Chapter 10 #2
Walking through the receiving line at Netherfield, Lizzy focused on the present moment. Not on romantic dreams of the future. At twenty, she wasn’t a green girl who forgot all else when captured by thoughts of love.
Bingley greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, which seemed to surprise absolutely no one. His engagement to Jane was the worst kept secret in Meryton. Still, they would play out the charade. They would give their neighbours the chance to express their good wishes.
Caroline was more animated than usual. Rather than displaying her normal reserve, she was downright effusive.
She even looked different. Her complexion was pale, which might have been cosmetics.
More surprising were the curves her slim figure seemed to have developed.
She looked as if she might spill out of her décolletage.
The right stays could work wonders, it seemed.
For Jane’s sake, Lizzy hoped her reservations about Caroline were misplaced. Caroline had always spoken courteously to Lizzy. It was the raised eyebrow and curled lip that gave Lizzy pause. Caroline’s words were all they should be, but her mannerisms smelt of disdain.
Lizzy set those thoughts aside. The night was to be a celebration.
She looked around for Darcy and spotted him coming towards her. She met him halfway.
“Miss Bennet, how delightful to see you. I hope you’re not engaged for the first set.”
She smiled up at him, a thrill of excitement twisting her stomach. He wrote his name on her dance card, then took two glasses of champagne from the tray of a passing footman. Lizzy sipped, but knew better than to drink too much so early in the evening.
“I see you liked the flowers,” he said.
She’d added the lilies-of-the-valley to her coiffure. “Yes, they were a sweet gift. I appreciate your kindness.”
“It’s pure selfishness on my part. I like thinking of you with flowers to enjoy.”
His words warmed her. He wasn’t the sort to say pretty things for the sake of being gallant. If he said something, he meant it.
As the dancing started, Bingley led Jane out onto the floor.
Lizzy and Darcy joined them, along with the rest of the company.
Lizzy said, “It’s courageous of Jane to enter into this match.
I don’t know that I could so easily give up all my worldly goods, and my future inheritance, to a man I had known for two months. ”
Darcy frowned. “Do you distrust Bingley?”
“Not at all. I suspect Jane and I have different visions of marriage. I believe she’ll be content to limit her sphere of influence to the household and children.
She’ll let Bingley and my father manage the farm.
If I were in that position, I’d want a more active role in the financial matters concerning my family. I realise that may sound unseemly—”
“Not at all.” Darcy watched her from beneath a knitted brow. “It’s prudent for a wife to be aware of her husband’s financial dealings. Many men might have been spared bankruptcy if they’d sought their wife’s counsel.”
She tilted her head. “Do you believe that?”
“I wouldn’t have said it, if I didn’t believe it.” He spoke with alacrity. “Women manage household accounts—they can equally manage a farm or business investments. I’d find it a comfort to share the burden of weighty decisions with a trusted partner.”
Lizzy swallowed the knot in her throat. She could hardly believe his thoughts on the matter aligned so perfectly with hers.
Before she could speak, the set ended, to Lizzy’s dismay. For the rest of the evening, she had partners for every dance. She had to content herself with meeting Darcy’s eyes across the room.
The celebration was a festive one. More than once, she spoke to Lydia and Kitty to tame their active spirits. Her father, too, kept a close eye on his daughters. He’d grown more vigilant about the officers since the warning about Mr. Wickham.
Jane, meanwhile, was glowing. Lizzy had never seen her so happy and confident. The love she and Bingley shared was clear in the way they looked at each other.
With so much happiness in the air, the evening passed quickly. Lizzy was almost surprised when Darcy came to claim her for the supper dance.
It was a waltz, still considered scandalous in London. Lizzy wondered why Caroline had included it. Perhaps she’d hoped to snare Darcy for this set herself.
Instead, Lizzy was in his arms, floating across the floor as if carried by a cloud. His heat enveloped her, and his intent gaze did not allow her to tear her eyes from his. For one who disliked dancing, he was very good at it.
The rhythmic movements of their bodies awakened the most delicious yearnings in her. She wished they could move closer, until no space was left between them. She wanted to feel his hard, muscular body against her, his insistent lips teasing, his gentle fingers threading through her hair.
And she wanted more. Her most intimate places ached for him. The desire was one they couldn’t fulfil unless they married.
Now, though, she finally felt certain—if he offered, she would accept. She would accept him joyously, her soul alight with radiant love. But did he feel the same?
She looked up to see his eyes dark with longing, his pupils wide. A shiver went through her as she imagined his thoughts. She knew them instinctively to be as decadent as hers.
“Elizabeth,” he said in a low, husky voice, “you’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever known.”
“Darcy,” she murmured breathlessly in return, matching the informality of his address.
“I can’t forget that sweet kiss you gave me in the garden. You believe me, do you not? You understand my intentions are honourable?”
“Yes.” Her throat closed up, and she trembled. She couldn’t say more.
“You haven’t discouraged my advances, so I hope that means you welcome them.”
She looked away, suddenly shy at the intensity and deep import of his words. “Yes.”
“Then I’ll call on your father tomorrow.”
She looked at him through tear-glazed eyes. She longed for him to kiss her, but that would have to wait. There was no mistaking his words. Darcy would be hers.
Her heart burst with happiness. How quickly this all had happened! Could she trust the powerful emotions in her breast? They seemed new and fragile, and yet they were truer than anything she’d felt before.
She imagined being his wife, being free to share kisses and caresses and more.
Her blood burned with longing—longing to know him as completely as one could know another.
What bliss marriage would be, the intimacy between them growing by the day over years and decades.
Could anything be more perfect, more thrilling?
The music stopped, but they continued to stand in the embrace of the dance. Lizzy was lost in his gaze. Her breathing grew laboured. But they couldn’t remain in this pose.
“Darcy,” she pleaded in a low voice, the sound thin and raspy. But all other thoughts faded the next moment when the air was rent by a scream.