Music Monday: World for Two (King Calaway)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY KING CALAWAY ON JANUARY 25, 2019.

This is one of those songs I just happened to see as a suggestion on YouTube. I had never heard of this Country Pop group before. So, I clicked play and decided it was a song worth sharing and pairing up with Assessing Mr. Darcy.

(You can find this song on Spotify at this link. I don’t get anything for sharing this link. I am just trying to do my part to help musicians earn a few pennies when listeners listen. 🙂 )

I’ve chosen the following chapter because it is when the first hints of a desire for “Building a World for Two” begin to filter into Darcy’s thinking. It is the moment he meets Elizabeth. (Yes, this is a story where Darcy falls for her immediately, and then they work through some stuff.)

Assessing Mr. Darcy, Ch. 4

Darcy had found his tea with Bingley to be refreshing, but not so refreshing as the feel of the wind against one’s person as he rode. At least, that is how Darcy saw it. He and Bingley had discussed the basics about which books were most important to look over first and what Bingley’s hopes were in securing an estate like Netherfield. It was for Bingley as it was for many gentlemen.

Bingley wished to gain the prominence that such an estate would bring him as well as a place into which he could put some of his inheritance in such a fashion that it would continue to reap benefits well past when he departed this earth. Bingley was no fool. He was happy and amiable as well as obliging to a fault at times, but he was no fool once he put his mind to a matter. It would take some doing, but Darcy did not expect it would be overly long before Bingley understood the workings of an estate as well as any gentleman did. Darcy smiled wryly. Bingley had the added advantage that he was likely to gain the approval of all his neighbours with very little effort. That was how Bingley was. He liked people, and they liked him. It was an enviable quality.

“I see the knoll,” Bingley circled back to where Darcy was riding at a slower pace. “There.” He pointed to his left. “And that fence there must be the one of which the groom spoke. We are nearly at the end of Netherfield’s lands in this direction. I shall have to ask him tomorrow for a marker of where it ends in the opposite direction.”

“Do you truly care to know?” Darcy teased. “Are there pretty ladies at an estate in all four directions?”

Bingley laughed. “I wish there were, but I think the only pretty ladies that are near my estate are in this direction. Mr. Philips did not mention any others.”

“Mr. Philips, their uncle, did not tell you about any other pretty ladies? How odd.” Darcy’s tone was sardonic.

Again, Bingley laughed. “You should be so lighthearted more often, for you are very good at it.”

“I cannot be.” Darcy’s reply was quick. He found it incredibly difficult to relax with anyone he had not known for any length of time. And even then, there were those such as his aunt Catherine and Caroline around whom he could only marginally relax, though he had known them for years. Lady Catherine was just too demanding and always looking for things to reprove for him to be anything more than mostly at ease in her presence, and Caroline? Well, he was never truly at ease around any lady who was attempting to convince him to marry her.

“I think you could be if you tried,” Bingley retorted.

Darcy shook his head. “To this point in my life, it has been impossible, and I do not see that changing any time soon.”

“Very well,” Bingley conceded. “I shall attempt to work on you, but I will not be utterly discouraged if I am not immediately successful. It shall be an offering of thanks for the help you are giving me with the estate.”

“I think I would rather not receive your gratitude if it is to be given in such a fashion.” Darcy drew his horse to a stop. In the field just beyond the fence, there were three riders – one gentleman and two ladies. “It seems we are in luck,” he called to Bingley.

“What do you – Oh! Yes, indeed, we are!” Bingley replied as he noticed the riders.

“Do they have a brother?”

Bingley’s face pinched. “I am not entirely certain. I believe I remember something about a cousin or brother or some such thing, but…”

“You were far too focused on the ladies to commit that bit of information to memory.”

Bingley smiled sheepishly. “I was.”

Darcy shook his head. It was just like his friend to put all other thoughts out of his head when discussion of a pretty lady was broached. It would be good for the man to marry if only so he could focus on what needed to be done instead of where a wife might be found. Maybe they would be fortunate, and they would find a steady and calm lady amongst the beauties of Longbourn. Then, Darcy could encourage a courtship while still retaining enough of Bingley’s attention to guide him in setting himself up as master of his own domain.

“Shall we approach them?” Darcy asked.

Bingley drew to a halt and looked at his friend with concern. “You wish to meet strangers?”

“For you, I do.”

“Not for yourself?” Bingley teased.

Darcy shook his head. “No, I am not eager to marry, but I know you are.” He clucked to his horse as he turned him in the direction in which the fence ran. They would approach it slowly and at an angle so as not to look too eager. “You do realize that choosing one lady as a wife will mean not choosing every other lady, no matter how beautiful.”

“Yes,” Bingley answered tersely. “If you think so meanly of me, I am surprised you would think to offer your sister to me.”

“I do not think meanly of you. I merely wished to judge your enthusiasm for marriage. You truly wish to marry? You are only four and twenty.”

“And you are eight and twenty. I see no reason why my age should be a detriment to marrying if yours is not one to remaining unmarried. Yes, I know there are not many in our circles who wish to be married so young, but I have my inheritance, and I wish to settle into it as my father desired. Therefore, it would be best for me to take a wife, so that I can send Caroline to live with Hurst, and my wife can be hostess for you and my other guests.”

“So you wish to marry to be rid of Caroline?” Darcy asked with a laugh.

“I do. You should consider it. If you were married, she could not fawn over you as she does now.”

Darcy continued to laugh. “That is a worthy argument. I shall have to consider it if I ever find a lady who is to my liking.”

“I would not be as fastidious as you for a kingdom!” Bingley declared. “Perfection is rarely found in human form.” He smirked. “Except, of course, in the form of the great and noble Fitzwilliam Darcy.”

Darcy’s eyes narrowed. “I do not think of myself as perfect.”

“No, but you do wear an air of superiority at times that suggests you do.”

“I do not.”

“You do.”

“Pick a marker.”

“The stile.”

“It shall not be as satisfying as thrashing you at Gentleman Jacksons, but…” Darcy did not finish his sentence, opting instead to urge his horse into a gallop. It was a trick he had learned from his cousin, Richard, and had found particularly useful in beating Bingley in a race. The man was not only an expert at making friends, but he was also very good at selecting fast horses.

“It was not a fair race,” Bingley grumbled as he reached the stile just behind Darcy.

“No, it was not, but it was excessively satisfying,” Darcy replied with a wide grin.

“That was some show of horsemanship,” the gentleman in the adjoining field called out.

Bingley doffed his hat and made a grand bow. “My thanks to you, sir.”

“Mr. William Bennet,” the man said as he approached Darcy and Bingley.

He was a large man, both in height and breadth, with a friendly countenance.

“Mr. Charles Bingley and my friend Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.” Bingley motioned first to himself and then Darcy.

“Two of my sisters,” William said as he motioned for the ladies with him to come forward. “Jane is the eldest and Elizabeth the next after her.”

Darcy caught his breath. Uncle or no, Bingley’s solicitor was not lying about the beauty of the ladies at Longbourn. Miss Bennet was the sort of lady the masters sought, which made Miss Elizabeth’s beauty seem to pale in comparison but not to him. There was something enchanting about the set of her eyes and the slight disproportion of her features. It was her beauty, not that of her sister, which had caused his breath to hitch.

He touched his hat and gave a nod in greeting but said nothing. He could not. His tongue seemed to be stone. Thankfully, Bingley’s tongue was as loose as ever.

“We were just inspecting this side of the property since a ride after being confined in a carriage seemed to be a most refreshing activity.” He looked at Darcy and tipped his head toward the Bennets.

“Indeed, it is,” Darcy managed to say.

“Elizabeth loves to ride nearly as much as she enjoys walking,” William said. “Jane prefers riding, and I could not choose one over the other even if forced.”

“Do you ride here often?” Bingley directed his question to Miss Bennet.

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief, strangely happy that Bingley had not selected Miss Elizabeth.

“Is something amiss, Mr. Darcy?” Elizabeth asked.

Darcy’s eyes grew wide, and he shook his head. “No, why do you ask?”

“You were frowning.”

“Was I?”

“You are doing it again.”

“I am?”

Next to Darcy, Bingley chuckled. “You will have to excuse my friend. He often looks displeased when he is contemplating something. I assure you he is far more pleasant than he appears and often more civil than he sounds.”

Darcy scowled at Bingley.

“That,” Bingley said triumphantly, “is a truly displeased expression.”

Darcy opened his mouth to hand Bingley a retort he well-deserved, but Elizabeth’s laughter stopped him and caused his lips to curl in pleasure.

“I thank you for the demonstration, Mr. Bingley,” Elizabeth said. “I shall now know the difference between when Mr. Darcy is pensive and when he is vexed.”

Bingley, gallant, helpful friend that he was, nodded his acceptance of Elizabeth’s thanks.

“If you spend enough time with us,” Darcy said, arching a brow at his friend, “I am certain you will have ample practice distinguishing the two expressions since Bingley seems to enjoy vexing me. He is such a trying fellow. You have no idea how he tries one’s nerves.”

“I do not,” Bingley retorted.

“Our mother says the same thing about our father,” William interrupted.

“Our father intends to call on you tomorrow,” Jane inserted.

“I shall look forward to his arrival,” Bingley replied. “We do not wish to take you from your ride.”

Darcy did not believe a word of it. Bingley looked absolutely smitten and in no rush to leave Miss Bennet.

“You are not,” that lady replied with a small duck of her head. “We were only going to ride a bit further and then turn back. This respite has been quite pleasant.”

“Indeed, it has been,” Bingley replied with one of his charming smiles that he used when speaking to any particularly pretty young woman who had captured his fancy.

“Do you ride here often?” Darcy repeated Bingley’s question from before, which had not yet been answered.

“Not so often as I wish,” Jane replied. “However, we do take frequent walks along the path to the knoll. The aspect is quite lovely from there. William was thinking of building a bench under the oak tree, as it is Lizzy’s favourite place to hide away with a book.”

“Perhaps one day you can show me the aspect,” Bingley offered. “However, I am not a great reader, so I shall not be carrying a book, although Darcy may bring one with him. And he is often looking for a quiet spot to read. I am afraid I am not overly good at providing such, and my sisters are even worse.”

Darcy grimaced. “Indeed,” he said dryly.

William laughed. “Sisters can be trying.”

“Almost as much as brothers,” Elizabeth retorted.

“Ah, but there is only one of me and five of you.” William turned to Bingley and Darcy. “While they can be trying, I would not trade them for the world, for they are all delightful in their own way.”

Darcy could hear the edge of a warning in the man’s voice. Not one of the Bennet ladies would be left unprotected. Mr. William Bennet would see to that. It was a sentiment that Darcy could both sympathize with and respect. “I feel the same way about my sister.”

He held William’s gaze for a moment, earning himself a small nod of the man’s head.

“We should return home and allow you to continue your inspection.” William touched his hat. “Until tomorrow.”

Darcy watched as the Bennets rode across the field.

“Miss Bennet is an angel,” Bingley said.

“I would agree,” Darcy replied as he nudged his horse forward. And her sister was a temptress, he thought, as he cast one more look at the retreating forms of the Bennets. He would be pleased to meet her father and explore her connections more fully. He shook his head. That was not a thought he had ever expected to have. However, if her connections were sound… Well, it might just be possible that he and Bingley could indeed be brothers.

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Assessing Mr. Darcy is FREE until tomorrow, May 12, 2020.

Assessing Mr. Darcy and all the other books in A Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 2 will be leaving the Kindle Unlimited program on Wednesday, May 13, 2020. So download any you wanted to read (or the convenient bundle) before then.