Thus he found himself strolling through Rosings’s extensive rose garden—Lady Catherine believed that a country estate was only as good as its rose garden and funded it accordingly—with Elizabeth on his arm, the bright spring sunshine making rainbows on her skin, and a twitch in his hand that longed to reach out and touch those rainbows.
“How long will you remain in Kent?”asked Elizabeth.
“I had thought I would stay through the end of the week.You are departing Saturday, are you not?”
“Yes, I am.My uncle’s man will accompany us.”
“You will ride the stage?”
“Yes, with Miss Lucas.”
He pinched his lips in a tight line.
“Why so stern-faced, Mr.Darcy?”
“I do not like the idea of you taking a stage.”
“I will be accompanied by a trusted servant.I shall not be unprotected.”
He continued to glare at a particularly robust rose bush.
“What do you find so offensive about this flower, sir?I see aught amiss.If you continue to glower at it so, it will wither away and die, I am certain.”
He stopped the quick rejoinder that rushed to his lips.Was she referring to more than just the flower?“I am not glaring at the flower, Elizabeth, which I’m sure you know rather well.”
“Will you not speak what is on your mind?”
He sighed.“I should like to escort you to Town.”
Her brows rose.“Oh?”
He nodded.“We had planned to leave at that time anyhow.Fitzwilliam and I can ride alongside if the weather holds.”
“And if it does not?”
“We may bring along a maid as chaperone.”
Elizabeth nodded.“Why were you fretting so over telling me this?”
He exhaled a whoosh of air.“I have had it impressed upon me recently that I am selfish and do not consider well enough the desires of others.”
Elizabeth bit her lip to keep herself from laughing at the comical look on his face.He did not seem pleased in the least by this latest discovery.“May I ask who impressed such things upon you?”
“I’m sure you know very well it was my cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam.He cannot mind his own affairs.”
She squeezed his arm.“Do not be too hard on the colonel.He has been very kind to me.”
He pressed her hand where it rested on his.“Very well, my dear.”
Elizabeth marveled at how quickly she was coming to like Mr.Darcy.Or rather, she was coming to like being courted by him.She had wondered if it was the novelty of courtship and the compliment to her vanity that she so enjoyed, or his presence in and of itself, but she was beginning to think it was the latter.
“I do not see why you should not accompany us.Your carriage is certain to be more comfortable than a public coach and I will use the money from my ticket to buy a new bonnet,” she added cheekily.
He smiled down at her.“I rather like it when you do not wear a bonnet.”
“Oh?Why is that, sir?”
“I’m certain you have noticed I am taller than you.”
