Drat. He must have dropped it in the snow. And there was no time to rewrite it now. He took comfort in the fact that he had not put Elizabeth’s name anywhere in the letter this time. Evenif it was located and the ink had not run, only his initials were written on the missive, and very few people knew his Christian name.
Small consolation when he faced another evening with Miss Bingley. Darcy determined to search for the letter in the morning, and if he could not find it, he would simply write another. He always expressed himself better in writing.
Elizabeth found herself wishing that Mr. Darcy had just agreed to turn Miss Bingley’s pages after breakfast. For now she found herself in a nightmarish repeat of last night’s performance. While Jane and Charles sat together on the settee near the fire, Miss Bingley had trapped Mr. Darcy into attending her at the pianoforte.
Once he had committed himself to writing letters, he could not very well venture into Elizabeth’s company until dinner, and during the meal Miss Bingley had absolutely refused to allow him to speak more than a few sentences to anyone but her. There was a growing shrillness in her behaviour that spoke of desperation, but Elizabeth could not feel any compassion for the woman.
“Jane,” Elizabeth said sweetly. Perhaps too sweetly.
“Yes, Lizzy?” Jane inquired, suspicion writ across her features.
“Do you recall how Lydia took revenge upon me last winter?”
“She waited until you were sleeping and then stuck your hand in a bowl of icy water.”
“She did. And do you recall how I revenged myself upon her?”
Jane narrowed her eyes. “You balanced a pail of snow water atop her chamber door.”
Elizabeth smiled. “It took days of careful planning,” she said, “but I had justice at last.”
Miss Bingley met her gaze at that last, and though she appeared bored, Elizabeth detected a flash of fear in the woman’s eyes.
There. Let her ruminate on that. She was rudely demanding all Mr. Darcy’s time and attention when all Elizabeth wanted to do was speak to the man privately for five minutes. Miss Bingley deserved every bit of disquiet Elizabeth could serve up.
Mr. Darcy laughed at Elizabeth’s vague threat. Miss Bingley glanced, horrified, between the two of them. Elizabeth was certain that Miss Bingley understood at last. Mr. Darcy would never be hers.
But Miss Bingley merely inclined her head to speak a quiet word to Mr. Darcy, who, Elizabeth noted with pleasure, leaned back from her.
Something was wrong.
His eyes narrowed, and he stood up so quickly that he knocked his chair to the floor. “That is my private property, madam,” he said sternly. “You will return it to me at once.”
“It is my property now, Mr. Darcy,” Miss Bingley said artlessly. “For you gave it to me. I am only sorry I have not yet composed a reply.”
“What are you talking about, Caroline?” Charles inquired.
“Nothing, Charles. It is a private matter between Mr. Darcy and me.”
Mr. Darcy’s complexion had flushed a deep, disturbing red. “There is no private business between us, Miss Bingley.”
“What can you mean?” she asked, her eyes wide and dramatically frightened. “Have you not written to me? Do not break my heart by denying it.”
“Do not be ridiculous, Caroline,” Charles said with a sigh. “Darcy would never do such a thing.”
“Of course he would not,” Miss Bingley confirmed. “Unless we were engaged.”
Jane frowned and glanced uneasily at Elizabeth, who was watching everything play out before her. What was Miss Bingley even saying? Her mind could not comprehend it. A letter?
Charles stood and held out his hand. “If such a letter exists, Caroline, you will allow me to see it. Now.”
“But it is private,” Miss Bingley said, removing a folded piece of paper from her sleeve. “Can you not simply see that his signature is on it?”
“Darcy?” Charles asked, but before Mr. Darcy could say anything, Miss Bingley interrupted.
“I should never have accepted it, Charles, had I not believed Mr. Darcy and I would soon be wed.” She held the folded page out to her brother.
“Bingley,” Mr. Darcy said stonily, “that letter was not given to your sister. It was not delivered to anyone at all.”
