For all his unwelcome interest in her hearing and the slight he had delivered at the assembly, Elizabeth found herself reluctantly admiring Mr. Darcy.
Which was deeply inconvenient.
What was there not to like?
He was undeniably handsome. Handsome enough that she had noticed him immediately at the Meryton assembly. It was that very circumstance which had led her to observe him closely enough to discover what he had said about her. Afterwards it had been easy to accept the neighbourhood's judgement that he was proud.
Handsome gentlemen with enormous fortunes were frequently accused of pride.
Often with good reason.
Yet his attention to her hearing remained troubling.
Why could she not rid herself of the suspicion that he wished to know the truth?
Worse still, why did she increasingly suspect that he already did?
She possessed no answers to the many questions occupying her thoughts.
At length she picked up her book once more.
The desire to read it, however, had entirely vanished.
˜ ˜ ˜
Netherfield
Darcy
Georgiana returned from the modiste scarcely half an hour when Darcy came back from Longbourn. He found her in the drawing room still wearing her pelisse, and one glance at her countenance was enough to tell him that she had spent the greater part of the day in company she esteemed rather more than she enjoyed.
"Walk with me," he said.
She took his arm without question, and together they went out by the side entrance and into the grounds. The afternoon was cold but bright, the pale winter sun hanging low above the trees, and the park was quiet at that hour.
"How was your morning?" he asked.
"Very well." She considered. "The modiste possessed some beautiful muslins. Miss Bingley has excellent taste in fabrics."
"And Meryton itself? Did you see much of it?"
"A little. We passed through the market." Something softened in her expression. "There was a woman selling preserves who became so determined to prove the superiority of her gooseberry jam that I nearly purchased a jar merely to end the debate."
"Did you?"
"I did." A small smile touched her lips. "She was entirely justified. It was excellent."
He looked at her, at the faint colour in her cheeks from the cold air and the quiet animation that had been absent for so many months, and felt something ease within him.
"It does me good to see you out again," he said. "Genuinely out. Not merely enduring an occasion."
Georgiana glanced up at him. "I am trying."
"I know." Darcy stared into a distance, then back at her. "And I am very proud of you."
She did not answer, but neither did she look away, and that was enough.
They continued in silence for a short distance. Frost still lingered in the shadows of the hedgerows.
