I’m so happy to be back at So Little Time... to share another new release! My tenth novel, A Quick Succession of Busy Nothings is a mashup of Pride & Prejudice and Mansfield Park; these two worlds are linked by a familial relationship, with the Crawford siblings as cousins to the Bennet sisters. The Bertrams also have a part to play, for they move to Purvis Lodge after Tom’s profligate spending forces Sir Thomas to rent out Mansfield Park. Darcy and the Bingleys arrive at Netherfield with a larger party than in canon, including Georgiana, the Colonel, and Bingley’s aunt – the notorious Lady Susan Vernon.
In this variation, the Lucases are no longer residing in the area; Maria Lucas married well and Charlotte married splendidly, becoming Lady Longmont. Sir William Lucas, now a widower, divides his time between his two daughters’ estate, and only visits annually so that his young son and heir can maintain a connection to Lucas Lodge. On this occasion, Lady Longmont accompanies her father, curious at all the new neighbors Lizzy has mentioned in her letters.
In the excerpt I am sharing today, Sir William hosts a garden party with his eldest daughter, with the Bennets, the Bertrams, the Crawfords, and all their companions at Netherfield in attendance. Mrs. Bennet is insistent that Jane must be for Darcy, and Lizzy for Bingley; early in the story, Elizabeth is still unsure if she likes any of the gentlemen in the area (and there are enough to send Mrs. Bennet into a tizzy!)
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A sense of euphoria carried Elizabeth through the crowd of her neighbors as she put her mother’s scheming from her mind. Her sisters all appeared content, her cousins were here and so was a dear friend she had not seen in years. Meryton was as merry as she had ever seen it, and she was enjoying the liveliest and finest blend of society she had ever experienced. She felt that she was even now making memories that would be cherished when her environs returned to their usual monotony, and a sense of being on the precipice of great felicity for many weeks filled Elizabeth with exhilaration. She was fairly floating.
After stopping to speak with all her friends and neighbors, she finally approached Mr. Bingley. His game of lawn bowls had just ended, and a new one was beginning. Lady Susan moved away with Henry in pursuit, and Mr. Bingley entreated Mr. Darcy and his sister to take their place.
Elizabeth, too, was invited to join; she declined, saying, “I shall have to suffice as an observer of your game, though I shall not be a silent one – I shall leave this office to Mr. Darcy.”
Georgiana began to look alarmed, but her brother gave her a reassuring nod, his lips curling slightly upward in what Elizabeth supposed must be all the smile she could expect from him. “I am ready to oblige you,” he said.
Mr. Bingley laughed. “I can well believe it of Darcy, but not you, Miss Elizabeth.”
“My old friend Lady Longmont has been teasing me already, for my greatest pleasure in the day is sure to be studying the characters of all our new neighbors.”
“I am sure you shall make quick work of me,” Mr. Bingley replied with a self-deprecating laugh.
“Oh yes, I understand you perfectly,” Elizabeth teased him.
She had hoped for something clever in return, but he drew his eyebrows together as he replied, “I might wish that a compliment, but to be so easily seen through is rather pitiful.”
Georgiana gasped. “I am sure Lizzy means no offense.”
Now it was Elizabeth’s turn to reassure the girl; she gave a broad smile and said, “It does not necessarily follow that a deep and intricate character is more estimable than an open temperament such as yours, sir.”
“You are generous,” Mr. Bingley said. “But I cannot begrudge you what must be a fascinating occupation.”
“I thank you,” Elizabeth said, hoping she might yet lure Mr. Bingley into a lively debate. “Intricate characters do have the advantage of being a more interesting study.”
“Undoubtedly,” Mr. Bingley agreed.
Mr. Darcy had watched them with the same twinkle in his eye as when he had seen Elizabeth’s fit of pique in the boxwoods, and she was struck with the memory of his real smile, wide and bright and completely disarming. For now, he offered only that polite turning upward of his lips. “No doubt you must find yourself more occupied than usual, with the recent influx of subjects for study.”
She had said so to Charlotte, but as much as Elizabeth enjoyed studying her companions, she delighted more in verbal sparring; she refused to agree with Mr. Darcy. “The long standing residents of Meryton have never disappointed me. People themselves alter so much that there is something new to be observed in them forever.”
“Ha,” Mr. Bingley cried. “How very true.”
Mr. Darcy eyed his friend, his face beginning to betray his amusement. “And are you so content, Miss Elizabeth, to be surrounded by the same changeable companions, that you cannot be tempted by a chance to examine new specimens?”
His phrasing could only inspire more rebellion in Elizabeth. “I hope I should never limit myself in such a dismal way; who knows what delights I may deny myself. No, I should be pleased by any opportunity to take the likeness of a new character, even if they are only tolerable.”
“You are fortunate in having a disposition so well suited to society; I am sure it must aid your endeavors.”
Mr. Bingley was quick to agree with his friend. “Quite so – we are alike in that way, Miss Elizabeth – I daresay we enjoy society more than Darcy here.”
Elizabeth grinned at the gentlemen. “Is our company such a punishment for your friend? I wonder at your bringing him amongst us, Mr. Bingley.”
Georgiana looked alarmed. “Oh, no – I am sure William is very pleased with Meryton. He smiled more on the day of our picnic than I have seen him do in many months, and I know he was looking forward to coming here today, for he was most impatient at Miss Bingley’s delaying our departure.” She finished this speech with a little gasp and clapped a hand over her mouth, offering both her brother and Mr. Bingley an apologetic look.
“Your brother’s commitment to punctuality is most commendable,” Elizabeth said to Georgiana with a cheeky little wink. “It proves he is able and willing to apply himself in society. After all, he is a gentleman of consequence who might move in the world as much as he chooses, and so in time he may become as proficient as his friends in the enjoyment of social occasions.”
Georgiana made no reply beyond a startled sound that grew into a smile; Mr. Bingley mirrored her amusement, but likewise remained silent as he regarded Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth with merry anticipation.
“You posit that your ease in company is the result of practice, and not predisposition?”
“Certainly, Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth replied. “I should always rather be considered accomplished than lucky.”
“Then you are not perceptive and convivial by nature?”
“I am sure you are, Miss Elizabeth,” Mr. Bingley said at once.
“I am, yes – and is it not prudent to nurture those strengths in character that might be most easily and most advantageously cultivated?”
“Might not the same be said of discernment and pride?”
Elizabeth tilted her head to one side as she studied Mr. Darcy. “Pride, sir? We speak of strengths and not weaknesses.”
“Yes, but where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will always be under good regulation.”
Elizabeth laughed in spite of herself. “Confident as you are, I cannot imagine the reason for your reserve in society.”
“I am conversing easily with you now, am I not?”
“You must be the judge of that, sir – I can say only that you are conversing well. But I have claimed only to excel at studying society, not participating in it.”
Mr. Darcy’s lips twitched and twisted, as if resisting a smile. “And what is your success?”
“I cannot make out your character at all,” Elizabeth replied. She considered the disinterested haughtiness he had shown at the assembly – it was very different to his behavior at the picnic. He had shown her compassion, then, and an intriguing trace of humor – and his sister seemed to think he had enjoyed himself, despite Elizabeth’s display of absurdity.
“My experience has been limited to such disparate encounters with you as to puzzle me exceedingly,” Elizabeth said.
“I beg you would not attempt to sketch my character at present,” Mr. Darcy replied. “I fear it would not reflect well on either of us. You shall have many other opportunities to perfect your study; a hasty judgment would be a most regrettable thing, particularly when the subject merits greater consideration.”
This was said with such a significant look in his eye that Elizabeth felt certain Mr. Darcy meant to atone for his rude remarks at the assembly, though any gentleman so far above her station might have thought one apology was more than enough. She suspected it would only embarrass him for her to acknowledge such a tender sentiment – for he had indeed softened her feelings for him considerably – but she remained too stubborn to expose herself in such a way.
“At last we are in agreement,” Elizabeth said. She might have spoken more – indeed she had begun to feel she might easily lose all sense of time, propriety, and consideration for her companions in conversing endlessly with Mr. Darcy – but they were interrupted.
A beleaguered looking Mr. Fitzwilliam joined them with Miss Bingley on his arm. That lady wore a haughty grimace which tried, and failed, to become a smile. The gentleman clapped his cousin on the back. “I had to come over and ascertain if you have developed some manner of fever or mania, Darcy, for I have never seen you so conversant amongst new acquaintance.”
“Mr. Darcy has been enlightened as to the myriad benefits of practice,” Elizabeth said archly. “Do you not think his efforts a great success?”
“I am sure Mr. Darcy does everything well,” Miss Bingley replied.
“I have it on good authority that you are quite right,” Elizabeth said cheerfully. “His sister informed me, when we had our picnic at Longbourn, that her brother has no faults at all.”
“Have you revised your opinion of him, then?” Mr. Bingley stepped closer to her, looking eager for his share of her attention.
Elizabeth smiled back at him before turning to give Mr. Darcy a significant look. “I hope we are all capable of revising our first impressions.”
“Surely nobody could ever think ill of Mr. Darcy,” Miss Bingley insisted. “He is too much the gentleman – he commands too much respect for the censure of strangers.”
“I am sure I must defer to your superior judgment, Miss Bingley – I am resolved to act upon sound advice, and not sketch his character until we have become better acquainted.” Feeling on the verge of becoming quite embarrassed, Elizabeth dipped into a curtsey. She roused one last moment of defiance as she parted from them, saying, “I beg you would excuse me – I must look elsewhere for some folly to amuse me.”
Elizabeth strode away, and when she had sufficiently removed herself from Mr. Darcy and his praise chorus, she began to laugh. How could it be that Mr. Bingley was far more agreeable than his sister, when both siblings were inclined to agree endlessly with anybody they liked?
Mr. Bingley’s style of agreement, Elizabeth supposed, was more sincerely and more frequently bestowed; he responded to any pleasant sentiment with more of the same, seeking to please everyone he could. Miss Bingley was the opposite side of the same coin – she wielded her acquiescence like a poisoned dagger, making little cuts wherever she could. Anything might be made to sound worse by Miss Bingley’s agreement, which was given only when she could use it to assert her own imagined superiority.
With Mr. Fitzwilliam so perversely resolved to attach himself to Miss Bingley, and that lady twice as determined to insinuate herself into Mr. Darcy and Georgiana’s esteem, Elizabeth could understand why Mr. Darcy worried for his sister and cousin – she was almost moved to pity Mr. Darcy. Almost.
She had every reason to dislike him, but Elizabeth could not deny, in the privacy of her own musings, that she had not only understood Mr. Darcy’s ill humor and forgiven him his insult, but she was beginning to like him. And poor Mr. Bingley! There was every reason in the world she should like him – beyond the material considerations her mother was wont to expound upon, and even his own apparent interest in herself, Mr. Bingley was handsome, amiable, and everything a gentleman ought to be. And yet, Elizabeth was beginning to believe that she could never think better of him than she did now; his disposition was so open that she doubted there was more of wit and substance than she had yet to discover in him. If only he had argued with her, and not Mr. Darcy!
About the Author
Jayne Bamber is a life-long Austen fan, and a total sucker for costume dramas. Jayne read her first Austen variation as a teenager and has spent more than a decade devouring as many of them as she can. This of course has led her to the ultimate conclusion of her addiction, writing one herself.
Jayne’s favorite Austen work is Sense and Sensibility, though Sanditon is a strong second. Despite her love for Pride and Prejudice, Jayne realizes that she is no Lizzy Bennet, and is in fact growing up to be Mrs. Bennet more and more each day.
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Jayne, congratulations on this 10th book! Wow! That's fantastic! Also, thank you for visiting here! I enjoyed hosting you.
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