Bingley chuckled. “He left a dead mouse on Caroline’s silk pillow.”
Richard covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking with the effort to contain his mirth.
Of all the people the kitten could grace with the prize of his first kill, he had chosen Miss Bingley. Darcy looked anywhere but at his laughing companions lest he lose his composure.
Georgiana flitted out to the hall. “Mrs. Hurst will stay with Caroline until she is calm.” Looking more like the girl Darcy knew, she said excitedly, “I am sorry for the shock she has suffered. I tried to tell her what a compliment it is for a cat to leave his first hunt on her pillow. He must really like her to favor her with such a gift.”
Bingley’s grin returned as bright as before. “Say, I already named Rudy. Does that mean I get to keep him?”
“If you really want him,” Georgiana said.
“He and I get along famously. Far be it from me to separate Rudy from his particular friend,” he said with a wink at Miss Bingley’s doorway.
The next few minutes passed pleasantly as they returned downstairs and attended to their plates. Georgiana was her usual self, much to Darcy’s relief. It was as though their unpleasant conversation had never happened.
When Miss Bingley finally joined them, she ate only dry toast with weak tea, claiming she was still too agitated for anything more.
The butler brought in the post on a silver salver, which Bingley took enthusiastically. Opening the note on the top, he said, “Jolly fun! How does a picnic at Oakham Mount sound on this fine day?”
Georgiana clapped her hands. “It is a glorious day, much too fine to waste.”
“Indeed! It was good of the Bennets to suggest we join them.”
Georgiana’s face changed. Gone was the joyful girl, replaced a surly miss Darcy did not understand.
“Must we always be in their company?” protested Miss Bingley.
“I rather enjoy their company,” defended Bingley.
“I have a terrible headache and cannot go, but I shall not spoil your fun if you wish to leave me behind.” Miss Bingley pressed her fingers against her forehead and sighed too loudly for one truly suffering a headache.
Bingley, either ignorant to her hint or purposely ignoring it, dabbed his mouth with his napkin and pushed back from the table. “Then it is settled. We shall leave you here to rest while we enjoy a picnic out of doors.”
Miss Bingley scowled.
In the end, the Bennets would not dream of excluding Miss Bingley, and they suggested that a picnic at Longbourn in the garden by the pond would be just the thing to suit everyone. Mrs. Bennet offered several draughts from her collection for Miss Bingley’s comfort along with her favorite chair by the fire so that Miss Bingley might observe the picnic from the window without worsening her condition.
It was not the ideal place to converse with Elizabeth, surrounded by their friends and relatives, but Darcy was determined to find a way.
CHAPTER31
Elizabeth had suggested they sit under the bare arbor by the pond, but now she understood why Fitzwilliam had been too agitated to sit. Not only had his little sister settled on Mr. Bingley as the solution to her heartbreak, but she had also attempted to persuade Fitzwilliam to allow her to come out in society. Elizabeth hugged his arm closer to her, matching him step for step as they paced along the edge of the pond. “It is a difficult age. What do you mean to do?”
“I mean to uphold our unanimous decision to wait.” He sighed heavily and raked his hand through his hair. “Am I doing what is right?”
Elizabeth beamed. “You are asking me?”
“Yes. It would ease my mind to have your support.”
Her chest tightened and her stomach fluttered. “You bear too many burdens alone, Fitzwilliam. I shall support you”—she donned her most impertinent grin—“so long as I agree with you.”
“Say that again.” Fitzwilliam clasped her hands, his tone low.
“I shall support you so long as we are in agreement?”
“No,” he chuckled. “My name. I heard you say it in Bingley’s library, and I have longed to hear you say it again.”
She looked down at their entwined hands, embarrassed, though she had no reason to be. Looking up at him boldly, she repeated, “Fitzwilliam.”
