He paused and lowered his hand partially, his eyes searching her expression.
She could contain her laughter no more.It burst from her, like a dam in a swollen river.Great gales of laughter, trilling from her like wind chimes.
Mr.Darcy was perplexed.Then he began to feel heat in his neck, working its way up to his cheeks.Elizabeth pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to control her mirth, and he straightened his shoulders stiffly.
“I see my feelings are amusing to you.Forgive me for disturbing you,” he said curtly.He nodded stiffly and turned on his heel to leave.
His hand was on the knob when Elizabeth grabbed his arm.He stopped, hating how the sensation of her fingers wrapped about his bicep made him stupidly happy.He turned, unable to forgo all manners and simply leave her to her ridiculousness.
“Miss Bennet?”He released the knob, but he spoke to the wall above her head.He could not face her dancing eyes, not yet.
“Mr.Darcy, forgive me.Your feelings are not amusing to me, I assure you.Not in the least.I was only struck by the absurdity of the situation.”
He had begun to relax until she spoke the last, and his arm stiffened again.He began to turn away from her, but she tugged him further into the room.
“Please believe me, Mr.Darcy.I mean no disrespect toward you.”
He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, waiting for patience to find him.“May I ask, Miss Bennet,” he began, in quiet, restrained tones, “what you find absurd about this situation?”
She looked out the window, pursed her lips, and finally made a huffing sound.“I suppose there is no avoiding it now.I must ask you to sit, sir.This may take some time.”
He finally looked at her and saw her cheeks were flushed and she was nervously twisting the fingers of her left hand in the fringe on her shawl.Her right was still on his arm.She seemed to have forgotten its presence.
He nodded.“Very well.”
He sat very correctly on the chair near the fire across from where Elizabeth perched on the edge of the delicate sofa, looking as if she might take flight at any moment.Had she taken laudanum for her headache?That might explain her uncontrollable laughter and the flush on her cheeks.He could not deny the relief he felt at this notion.
“Forgive me, Miss Bennet.Are you unwell?I do not mean to make you entertain visitors if you are not… prepared.”
“I had a headache, but it is better now.The injury is more to my pride.”
“Your pride?”he asked, confused.
“Yes.You see, I have long prided myself on my judgement.I have thought, for many years now, that I could tell the truth of a person by their expression or take the measure of a gentleman after a short acquaintance.”She nervously looked to him, then returned her gaze to the fire.“I see this perplexes you.”
“I own to being… curious as to your meaning.”
She sighed.“I may as well come out with it as I am sure you will know the whole soon enough.Better to have it over and done with.”
Now he truly was perplexed.
“I met your cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam on a walk today.We were speaking of general things, and one of us mentioned Hertfordshire… and you.”She snuck a glance at him, then looked back to the fire.“I mentioned that I had heard something of your history from an officer in the militia there.I’m certain you know of whom I speak.”
“Wickham,” he said lowly.
In that one word, she could feel how much Mr.Darcy hated him.She sighed.Perhaps he had good reason to.
“Yes,” she said hesitantly.“Have you by chance spoken to your cousin today?”
“No, he was touring the estate and I went to Belle View on business.I barely returned in time to change for tea.”
She nodded.“He can give you more details of our conversation, but suffice it to say that the good colonel informed me that Mr.Wickham is not who I believed him to be.He is a gambler, in debt to nearly every tradesman he’s had the misfortune to meet, and a silver-tongued liar besides.”
She had knotted her fringe hopelessly now and moved on to clenching and releasing her skirt.She could not look at Mr.Darcy.“Colonel Fitzwilliam informed me that the living Mr.Wickham says you denied him in defiance of your father’s wishes was traded for the sum of three thousand pounds.A prudent man could live on such a sum for many years, but the colonel told me he returned when the living fell vacant and was quite abusive when you declined to give it to him.”
Darcy was watching her carefully.Her eyes were bright and darted back and forth, like she was searching for escape.Her hands were constantly in motion, twirling the fringe on her shawl, bunching the fabric of her skirt, twisting around each other.
He reached across and clasped her hands in his, stilling their motion.He had done it instinctually, with no thought to what his next action would be but wishing to comfort her in her distress.
