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That evening, the Bennet ladies provided their father, a gentleman who possessed little fondness for assemblies but never objected to hearing of them afterward, with a thorough account of the evening's events.
"Mr. Bingley is something quite extraordinary." Mrs. Bennet settled comfortably into her chair, satisfaction evident in every line of her countenance. "He danced three sets with Jane. Three! I am quite persuaded he would not have stood up with another young lady all evening had common civility not required it."
"Indeed?" Mr. Bennet's lips twitched. "Then Jane must have been the toast of the room."
"The envy of it," Mrs. Bennet declared, fluttering her fan. "Five thousand a year, perfectly agreeable, and not a disagreeable feature to be found. She could not have done better had I selected him myself."
"And what of the remainder of the party?" Mr. Bennet asked, turning his attention to Elizabeth. "Did Mr. Bingley arrive with the large company rumour promised?"
"Not particularly large," Elizabeth replied. "Only his sisters, his brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, and a friend, Mr. Darcy."
"Darcy." Mr. Bennet considered the name. "And what sort of gentleman is this Mr. Darcy?"
"Proud," Lydia answered at once. "He stood in one corner the entire evening and did not ask a single girl to dance. Not one."
"He is handsome, though," Kitty supplied. "And has ten thousand a year."
"Ten thousand a year and not a particle of manners," Mrs. Bennet said decisively. "He is nothing at all to Mr. Bingley. Extremely stiff. Extremely disagreeable. I do not like him in the least."
"You did not speak to him, Mama," Jane observed gently.
"I saw quite enough. Any gentleman who refuses to dance at an assembly thinks vastly too well of himself. We have no need of such people in Meryton."
"There was also his sister," Jane continued. "Miss Darcy. She remained with the party throughout the evening. Very young and very pretty."
"She did not dance either," Lydia said. "Nor did she speak to anybody. She seemed very much like her brother."
"Perhaps," Elizabeth said, finding herself unexpectedly inclined to offer a defence, "she merely required time to grow accustomed to the company."
Lydia made a noise which clearly indicated her dissatisfaction with such an explanation.
Mrs. Bennet had already returned to the infinitely more important subject of whether Mr. Bingley might call for Jane before the week was out and how many weeks could reasonably be expected to pass before an offer of marriage followed.
Elizabeth offered no further remarks. Settling back upon the settee, she allowed the conversation to flow around her unnoticed.
To her surprise, she found herself thinking instead of Miss Darcy, seated so quietly in her corner, and of Mr. Darcy's repeated glances toward his sister, each marked by particular concern.
Then, against her inclination, she found herself thinking of him watching her for the remainder of the evening with an expression she could not quite decipher.
Whatever it signified, she did not like it.
And she was tolerably certain she had not heard the last of Mr. Darcy.
THREE
29thOctober 1811
Lucas Lodge.
Darcy
A fortnight had elapsed without any meaningful encounter between Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. He had seen her twice in company, briefly and at a distance, and upon both occasions she had appeared perfectly sensible of his presence and perfectly disinclined to acknowledge it. She did not seek his eye. She placed herself apart from him with a natural ease that might have appeared accidental to anyone not observing her particularly closely.
Darcy was observing her particularly closely.
He could not determine whether she was merely indifferent to him or whether she had perceived him watching her at the assembly and had resolved, with some deliberation, that she had no wish to be observed. In either case, the result was the same. He had learned nothing further, and the question which had occupied far more of his thoughts than he considered entirely reasonable remained unresolved.
