Page 79 of A Most Unwelcome Acquaintance

His first opinion of Elizabeth had rested on wounded pride. She had dismissed his consequence before he dismissed her beauty. He had called her tolerable because she had given him no reason to believe his notice mattered.

Since then, she had challenged him at every turn. She managed a working dog with skill, faced disorder without complaint, defended Jane without making a display of devotion, and refused to flatter him when gratitude would have served her.

He admired her intelligence, her loyalty, and the steadiness with which she met him.

Admiration was not attachment.

A man could recognize intelligence without surrendering judgment. He could find a woman attractive and remain aware of her circumstances. Elizabeth’s mother lacked restraint, her youngest sisters invited notice, her connections offered no advantage, and Longbourn would pass to a relative.

None of that had changed.

He returned to the desk and forced himself through Stewart’s recommendations. The west meadow required new drainage before winter, the cottages could wait until spring if the roofs held, and the timber dispute demanded a letter to the neighboring estate.

He wrote instructions in the margin, read them, and crossed out two lines where his reasoning had outrun the facts.

The correction brought Elizabeth to mind again, and he set down the pen.

Attraction did not erase family, manners, or connection. He repeated the judgment until it sounded less like reason and more like resistance.

That distinction he refused to examine.

Chapter 20

CAROLINE BEGAN WITH Jane Bennet because Jane presented the simpler danger.

Bingley had spent breakfast discussing a visit to Longbourn as though the matter required no decision. He wanted to return a book, ask Mr. Bennet about a neighboring tenant, and learn whether Jane had recovered from a headache mentioned the previous afternoon. Each reason could have stood alone but together, they exposed him.

Caroline waited until Louisa left the breakfast room and Darcy went to the library. Hurst remained at the table, but he had opened the newspaper and would ignore any conversation that did not involve horses, cards, or dinner.

“Charles, you have called at Longbourn three times this week.”

Bingley looked up from the note he was writing. “Have I?”

“You know you have.”

“I remember going, but I did not count.”

“That is part of the problem.”

He set down his pen. “What problem?”

Caroline took the chair opposite him. “You are allowing attention to become expectation.”

“Whose expectation?”

“Mrs. Bennet’s, for one. The neighborhood will soon share it, if it has not by now.”

Bingley smiled. “The neighborhood expects rain whenever the sky clouds. It survives the disappointment.”

“This is not weather.”

“No, Jane is much pleasanter.”

Caroline ignored the answer. “Her mother watches every word you speak to her. Every visit strengthens her belief that you have formed an intention.”

“And what if I have?”

The question came without embarrassment, and Caroline had to keep her face still. “Then prudence requires you to know more than you do.”