Georgiana nodded. “I hope I may speak with her again.”
“You will have the opportunity this evening,” Fitzwilliam said. “And I am sure you will find her as agreeable over supper as on a first meeting.”
Darcy did not immediately speak. The prospect, though not unexpected, had already begun to occupy his thoughts more than it should. There had been, in their last meeting, something altered from what he had known before, something less guarded and more easily felt, though he could not yet determine whether it belonged to her manner or his own perception of it.
“I have no doubt of it,” he said at last.
Fitzwilliam studied him for a moment, then smiled slightly. “You are remarkably reserved on thesubject.”
Darcy met his glance levelly. “I have no reason to be otherwise.”
“None at all,” Fitzwilliam returned. “Only that you say so little where others might say a great deal.”
“I prefer to say only what is necessary.”
“And yet,” Fitzwilliam said, “you appear to think a great deal more.”
Darcy did not answer this.
Georgiana, who had been listening with increasing curiosity, looked between them. “I think Miss Bennet very agreeable,” she said, as though to restore the conversation to safer ground.
“So do we all,” Fitzwilliam replied.
Darcy inclined his head slightly, though he did not trust himself to enlarge on it.
That evening, Lady Catherine’s guests arrived with admirable punctuality. Mr Collins entered bowing and scraping, and apologising profusely for having had the temerity to accept Lady Catherine’s invitation. His wife appeared to be a woman of sense, if one were to overlook the questionable decision that had made her Mrs Collins, and she greeted Lady Catherine with civil respect and more moderate thanks. But though Darcy attempted to divide his attention and his greetings equally among the party, such an effort was doomed from the first. Onewoman held all his attention.
Elizabeth Bennet stood near the centre of the room, next to Charlotte Collins. Her manner was easy and unreserved, and her expression composed. There was nothing in her appearance to distinguish this meeting from any other, yet he was conscious, almost immediately, that it did not resemble their former acquaintance so nearly as he had supposed it would.
She saw him, and the recognition was accompanied by a slight alteration in her expression, not of surprise, but of awareness. Though she inclined her head with perfect composure, there was something in the manner of it which suggested that the meeting was not a matter of indifference to her.
Or was he merely seeing what he wished to see? Darcy returned the greeting, then forced himself to attend to the rest of the company.
Lady Catherine had already taken command of the conversation. “Miss Bennet,” she said, addressing Elizabeth across the room, “I understand that your family resides in Hertfordshire, in the same neighbourhood as Mrs Collins’s parents. Your father’s estate is Longbourn, is it not? It is a very small estate, I believe. Not at all comparable to those in this part of the country.”
Elizabeth received this without the smallest hesitation. “It is a comfortable one, Lady Catherine.”
“A comfortable estate is of very little consequence,” Lady Catherine returned. “What signifies is the extent of it, and the manner in which it is conducted. I suppose your father keeps a proper establishment?”
“He keeps one suited to his situation,” Elizabeth replied calmly.
Lady Catherine appeared dissatisfied, though whether with the answer or with the restraint of it was not entirely clear. “And your younger sisters,” she continued, “are they out in society already?”
Elizabeth met this with equal composure. “Yes, ma’am, all. They enjoy it very much.”
Darcy, who had heard enough to anticipate the direction of the inquiry, observed her more closely. There was no agitation in her manner, no effort to evade or soften what was asked. She answered plainly, yet without surrendering the dignity of her position, and though Lady Catherine pressed her with increasing insistence, she appeared neither disconcerted nor inclined to submit.
Fitzwilliam, who had been listening with some amusement, leaned slightly toward Georgiana. “You see how it is done,” he said quietly.
Georgiana followed his glance. “She does not seem afraid.”
“No,” he said. “And that is precisely whatmakes it so effective.”
Georgiana’s attention remained fixed on Elizabeth, and after a moment she moved nearer to her, as though encouraged by what she saw. Elizabeth turned toward her at once, and whatever reserve had marked their earlier acquaintance appeared to lessen in the ease of their renewed conversation.
Darcy watched this with a degree of satisfaction he refused to examine closely. Elizabeth spoke to his sister kindly and without display, and Georgiana, in return, answered with a readiness that would have been impossible only a short time before. Their manner toward each other was so natural and easy that they might have known each other a year.
At length, as the general conversation shifted and Lady Catherine’s attention was claimed elsewhere, Darcy found himself once more in Elizabeth’s immediate company. “I hope you will find your stay at Hunsford agreeable,” he remarked, wishing he might think of something more engaging to say to her.
