“The weather is fine today,” he said to Mrs.Gardiner.“My cousin and I had hoped to go for a walk with the ladies.”
Mrs.Gardiner smiled tightly at him.“That sounds lovely.Jane, Lizzy, fetch your things while I alert Paulson.”
Mrs.Gardiner swept out of the room with her nieces before more could be said.Darcy and his cousin looked at each other oddly.
“What is going on, Darcy?”
“I have not the slightest idea.”
“Something is off here.If I did not know better, I would say they wished we had not called.Did they receive bad news?Has something happened?”
“I cannot say, but I intend to find out.”
Soon, they were walking down the street with a giant of a footman following along behind them.He watched the gentlemen with a wary eye, and Darcy again felt that something was terribly off.He had walked out with Elizabeth only yesterday and no one had felt the need for a chaperone.Now, even with her sister and his cousin along, her aunt had sent a footman.
“Elizabeth,” Darcy ventured tentatively when they were some distance from the house.“What is wrong?Please do not tell me it is nothing.”
Elizabeth looked up at him with pursed lips and eyes that sparked with something he could not name.She looked over her shoulder at her sister walking with Colonel Fitzwilliam.Sensing her need for more privacy, Darcy quickened his pace to put more distance between the couples.
“What is going on?”he asked again.
Elizabeth sighed.“Mr.Darcy, did you enjoy dinner last night?”
“Yes, of course.”Why was she speaking of dinner?
“Did you enjoy all aspects of it?Not just the food, though I know my aunt sets a good table, but also the company?”
“I always enjoy your company.”
She took another deep breath.“Everyone’s company?”
Darcy was confused.What was she getting at?“Your aunt is a skilled hostess, and you know Bingley is my friend.I do not know Miss Bennet well, but I do not mind her company.”
“And?”
He looked at her in confusion.“Elizabeth, please tell me why you are upset with me, for you clearly are.These questions are not helping.”
“Very well.My uncle.You barely spoke to him all evening, and when he spoke to you, you gave him such clipped answers that he was insulted in his own house.”
Darcy flushed.He knew Elizabeth was not wrong.He had actively sought to avoid Mr.Gardiner’s company.But he had no desire to hurt Elizabeth in the process, and it was bad manners to insult one’s host in their own home.
“I admit I was not a very good guest in that regard.”
“Not a good guest!”she cried.“You were nearly uncivil!I do not remember when I was last so embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed!”Darcy turned to face her, shock and offense writ on his features.“You were embarrassed by me?”
“Yes!My uncle is a perfectly genial man, who did nothing but invite you into his home, offer you dinner, and attempt to be friendly toward you.Yet you treated him like he was not even worth your notice, let alone your conversation.”
Darcy’s mouth opened and closed, every word he thought to say dying on his tongue before he could speak it.“I, that is, I do not…”
“Please do not tell me you do not perform for strangers.This is my uncle.You were a guest in his home.The least you could have done was behave with courtesy.I have seen you be more gracious with Miss Bingley!”
That stung.Darcy looked away, unable to form a response.They had entered a little park now, and Colonel Fitzwilliam steered Miss Bennet away from Darcy and Elizabeth, leaving the footman looking back and forth between the ladies, clearly unsure whom he should follow.
“Please stay with my sister, Paulson,” said Elizabeth tiredly.
Darcy thought it a good sign for a moment—she clearly felt safe with him, and perhaps she wished to be alone.But it only took a glance at the fire in her eyes to realize she was furious with him and likely wished to berate him without an audience.
