'

At being addressed, Bingley recovered his wits. 'Miss Elizabeth may I make you known to Mr. Darcy of Derbyshire. Darcy I would like you to meet Miss Elizabeth Bennet.'

Darcy was forced to bow at the introduction but simply murmured 'Miss Elizabeth', unsure what else to say since 'it is a pleasure' or some such phrase was not something he could say under the circumstances.

Elizabeth dipped a minimal curtsey and enquired 'Mr. Darcy of Pemberley?'

Darcy started to smirk and responded 'Indeed' expecting her to become flustered and fawning since she had obviously heard of him. 'That will put her in her place' he thought.

'I am surprised sir, considering your parents reputedly had exquisite manners, you must have worked very hard to become so haughty, disdainful, rude and ill mannered.' Elizabeth glared at him.

Darcy lost his smirk and just stood there staring at this woman who had not succumbed to his status and instead gave him a setdown he had never before experienced.

Elizabeth turned to Bingley with a slight, somewhat apologetic smile. 'Mr. Bingley, since I'm being so impertinent already, would you mind if I gave you some friendly advice?'

Bingley who was amused at his friend's confusion, after all nobody ever spoke to Darcy this way, and he was amazed at seeing him so discombobulated, answered 'Miss Elizabeth, since you are so perceptive, I would welcome any advice you have to give.'

'I would not be too sure of that, since it concerns your family. Mr. Bingley, this is a small and very friendly community. As I already said, here we judge people on their character. You sir, are a very amiable gentleman and will be welcome anywhere.' She gave a small sigh 'Unfortunately, your sisters are disdainful and rude. I'm afraid their behaviour reflects badly on you. If their behaviour does n0t change soon, you will not be so well received. Unlike myself, nobody will be so impertinent to mention anything, but it will not be long before invitations will stop. I'm sorry if this hurts you, but I felt it was better to mention it now, while you can do something about it.'

Both Darcy and Bingley were stunned at her words. Bingley thought 'I know Caroline is demanding, but I did not realise she was offending people.'

Elizabeth looked contrite 'Mr. Bingley, I'm sorry, I truly did not mean to upset you.'

'No, Miss Elizabeth, I just never realised that my sisters could be perceived this way. They had the best education and I have seen many ladies in London act like they do.'

Darcy interjected 'Why do you think I hate London?' At which point he realised that his own behaviour had been just as bad as Caroline Bingley's. He was mortified that his own conduct had sunk to her level.

He turned to Lizzy with a chagrined look. 'Miss Elizabeth, I am truly sorry about how I spoke before. You see, in London society I am seen as the lawful prey by every matchmaking mama and I absolutely hate being hunted. To avoid all those simpering ladies who throw themselves at me, I have become accustomed to act in the manner I did earlier.' He sighed. He did not like being this open with someone he barely knew, but he felt he needed to make amends.

'I forgot that outside my established circles things can be different. I will try to do better. Can you forgive me?' he asked with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

Elizabeth tilted her head and for a minute considered him with a raised eyebrow. She could understand that he hated being chased and importuned. She and Jane had endured the same conduct in town, which was why they avoided London society as much as possible.

'Very well Mr Darcy, I will forgive you, but there is a penance' she said with a sly smile.

'Whatever you say gracious lady' Darcy replied with a bow. He was relieved, because he had come to Hertfordshire to help Bingley establish himself and yet had almost ruined his chances by his own actions.

'I will introduce you to three ladies for you to dance with. Unfortunately, in this area the ladies outnumber the gentlemen, which is why we take turns sitting out dances to give everyone a chance to enjoy themselves.' She chuckled at Darcy's discomfort. 'Do not worry, even though we also have matchmaking mamas here, I will select pleasant dance partners for you who will not simper or throw themselves at you.'

'That is a relief. I thank you for your consideration.' Inspiration struck Darcy. 'May I hope that one of those ladies is yourself?' he asked with a genuine smile.

At seeing the dimples, the smile produced, Elizabeth regretfully told him 'I'm afraid not. This current set was the only one I was able to sit out. I have partners for all the other dances.'

'Very well, Miss Elizabeth, I am at your disposal.' Darcy turned to Bingley. 'Will you join us?'

'No thank you, I need to find my dance partner for the next set.' Bingley bowed to Elizabeth. 'If you will excuse me.' With that he strode off.

Darcy offered his arm to Elizabeth. 'Lead on.'

After looking around for a moment, she took his arm and led him to the other side of the room.

'I'm taking you to my younger sister Mary. She has only recently come out and is a little shy. Her shyness is the reason she put off her coming out until it was Kitty's turn, but if you happen to like music, she will enjoy talk to you.'

'I do love music, my sister Georgiana loves the piano forte, and I enjoy listening to her.'

Darcy realised that Lizzy had given him two vital pieces of information. Miss Mary was unlikely to chase him and he had a topic of conversation which would please his dance partner. That was always the difficulty for him, he did not know how to start a conversation, since the weather and the state of the roads seemed to him unsuitable topics during a dance.

The introduction was accomplished and the request for the next set delivered and accepted.

John Lucas arrived to claim Elizabeth for the promised set and Darcy led Mary to the dance floor to a position near Elizabeth.

Mary was somewhat bemused that the apparently haughty man she had observed earlier had asked her to dance. He had not danced with anyone other than the ladies from his own party and yet here he was with her. She was still trying to work out why and was feeling somewhat tongue tied, when Darcy started the conversation.

'Miss Mary, I understand that you love music. Is there a particular composer you like?'

Gradually over the next half hour she relaxed and ended up thoroughly enjoying the dance and the company, especially when Darcy started telling her about his sister.

When the set finished, Darcy escorted Mary back to her seat and offered to fetch refreshments for her. When he returned, Charlotte Lucas and Elizabeth had joined Mary, who was speaking animatedly to her sister.

'I must congratulate you Mr. Darcy, for a man who dances only rarely you are remarkably light on your feet.' Lizzy offered with a smile.

'By the way, have you met Miss Lucas yet?' indicating her friend. When he replied in the negative, Elizabeth performed the introduction, giving him a pointed look. Darcy understood the look and asked the lady for the next set she had available. He was not going to make the mistake of assuming the lady did not have a dance partner again. As it turned out, he had a chance to sit out the next set before Charlotte was available. But he remained with the group while Lizzy directed the conversation, again giving him the opportunity to learn something about his partner so he would not be so tongue tied during the dance.

Some of the men joined the conversation and he was introduced to them as well.

In this way he ended up spending a remarkable pleasant evening. Once he had been forced to overcome his prejudice, he found the company surprisingly comfortable, with intelligent conversation from both the men and the women. Also, very little, if any, of the social jockeying he was so used to in London society. And the matchmaking mamas were very subtle and seemed more interested in his person than his wealth. He never once heard 'Ten thousand per year'!

The only fly in the ointment was Miss Bingley, which seemed rather apt, considering he had compared her to a plague. She was determined to be displeased by everything and everyone and quite vocal in her displeasure, which she shared with her sister. She was also quite oblivious to the pitying looks and subtle insults delivered to her to try to curb her behaviour.

Although Darcy noticed Bingley was paying attention and looking more and more chagrined as the evening wore on.

At last Darcy had fulfilled his 'penance' with Miss Lord whose fiancé he also found to be excellent company. As they were getting ready to leave, Darcy and Bingley approached Mrs Bennet, to whom Darcy had also been introduced to in the course of the evening and who had made an excellent impression on him with her gracious manners, and asked her permission to call on the family the following afternoon.

'You will be most welcome, Mr Bingley, Mr Darcy' the lady allowed with a twinkle in her eyes.

The men then took their leave of the lady and her daughters, gathered up the Hursts and Miss Bingley, who could not wait to 'leave this rabble'.

The ladies' own carriage was also ready by then, so they boarded it to head for home and a much needed rest.

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A/N: The full length version of this story is now available on Amazon (Paperback, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited) under the title 'Don't flatter yourself' by Sydney Salier. © Copyright 2019

Unfortunately, I am only allowed to publish 10% on this site.

My thanks to all of you for your comments and support.

If one of you happens to buy or read it, I would appreciate a review on amazon. Thanks.

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