He changed the subject. “So you have four sisters; do you get along?”
“It is impossible for five girls to get along at all times, but we manage well enough. Have you a sister, Mr. Darcy?”
He took a deep breath. “Yes, just one; she is with me at Netherfield Park.”
Something changed in her face. “Ah,” she said.
“What does that mean? What have you heard?”
There was an urgency in his voice that puzzled her, and she certainly had no wish to upset him so she replied at once, keeping her voice calm and even. “Only that I have heard that there is a young girl at Netherfield Park, and we have all longed to meet her. We would love to have a new friend.”
He relaxed. “She is very shy.”
“May I ask her age?”
“She is just fifteen.”
“My sister Lydia is fifteen, but as far from shy as can be imagined. She is in the cream dress with the pink embroidery, dancing – just there, do you see her? But Mary, my middle sister, is eighteen, and she, too, is quite shy. Perhaps they could be good for one another. Does your sister play the pianoforte, by any chance? For that is Mary’s passion.”
“She does, yes,” Mr. Darcy said, surprised.
“Might your sister like to play duets with Mary? Mary is always after me to play with her, but my skill does not equal hers, and she is soon frustrated.”
“She might,” Mr. Darcy said, hope rising in his breast.
“Please do ask her; we would be happy to welcome your sister to Longbourn.”
“I shall, and I thank you for your kindness, Miss Elizabeth,” he said.
As he escorted her back to her mother, he realised that he had enjoyed the dance far more than he had expected. Miss Elizabeth was a lively and interesting conversationalist, and she had given him a bit of hope. Perhaps Georgiana truly would be willing to visit this Miss Mary?
Mr. Darcy then steeled himself to dance with Miss Bingley, as he knew he must. He began, “Are you enjoying yourself tonight, Miss Bingley?”
She huffed. “Hardly, Mr. Darcy. There is no fashion here, and no manners. I wonder what my brother was thinking, agreeing to attend this assembly!”
“No doubt he was thinking that this was a good opportunity to meet his neighbours,” Mr. Darcy said, evenly. “We have such dances near Pemberley as well, and I go to as many of them as my responsibilities permit.”
“And now?”
“Now? What do you mean?”
“Well, with your sister’s situation, you can hardly want to be in company.”
Mr. Darcy held on to his temper with some difficulty. “Miss Bingley, my sister was led astray by two very bad people. This hardly makes either of us a pariah.”
“Does it not? I note that she is not here.” Her tone was sly, unpleasant.
“She is shy, as you know, Miss Bingley, and not yet out in society.”
“I suspect now that she never will be out in society.”
Mr. Darcy felt his face growing red. He forced himself to take a deep breath before replying, “That is certainly not true, Miss Bingley. My sister will take her rightful place in society when the time is right.”
Miss Bingley shrugged.
The dance was finished in silence. Mr. Darcy knew he must ask Mrs. Hurst to dance as well, but just now he did not trust himself to do so. He stepped outside the assembly hall to get himself under control. Mr. Bingley found him there.
“Darcy! Do you seek to escape the dancing?”
