Darcy inclined his head deeply. “Thank you. I shall take that as an invitation.”
“The pleasure would be mine, I assure you,” Mr. Bennet said with a hint of pride in his voice.
Darcy lowered his voice further, choosing his words with care. “I hope I do not presume too far in observing that your cousin seems... particularly attentive to Miss Elizabeth.”
Mr. Bennet gave a dry chuckle. “Attentive he is. Successful he is not. Judging by how he dances, I estimate he will needfive years and a dance tutor to make himself presentable.” Mr. Bennet tapped his cane once against the floor. “She is not the easiest girl to win over, Mr. Darcy.”
Darcy’s mouth set in determination. “I would not value her if she were.”
Mr. Bennet allowed himself the smallest approving nod. “Then I suppose you had better try to claim her for the next set. I should hate to see your carefully laid plans undone by some local youth with more energy than sense. And, God forbid, Mr. Collins might have the chance to invite her again.”
Darcy actually chuckled at that, rising with a polite inclination. “I shall take your advice to heart, sir.”
He glanced once more across the floor, found Elizabeth in the crowd, and squared his shoulders before striding away with renewed purpose.
Mr. Bennet watched him go, shaking his head and smiling into his hand. “Well then. Our Lizzy may be about to learn what real courtship can be.”
Five
The morning after the assembly, breakfast at Longbourn was anything but subdued—full of animated talk about the ball and interrupted by competing exclamations. The pale autumn sun lit the table with thin, watery brightness, and Mrs. Bennet was in flushed colour, her eyes alight with triumphant excitement.
Elizabeth tried to busy herself quietly with toast and tea, but there was little hope of escaping notice.
Mr. Bennet sat with his paper partly open, spectacles low on his nose, watching the company with dry amusement. His gaze eventually settled on Elizabeth.
“I must say, Lizzy,” he began in his mildest drawl, “your last set with Mr. Darcy was very edifying. So polite. So precise. I feared the assembly might expire from envy.”
Elizabeth paused, setting her knife down with deliberate care. “Papa, you do me too much credit.”
“Indeed,” he agreed at once. “But no one else will, so I feel bound to try.”
Jane tried to suppress her laugh behind her napkin.
Mrs. Bennet startled briskly. “Oh hush, Mr. Bennet! Two sets with Mr. Darcy. Two! I shall not have you make sport of it. Mark me, it is very promising.”
Elizabeth coloured, trying to steady her voice. “Mama, please—”
But Mrs. Bennet waved her off, turning eagerly to Mr. Collins, who was seated bolt upright with his coffee cup balanced precariously on his knee.
“Did you observe, cousin?” she demanded. “How attentive Mr. Darcy was? How very proper!”
Mr. Collins cleared his throat with great significance. “Indeed, madam, I had the honour of witnessing it. A truly edifying display of decorum. I remarked to myself at the time that such restraint in dancing is rare among the fashionable world and most commendable. I shall mention it to her Ladyship at Rosings, for she is ever an advocate of well-regulated assemblies.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened slightly. She picked up her cup to conceal the smile that threatened to betray her.
Mr. Bennet raised his brows, turning to Collins with mock solemnity. “You will do her Ladyship a service, cousin. I am sure she has long desired news of Meryton’s moral health. Provided she can find it on a map, for instance.”
Mr. Collins puffed with solemn gratification. “It is indeed my duty, sir.”
Mrs. Bennet waved this aside impatiently. “Never mind Lady Catherine. I shall be satisfied if Mr. Darcy calls within the week, before returning to his Derbyshire estate. And why shouldn’t he? Jane, did you see them? Elizabeth looked very well.”
Jane smiled shyly. “They did dance extremely well together.”
Elizabeth gave her sister a grateful, fleeting glance.
Kitty and Lydia, who had been whispering and giggling at the other end of the table, finally perked up.
“Mama,” Lydia burst out, “never mind Mr. Darcy—tell them about Colonel Forster! You said you spoke to him!”
