“Good day, Mr Darcy.”
With a palpable flurry of anticipation, yet not quite believing it could be her, he turned around—and there she was: Elizabeth Bennet. She had a young child clinging to her hand, but Darcy spared the girl only the briefest look; his eyes were fixed on Elizabeth. Her cheeks were pinked and her eyes sparkling from the cold. Her mouth held her customary smile of private laughter. Her expression was everything all at once—inquisitive, penetrating, challenging, and amused—the sort of expression one could get lost in for days. He smiled broadly, giving away far more of his feelings than he would have chosen had he any command of the situation, and bowed.
“Miss Bennet! This is an unexpected pleasure.”
She looked vaguely unsure, and he found himself absurdly eager to convince her that he spoke the truth.
“Might I have the pleasure of an introduction to your friend?”
She looked positively astonished at that but consented, introducing the girl as her cousin, Miss Gardiner, and encouraging her, by example, to curtsey. While they were thus engaged, Darcy’s friend Tomlinson passed behind them, silently tipping his hat as he went up the steps to White’s. Darcy nodded back, and as he did so, spotted a man loitering a few feet away, looking in his direction. Catching Darcy’s eye, the man gestured that he was with Elizabeth and her cousin. A servant, then. Darcy was pleased to see that etiquette observed in town which Elizabeth had not concerned herself with in the country. He supposed that must be her uncle’s doing, proving the man was more diligent than her father, if a more objectionable connexion.
“What brings you to this part of town today?” he asked.
“Wewereshopping for ribbons on Bond Street,” Elizabeth answered, “but now we are passing the time until my uncle has finished his business and is ready to take us home.”
“I hope you found something you liked,” Darcy said to her cousin.
The girl stuck out her bottom lip and shook her head but said nothing.
“I apologise,” Elizabeth said. “She is a little shy.”
“Think nothing of it. At that age, my sister could barely meet a person’s eye unless she was intimately acquainted with them.”
“Miss Darcy is shy?”
“You seem surprised.”
“Pardon me, I meant no offence. I suppose I had formed an opinion of her based on the only friends of hers that I know, and none of them are shy.”
Darcy could not deny that was true—particularly of Miss Bingley. Recalling with displeasure their other mutual acquaintance, he had to agree that Wickham could not be described as reticent either, but he sincerely hoped Elizabeth was not including him in her list of Georgiana’s friends.
“I do not think Mr Bingley saw either of us,” Elizabeth said, apropos of nothing.
“Bingley?” He looked about in confusion. “Was he here?”
“Yes, he was walking in this direction just a moment ago but turned off down…” She pointed at the road between White’s and Boodle’s.
“Jermyn Street,” Darcy supplied, trying to keep the annoyance from his voice. There was no way of knowing for certain, but he thought it highly unlikely that Bingley had not seen one or both of them; the street was hardly busy.
“It is a shame,” Elizabeth continued. “Had I been able to speak to him, I might have made him aware that my sister is in town, for I do not think he knows. Unless you or his sisters have informed him?”
Darcy hesitated, belatedly recalling his words to Miss Bennet. It had not occurred to him, when he gave the warning, how it might appear to Elizabeth. Knowing her as he did, he could well imagine her indignation at hearing him speakagainst the match. He regretted having given her any pain, but she would unquestionably have agreed if she knew the reason. To explain it to her was impossible, however. Elizabeth would simply have to dislike his caution. Indeed, dislike it she evidently did, for here she was, disregarding it entirely and still entertaining the notion that to reintroduce her sister to Bingley’s notice was a good idea.
“I have not seen him since we left Netherfield.”
“Afternoon, Darcy!” called another of his acquaintances, passing by on his way into White’s.
“Patterson,” he replied with a nod.
Patterson paused briefly to look at Elizabeth, then disappeared inside.
“How very suddenly you all left there in November!” Elizabeth said, as though they had not been interrupted.
“Yes. I cannot speak for anyone else in the party, but I was impatient to see my sister.”
“By Miss Bingley’s account, so was Mr Bingley, but I understand no such plans materialised. I hope Miss Darcy was not disappointed.”
“Not at all. Bingley has many friends, and he is at a time of life when friends and engagements are continually increasing. His old ones must not monopolise his time.”
