“Then, yes, please. I would love to have your help fill this embarrassing gap in my skills.”
“Do you think that Miss Mary will wish to learn more as well? Having both of you with me will make it more proper, although having the class right here will enable your parents to watch a lesson or to provide a chaperone.”
“I shall ask her when we return. Thank you again for such generous suggestions.”
Inside, Elizabeth was aching to jump to conclusions again, despite her own lecture against it. Taking the time to teach a reluctant lady how to ride did not fit in with any flight of fantasy she had ever come up with.
As they walked back to the house, Mr Darcy said, “I wonder if you might allow me to introduce a thoroughly inappropriate topic of conversation.”
Elizabeth felt her heart thunder. She could only think of one category of inappropriate topics, and she half dreaded and half longed to hear what he would say. She could only nod her head.
Mr Darcy stopped walking and turned to face her.“Forgive me; I know this is very odd for me to speak of such…. But why does Miss Mary insist on styling herself as unattractive when she is, like all the Bennet daughters, pretty?”
Two thoughts jabbed at Elizabeth so sharply that she just stood there, silent and blinking, for a handful of seconds. The first thought was that Mr Darcy had certainly managed to bring up a category of inappropriateness that she could never have conceived. Second—did he like Mary?
She reminded herself for the hundredth time that he had been somewhat interested in and very polite to the entire family, and—more importantly—he was wealthy enough that he was very unlikely to court any of the Bennets, no matter his feelings.
All those thoughts rushed through her, and she knew that several seconds felt like a substantial pause, given her usual quick responses, so she hastened to speak: “Mama constantly tells the rest of us that Jane and Lydia are the beautiful ones who will save us all by marrying well. She implies that the rest of us have no beauty at all, and that we must cultivate accomplishments.”
Mr Darcy’s face was set in a neutral expression, and he did not quite frown, but Elizabeth noticed a strain in his eyebrows and mouth that seemed to indicate that he wished to. His intense gaze looked to be almost angry. She assumed, if he was angry, it was not at her, but at her mother’s attitude.
She hurried to explain further. “You must admit, Jane and Lydia have such nice face shapes and such symmetrical features. I am all pointy, and Mary is very square-shaped, and Kitty’s chin is…a bit lacking. And I suppose we three have different strategies of how to cope with being the not-pretty sisters. Kittyjust tries to disappear. Mary does exactly what our mother demands in that she works very hard to become accomplished, but she also shows by her tight buns and dull-coloured dresses that she will not even try to compete for outer beauty. As for me—I suppose that I try to make others laugh, and to laugh myself.”
She had dropped her eyes from Mr Darcy’s penetrating look, but now she raised them to see how he had taken her explanations. He looked even more strained, with a jaw that was rigidly fixed, and his eyes were just as fiery. She had to lower her eyes again.
“Miss Elizabeth, I hope you know that, not only are you openly acknowledged by all as being very pretty, you can certainly also be described as beautiful. I grant you that your elder and youngest sisters are beautiful, but I would point out that you have a very unique sort of beauty that would make you more interesting to most people. Please do not take your mother’s words as truth.”
Elizabeth was stunned by his statements. She could hardly give them credence, but Mr Darcy seemed to believe them.
He finally looked away and said, “As for Miss Kitty and Miss Mary, they are pretty as well. I must admit that I have heard two people say something about Miss Mary being ‘the plain one,’ but I am convinced that this is because she wears her hair in a severe style and wears less flattering gowns. I wondered if her mode of dress is a way of guarding her feelings. If she does not attempt to win compliments for her person, she can hardly regret not receiving them.”
Elizabeth said, “Believe me, I have spoken to Mary about more flattering colours and hairstyles. What I get back from her is quotes from the Bible about vanity and pride.”
“As little as I know her,” Mr Darcy said, “she has impressed me that she knows quite a few Bible verses.”
They smiled at one another. Mr Darcy offered his arm again, and the two returned to Longbourn.
Lady Lucas and her two daughters had, as expected, arrived at some point during their walk. Jane and Mr Bingley had returned before Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, so the two entered a parlour seemingly stuffed with people. But Darcy smoothly greeted the Lucas ladies and then, with Mr Bingley, made their excuses to leave.
Charlotte had been sitting with the mothers, but as soon as the men departed, she got up and led Jane and Elizabeth to the farthest side of the room. “The gentlemen called on you today?” she asked with a knowing smile.
Jane blushed prettily and said, “Yes, it was so kind of them to do so.”
Elizabeth said, “I am not the least bit surprised. I could clearly see that Mr Bingley was smitten the first moment he saw Jane.”
She was surprised to see her sister wince.
Jane said, “I do not believe that Mr Bingley only cares about outer appearances.
“Oh, Jane,” Elizabeth said, “I am sorry to have made it sound as if I thought that. I honestly think that he was interested to know you better upon his first sighting of your outer beauty. But I know that your inner beauty is far more important to me, to Mr Bingley, really, to everyone. And I think you show your kindness and your concern for others every minute of every day. Mr Bingley had a great deal of opportunity to notice that last night. It did not surprise me a bit to see him come so soon after meeting you.”
“But Lizzy,” Jane said, “I could say the same about Mr Darcy and you. Last night he asked you to dance and he looked at you a good deal when you were not together, and today he asked you to walk with him. I said something to Mr Bingley about beingsurprised, with your enormous age gap, that he was interested in calling on you, and he said I would be even more surprised if I realised that, as far as he knew, Mr Darcy has never called on any lady before.”
Charlotte looked from Jane to Elizabeth. “What is the enormous age gap, if I may ask?”
Elizabeth did not know how old Mr Darcy was, and she was entirely agog at what Jane had said, anyways, so she did not attempt to answer. But she did listen carefully for Jane’s answer, hoping that he was nottooterribly old.
“I thought he was older than he is,” Jane admitted. “When we met him five years ago, he had already inherited, so I assumed he might be in his early thirties at that point, which would make him at least five and thirty now. But it turns out that he inherited at averyyoung age, and he is only seven and twenty now.
