“And this is my friend, Mr. Darcy—”
Elizabeth’s attention sharpened.
Another voice answered—deeper, softer. “Sir.”
There was a pause.
Elizabeth turned slightly more, seeking to bring the speaker into clearer view. He stood just beyond the strongest light,his figure tall, still. His expression—what she could see of it—was composed, serious. Not severe but contained. There was no eagerness in him, no immediate warmth. Only a peaceful, steady presence that did not shift with the movement of the room.
Elizabeth could not fully comprehend it. She listened instead.
His tone, when he spoke again, was measured. Polite. Controlled. There was no effort to charm. No attempt to impress. He simply was.
“His sister is also at Netherfield,” someone said nearby.Miss Bingley.
“Indeed?” Lydia’s voice carried, bright with interest.
“Yes, but she does not attend. She is not yet out.”
Lydia gave a small laugh. “I am fifteen and quite out for country society.”
Kitty made a soft sound of amusement.
Elizabeth’s lips curved faintly.
The introductions continued.
Caroline Bingley spoke again—something polite, something correct—but her tone held that same distance Elizabeth had noted before.
Mrs. Hurst echoed it.
Mr. Hurst said nothing at all.
Mr. Bingley’s voice, however, remained unchanged—open, cheerful, entirely engaged.
Elizabeth felt the contrast keenly.
She shifted her weight slightly, allowing others to pass before she moved again.
The room seemed brighter now—perhaps too bright.
A faint twinge began behind her eye. She exhibited no response.
Instead, she guided herself toward the edge of the room, where chairs had been arranged in a neat row. She moved slowly,adjusting her path as needed, her attention divided between what she could see and what she sensed.
A gentleman passed close—too close.
She stepped aside just in time, her shoulder brushing lightly against the back of a chair instead of his sleeve.
He murmured an apology.
“It is nothing,” she said.
Upon reaching the chair, she turned and proceeded to lower herself with ease.
The light here was softer.
The strain eased, though not entirely.
