Anne smiled to herself while she reclined in her bed imagining Lizzy dancing at the assembly. She was sure Lizzy and William would meet. For some time now she had believed the two would be each other’s perfect match. That is if they would allow themselves to be open to the possibility.
From speaking to the Fitzwilliams, Giana, and even her papa, Anne was aware when William was uncomfortable, he would sometimes engage his mouth before his brain had a chance to filter his words. There were times he would appear rude, condescending, and arrogant. Richard had related a time or two when William had been so discomforted, he had insulted people he had hardly even met.
On the other hand, there were few who could be more stubborn than Lizzy. Anne loved her sister of the heart but was not unaware of her faults. She was ill, not blind. Her mind was as sharp as ever and there was very little which escaped Anne’s notice. If one wanted to excite Lizzy’s prejudices, all one had to do was hurt, or even intimate you would hurt, someone dear to her. If William made the error of insulting her, Lizzy would let it wash over her like water off a duck’s back. However, if he made thefaux pasof insulting someone she loved, then it would take much hard work on his part to recover her good regard.
Sometimes when Anne was left alone with her thoughts, she contemplated the unfairness of her life coming to an end at such a young age. In the past, she had railed against God for allowing her life to be truncated as it wouldbe. As she got older, she admitted she had no way of understanding His plan, so questioning Him was not only wrong but rather arrogant.
As much as she did not want to leave Papa, Lizzy, and the rest of her family and friends, Anne was ready to be called home to God. She knew she had no way of knowing when, but she suspected Papa would not be long in joining her in heaven. She of course did not wish it on Papa to pass out of the mortal world soon after her; like her own illness, it was not something over which she had control.
Anne had spoken to Lizzy about her mother. She realised Lady Catherine had never loved her, only pretended to so she could return to Rosings Park. For so long Anne had wanted to believe her mother was better than that. Papa, Lizzy, and everyone else had seen the truth but had not wanted to disillusion her if there was a sliver of hope she would get some iota of affection from Lady Catherine. Finally seeing her mother cared for nothing except her own twisted, selfish desires was a bitter pill to swallow, but swallow it Anne had.
When she admitted seeing the truth about her mother to Lizzy, not even once had Anne’s best friend hinted or intimated she knew it would be the end result. Lizzy had commiserated with her and said she was sorry Anne’s faith in her mother had been in vain. Since her realisation, she had not asked Papa for them to return to Rosings Park. Deciding she had wasted more than enough of her precious time thinking about her mother, Anne engaged her mind in much more pleasant thoughts. She imagined she was at the assembly dancing in the line near Lizzy and her partner.
Lizzy’s partner in Anne’s mind’s eye, was none other than William.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
During the first set she danced with Johnny Lucas, Elizabeth had been aware of the tall, extremely handsome,dark-haired man watching her intently as he stood next to her parents. She had noticed him enter with Richard and Mr. Bingley, who she had met at her coming out ball. Mr. Bingley was also reasonably handsome, but of slighter build and stature, and had an unruly mop of strawberry blond hair. By process of elimination, Elizabeth assumed the dark-haired man was Giana’s brother, the enigmatic Mr. Darcy.
At the end of the set, Elizabeth was delivered to her parents by the second Lucas son. Up close the man was even more handsome than what she had noted while dancing. He had the most piercing, intent slate blue eyes.
Darcy was frozen where he stood. Miss Bennet stood before him, one of her eyebrows arched in question, intelligence and mirth shining in her fine, no the finest, eyes he had ever seen on any woman, ever. Had Richard not arrived and seen his quandary, Darcy was sure he would have stood there, staring at her like a fool for who knows how much longer.
“Lizzy, have you met my mute cousin yet? I know you have met Bingley here,” Richard cocked his head to his friend who was returning Kitty to the family party.
“Not yet,” Elizabeth averred after she greeted Mr. Bingley. “At least he did not break his leg to avoid meeting us this time.”
The beauty’s tease helped to relax Darcy which led to the corners of his mouth turning up. Now with a grin, he looked at his cousin. “Will you introduce me to your sister, or should we have Bingley do the honours?”
“Lizzy, this great, big, tall, ratherhomelyfellow is my cousin, Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire,” Richard jested causing the Bennet sisters to giggle and Darcy to smile, revealing one of his dimples. “William, my sister Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the second of my five Bennet sisters. Now all that remains is for you to meet Lydia who is not yet out.”
Seeing the dimple when he smiled, which if it was possible, made the tall man even more handsome, almost made Elizabeth go weak at the knees. ‘Elizabeth Rose Bennet, control yourself. You have met handsome men in London before!’ Elizabeth admonished herself silently.
“Miss Bennet.” Darcy bowed over her hand.
“Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth managed a creditable curtsy after she collected herself.
“I am to dance the following two sets with your sisters, but if your fourth set is open, I would beg that one from you,” Darcy requested.
“A man who knows when to beg…” Elizabeth teased. It had the desired effect, the man smiled even wider than before and revealedbothof his dimples. “Yes, Mr. Darcy, that set is yours.”
Richard shook his head. What happened to his cousin who was not able to perform like a gentleman when he was not familiar with people? Somehow Lizzy seemed to cast a spell over him and turn him into an affable man.
When their daughters had been led to the floor by their respective partners, Fanny and Bennet simply stared at one another.
“Thomas, what just happened?” Fanny asked in wonder. “They just met and the electricity between them was palpable.”
“Never have I seen Lizzy react like that to any man. Not even the prospect of being a duchess has caught her interest so far. We will have to watch and see what develops between them—if anything at all,” Bennet averred.
“We will just have to determine if the chemistry between them was only at their meeting or something which will last for a longer duration,” Fanny stated. “Selfishly, if Mr. Darcy is the one for Lizzy, I hope it will be some time before anything is decided between them. Jane has been married for more than two years, and soon enough it will be Mary. I donot know if I am ready for the prospect of two more daughters married and leaving our home.”
“As long as we have each other, all will be well,” Bennet responded as he tenderly kissed his wife’s hand. Just then he remembered a letter lying unopened on his desk. “A missive arrived from one William Collins earlier. I forgot about it. We will read it on the morrow.”
“Is he not the heir presumptive? It has been some years since he wrote and told us his father had passed away,” Fanny recalled.
“The very one. All I can hope is the son is not like the father,” Bennet mused. “Let us talk of more pleasant things. Our three daughters seem to be enjoying themselves.”
“Very much so.” Fanny paused as she too remembered something. “Sarah Lucas is very excited. Charlotte is with child. She felt the quickening recently.”
