Elizabeth shut the door and led them into the sitting room.
Jane sat immediately, her concern plain. Lydia perched on the edge of the sofa, curious.
Jane’s voice was soft. “Lizzy… what happened?”
Elizabeth hesitated. The words still felt sharp in her mouth.
“He asked me out,” she said finally.
Lydia’s brows shot up. “Hold on. I know I said I came for support, but how can I support you when I don’t even know who we’re talking about?”
Jane glanced at Elizabeth, then said carefully, “Mr. Darcy asked you put?”
Lydia froze.
Then, very slowly, she turned to Elizabeth.
“Wait,” she said. “You mean…thatMr. Darcy?”
Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly. “Yes, Lydia.”
“The billionaire.”
“Yes.”
“The one you insulted on Twitter?”
“That was almost a month ago.”
Lydia stared, scandalised. “I am completely lost. When… where… how?”
She shook her head, as though trying to rearrange reality.
“Lizzy, you cannot just casually say you went on a date with the billionaire you publicly humiliated.”
“It wasn’t casual,” Elizabeth snapped.
Jane reached out quickly. “Lydia, please.”
Lydia held up both hands. “I’m silent. I’m silent. I’m simply processing.”
Jane turned back to Elizabeth. “What did he do?”
Elizabeth gave a humourless laugh.
“I just told you. He asked me out.”
“Didn’t you say you were already on a date?” Lydia asked.
“It’s… an app thing,” Elizabeth said, gesturing as if trying to summarise in a hurry. “Long story short, I joined his app to see what it was all about. He apparently has an account too. We were both anonymous. We matched, and the app requires three dates.”
Lydia blinked. “Requires?”
“Yes. Obligatory. Structured. Ridiculous.”
She exhaled.
“Today was supposed to be the third and final one, and then—bam. He asks me out properly. Like it’s normal.”
