Darcy gave her a look, unreadable.
“Mr. Bingley’s girlfriend?”
“I know who your sister is.”
“Right,” Elizabeth said, recovering. “She thinks I bail too quickly.”
“Do you?”
“Sometimes. But not this time.”
“I’m glad.”
There was a pause—short, but loaded.
“I owe you an apology,” she said, stirring her spoon. “For walking out at our first ‘date’. It wasn’t fair.”
“It was unexpected.”
“I was startled,” she admitted. “And I thought—” She stopped. “I thought you did it on purpose.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know that now. But at the time, it felt... orchestrated.”
He gave a small nod. “A strange coincidence.”
“Very.”
They ate in a few quiet bites. The frozen yoghurt was already melting faster than it should have. She tapped her spoon against the rim.
“So,” she said, “why are you on your app?”
Darcy looked at her evenly. “You did joke about my love life in public. So I thought I’d try having one.”
She blinked, caught off guard.
“And if I’m going to market something,” he went on, “shouldn’t I use it? At least for the ailment it claims to fix.”
Elizabeth stared. Then: “That’s actually... not a terrible answer.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I am.”
“You sound like I just said something half-unexpected.”
“Like you built yourself a toy and then extended it to the poor masses so they could feel what the elite enjoy?”
He frowned—unsure if it was a joke, an insult, or something in between.
“Relax, sir,” Elizabeth said lightly. “I said that just to avoid silence.”
He sighed, picked up his spoon, and took another bite of the rapidly melting yoghurt. “And you? Why are you on the app you so vehemently criticised?”
She didn’t hesitate. She’d anticipated this question and already had her answer lined up.
“Curiosity, mostly. I thought I’d try it for myself. See if I was hasty in my judgment.”
