Chapter 13
Once Elizabeth managed to get Mr. Darcy to actually speak, he turned out to be a pleasant conversationalist, enough so that when the next course was served and politeness required her to turn her attention once again to Baron Chithers, Elizabeth was rather disappointed.
Mr. Darcy had a way of speaking while mostly avoiding looking directly at her. He looked at his plate or his napkin, but not at her face. He occasionally looked in her direction, but his gaze was focused on her sleeve or something just behind her.
Only once in their conversation did he look directly in her eyes, and the feeling was unexpectedly intense.
His gaze was piercing as though by simply looking at her eyes, he could see every minute detail about her.
It was impossible to look away, and she was unaccountably both relieved and disappointed when he broke their connection.
When dessert was finally served, Elizabeth was grateful to be able to return her attention to Mr. Darcy, hoping to pick up their conversation once again, but he had returned to his taciturn silence.
This time, Elizabeth did nothing to combat it. She just stared at her dessert and played with her fork, feeling inexplicably lonely.
Dinner came to an end without another word between her and Mr. Darcy other than a brief farewell as Elizabeth left for the drawing room while he stayed behind to enjoy port with the gentlemen.
Elizabeth wished to find Jane to tell her all about her dinner partner, but when she arrived in the drawing room, Jane was already speaking with Mrs. Hudson on a sofa. So, Elizabeth looked around for Mary.
Mary was standing by the fire, looking pensively into the flames.
“I hope you are enjoying your evening so far,” Elizabeth said to her sister as she approached.
Mary shrugged a little, though she did not look up at Elizabeth.
“Dinner was delicious, and my dinner partners were kind enough. I am afraid I must have annoyed them, though, with my discussion of the newspaper, for neither of them spoke to me for long, at least not on any subject worth mentioning.”
“What did they speak of?” asked Elizabeth.
“Hunting and cards,” said Mary. “I suppose they were attempting to brag about their gambling prowess or the quality of their hunting dogs, but it didn’t interest me, so I stopped listening after a while.”
“Do you suppose that’s how they felt about your discussion of the newspaper?” asked Elizabeth.
“Very likely,” said Mary, “and I understand what you are implying. If I wish for gentlemen to listen to me, I must speak on topics that interest them. However, I must insist on drawing a line. While I can understand that a gentleman might not be well versed in Fordyce’s sermons, any gentleman who does not pay attention to the news is not a gentleman I would wish to associate with. ”
“I am certain Lady Esther would agree with you,” said Elizabeth. “I agree as well to a degree. However, I can’t deny that it hurts me to see you ignored and unhappy.”
Mary shrugged again. “Do not concern yourself overmuch,” she said.
“I am annoyed more than I am unhappy. I understand that at the moment my primary attraction is my fortune, but I absolutely refuse to compromise my expectations of gentlemen simply to accommodate their interest in my money. Besides, Papa doesn’t truly wish us to even think about courtship or marriage, yet.
No, Elizabeth. You need not concern yourself with me. I will be well, I assure you.”
“If you are certain, then I will say no more about it,” said Elizabeth. She looked out over the room at the various ladies both old and young and said, “I suppose I should mingle a bit, but I am somewhat overwhelmed at the prospect of meeting so many new people all at once.”
“I thought you would relish such a thing,” said Mary. “You always seem to know exactly what to say to everyone, whether lifelong friend or complete stranger.”
“That is exactly the illusion I wish to cultivate,” said Elizabeth, “for I truly do love to meet new people, to learn more of the world and of humanity. At the same time, however, even I have my limits as to how much I can learn in a single evening.” She sighed.
“Even so, if we are to establish ourselves amongst our new peers, it must be done.”
Elizabeth squared her shoulders just a bit and said, “Wish me luck.”
As she drifted away from her sister toward a couple of young ladies she wished to know more of, she heard Mary say, “Good luck.”
~~~~~
Half an hour later, they were joined by the gentlemen.
Two of them immediately broke from the group and headed towards Elizabeth.
A half dozen or so headed for Jane. The rest scattered themselves around the room.
Elizabeth was surprised but pleased to see that Judge Darcy almost immediately engaged Mary in conversation.
At least her younger sister would not be left out completely.
Elizabeth couldn’t see much else of what passed due to the two gentlemen vying for her attention, so she gave them her most brilliant smiles and her full attention.
After a few minutes, she began to feel as though she was being watched, so she briefly tore her attention away from her conversation partners to glance around.
There, standing not more than five feet away, was Mr. Darcy.
He was not currently watching her, but by the way his attention was fixed on absolutely nothing, she was fairly certain he had been just moments ago.
She was exceedingly puzzled by such behavior. He had practically ignored her during the last course at dinner, but now he was staring at her, much as he had done during the first dinner course while she was conversing with Baron Chithers.
She began to truly worry that something was amiss with her gown.
Once her current conversation petered to a close, Elizabeth made her way over to Lady Esther and discreetly pulled her aside.
“Can you tell me if there is anything wrong with my gown?” she asked the Lady. “Perhaps a wrinkle I was not aware of or a loose thread. Or perhaps there is something amiss with my hair.”
Lady Esther’s face showed a bit of surprised curiosity, but she did not ask questions. At least, not at first. She merely looked Elizabeth over, even going so far as to make Elizabeth turn around. Then she said, “I see nothing amiss. Is there some reason you are so concerned.”
“It is nothing really,” replied Elizabeth. “It is only that there is a gentleman who has been watching me for much of the evening, but when he had the opportunity to actually speak with me, he said little. I assumed he must be noticing something offensively out of place.”
“No gentleman stares at a lady unless he takes pleasure in doing so,” said Lady Esther. “If there was truly something amiss, he would ignore you. May I ask who this gentleman is?”
“It is our host’s nephew, Mr. Darcy,” said Elizabeth.
“Then you may take pride in the attention,” said Lady Esther. “As far as I am aware, that young man seldom singles any young lady out in any way.”
“That seems to be rather odd behavior. Does he dislike women so much, or is he just opposed to marriage in general?” asked Elizabeth.
“No one knows for certain,” replied Lady Esther.
“His father died four years ago, and he is the only son, so many believe it odd that he has not rushed to the altar simply to secure the succession of his family’s lands.
Still, he is merely twenty-seven years old.
There are plenty of gentlemen, even those with titles that must be secured, who wait until they reach their thirties before settling down. ”
Elizabeth glanced over at the gentleman in question who was now speaking with Mr. Chithers.
Without thinking, she said, “He is very handsome.” When she realized what she had just said, she added, “I only mean that he must be the object of a great deal of attention from other ladies. Between his looks and his fortune, which he will not have to wait for, he must be among the most eligible bachelors in the kingdom.”
Lady Esther smiled. “I believe he is,” she said. “Though there are some who speculate that such is precisely why he is so withdrawn. Among all the mamas who are hunting for a husband for their daughters, it is widely assumed that he is one who firmly prefers to be the hunter rather than the prey.”
“If everyone assumes he prefers such, why is he still pursued so adamantly?” asked Elizabeth.
As the words exited her lips, she saw a young lady approach Mr. Darcy with a shy glance up at him and the merest hint of a demure smile on her lips.
His features hardened in response as if he would rather be speaking with the scullery maid than this pretty young lady.
“How would one even go about attempting such a thing?” she added.
“By being very tempting prey,” said Lady Esther.
A few moments of silence passed between them as Elizabeth watched Mr. Darcy’s aloof response to the lady’s demure attempts at conversation. After only a few exchanges, the lady gave it up and left him to seek out better company elsewhere.
“That man confuses me,” said Elizabeth, turning back to Lady Esther. “I think I shall attempt to ignore him in the future.”
Lady Esther’s expression said as clear as daylight that she did not believe Elizabeth, but she said nothing aloud on the subject.