Free An Assembly Such as This by Pamela Aidan

savored it, he looked up to discover Bingley encouraging Miss Bennet to sit upon a small couch and then gesturing toward the table of sweets. She gracefully nodded her assent, and flushed with pleasure, he strode purposefully toward Darcy and the refreshments.
    “Ah, Darcy,” Bingley addressed him, a grin spread from ear to ear. “Step aside, man. I am commissioned on an errand for a lovely lady and must needs return quickly, or I fear I will be supplanted.”
    Darcy looked over Bingley’s shoulder as he bent to his task. “No, you need not fear, Bingley. The lady’s mother is saving your place. If I am not mistaken, she will harry anyone who would dare try to sit next to her daughter until your return.”
    Bingley paused just long enough to ascertain the truth of Darcy’s words and then chuckled quietly. “Mrs. Bennet has her uses, Darcy.”
    “And what of Mr. Bennet?” asked Darcy in a low voice. “Were you satisfied with your interview?”
    “A most interesting man and very acute! Not like his wife at all.” Bingley straightened, balancing his burden of a plate of biscuits in one hand and two glasses of sherry in the other. “I believe we have reached an excellent understanding.” Darcy rolled his eyes. “Cynic!” responded Bingley. “But I have no time to waste on you, Darcy. Miss Bennet awaits, and mother or no, I do not intend to lose my chance now that I have finally engaged her.” With that, Bingley departed in haste.
    And where is the other Miss Bennet?
Darcy searched the room while he reached for another biscuit and a cup of tea. A slender female hand claimed the cup before him. He looked up to find it in the possession of Miss Bingley.
    “Mr. Darcy, permit me to prepare you a cup. It
is
one lump, is it not?” Darcy tried valiantly to twist the grimace he felt surfacing into something that resembled appreciation. “There…just as you like it.” Miss Bingley offered him the tea with an air of intimacy that Darcy could not like.
    “Thank you, Miss Bingley.” He accepted the cup and stepped back a pace. “Please, do not let me detain you. I believe the gentlemen over there anxiously await your return.” He motioned generally in the direction of one of the groups of guests.
    Miss Bingley made to move past him but checked at his shoulder to whisper, “It is all
so
tedious, is it not, Mr. Darcy?” The tickle of her breath on his ear was unwelcome, and it took all of Darcy’s years of training to rock smoothly back on his heels away from her. He covered his move by snatching another sweet. “You must be bored to distraction in such undistinguished company!” she continued. “Why, the squire is a veritable caricature.”
    “Not the kind of society to which we are accustomed, I grant you,” Darcy admitted, “but, Miss Bingley, you must admit
some
utility to the evening. Your brother is well regarded among these people already, and this evening’s end will see him more so. You, as his chatelaine, will undoubtedly assume a leading role in the community as well. You are, in point of fact, nicely begun. Your reception tonight was most gracious, and it would seem that you are universally admired. That cannot help but advance your brother’s influence.”
    Miss Bingley’s eyes flashed, and her lips took on a pout. “Not quite
universally
admired, Mr. Darcy.”
    “Miss Bingley, surely you are mistaken! I am astonished,” rejoined Darcy, though himself quite certain of the source of her discontent. “Of whom do you speak?”
    “Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” she confessed. “I detected her insincerity at Netherfield, and her behavior here tonight only confirms the truth.” Miss Bingley shook her head sorrowfully. Then, with her shot delivered, she excused herself, latched onto a young man dressed in what was locally considered the height of fashion, and requested his escort across the room. As they left, Darcy heard her exclaim upon his neckcloth, advising him to speak to her brother’s