Page 67 of A Most Unwelcome Acquaintance

When the dance ended, Darcy bowed, but his attention remained with her as she stepped away. Elizabeth returned to Mary with less certainty than she had carried into the set.

Across the room, Hurst leaned toward his wife. “Inferior play again.”

Louisa looked at him.

“He has left the stronger table,” Hurst said.

“There is no table.”

“Then the condition has advanced.”

Louisa turned away before Caroline saw her smile.

Caroline watched Darcy lead Elizabeth into the set. Her warning at Netherfield had failed. Elizabeth had not withdrawn, and Darcy had not turned from her. Persuasion would not answer. If Caroline meant to protect the future she had chosen, she would need another course.

Chapter 18

KITTY REPEATED WICKHAM’S account of Darcy at breakfast. She meant only to tell Lydia that Mr. Wickham had called Darcy proud, which surprised no one at the table. Their mother agreed before Kitty finished the sentence, Mary glanced down at her book, and Elizabeth reached for the coffee.

Then Kitty added, “He thinks Mr. Darcy judged Lizzy before he knew anything about her.”

Elizabeth set down the pot, and Jane looked across the table. “What did he say?”

Kitty glanced at Elizabeth and lost some of her confidence. “Nothing dreadful. Only that Mr. Darcy saw Lizzy driving sheep along the lane and concluded that Longbourn lacked proper management. Mr. Wickham said gentlemen like him think such work lowers a lady.”

“That is not what happened,” Elizabeth said.

Kitty blinked. “He said Mr. Darcy told people you ought not to have been doing it.”

“He said it to me, not to anyone else.”

Mrs. Bennet stopped buttering her toast. “And why were you doing it? Your father employs men for that purpose, though never enough of them, as I have told him for twenty years.”

“The gate failed.”

“Then Hill should have sent someone. Your father cannot expect his daughters to manage the livestock.”

“Hill does not manage the fields, Mama.”

“She manages everything else.”

Lydia laughed; Kitty did not.

Jane kept her attention on Elizabeth. “What did Mr. Darcy say?”

Elizabeth remembered the lane, the frightened horse, and Darcy standing in the dirt with one hand against the animal’s neck. She remembered his question, his obedience, and the confidence with which he had judged the gate and those responsible for it.

“He said I should not have to do it.”

Kitty seized on the words. “That is what Mr. Wickham said.”

“No. Mr. Wickham said Mr. Darcy thought the work lowered me.”

“Is there a difference?” Lydia asked.

“Yes.”

Elizabeth heard the weakness in her answer. Darcy had drawn the distinction himself, yet one broken gate had led him to judge her family.