His Good Opinion: A Mr. Darcy Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

they were comfortably ensconced in the drawing room.

    "Was that not a most delightful evening, Darcy?" Bingley said. "I never expected to find such pleasant people in the country. It was so nice to be in company lacking all the stiffness one so often finds in town."

    "And equally lacking in manners and taste," Darcy countered.

    "Indeed, Charles, Mr. Darcy is correct." Miss Bingley's derisive tone was equally ill mannered.

    Bingley was momentarily taken aback by this evaluation, but he quickly shrugged it off. "Darcy, I do not understand why you sat by yourself all evening. You say you will not dance with ladies not of your acquaintance, but everyone was so personable, I soon felt that I had known them for quite some time."

    Darcy knew his friend well enough to know that he could state his own mind without fear of giving insult. The ability to be honest was one of the things he valued most about Bingley's friendship. "I am afraid I saw none of that. There was little in their manner to be admired, and nothing in their fashion. It was entirely as I imagined a small country assembly to be."

    Bingley pursued the conversation with dogged interest. "And the young ladies were quite pretty. Miss Bennet especially, of course."

    "She is pretty," Darcy conceded, "though she smiles too much."

    "Smiles too much! My word, Darcy, is there nothing or no one you do not find fault with? Next you will be complaining because her eyes opened too widely, or she blinked too often."

    "Do not be ridiculous, Bingley. I merely pointed out the complacency of her temper makes it difficult to tell what she is really feeling. She seems a pleasant enough young lady, however, not as insipid or silly as her two younger sisters."

    "Yes, indeed," Mrs. Hurst agreed. "Caroline and I talked with her for a time, and we can say that Jane Bennet is a sweet girl."

    "Indeed. I should not mind getting to know her better," Miss Bingley chimed in.

    Whatever reply the gentlemen might have given was cut off by a loud snore from Mr. Hurst, and the evening was at a close.

Chapter Five

    As a visitor in Bingley's home, Darcy did not feel obligated to take part in the round of social calls, which must needs follow their arrival in the neighborhood. With concern for Georgiana heavy on his mind, he took advantage of his freedom and avoided everyone but Bingley for the next few days.

    Regrettably, there were some modes of polite society he could not avoid. Dinner invitations followed the social calls, and Bingley announced on their fourth morning at Netherfield that they would dine with the Bennet family that evening. If Darcy had a remote hope of the Bennets' behavior being more modulated at home, they were put to rest the moment the Netherfield party arrived at Longbourn.

    The modest, two-story home spoke of good sense and taste that were entirely lacking in most members of the family. The lady of the house fluttered around them, her effusions almost too much to bear. "Mr. Bingley, it is so good to see you! You are most welcome, sir, along with your fine sisters."

    She then half turned and looked at Darcy over the tip of her well-shaped nose. "And good evening to you as well, sir."

    In the blink of an eye, she focused attention back on Bingley. Darcy was not sure how he should take being so summarily dismissed. Does her disapprobation bother you? he chided himself. You have at last achieved your goal. With five daughters, Mrs. Bennet was exactly the kind of woman Darcy sought to avoid.

    Bingley, he observed, was not lucky enough to escape Mrs. Bennet's attentions; when they moved into the dining room, she seated him on her right and monopolized his attention. "It was so good of you to accept our dinner invitation, sir, and with such short notice. I did wonder if we should wait a few days, but my Jane would not hear of it. 'We do not want Mr. Bingley to think we do not understand the courtesies of Society,' she said. But then, Jane has ever been my sweet, wise