Chapter Sixteen #2
"You would be perfectly safe," he assured her. "I told you this afternoon that I am an excellent swimmer."
"And I told you that I mean to remain where your swimming abilities are of no consequence."
"Then I shall have to find some other means of impressing you."
Mrs Cartwright lowered her gaze to her plate, but her smile remained. "I wish you every success, Mr Hadley."
Across the table, Amelia wore the altered gown. Without the heavy rows of yellow rosettes, the pale silk suited her far better, and she seemed more at ease in it. Henry Blackwood had noticed the change almost at once.
"Your gown is very becoming, Miss Harrington."
Amelia coloured. "You do not think it too plain?"
"Not at all. I thought it pretty before, but now one notices you rather than the trimming."
His elder brother made a choking sound into his wine. Henry turned towards him with a warning look, while Amelia's blush deepened.
"That was very well said," Harriet whispered loudly enough for several people to hear.
Henry looked as though he might retreat beneath the table, but Amelia laughed, and after a moment he did too.
Jane sat between Clara and Colonel Fitzwilliam.
The colonel had begun the meal addressing both ladies with equal attention, but his efforts at impartiality did not survive the soup.
By the time the second course arrived, he was speaking almost entirely to Jane.
"You must allow me to defend my conduct this afternoon," he said.
"I have been accused of applauding the opposing side. "
"Only one member of it," Clara observed dryly.
Richard looked across Jane towards her. "I admired an excellent performance."
Jane laughed and shook her head indulgently at him, while Elizabeth watched from across the table with growing amusement.
Her sister had never appeared so light. She answered the colonel without hesitation and received his admiration without the confusion it might once have caused her.
Whatever caution Elizabeth had urged that morning, it was becoming difficult to maintain in the face of Jane's happiness.
Darcy sat beside Elizabeth, though neither had been responsible for the arrangement.
Lady Hortensia had made the seating plan herself and had looked far too pleased when directing them to their chairs.
For the first part of the meal their conversation remained safely upon the Challenge.
They agreed that Lady Frances had fenced remarkably well, disagreed over whether Mr Ashcombe's apology had been sufficiently humble and debated which event Lady Hortensia might choose for the following day.
His manner was easier than it had been that morning, and she found herself responding to it despite all her efforts in her room.
The ladies had spoken nonsense. Darcy did not love her.
He was merely more agreeable when he was not scowling, and she was merely relieved that any tension between them had passed.
That explanation became harder to maintain when his attention remained fixed upon her while she spoke. He listened without glancing towards the rest of the table, and when she laughed, his expression warmed in a manner that made her lose the thread of what she had been saying.
"You were telling me why the ladies should receive an additional point for Lady Frances's courage," he prompted.
"I no longer remember," she admitted.
"Then I have distracted you," he smiled.
Elizabeth looked down at her wine before he could see how much that answer had affected her. "You need not sound so pleased."
At the head of the table, Lady Hortensia called for another bottle to be opened. "We have endured two full days of competition without serious injury to body or reputation, which is more than I expected. I believe that deserves celebration."
Mr Pritchard, standing near the sideboard, inclined his head. "The physician remains available, my lady."
"Let us hope he continues to be disappointed."
A fresh round of laughter followed. The servants cleared the final dishes and brought in syllabubs, fruit and small almond cakes.
Conversation became louder as chairs shifted and neighbours spoke across one another.
Miss Lacey passed her drawing of Mr Ashcombe down the table, provoking his protest that his nose had been made considerably too large.
Lady Frances examined the picture. "I believe she has been generous."
Mr Ashcombe gave her a wounded look. "Must I be defeated twice in one day, my lady?"
"Only if you continue arguing with the artist."
He surrendered the drawing with a sigh, though he was smiling again.
When the last course had been removed, Lady Hortensia remained at the table rather than leading the ladies away. She looked along both sides with an expression of great satisfaction.
"We have eaten well and the score remains close enough to to prevent too much quarrelling. Tonight, we may enjoy ourselves. It would be a pity to end the evening sensibly."
Harriet sat forward. "What do you suggest?" she asked, her eyes bright in anticipation.
Lady Hortensia looked towards the open doors at the far end of the dining room. Beyond them lay the drawing room, where a pianoforte stood near the windows. "I suggest music."
"And dancing?" Harriet asked at once.
A murmur of approval rose from several places around the table. Jane looked towards Richard before lowering her eyes, while Mr Hadley turned immediately to Mrs Cartwright.
Lady Hortensia raised one hand. "Nothing formal. A few sets in the drawing room, provided someone can be persuaded to play."
Miss Grey offered before anyone else could speak. "I should be happy to."
"Excellent," said Lady Hortensia. "Then we shall have dancing."
The company rose in a cheerful confusion of shifting chairs and overlapping conversation as everyone moved towards the drawing room.
Colonel Fitzwilliam was beside Jane almost at once, asking for the first dance with an eagerness he made no attempt to conceal, while Mr Hadley offered his hand to Mrs Cartwright with rather more ceremony than the occasion required.
Henry Blackwood approached Amelia more cautiously, but she spared him the difficulty of a formal speech by smiling before he had finished asking and assuring him that she would be pleased.
Elizabeth watched them go with considerable satisfaction.
Jane's happiness was evident in every glance she exchanged with the colonel, Mrs Cartwright was laughing before she had even reached the doorway and Amelia looked more at ease than she had since arriving at Chaffley Hall.
Elizabeth had almost followed when Darcy spoke beside her.
"Miss Elizabeth."
She turned. He had risen with the others but remained near his chair, watching her with an expression so direct that she knew what he intended before he spoke. "Will you dance with me?"
The question ought not to have surprised her. Almost every other pair had already formed and it was natural enough that the two captains should stand together. Even so, her pulse quickened in a manner which had nothing to do with the warmth of the dining room.
"I suppose I must," she said. "For the sake of peace between the teams."
Darcy offered his hand. "Of course."
Elizabeth placed hers in it, and his fingers closed around hers with familiar warmth as he led her into the drawing room.
The furniture had already been pushed back, leaving space before the pianoforte, and Miss Grey was settling herself upon the stool while the company arranged themselves into two lines.
Lady Hortensia took a place near the fire, declaring that she intended to judge the dancing even if no points were attached to it.
Darcy and Elizabeth stood opposite one another as the opening notes began.
For the first few figures they exchanged no more than the necessary courtesies, though each time they came together his hand found hers with a steadiness that made her increasingly conscious of the contact.
He danced well, without display, and his attention never wandered from her even when the movement carried them apart.
"You appear very solemn for a man engaged in making peace," she said when they next met.
"I am concentrating upon the task."
"Is dancing with me so difficult?"
His gaze held hers. "More than I expected."
Elizabeth nearly missed the next step. Darcy's hand tightened briefly around hers, steadying her before the movement separated them again, and she was grateful for the distance in which to recover herself.
Across the room, Jane and Colonel Fitzwilliam were making no effort at all to conceal their enjoyment.
He bent towards her whenever the figure allowed it, and Jane laughed often enough that even Clara, dancing beside them, looked amused.
Mr Hadley had persuaded Mrs Cartwright to join the set and was guiding her through it with such care that she soon forgot to be nervous, while Henry Blackwood and Amelia spoke quietly whenever they passed.
When Darcy returned to her, Elizabeth glanced towards the other couples. "The Challenge appears to have produced more alliances than rivalries."
"I had noticed."
"Does that trouble you as captain?"
"Not particularly. I have found other matters more deserving of my attention."
His hand met hers again. The words were quiet enough that she might have pretended not to hear them, but the look he gave her made that impossible. For a moment she forgot the next movement entirely and remained too close to him until another couple approached and forced them apart.
The dance continued, but the lightness with which she had entered it had altered.
Every turn brought Darcy back before her and each meeting seemed to carry the same unspoken question.
By the time the final notes faded, Elizabeth was flushed and breathless, though the dance had not been especially demanding.
Darcy bowed. "Thank you."
She curtseyed in return. "I believe the peace has held."
"For the present."