Page 85 of A Most Unwelcome Acquaintance

Bingley set down his glass. “Mr. Bennet has asked us to dine at Longbourn on Thursday.”

Caroline looked at him. “Us?”

“All of us.”

“Mrs. Bennet issued the invitation through her husband?”

“Mr. Bennet issued it himself. I believe the distinction matters.”

“It matters less than you suppose.”

Bingley turned to Darcy. “You will come?”

Caroline expected hesitation. Darcy had spent the afternoon riding near Longbourn and could not seek another encounter without exposing his interest, yet he answered before she could offer an excuse for him.

“If you wish.”

“I do.”

“Then I shall.”

Caroline felt Louisa watching her. “We had discussed inviting the Gouldings that evening.”

“We can invite them another time,” Bingley said.

“They may not remain in the neighborhood.”

“They live six miles away.”

“Convenience does not make their plans ours to command.”

“Nor does it make Thursday our only chance to see them.”

His good humor remained, but he had stopped yielding. Jane Bennet had not just gained his admiration; she had taught him to resist anyone who tried to keep him from her.

Caroline turned to Darcy. “You have letters to answer.”

“I can answer them before Thursday.”

“And Stewart may need you to decide.”

“If he does, I shall accommodate him.”

Every practical objection failed because neither man wished to be persuaded. They treated obstacles as arrangements to be changed, though prudence required the opposite: desire should yield when consequence demanded it.

Caroline turned to the one matter in which Charles still accepted her judgment. “I inspected the summerhouse this afternoon. The walls are sound, as the steward reported. He can repair the roof this week, though the interior needs more work than you imagined.”

Bingley took a glass from the table. “Then do what you think best.”

“I intend to.”

“You see?” Hurst said. “At least one courtship in this house proceeds without resistance.”

Louisa told him not to be absurd, but Bingley laughed, and even Darcy’s mouth shifted before he turned away.

Caroline felt the room settle against her. Charles dismissed danger because Jane Bennet smiled at him, and Darcy dismissed it because Elizabeth challenged him. Louisa treated both as harmless, Hurst as entertainment, and no one considered what marriage joined beyond two people.

She had offered prudence and received amusement. That did not make her wrong. It meant caution would have to take a form they could not ignore.