"Lizzy, I believe Colonel Fitzwilliam cares for me."
Elizabeth set down the hairpin she had been holding and turned fully towards her. "Has he said so?"
"Not plainly. We have known one another too short a time for declarations, and I do not expect them. But there are things one knows without being told. He seeks me out whenever he can,and when we speak I never feel that he is merely passing the time. He listens to me as though what I say matters."
Elizabeth came to sit beside her. "I like the colonel very well, Jane. He is open and good-humoured, and I have seen nothing in his conduct to make me distrust him. But it has only been two days."
"I know." Jane accepted the caution without offence. "Do you remember what we used to say when we were girls? That neither of us would ever marry unless it was for deepest love."
"Of course."
Jane smiled faintly, but her gaze remained steady. "I still believe it. I could not marry for comfort alone, nor because a gentleman was considered suitable. I would rather remain at Longbourn than bind myself to someone I did not love."
Elizabeth took her hand. "Then you must be especially careful not to mistake the excitement of a new acquaintance for something deeper."
"I have considered that." Jane's fingers closed around hers. "I know how quickly this has happened, and I know how little sense it appears to make. But I have never felt this way before, Lizzy. I do not mean only that I enjoy his company, though I do. When I am with him, I feel as though I have known him farlonger than two days. There is no effort in speaking to him and no need to wonder what he thinks of me. I am simply happy."
There was no uncertainty in her voice. Jane, who always sought the best in others and rarely spoke with absolute conviction about her own feelings, looked more certain than Elizabeth had ever seen her.
"You think you love him," Elizabeth said quietly.
Jane's cheeks deepened in colour, but she did not look away. "I think I may. Perhaps it is foolish to say so soon, but in my heart I believe this is different."
Elizabeth wanted to caution her again. She wanted to remind Jane that affection required time, and that no woman ought to entrust her happiness to a feeling born within the excitement of a house party. But the words would not come as readily as they ought.
Only hours earlier, she had stood upon the terrace with Mr Darcy and felt every sensible thought vanish beneath the pressure of his mouth upon hers. She had known him no longer than Jane had known the colonel. She had spent most of that time arguing with him and telling herself that she disliked him. Even now, she could not have said what she wanted from him, nor whether she wished the kiss forgotten or repeated. But she understood suddenly what Jane meant when she spoke of knowing something before it could be explained.
Elizabeth looked down at their joined hands. "I only want you to be happy," she said at last.
"I know."
"And I do not want you hurt."
Jane leant her head lightly against Elizabeth's shoulder. "I know that too."
They remained together for a moment before Jane sat upright once more, her expression brightening. "Besides, I have not accepted an offer. I have merely admitted to my sister that I am very much in danger of falling in love."
Elizabeth smiled despite herself. "Then I suppose I must keep a close watch upon the colonel."
Jane rose and crossed towards the door, pausing when she looked at Elizabeth curiously. "What are you thinking?"
Elizabeth stood and crossed back to the dressing table, reaching for another pin and fixed it carefully into her hair. "Only that I am glad you are happy."
Jane smiled and held out her hand. "Come. The ladies shall be in need of their captain."
???
After breakfast everyone assembled upon the south lawn, where rows of chairs had been arranged before a long table covered with green baize. Several cards stood upon it, each bearing the name of a different sport and weighted against the breeze by a silver paperweight. Lady Hortensia sat beneath a striped canopy with Mr Pritchard beside her and the Challenge ledger open before him.
The division between the two teams had already begun to blur. Mr Hadley stood behind Mrs Cartwright's chair, making her laugh at something he said, while Colonel Fitzwilliam had taken a place close to Jane. Elizabeth glanced at her sister, who lowered her eyes with a smile that did very little to conceal her happiness.
Lady Hortensia struck the ground once with her cane. "Pray take your seats, everyone. You may mingle again when I have finished speaking."
There was some movement and muttering as the gentlemen returned to their side of the lawn and the ladies settled opposite them. Mr Hadley took the chair nearest Mrs Cartwright, though it placed him at the very edge of his own team, while Colonel Fitzwilliam chose a seat from which he could continue to look at Jane without turning his head too obviously.
"Yesterday tested your powers of observation and reason," Lady Hortensia began once the company was quiet. "Todaywe turn to sporting prowess. Before the gentlemen begin congratulating themselves, however, I should explain that I have removed every contest which depends solely upon brute strength. I have no wish to spend the afternoon watching men lift heavy objects while the ladies look on."
A ripple of laughter passed through the ladies. Mr Ashcombe flexed his forearms and sighed, while the Blackwood brothers exchanged disappointed looks, as though they had expected to spend the afternoon wrestling one another across the lawn.
