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Published:
2020-11-20
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2021-02-05
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2/2
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Machinations and Matchmaking

Summary:

Charles Bingley, overwhelmed with the happiness of his own engagement, attempts to secure Jane’s help in making a match between Elizabeth and Darcy.

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

From Charles Bingley to Jane Bennet, handed to her discreetly upon arriving at Longbourn one morning soon after their engagement:

My dearest Jane,

As the weather is so inclement this morning and we will not be able to escape out of doors, I am afraid I will have to resort to subterfuge and letter writing. I have much to tell you in the way of an idea that struck me most forcibly last evening, one to bring together your dearest sister, Elizabeth, and my closest friend, Darcy. I believe such a match would add much to their happiness, and, of course, to ours. Do not you agree? What a pleasant party the four of us will make! It will be quite the perfect arrangement and I am now determined to bring it about. 

It would be considerably easier to speak of it than to write, but we would not wish to be overheard by anyone and necessity compels. What do you think of such a match?

C.B.

 

From Jane Bennet to Charles Bingley, written with fond indulgence on the paper with which she had intended to write a letter to her aunt Gardiner that morning: 

My dear Charles,

I would like such a match very much indeed, but I am afraid it is an impossible one. If we could be sure of their happiness together, I would be eager to join you in promoting it, but every time they meet, they seem to be crossing swords. 

 

From Charles to Jane, after borrowing both Jane’s pen and ink and nearly tipping the latter on to one of the Bennets’ sitting room chairs, written directly beneath the lines of his original letter and the words smudged almost to the point of illegibility: 

Ah, yes, but you do not know Darcy as I do. That is, unfortunately, how he flirts.

 

From Jane to Charles, passed to him cautiously while Elizabeth’s back was turned:

You have seen this behavior in him before?

 

From Charles to Jane, written with the pencil the lady had given him so as to save her parents’ furniture: 

Well, no. But it is the way I imagine that he flirts. He only bothers engaging with people he is fond of, and even last year I could tell that he was seeking her company in a way that I have never before seen from him. If he was indifferent to Lizzy, or disliked her, he would ignore her as best as he could. Trust me: Darcy enjoys their bantering.

 

From Jane to Charles, unsure if she would characterize it as such, and unwilling to share Elizabeth’s former comments regarding Darcy: 

I still do not know how likely such a match would be. I think it is possible that they would do very well together, but that means nothing if the parties concerned do not agree. 

 

From Charles to Jane, passed too quickly across the table and falling to the floor, nearly intercepted by Hill as she answered Mrs. Bennet’s summons:

You did not see them together at Lambton and Pemberley, as I did. I think there might be some feeling between them already.

 

From Jane to Charles, written only after she had spent a good deal of time considering her younger sister thoughtfully:

I did not know of the extent of this. Lizzy has not told me of any of the particulars. I was under the impression that their meeting in Derbyshire was but a brief one. 

 

From Charles to Jane, avoiding the eyes of Mrs. Bennet, who maintained the air of one far less observant than she actually had been:

And yet they met on multiple occasions. Does not this confirm my suspicions? I am quite sure that my observations are correct, and that the entire party at Pemberley, including your aunt and uncle Gardiner, would agree with me. 

 

From Jane to Charles, blushing furiously, as Mrs. Bennet gave an enormously exaggerated wink:

I cannot account for Lizzy’s secrecy, but I dare not speculate as to its meaning. It could be nothing, you know. But if you observed a change in their behavior, perhaps you are right and there is hope for them after all.

 

From Charles to Jane, his handwriting, upon partial vindication of his argument, becoming even more of a scrawl:

Then you agree? Shall we give the two of them a little push in the right direction? Our marriage is sure to bring them more often together, and we can do what we can to help them along.

 

From Jane to Charles, pressed into his hand as she rose from her chair to stand close to the fire, inconspicuously destroying the evidence of the morning’s correspondence that had accumulated thus far:

It may be best not to interfere, and to let things happen as they will.

 

From Charles to Jane, pressed into her hand, when she returned, for the excuse of the contact:

Nonsense. Sometimes people are too stubborn to see what is in front of them, and from my knowledge of Darcy, and what you have implied of your sister, we are dealing with two very stubborn people indeed.

 

From Jane to Charles, phrased very carefully, still unconvinced of the wisdom of the plan:

Well, perhaps a slight nudge would not hurt. But first, let me have the chance to observe Lizzy more closely. I do not know why she has been so secretive, but I am sure she has her reasons. I would not want to do anything to make her uncomfortable or that would be opposed to her true wishes.

 

From Charles to Jane, exultant, quite convinced that his own happiness could be transferred and the joy of all four made complete:

Of course not. And if, upon closer inspection, my conjectures are wrong, we will call off the plan entirely. But I tell you, there was something different between them in Derbyshire, and I am quite certain that they spent half the evening looking at each other when we came to dine at Longbourn. I should like to do something for Darcy, after all of the good he has done for me throughout the years. Very well, I expect him back from town in several days. You will observe Lizzy, I will bring Darcy around as often as possible, and we shall see what can be done.

Chapter 2

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Charles Bingley stared at his friend.

“You are engaged,” he repeated slowly.

“Yes.”

“To Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”

“Yes.”

Bingley made a spluttering sort of sound. “Well, this ruins everything!”

“I-- I beg your pardon?” 

Bingley had not noticed how bright his friend’s expression had been until his face fell in disappointment. Darcy’s happiness could be subtle. “I had a plan!” said Bingley.

Darcy said nothing. Bingley thought he looked confused, or stunned, or possibly both. It was, at any rate, not a look he was used to seeing from him.

“I was going to make a match between you and Elizabeth!” explained Bingley, starting to feel very put out indeed. 

There was a brief pause - and he definitely did look shocked now - before Darcy burst into laughter.

“I am not joking!” said Bingley indignantly.

Darcy, to his credit, hastily composed himself. “Bingley, how long have we known each other?”

He calculated. “Lord, ten years, at least.”

“And in that time, how many successful plans have you launched?”

“I think that is unfair.” It wasn’t.

Darcy smirked. “How far along were these plans?” he asked.

“They were not plans so much as ideas to shape into a plan,” Bingley admitted.

“I see,” said Darcy, plainly amused. “And what were these plans to eventually entail?”

“Well,” Bingley said, “I thought Jane and I could sort of... bring you and Elizabeth together in the coming weeks and hope one wedding would lead to another.”

It didn’t sound like much of a plan, even to his own ears.

“You are very devious,” said Darcy, his mouth twitching slightly.

“And,” Bingley said, ignoring that particular comment, “if you were still too stubborn, as I knew you probably would be, we would then bring you both to Netherfield as often as possible.”

“Ah, yes,” said Darcy wryly, “inducing love by proximity.”

The word reminded Bingley. “How long have you loved Elizabeth?" he demanded.

Darcy went quiet and flushed faintly pink. 

“Come now, Darcy,” insisted Bingley, “you must tell me.”

Darcy was resolutely silent.

“We are old friends!" wheedled Bingley. “And to be quite frank, I am a little hurt that you have not told me of this before now. How long have you loved her?”

“I hardly know, Bingley,” he said impatiently. “It has been coming along for a while.”

“Was it before or after you saw her at Pemberley?”

Darcy started a little at this. “Before,” he said tersely.

Bingley could see from Darcy's expression that he would learn no more from his friend with this line of questioning, so he dropped it, for the time being at least. He would get it out of him at some point. Possibly. “And did you race back from London just to propose to her?”

Darcy was very pink now.

“You did!" Bingley said, astonished. "Out with it, man. What on earth has happened since you left Hertfordshire?"

Darcy mumbled something mostly unintelligible, but Bingley caught the words Lady Catherine.

He was thunderstruck.

“You owe this to Lady Catherine?" he said, feeling, it must be admitted, a little enraged. "I have been making plans and Lady Catherine will get the credit?"

“I can assure you that she does not want it," Darcy said firmly. "And I am not sure that we can classify idle wishes as plans," he added as an afterthought.

"Oh, no," said Bingley warningly, pointing a finger at him. "You will not put me off that easily. What happened with Lady Catherine?" But he had suddenly remembered. "Lady Catherine came to Longbourn!" he said. "She was here in Hertfordshire! She spoke with Elizabeth! Did she-- how did you-- Darcy, what happened?"

Darcy had gone positively red. "My aunt heard some… rumors," he said finally. He cleared his throat. "And Elizabeth did not deny them satisfactorily."

The man could be infuriating. "Rumors about what?"

"About… about our engagement."

He could practically feel the heat of Darcy’s blush from where he stood. 

"Your engagement? What--”

"Elizabeth would not promise that she would not become engaged to me."

He said this very quietly - it was scarcely even a whisper - but Bingley caught every word.

"And so you knew she would say yes, if you asked?" 

"I did not know," Darcy said, shaking his head, "but I did hope."

Bingley felt rather elated by this, in spite of himself. He had not known that his friend had such a romantic streak. That was an interesting development, indeed. "Good God,” he said finally, “does Lady Catherine know what she has done?"

Bingley had met Darcy’s aunt on one very memorable occasion at Pemberley and hoped never to repeat the experience; the memory still made him shudder, and he could only imagine how unpleasant she would be now.

"Not yet," said Darcy.

"I would be terrified, if I were you." He contemplated the horror of her wrath for a moment, relieved that he would not be on the receiving end of it, but then his petulance returned. "And so Lady Catherine did more to make the match than I did," he said sullenly.

“You are not really disappointed, are you?” asked Darcy, looking closely at him.

He was, a little. He could not explain why he was disappointed, or why it had mattered so much to him, except--

“It is just that-- well, Darcy, you have always looked out for me,” he said awkwardly. “I thought it would be a good thing to do something for you for a change.”

There was an odd expression on Darcy’s face. He was touched. At least, Bingley thought so; it could be hard to tell with Darcy. The man was not used to things being done for him. It was usually the other way around.

“Then, I presume, you approve of my engagement to Elizabeth?” Darcy said in a carefully nonchalant tone, looking down at the floor. 

Bingley started a little, astonished that his friend clearly wanted this confirmation. “Darcy, of course I approve! I am delighted!”

Darcy smiled at his enthusiasm.

“Obviously, I approve,” Bingley continued. “This is exactly what I hoped for.”

He wondered if he dared hug his friend. He decided against it, and went for an energetic handshake instead.

“You do know what this means,” said Bingley with a grin. "We are to be brothers.”

“Yes.”

“I have always wanted a brother.”

“My life would have been easier for the past ten years had you actually had one.”

“You cannot fool me, Darcy. I know that you are just as pleased as I am that we are to be properly related.”

And Darcy was pleased; it was written plainly on his face.

“Of course," said Darcy, quickly smothering his smile, "that does make Mrs. Bennet our mutual mother.”

Bingley shrugged. One could not expect everything to be perfect.

Notes:

I had originally intended this to be a one-shot, but then I really wanted to see Bingley’s reaction when he learned that Lady Catherine had beaten him to the punch. That did mean an abrupt style switch between the chapters, though - try as I might, I could not come up with a good enough reason for Darcy and Bingley to pass notes.