Jane raised a hand to conceal a smile. Lydia gave a delighted squeal and spun again.
“I should like to see his face if he heard that,” Lydia declared. “He is as tall as a church steeple and twice as solemn.”
Elizabeth felt heat rise to her temples. “Lydia, pray stop.”
“Oh, let her have her merriment,” Papa said. “A household must take its entertainment where it may. If Mr Darcy cannot bear a spark—or a remark—he is hardly fit for a country assembly.”
Mama fluttered. “Oh, Mr Bennet, you do not understand. If Mr Darcy is Mr Bingley’s intimate friend, then any slight, any offence—real or imagined—might influence Mr Bingley’s opinion of Jane. Lizzy, my love, tell me you were perfectly civil.”
Elizabeth drew a slow breath. “I said nothinguncivil, Mama. And the rest… was said in jest.”
Mama squinted at her. “A jest that half the room may repeat.”
Elizabeth winced.
Papa chuckled. “Then I expect Mr Darcy will recover admirably. He is like enough a sturdy fellow. A good night’s rest may restore him.”
Kitty flopped onto the nearest chair. “Well, I think he deserved it. He stared at Lizzy so dreadfully, like he was trying to decide whether she was peculiar.”
Elizabeth felt a prickle at the back of her neck. She had noticed that odd look of his, too.
Mama put a hand to her mouth. “He stared?Stared?Oh, Jane, do you hear? Mr Darcy took notice of Lizzy. This bodes exceedingly well. If Bingley admires Jane and Darcy admires Lizzy—oh, Mr Bennet, do say you are pleased!”
Papa stretched his legs toward the fire. “I will be pleased when the house regains its quiet.”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him, half-amused despite herself. “You might show a morsel of interest in your daughters’ happiness, Papa.”
He tilted his head. “My dear, your happiness is my constant concern. And if dancing twice with Mr Bingley makes Jane happy, I applaud it. If leaping away from Mr Darcy makes you happy, I applaud that as well.”
Elizabeth huffed a laugh. “I did not leap.”
“According to Lydia,” Papa said, “you took flight.”
Lydia bobbed in agreement. “Like a startled cat.”
Elizabeth groaned into her hands. “I shall never hear the end of this.”
“Of course not,” Papa said cheerfully. “That is the delight of daughters.”
Mama waved him off. “Enough, Lizzy. You must tell me—did Mr Darcy show the least inclination toward you? Any admiration at all?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “None worth mentioning, Mama.”
Not quite true, but she would sooner swallow her glove than admit it.
The faint sting at her wrist pulsed again as she unfastened her cloak. She rubbed at it absently, annoyed it had not yet faded.
Nothing but a spark. A spark and a misunderstanding.
And a very tall man she had no wish ever to encounter again.
Chapter Six
The guns had beenbrought down before sunrise, and the smell of oiled metal hung in the entrance hall as Darcy fastened the last button of his shooting coat. Brutus circled impatiently at his heels, nails clicking on the tiles, pausing now and then to stare up the staircase as though expecting someone.
Darcy tugged his gloves into place. “Leave it,” he murmured to the dog. “The ladies will not be coming down merely at your pleasure.”
Brutus ignored him and paced to the door again.
