She took Darcy’s arm as they strolled the room, waiting for the next dance to begin. After another breathtaking waltz, Darcy procured a glass of wine for Elizabeth, and they sat in a quiet corner to make conversation. Darcy surveyed Elizabeth for a quiet moment, and eventually she broke the silence.
“Penny for your thoughts, Mr Darcy,” she teased. “I simply cannot sit and wonder what you might be thinking, I demand that you oblige me.”
Darcy was pensive for a drawn out moment. “I was just considering the moments when the clamor of gatherings such as these fade, and one is left to consider only the company they truly desire.”
Elizabeth blushed. “And do you often find such moments, Mr Darcy?”
Darcy smiled handsomely at her. “Only when I am fortunate enough to be in your company, Miss Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth blushed even more as he continued. “There are countless words penned within the volumes of my library, and yet none could adequately capture the tumult of my heart when you are near. It is though each romance written before this evening is incomplete, waiting for the muse that might complete the story.”
“And have you discovered the ending, Mr Darcy?” Elizabeth gasped at his eloquence.
“Only this, Miss Elizabeth. That should fate be kind, I would spend a lifetime in pursuit of each chapter we might write together.”
Late that evening,Elizabeth and Jane, starry eyed from dancing with their gentlemen all evening, climbed the stairs for bed well aftermidnight. The ladies all bid one another good night as they separated at the top of the stairs in search of their rooms.
The three sisters joined one another in their parlour once they had changed into their night wear, and shared the crystal jar of biscuits left for them by the staff each night. Mary had news for them.
“Jane, Lizzy, I want to tell you that I am very close to an engagement with Mr Elwood,” she told her two elder sisters, her eyes shining.
“Oh Mary, how lovely!” Elizabeth cried.
“Are you happy, sister?” asked Jane. “Lizzy and I have tried to keep our eyes on you since we arrived, but we have all been so caught up in our own concerns.”
“I am happy, Jane,” Mary promised. “Mr Elwood and I have an understanding, I think, and I expect him to propose very soon.”
“We shall endeavour to stay close to you, so that we may help you find privacy if you need it,” Elizabeth vowed.
“Thank you, Lizzy.” Mary clasped her hand. “Thank you so much for bringing me with you. I like Mr Elwood very much.”
Suddenly they heard running in the hall, and a pounding at the end of the corridor. Elizabeth went to the door of their parlour, and the three looked down the hall to see a footman conferring quietly with Mrs Darlington at the door to the mistress’s suite. Mrs Darlington followed the footman to the staircase at a great speed. “Please remain in your rooms, ladies!” she shouted as she went, followed by Mrs Higglebottom.
Darcy joined Bingley,Lord Chesley, and Mr Whittaker for a glass of brandy in Lord Chesley’s parlour. Chesley had one of the only two suites on the third floor, most of the rooms being single bedrooms without dressing rooms or parlours attached. The other suite on the third floor was occupied by Major Bartholomew.
The men spoke of their correspondence mostly, matters at their estates, or of business. If they thought of and spoke of nothing but theladies all day, every day, they would all go mad. They also talked about the estate matters here at Ever After End. The land surveyor’s report was complete, and they were only waiting for the rains to subside to call the magistrate and the bailiffs to have the families evicted. It was to be done on a day that the rest of the party travelled to Bath for a shopping excursion. The tenant farms were too far to be seen or heard from the manor, but it was unlikely to be pleasant, and Darcy preferred to have his sister and the rest of the ladies and gentlemen away when the moment arrived.
After perhaps three quarters of an hour, the men thanked Chesley for his fine brandy and returned to their rooms. Before any of them actually reached their quarters, they heard a shout from Lord Chesley’s rooms, followed by another, followed by a wail of feminine disappointment. A moment later, Chesley’s door opened, Miss Winslow was ejected into the hall, and the door slammed firmly. Miss Winslow was dressed in a sheer nightgown that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
Major Bartholomew strode from the end of the hall as men started opening their doors to watch the show in the corridor. He threw his banyan over Miss Winslow, told Wifflethorpe to send a footman for Mrs Darlington, then followed by Darcy, escorted Miss Winslow downstairs to the study.
Elizabethand her sisters were not awake to witness Miss Winslow being marched back to her rooms by Mrs Darlington and Mrs Higglebottom, then left under the supervision of a stern housemaid, but they were informed of everything in the morning by Joan.
“She is already gone, Miss Lizzy. Mrs Darlington had her packed and in a carriage when it was barely dawn. Mr Darcy and some other gentlemen were with Lord Chesley in his parlour drinking brandy and discussing business for over a half hour before she was discovered in Lord Chesley’s bed. Mr Darcy attested to Lord Chesley’s surprise at finding Miss Winslow in his rooms.” Joan was full of the tale. Elizabethdid not approve of the gossiping, but at the same time, she appreciated being armed with the information before going downstairs, particularly since the other ladies would already have the story from their maids. She instructed Joan that she was to discuss the matter no more now that she had done so with her employer.
When Elizabeth and her sisters joined the others downstairs for breakfast, it was as if Miss Winslow had never existed, and the only evidence of her ever having visited Ever After End was Mrs Darlington’s uncharacteristic ill-humour, and the fact that Lord Chesley was rather jumpy around the ladies.
1 19th century American slang for ‘getting a beating.’
CHAPTER 38
The household spent the day after the dance and the compromise playing hide and seek again. The rain had lessened, not enough to go outside, but there was enough improvement to give hope for the morrow.
Mrs Darlington instructed that the rules were to be the same. The music room, her study, and the second and third floor were off limits, and ladies must hide and seek in pairs to prevent compromises. The ground and first floors were theirs to explore and use for hiding, but all doors must remain open. Elizabeth spent the last time the house played hide and seek in the music room with Georgiana and Miss Bates. Today Georgiana and Miss Bates were joined by Miss Darlington, as Edith was now called amongst everyone in the house.
Mary claimed Jane as her hiding partner. Elizabeth claimed Miss Bingley, who looked pleased to have been asked. The gentlemen hid first, and the ladies searched for them in pairs.
Elizabeth and Miss Bingley giggled quietly as they made their way along a corridor on the ground floor. “I do not suppose there is any hope of Mr Darcy hiding behind curtains. He is far too dignified for such childish diversions,” Elizabeth said to her companion.
