Chapter Six #2
For a while Elizabeth simply meandered through the vividly embellished outdoor paradise, taking in every sight.
Occasionally she was met by some acquaintance or friend, and those she trusted she asked if they had seen Mr. Darcy – but nobody had.
Indeed, after so much wine, her dearest friends all seemed hardly sensible of themselves.
Elizabeth had grown anxious by the time she fell into step with Rebecca, who teased her for being cursed with such popularity that she had been obliged to speak to everybody except the person she most wished to encounter.
Despite her wicked banter, Rebecca promised to help Elizabeth find Mr. Darcy and evade Lady Catherine's notice as they slipped away in search of privacy.
Unfortunately, Rupert and Lord Douglas found them first. They appeared to be returning from a stroll through one of the Dark Paths, and they hailed the ladies from a short distance away.
Lord Douglas rushed forth and caught Elizabeth by the hand, drawing her closer to him.
“Lovely Miss Elizabeth, we must go and observe the Cascade! It may be the one sight at Vauxhall that rivals your resplendent beauty.”
“Oh, I do wish to see it,” Rebecca agreed, but she was still scanning the crowd as if searching for Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth was grateful to her cousin; she had heard of the magnificent spectacle called the Cascade, and preferred to take it in with Mr. Darcy, if she could.
In the end, she and Rebecca were whisked away by Rupert and Lord Douglas, who were in a great hurry, for the attraction was only operated for a few minutes each night.
The bell had sounded to indicate the spectacle was about to begin, and a great crowd collected on the Centre Cross Walk, rushing to take in the legendary sight.
The curtain was raised to reveal a pastoral scene, a water mill and a bridge, and the shimmering waterfall.
At Elizabeth’s side, Lord Douglas began to explain how the illusion worked, a massive rotating wheel with sheets of tin that in certain light created the impression of moving water – it even sounded like water.
Elizabeth only half attended to him as she stared in half-sprung awe at the glittering wonder, captivated by the rhythmic movement of the “water” as it cascaded so beautifully, shimmering in the light.
And then, as if she had willed it to happen, Mr. Darcy came to stand by her other side. She looked up at him with a dreamy smile. “Is it not breathtaking?”
“I cannot look away,” he murmured, but he seemed not to notice the scene before them at all; his eyes remained fixed on her. Elizabeth moved closer, meeting his gaze for a minute or two before turning back to take in the great marvel of the Cascade.
When it was over, she looked back at him again, and he still wore the same awestruck expression as his eyes roved over her. She beamed at him. “Will you walk with me?”
He inclined his head. “I shall wait for you just beyond the floral archway over there.”
Elizabeth looked around at the place where he meant; it led to the Dark Paths, which was just where she desired to explore. She nodded, knowing she had not long before her companions would claim her attention. “Ten, perhaps fifteen minutes.”
The next quarter hour felt like an eternity to Elizabeth as she was left to the high spirits of her companions.
As soon as she could make an excuse to part with them, she made her way to Mr. Darcy, hoping she did not betray by the haste of her steps the urgency that rippled through her body.
She nearly made it to the floral arch without encountering any of her friends or relations, but then Miss Darrow appeared out of nowhere and latched onto her arm.
“Lizzy! You look so beautiful this evening – you and your sister are always so fashionable, but I cannot imagine how you will ever exceed what you have accomplished this evening.”
Elizabeth smiled in spite of herself to see her new friend so cheerful. “You look very pretty, too, DeeDee. Are you enjoying yourself this evening? Have you rendered Sir Rolland incapacitated from the force of his mirth at all your jests?”
“I have made him laugh a great deal, but my mother says that is only because he is in his cups.” Miss Darrow frowned, and then she smirked as something wicked glistened in her eyes. “She ought to know.”
Elizabeth laughed and congratulated her friend for this little piece of wit, but Miss Darrow was determined that all credit was due to Elizabeth.
“I cannot thank you enough for your advice! I have already read two fascinating novels full of lively expressions, and I mean to begin another tomorrow – Evelina, have you read it? If my mother’s disapproval is any indication of quality, I must presume it is an edifying read indeed! Oh, but did you like my flowers?”
“Your flowers?” Elizabeth blinked stupidly at her, still taking in Miss Darrow’s rapid barrage of commentary.
“The flowers I sent you after the party, to thank you for your words of inspiration. You were so generous and kind to me – I do not have a great many friends in London.”
“Oh. Oh!” Elizabeth felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach. “The flowers were from you? You only signed the card with the letter D, and Mamma has been wild with speculation.”
Miss Darrow brought her hands to her face with a look of alarm. “Oh no! I dictated the card to the florist, and I am sure I said DeeDee – two D’s – there must have been some error! I hope I have not caused you any embarrassment."
“I thought they were from… well, somebody else present here tonight. Oh, but it was such a lovely gesture of you, and kindly meant – I shall enjoy them no less for being sent in friendship and not courtship,” Elizabeth assured her friend.
“You need not be so mysterious, for Rolland has told me that you and Mr. Darcy are madly in love after only a fortnight – I thought everybody knew it, but then he is not a very romantic figure – or perhaps not in the common way. There was a great deal of brooding in the last novel I read – and a lecherous nobleman like your cousin the earl – have you read The Romance of the Forest? But I suppose Mr. Darcy has potential – he danced so gracefully with your sister and cousin, you must have been mad with envy….”
“DeeDee… would you make some excuse for me, if my mother asks after me? I mean to walk with him for a little while.”
“OooOooOh,” Miss Darrow cooed. “A stroll in the Dark Paths? How romantic! And it is nearly a full moon – your dress shall glisten just like a proper heroine. I hope you will tell me all about it, after – and really, Lizzy, we must have a discussion of books, sometime soon!”
Elizabeth cheerfully agreed, amused that she had apparently unlocked hidden depths to her gregarious new friend. After Miss Darrow agreed to keep her secret, looking dignified as she swore a solemn oath, Elizabeth hastened to her rendezvous with Mr. Darcy.
He had probably been obliged to wait a little longer than the appointed quarter hour, but Elizabeth was not inclined to apologize when she reached the place where he stood in the shadows, just beyond the floral archway.
Mr. Darcy offered her his arm and she accepted it; he led her toward one of the narrower hedge-lined paths, away from the abundance of lanterns.
“You did not send the flowers,” Elizabeth blurted out as she looked up at him. “I… I thought that you had. I hoped they were from you.”
“I apologize if I appeared to be hinting that it was me; I had no intention of taking credit for the gesture.”
“Nor any intention of making such a gesture yourself?” Elizabeth sucked in a breath and held it, fearful of what his answer might be. Mr. Darcy had been so hot and cold for the last week, and she desperately wished they might return to their easy enthusiasm for one another, as when first they met.
Mr. Darcy let out a breathy, almost bitter chuckle. “Have you not been sufficiently wooed by your other suitors?”
Elizabeth screwed up her face and looked away from him.
“Why do you say such things? You have made other little comments of this kind, and I cannot think why, when you know I find it all so ridiculous, the way Mamma is determined I am destined for a lord. Besides, the flowers were not from any of those coxcombs. They were from Miss Darrow, sent in friendship.”
Elizabeth described the substance of her first conversation with Miss Darrow, and the improvement her friend had already shown by rattling away early that evening.
“I wish her every happiness with her cousin. There, you may at least be satisfied that you have no need to be jealous of Sir Rolland Moore.”
“Oh, he wishes me to be, I promise you that, Miss Elizabeth. He takes great pleasure in nettling me. As to the rest of them, I admit I have been envious. It is not a sensation I have enjoyed or been at all comfortable with, for I have never been obliged to compete for a lady’s affections. I do not like it.”
Elizabeth scoffed. “And so you would punish me, behaving so coldly?”
“I have not meant to be uncivil, only to withdraw from the race, as it were.”
Elizabeth nearly stumbled over her steps. “Withdraw? You mean… but why?”
“I have little experience in the way of making love to a refined and desirable lady, and it chafes me to admit that I have just as little to offer, compared to my rivals. Even so… to be candid, Miss Elizabeth, it has rankled my pride that I should have to compete with that babbling ninny Sir John, or Lord Douglas, who has such a reputation in London as would shock you exceedingly.”