“You know for certain that you love him?”
There was nothing of which she was more certain. “I hardly know when it began. It has been coming on gradually. As soon as I gave credit to his letter, I understood him better, but I assure you he is a good man, and I love him. I am grieved when I think about what we came so close to losing.”
“Good gracious,” cried Mrs Bennet as she came into the breakfast room. “I just came from the window, and there is someone arriving in a chaise and four. Lizzy, my love, go see whether you recognise it.”
Although she knew who must be arriving, she went to the window to allow herself a moment alone to gain her composure. Her heart fluttered at the sight of Mr Darcy alighting as he turned back to offer his hand to his sister. Elizabeth grinned as she told her mother who was expected.
“That disagreeable Mr Darcy is coming again! What can he mean by being so tiresome as to be always coming here?”
“Can you not think of any way of accounting for his attentions?” Elizabeth struggled to keep her patience. “I have been speaking well of him since he last came to Longbourn. Mr Darcy now brings his sister to be known to us. He has been overflowing with attention for me. Is it so difficult to believe he admires me?”
Mrs Bennet stared and allowed herself to be guided to the drawing room by Jane to receive their guests. Her mother sat in stunned silence, and no one spoke until the servant announced Mr Darcy and Miss Darcy.
Darcy appeared just as he had been used to look and paid his compliments with his usual reserve, but Elizabeth could discern, from his gaze on her, that his appearance of composure was a pretence. Georgiana looked nervous, and Elizabeth hoped for an opportunity to put her at ease.
Mrs Bennet received Darcy and his sister with the utmost politeness and begged them to be seated. This was a remarkable change from his last visit.
“Miss Darcy, I am honoured you came to call on us in Hertfordshire. I am sure your beaux are disappointed on not finding you at home today.”
“My sister is not yet out,” Darcy replied before his sister could do more than turn pink.
“Not out? Why, my dear, you must be sixteen! I see no reason for a pretty girl like you, with no sisters, to remain at home. My girls were out at fifteen, and they are all the better for it. I am resolved to see my daughters well settled. Your brother must agree how necessary it is for you to catch a husband before you are too old.”
Georgiana looked mortified, and Darcy changed the subject. “My sister and I called on the Gardiners before we left and found them in good health.” The conversation about the Gardiners led to that of Derbyshire, and Mrs Bennet eagerly asked about Pemberley.
Elizabeth was ashamed her mother wished to hear about Darcy’s house only because she hoped to see her daughter as its mistress. However, both Georgiana and Darcy spoke with affection of their home and of Derbyshire. This visit was an improvement over the awkwardness and cold civility of his previous call.
“Are you much at Pemberley in the course of the year?”
“Not as much as I might wish, but I may spend half my time there.”
“If you marry, you may see more of your home,” Mrs Bennet said, turning her gaze heavily toward her second daughter.
Elizabeth looked apologetically at Darcy, who only shrugged after her mother had turned to enquire of Miss Darcy as to the latest fashions in town. Darcy took the trouble to speak to Jane. It satisfied Elizabeth that he attempted to know her sister better, and she hoped that, when Mr Bingley proposed to Jane, the four of them might often be together.
Before half an hour had passed, Kitty came into the room and complained that she had no amusements. Elizabeth suggested they might all walk out. Jane and Mrs Bennet declined, while Kitty accepted because she had no other activity to entertain her.
The younger girls walked ahead and, although Kitty’s voice could be heard oftener than Georgiana’s, they appeared at ease as they talked. Darcy took Elizabeth’s hand and tucked it under his arm while they walked in companionable silence. She smiled at him for his familiar gesture, and her heart rejoiced with the sensations of exquisite comfort it produced.
“One hundred forty,” he said abruptly.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Miles, Elizabeth. Pemberley is one hundred forty miles north of Longbourn. It would take two days to travel from Hertfordshire to Derbyshire, although if there was little hurry, it could be made into a pleasant trip of three days.” He offered her a smile, and she told him how she looked forward to being with him at Pemberley.
“Then we are of a similar mind because there is nothing in this world that I want more. I intend to speak to your father as the first step in achieving that end.” Elizabeth knew it would make her father unhappy to part from her, but finding her own happiness with Darcy was at the forefront of her mind. After a moment, he asked, “Of what are you thinking?”
“How is it you know me so well as to know that I am preoccupied?”
“I attended to your movements and conversations long before I spoke with you myself. And since then, I have been captivated.”
She smiled. “I think I want to hear a more specific answer.”
“When you walk, you keep your head upright. You do not demurely keep your eyes downcast as some women do when with a man. I know you are not distracted or sad. You are, however, pursing your lips and darting your eyes back and forth. You are considering something and are unsure whether you will share it.”
Elizabeth was both impressed and bemused. “And I thoughtIwas the studier of character. I shall have to make my character more deep and intricate to be a more challenging study. How fortunate I am that you have already humbled my excess of pride in my ability to read one’s character; otherwise, your adept analysis would put me to shame.”
“Is my understanding of your behaviour enough to earn me the subject of your thoughts?”
