“Then I shall request the first waltz.”
Mr. Darcy cleared his throat. “Her waltz is engaged. It is promised to me.”
Elizabeth turned to look at him with surprise, though she did not contradict him.
“Is the La Boulangère still open? That would provide many opportunities to dance the Allemande figure with you.”
Darcy made a sound which to Elizabeth resembled a low growl.
Mr. Allen lifted his brows with amusement. “Did you say something, Darcy?”
Elizabeth replied happily, “La Boulangère is open, sir.”
She reached into her reticule and drew out her dance card and a pencil. Before she could write Mr. Allen’s name upon it, Mr. Darcy took the card from her hand. He saw his name already written beside the supper set and then wrote his initials beside the waltz.
Mr. Allen raised his brows. “That is unusual, Darcy. I have never known a gentleman to write upon a lady’s program.”
Darcy’s face pinched. “An intelligent man knows how to serve his own interests, Allen.” He handed the dance card back to Elizabeth.
She saw that Jane had risen. She stood.
“Jane is leading the ladies out. You will excuse me, sirs.”
She held her reticule in one hand and her dance card in the other. When she entered the drawing room, she paused just inside the door and looked down at the card.
Written in bold pencil were his initials, F.D.
In that moment, she understood how deeply she had fallen. She would keep that dance card always, for he had claimed her, and the evidence was written by his own hand. She did not care that the claim extended no further than a single dance.
She placed the dance card and pencil back into her reticule before looking around the ballroom to find her aunt.
“Miss Eliza, what has captured your attention so completely? Did Mr. Allen request your supper set?” The woman narrowed her eyes and smirked. “He is well enough, yet he is nothing when compared with Mr. Darcy.”
Elizabeth reddened and moved away from Caroline without deigning a reply.
Finding Mrs. Gardiner, she sat beside her. “Aunt, I am so happy. Mr. Allen requested the first set.”
“I am pleased for you, Elizabeth. I understand that he possesses a fine estate in Sussex. I have heard that it lies along the coast and that the views are remarkable.”
Elizabeth’s smile widened. “He requested the supper set as well, but Mr. Darcy had already claimed it, so Mr. Allen requested the Boulangère.”
Mrs. Gardiner pressed her hand. “Better and better, Lizzy.”
“I wonder whether he will remain so attentive when he learns that I possess no dowry.”
Mrs. Gardiner leaned closer. “Jane told me that Mr. Bingley mentioned in passing what Jane’s situation was, and that yours is the same. Mr. Allen said that when he marries, it will not be for fortune or connections but for happiness.”
Her eyes moved over Elizabeth’s figure. “That gown does you great credit, my girl. It drapes beautifully across your bosom and also enhances your slender waist and your pleasing figure. I am surprised that Mr. Darcy has not made you an offer. He watches you a great deal and appears to take pleasure in conversing with you.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Yes, Aunt. He admires me and takes pleasure in our conversations. I believe he may even have feelings for me, yet the truth remains that I do not belong to his circle, and he will not lower himself.” She lifted sorrowful eyes to her aunt. “We have lived under the same roof for weeks, and though he seeks me out and pays me marked attentions, he has not come to the point. I have come to understand that he never will.”
“I am sorry, Lizzy. I believe you are even more attached to him now than before. Yet you may learn to love another. I have seen it happen. I have a close friend who was deeply in love with one man, yet, for reasons beyond her control, married another. Now she is happily married with children and in love with her husband. It is not the ruin of all your prospects if Mr. Darcy does not offer for you.”
Elizabeth pressed her aunt’s hands in her own. “Thank you, Aunt. That is very comforting.”
“Time heals all, Lizzy. Remember that.”
Chapter 40: The Netherfield Ball
