Page 7 of Stranded at Michaelmas

“Though I do not generally enjoy dancing at country assemblies, I will ask you now, Miss Bennet, if you will promise to stand up with me once during the evening. Perhaps you might also introduce me to another lady or two who finds herself in want of a partner.”

Elizabeth agreed, rather more pleased by the invitation than she cared to examine too closely, but between her aunt’s teasing and Mr Darcy’s increasingly easy manner, she soon found herself laughing once more. The longer they spoke, the less reserved he appeared, and by the time the proprietor entered to tell them that their carriages were being brought around, Elizabeth felt as though she had known him far longer than their admittedly brief acquaintance.

She had scarcely noticed how quickly the morning had passed.

“I suppose our imprisonment has finally come to an end,” she said. She was sad to go, having enjoyed the last day immensely, and regretted that her friendship with the gentleman would surely come to an end as soon as he met her mother.

“You sound almost disappointed to be returning home at last, Lizzy,” Aunt Gardiner observed altogether too casually.

Elizabeth sent her aunt a warning look, though she suspected it was already too late. Her aunt might wish to throw the two together and hint at an attachment, not for any mercenary reason, but because she saw, as Elizabeth did herself, how much she liked Mr Darcy.

Mr Darcy regarded her with quiet amusement. “I confess I find myself of much the same opinion. I have endured far less agreeable delays. It has been delightful to renew one acquaintance and to make a new one, especially when I will so soon be entering your neighbourhood, Miss Bennet.”

The sentiment affected her more than she cared to admit.

“And when you do, sir, you will be obliged to call me Miss Elizabeth, rather than Miss Bennet, for my sister Jane is the elder between us.”

Something in Mr Darcy’s expression changed at that, though Elizabeth could not quite determine what. She decided it was wiser not to examine the matter too closely—or to think about him again until he was actually in the neighbourhood.

Within a quarter of an hour, their belongings had been secured, and the two carriages waited before the inn, ready to carry them in opposite directions. Standing beside the Gardiners’ carriage, Elizabeth was struck by the peculiar thought that she had known Mr Darcy for scarcely a day and yet was genuinely sorry to leave him.

“I hope your journey is an easy one, Mrs Gardiner, Miss Bennet,” he said as he moved to the carriage door to assist the ladies inside, performing the office with the easy familiarity of a friend of much longer standing.

“And yours as well, Mr Darcy,” Mrs Gardiner replied, settling herself inside and, whether intentionally or not, allowing Elizabeth a moment before she was required to speak.

Elizabeth met his eyes as she accepted his hand and stepped into the carriage. “Yes. I hope you have an easy journey as well, Mr Darcy. Fortunately, once you reach London, you will no longer have to contend with quite so much mud.”

“Yes,” he said, though his hand remained around hers a moment longer than was strictly necessary.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Elizabeth was acutely aware that he had not yet released her hand, and equally aware that she had made no effort to withdraw it.

At last, he released her hand. “I shall be at Netherfield again by Michaelmas.”

“Then I suppose I shall see you again very soon,” Elizabeth replied.

“I shall look forward to it.”

If Elizabeth watched Mr Darcy as he boarded his own carriage, her aunt said nothing of it.

Chapter Four

When Bingley had first proposed that Darcy accompany him to Netherfield and assist him with the management of his newly leased estate, Darcy had reluctantly agreed. In the week between his delayed return to London and his departure for Hertfordshire, however, he had been extraordinarily busy.

Bingley was to arrive at Netherfield a few days before Michaelmas to take possession of the house and intended to spend several days there making certain everything was in readiness before returning to London to escort his sisters and brother by marriage to the estate. He had invited Darcy to join him from the beginning, but Darcy had initially declined, claiming that he preferred to wait until the household was properly settled before making his own appearance.

After meeting Miss Bennet—or rather Miss Elizabeth, as she had given him permission to call her—he had promptly reconsidered.

Georgiana, bless her willingness to indulge nearly any suggestion he made, had been easily persuaded to spend a few days at Netherfield before the Bingley sisters arrived. It would give her an opportunity to meet Miss Elizabeth without Miss Bingley’s interference, and Darcy found himself hoping the two young ladies might form a friendship as readily as he and Miss Elizabeth had done. By the time Miss Bingley descended upon Netherfield, perhaps Georgiana would have gained enough confidence in her new acquaintance to tolerate the lady with greater ease. If not, she could continue on to Pemberley after only a few days in Miss Bingley’s company, just as they had originally planned.

The excitement he felt in returning to the area was beyond what he ought to have felt for a new acquaintance, particularly a young lady he had already determined he could not seriously consider. That the thought of considering her at all had occurred to him surely meant something, but Darcy was not eager to explore that meaning just now. So he kept himself occupied in London as he made preparations to depart it again for a time, and did not consider why he was so looking forward to the journey.

A knock on his study door drew his attention away from these considerations, something that he was grateful for. He called “Come,” and the door opened slowly.

“Brother, do you have a few minutes?” Georgiana asked, peeking around the door, appearing much younger than her fifteen years.

“Always for you, dearest,” Darcy replied as gently as he could. He truly hoped that he was doing the right thing by inviting Georgiana to Hertfordshire to meet Miss Bennet. The day he arrived in London, he had made discreet enquiries into both the Gardiners and the Bennets. What he learnt about the Gardiners pleased him, and he had already reached out to Mr Gardiner to arrange a meeting for the day before his departure.

The Bennets were a different matter. They were respectable, but he understood a little better what Mrs Gardiner and Miss Elizabeth had not said about her family.