Chapter 17 #2
“Mr. Darcy did not appear to consider the audience,” she said.
Wickham's smile remained. “Then his habits have changed.”
“Or your account of them has not.”
For a moment, surprise broke through his charm. Then he bowed. “I deserve that. Old grievances make poor company.”
Kitty touched his sleeve. “You promised not to be grave tonight.”
“And I have failed. Permit me another attempt?”
He led her toward Lydia and Denny.
Darcy looked at Elizabeth. “You defended me.”
“I corrected an unfair remark. Do not mistake accuracy for allegiance.”
“I shall attempt the distinction.”
Caroline approached before Elizabeth could answer. “Mr. Darcy, Sir William asks if you will join the next table. He claims Mr. Goulding has demanded a stronger opponent.”
Darcy glanced toward Sir William, who was speaking with Lady Lucas and showed no sign of having sent the message.
“I have finished with cards,” he said.
“Then perhaps you will walk through the gallery. Louisa says the portrait near the stairs resembles your aunt.”
“It does not.”
Caroline smiled. “Then you must tell me why.”
“I have no interest in the portrait.”
Elizabeth looked away before Caroline caught the amusement in her face.
Louisa joined them. “Caroline, Lady Lucas wants your opinion of the supper table.”
“Why should she want mine?”
“Because you have looked at it six times.”
Caroline's mouth tightened. “I was considering the space the servants had left near the door.”
“Then you may reassure her.”
The sisters moved aside. Louisa spoke in a tone too low for Elizabeth to hear, but Caroline's eyes went to Darcy before she answered.
Hurst appeared beside Elizabeth with a plate in his hand. “My wife has begun saving people from conversations. It will ruin the evening.”
“Perhaps she chooses those in danger.”
“Then Darcy requires constant rescue.”
Darcy looked at him. “From what?”
Hurst selected a pastry. “Cards, portraits, supper tables. Netherfield contains hazards in every room.”
“You have survived them.”
“I avoid movement.”
Elizabeth laughed, and Hurst regarded her with mild interest, then looked at Darcy.
“You should play again,” he said. “Your attention was elsewhere during the last game.”
“I won.”
“That proves nothing. Goulding played as though the cards offended him,” he said, moving away before Darcy could answer.
Elizabeth watched him go. “Mr. Hurst observes more than he admits.”
“He admits little.”
“That leaves him ample room.”
Darcy looked toward Caroline, who stood with Louisa near the supper table. Caroline's posture had regained its ease, but her attention had not left them.
“Some observations serve no one,” he said.
“Then they should remain unspoken.”
“We agree.”
Mary approached with Mr. Allen on her arm. “Mr. Allen wishes to sit near the window, but Lady Lucas has placed a table in the way.”
Darcy moved the table before Elizabeth or Mary could respond. He shifted two chairs, opened a clear path, and offered Mr. Allen the seat nearest the window.
“You anticipate need, sir,” Mr. Allen said. “A dangerous habit. People may begin to expect it.”
“Then I shall disappoint them when necessary.”
“Good. Consistency exhausts a man.”
Mary waited until Darcy returned to the others.
“He had nothing to gain,” she said.
Elizabeth knew the remark belonged to their earlier discussion. “Must every decent action purchase something?”
“You seem to think his must.”
“I said that good manners do not erase contempt.”
Mary looked toward Darcy. “True, and contempt does not erase everything else.”
Elizabeth set down her glass. “He helped Mr. Allen, and I do not deny it. That does not change his opinion of my family.”
“I did not say it should.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“That you allow him no action which does not confirm your opinion.”
Elizabeth met her gaze. “That is not true.”
When Mary said nothing, Elizabeth reached for her glass again. “You need not look so doubtful.”
Mary held her sister’s look for a moment, then turned toward the supper table.
Bingley offered Jane a seat beside him and Sir William placed Darcy near Mr. Allen, which left Elizabeth across from Wickham and Kitty.
Caroline sat beside Darcy and spoke to him whenever the conversation allowed, but his answers were brief.
Twice his attention crossed the table toward Elizabeth.
, and on the second occasion, Caroline stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence.
Louisa noticed. Hurst noticed Louisa noticing.
“You have lost your place,” he told Caroline.
“I have not.”
“Then the sentence lacked an ending.”
Caroline resumed her account of a London musicale, though no one had asked for it.
Wickham entertained Kitty with an account of an officer who challenged a miller’s son to race across a flooded meadow and lost both the wager and one boot. Kitty laughed before he reached the end and demanded to know whether he recovered the boot.
Elizabeth listened, though part of her attention remained across the table. Darcy spoke to Mr. Allen, then moved a dish within the old man's reach.
Wickham followed her gaze. “He presents well tonight.”
“Must every remark contain a second meaning?”
“Not every remark, just those concerning old friends.”
“You call him a friend?”
“Once, perhaps. Boys use the word before they understand its cost.”
Kitty looked troubled. “You said you would not speak of him.”
“You are right.” Wickham turned his smile toward her. “I am neglecting better company.”
Kitty forgave him at once.
After supper, Sir William attempted to arrange a dance. The card tables had left too little space, but Lydia and Maria Lucas pushed two chairs against the wall and declared the room sufficient.
Bingley asked Jane for the first set and Wickham claimed Kitty. Darcy remained near the fire until Sir William approached Elizabeth.
“Miss Eliza, you must not stand idle. Mr. Darcy, allow me to present a partner whose liveliness may cure your reluctance.”
Elizabeth expected Darcy to refuse. Instead, he turned to her.
“Will you dance?”
The room seemed to narrow around the question. Caroline stood near the pianoforte, watching.
Elizabeth could have declined. Wickham's account, Darcy's insult, and Caroline's warning all offered reasons. Yet Darcy had spent the evening acting with a consideration that asked for no witness, and refusal would declare more than she wished to admit.
“Yes,” she said.
Caroline's expression held, but Louisa saw the effort.
The musicians began. Darcy offered his hand, and Elizabeth took it.
They moved into place with another couple, and for the first several measures, Darcy said nothing. Elizabeth expected this from him, but the evening made his silence harder to read.
“You chose a dangerous time to become agreeable,” she said.
“Have I become agreeable?”
“Mr. Allen appears to think so.”
“Mr. Allen thinks age has corrected his sense.”
“Then his judgment may not assist you.”
“I did not seek it.”
They turned with the set. Darcy's attention did not leave her face.
“Mr. Wickham thinks your conduct tonight served an audience,” Elizabeth said.
“Mr. Wickham assigns motives with confidence.”
“You do the same.”
“Then you have grounds to distrust us both.”
The answer checked her. She had expected denial or anger, not agreement.
“You make a poor defense,” she said.
“I was not defending myself.”
“That may be your first sensible choice this evening.”
“My first?”
“You accepted Sir William's proposal.”
“I accepted yours.”
“I made none.”
“You agreed to dance.”
“After you asked.”
“Then we share responsibility.”
Elizabeth almost smiled. Across the room, Caroline’s attention made concealment impossible.
“Miss Bingley appears concerned for your share,” Elizabeth said.
Darcy did not look toward Caroline. “Miss Bingley concerns herself with many things.”
“She believes concern grants authority.”
“It does not.”
The set brought them apart before Elizabeth could answer. When they returned to one another, Darcy spoke first.
“Did she presume to speak for me?”
Elizabeth met his eyes. “Ask her.”
“I am asking you.”
“Then you place me in the position you warned her against.”
His expression sharpened, then eased. “A fair correction.”
“Do not grow accustomed to them.”
“I doubt you would permit it.”
When the dance ended, Darcy bowed, but his attention remained with her as she stepped away. Elizabeth returned to Mary with less certainty than she had carried into the set.
Across the room, Hurst leaned toward his wife. “Inferior play again.”
Louisa looked at him.
“He has left the stronger table,” Hurst said.
“There is no table.”
“Then the condition has advanced.”
Louisa turned away before Caroline saw her smile.
Caroline watched Darcy lead Elizabeth into the set. Her warning at Netherfield had failed. Elizabeth had not withdrawn, and Darcy had not turned from her. Persuasion would not answer. If Caroline meant to protect the future she had chosen, she would need another course.