"You have said nothing very loudly. I can tell you are planning some mischief."
Jane laughed so suddenly that she bent forward and pressed a hand to her stomach. Elizabeth could not help joining her.
When their amusement had subsided, Jane composed herself and regarded her younger sister with suspicious solemnity.
"Mr. Darcy came today," she said at last.
Elizabeth frowned.
She was almost certain she knew where this conversation was leading.
"What are you trying to say?"
"He has never come before."
"There is always a first occasion for everything."
"He sat beside you."
"The space beside me happened to be vacant, and he scarcely occupied it before Papa carried him away to the window."
"Lizzy." Jane widened her eyes in exaggerated disbelief. "He watched you the entire visit. Every time you spoke, he attended to it. When Mama said something that embarrassed you, he noticed before you had entirely concealed your expression."
Elizabeth said nothing.
"He came to Longbourn," Jane continued, "which he has never done. He chose to sit beside you. And after Papa carried him away, he answered every question put to him whilst continuing to look across the room at you between them." She paused. "I am not imagining it."
"I did not say you were."
"You may as well have."
Elizabeth closed her book.
Her gaze drifted to the window, to the pale grass silvered by frost, the bare hedgerows, and the grey afternoon sky beyond. Her thoughts wandered unwillingly through every interaction she had had with Mr. Darcy since his arrival in Hertfordshire.
"I truly do not know why Mr. Darcy accompanied Mr. Bingley today," she said at last. "He is a very observant man."
"Yes," Jane replied. "He is. And so are you. Which may be why his attention makes you uncomfortable."
"I am uncomfortable because that attention appears to be directed entirely towards me."
Jane merely looked at her with the calm patience of someone waiting for the remainder of the truth.
"I do not know what he wants," Elizabeth admitted. The words emerged more quietly than she intended. "But Mr. Darcy seems remarkably interested in me."
"And why is that such a dreadful thing?" Jane asked. "He is handsome, possesses a very respectable fortune, and behaves exceedingly well in your presence. You have said as much yourself."
Elizabeth shook her head. Jane had misunderstood her entirely.
"I do not believe Mr. Darcy's interest has anything to do with romantic inclinations."
Jane frowned. "What else could it be?"
"I do not know." Elizabeth sat up a little straighter. "But unless I am very much mistaken, I believe he knows that I do not hear well."
Jane stared at her.
For a moment she appeared genuinely shocked.
