Chapter Twenty-One
Dinner that evening was quieter than the one before it.
The gentlemen had won all five points awarded during the day, but the coming maze prevented even the Blackwood brothers from celebrating with their usual abandon.
The ladies were still smarting from the defeat, while Harriet had taken such exception to Sir Geoffrey's repeated observations upon the score that Clara had been obliged to take her for a short walk in the gardens to calm her down.
When the final course had been cleared, Lady Hortensia rested both hands upon the head of her cane and looked down the table.
"The gentlemen now lead by thirteen points to ten," she said.
"A creditable advantage, though not, I think, sufficient to justify the confidence some of you have displayed since the debate. "
James Blackwood, who had been reaching for the decanter, slowly withdrew his hand.
Lady Hortensia continued. "Tomorrow's contest in the hedge maze will be worth five points. The winning side will receive all five."
Mr Ashcombe spoke before the murmurs had settled. "All five? Then four days of competition may be overturned by a single event."
Lady Hortensia turned towards him. "Yes."
He appeared wrong-footed by the simplicity of the answer. "That hardly seems proportionate."
"The earlier contests have determined the position in which you enter the last," Lady Hortensia continued. "The gentlemen have earned a lead, but not an insurmountable one. The ladies remain close enough to take the Challenge if they win tomorrow. That is precisely as it should be."
She glanced towards Mr Pritchard, who opened the ledger and ran one finger down the page. "If the gentlemen win," he said, "the final score will stand at eighteen points to ten. If the ladies win, the final score will stand at fifteen points to thirteen."
Across the table, Darcy was already looking at her, his gaze heated. "It appears you are not defeated after all," he said.
"Did you think I was?"
"Not for a moment."
There was such easy certainty in the answer that Elizabeth's irritation at the score softened. "Then you have shown better judgement than some of your companions."
Darcy glanced towards Mr Ashcombe. "That is not a particularly difficult achievement."
She laughed, and his expression warmed in answer.
Lady Hortensia allowed the noise to continue for another minute before raising her voice again.
"You will receive your instructions at the entrance to the maze after breakfast. Until then, no one is to enter it, question the gardeners or attempt to persuade any member of my household to provide assistance. "
Several people looked towards Amelia. Her face coloured at once.
Lady Hortensia followed their gazes and sighed. "I was not referring to Miss Harrington. The rest of you may stop behaving as though you have never made a mistake."
Amelia gave her a grateful smile, while Henry Blackwood muttered something which made her laugh.
"The maze will require more than fast legs," Lady Hortensia continued. "That is the only hint you shall receive. By this time tomorrow the Challenge will be over, the cup awarded and the losing side preparing itself for the forfeit."
A mixture of groans and laughter travelled around the table.
"And once that unpleasantness has been endured," she added, "we shall have the ball."
The mention of the ball restored the company's spirits. Colonel Fitzwilliam turned towards Jane at once, and Mr Hadley leaned closer to Mrs Cartwright with a hopeful expression. Even Harriet forgot the maze long enough to ask whether the musicians had arrived.
"They come from Derby tomorrow afternoon," said Lady Hortensia. "The ballroom is being opened tonight, Cook is preparing a feast fit for an army and I expect every one of you to dance, whatever the result."
Elizabeth heard Darcy laugh quietly across the table.
"Lady Hortensia appears determined to leave us no dignified means of escape," she said.
"I had not been searching for one."
His gaze rested upon her with enough meaning that she became suddenly aware of the warmth in her cheeks.
"Have you promised every dance already?" he asked.
"Not every dance," she answered with a chuckle, in truth she had not promised one.
"Then may I claim one before the maze alters your opinion of me?"
Elizabeth pretended to consider. "That depends upon your behaviour tomorrow."
His smile broadened. "Then I shall ask again after I have defeated you."
"You may ask," she said. "I make no promise about the answer."
Darcy inclined his head, but the warmth in his expression remained. Elizabeth looked away before she smiled too openly.
Mr Ashcombe, who had been listening to the discussion around him with growing impatience, reached for his glass. "The gentlemen have no cause for concern. We have led for much of the week and shall lead tomorrow."
Lady Hortensia regarded him for a moment. "Confidence is a pleasant quality, Mr Ashcombe, but unregulated it can easily transform into pride—and we all know what that precedes."
The Blackwood brothers laughed loudly, and even Sir Geoffrey looked amused.
Conversation resumed with renewed energy.
When Elizabeth looked across the table again, Darcy was still watching her.
Tomorrow the Challenge would end, but she found herself thinking less of the cup than of the ball and the opportunity it might give them to resolve whatever lay between them.
She hoped very much that tomorrow might be the beginning of another great adventure.
???
Elizabeth had scarcely removed her jewellery when the knock came. She looked towards the door with a smile. "Come in, Harriet."
Harriet entered first, visibly disappointed to have been anticipated, with Clara and Miss Drummond behind her.
The others followed before long, until every chair had been claimed and several ladies had settled upon the bed.
The gathering no longer possessed the awkwardness of their first council.
Mrs Cartwright accepted a small cake from the plate Miss Grey circulated, Amelia sat comfortably beside Jane and Harriet had squeezed herself between Clara and Miss Drummond at the foot of the bed.
"We know very little," Elizabeth began once the room had settled. "Only that the maze will require more than speed. That does not mean speed will be useless, so Harriet must not exhaust herself before we know what is required."
Harriet drew herself up. "I can be very restrained when necessary."
Clara looked at her. "Can you?"
"For several minutes at a time."
The laughter eased some of the tension in the room.
Elizabeth continued, "I also think we should remain together unless the instructions clearly require otherwise.
The gentlemen may divide in the hope of covering more ground, but I believe there is some advantage in acting as a team.
If we send anyone ahead, they must remain within calling distance. "
Miss Drummond agreed that they should also keep careful account of every turn.
Between herself, Clara and Mrs Cartwright, they ought to be able to remember the route well enough to retrace it if they reached a dead end.
Miss Lacey promised to watch for markings or signs along the way, while Lady Frances pointed out that they should be ready to choose a representative quickly if the rules demanded one.
"Then our plan is simple," Elizabeth said. "We stay together, remember where we have been and keep Harriet fresh in case speed matters at the end."
"It will matter," Harriet said with confidence. "Lady Hortensia would not have mentioned it otherwise."
Amelia had said very little. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, looking around the room as the others spoke. At last she took a breath. "I know we are meant to be discussing tomorrow, but there is something I should like to say before the week ends."
The room quieted.
"When I arrived, I believed every lady here was a rival and selected gentleman prizes to be won.
My mother had told me this house party was my final opportunity to make a good marriage, and I thought only of distinguishing myself before someone else did.
" She looked down briefly before continuing.
"I do not think I understood how unhappy that had made me until I stopped. "
Elizabeth watched her gather courage.
"I behaved badly on the first day, and yet none of you cast me out. You listened to me, helped me and allowed me to remain part of the team when I had given you little reason to trust me. I came to Chaffley Hall hoping to leave with a husband. I did not expect to leave with friends."
Mrs Cartwright reached across and took her hand. Amelia's voice trembled, but she smiled as she looked around the room. "I am very glad we found one another."
Harriet was beside her almost before the final word had been spoken, wrapping both arms around her with such force that Amelia gave a startled laugh.
"Oh, Amelia."
Elizabeth crossed to Amelia and rested a hand upon her shoulder. "You are one of us. That was settled some time ago."
"And tomorrow we shall win together," Harriet said with such fierce confidence that Elizabeth thought they just might.
By the time the last of the ladies had departed, the room bore all the signs of their occupation. Empty cups crowded the dressing table, crumbs had found their way onto the coverlet and Miss Lacey had left behind a page upon which she had begun sketching Harriet racing to victory.
Jane picked it up and smiled. "She has made her look very determined."
"Harriet would say it is an exact likeness."
Elizabeth gathered the cups while Jane shook the crumbs from the coverlet. For a little while they spoke only of the morning and whether their simple plan would prove of any use once Lady Hortensia revealed the rules. It was Jane who allowed the subject to change.
"I am glad Amelia said what she did."
"So am I. She seems a different person from the young lady who arrived here."
"I think perhaps she is only more herself."
Elizabeth considered that as she set the last cup upon the tray. "That may be true of several people in this house."
Jane's smile gave away her meaning before she spoke. "Mr Darcy among them?"
Elizabeth turned towards her. "I was not speaking of Mr Darcy."
"No, but you were thinking of him, dear sister."
"You have become remarkably impertinent since meeting Colonel Fitzwilliam."
"I do not believe Richard is responsible for all of it."
The ease with which she spoke his Christian name did not escape Elizabeth. She sat beside her sister upon the bed and looked at her more closely. Jane's happiness had been evident all week, but tonight it seemed touched by expectation.
"Has he said anything more?"
"Not directly. He asked whether I intended to dance the first with him tomorrow, and then whether Papa would be at the ball."
Elizabeth took her hand. "That sounds rather direct to me."
Jane's colour deepened. "I do not wish to presume. But I think he means to speak to Papa."
There was such quiet joy in her face that Elizabeth could not help embracing her. Jane laughed softly and returned it, and for a moment the maze, the score and even Darcy were forgotten.
"Oh, Jane. I hope it is exactly as you believe."
When they drew apart, Jane looked at her with gentle curiosity. "And what of you?"
Elizabeth lowered her gaze to their joined hands. "Mr Darcy asked me for a dance."
"Only a dance?"
"He had scarcely begun before I made his answer depend upon his conduct tomorrow."
Jane gave her an affectionate look. "Of course you did."
"He did not appear discouraged."
"I cannot imagine that he would. Oh Lizzy, his eyes never leave you. I have never seen a man appear so in love."
Elizabeth smiled, but the unease left by the debate had not quite disappeared. She rose and crossed to the dressing table, moving items around thoughtlessly. "He argued very convincingly today."
"As did you."
"I know. But he spoke so easily of reconsidering a chosen course, and of the courage required to disappoint others when reason demanded it.
" Elizabeth turned a pin between her fingers.
"What if that is what happens when the week is over?
Chaffley Hall has allowed us to behave as though the differences between us scarcely matter.
But they do matter. He is Mr Darcy of Pemberley, with a sister to launch in society and relations who must expect a very different marriage. "
Jane was quiet for a moment. "Has he ever suggested that he is ashamed of his feelings for you?"
"No."
"Or that his family would decide for him?"
"No."
"Then perhaps you should allow him to choose his own course before fearing he will abandon it."
Elizabeth looked back at her.
Jane smiled. "You argued for constancy today. You might show a little faith in his."
That struck near enough to the truth that Elizabeth could not immediately answer. At last she returned to the bed and rested her head briefly against Jane's shoulder. "When did you become the sensible sister?"
"I have always been sensible. You are only noticing now because I have finally begun interrupting you."
Elizabeth laughed and nudged her with one shoulder. "Colonel Fitzwilliam has certainly made you bolder."
"Perhaps Chaffley Hall has made us all a little bolder."
They sat together for another minute before Jane rose. At the door, she turned back.
"Try to sleep. Tomorrow we shall win the maze, Richard will speak to Papa and Mr Darcy will make his intentions clear."
"You have arranged the entire day very neatly."
"I find optimism much more restful than worry."
After Jane had gone, Elizabeth extinguished the candles and climbed into bed. She tried to follow her sister's advice, but sleep remained distant. Tomorrow would decide the Challenge, and the ball might finally tell her whether Mr Darcy's intentions were as steady as his attentions had seemed.