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"How very sad," Lady Matlock said.

"My mother was happy afterward," Elizabeth answered quickly. "She told me so many times. She said that Papa gave her a life she had never expected to have."

"Then I hope you will always remember that," Lady Matlock replied.

The conversation moved to more cheerful topics. Elizabeth was questioned about her books, her walks, and the four cousins with whom she lived. The Earl discovered that she had read a history he particularly admired and proceeded to argue with her about its conclusions. Elizabeth disagreed with his assessment of one military campaign, drawing upon things her father had told her about supplies and the practical difficulties of moving men.

"Good heavens," the Earl exclaimed. "I have been contradicted by a fourteen-year-old girl."

"I did warn your lordship," Mr. Bennet observed. "She has been an inconvenience to received wisdom since she learned to speak."

"Then I shall send her a better book. It may make her contradiction more formidable."

"That would be most generous," Elizabeth answered, "although it seems an unusual ambition for a man recovering from his injuries."

The visit lasted longer than anyone intended. Lady Matlock insisted on serving tea, and Elizabeth found herself recounting the story of Lydia's attempt to train a hen to answer to the name of a famous admiral. By the time the Bennets departed, the Earl and Countess had agreed that they would be very sorry to leave Hertfordshire without seeing Elizabeth again.

A book arrived at Longbourn a fortnight later, accompanied by a letter from Lord Matlock. He had chosen a volume of essays, marking two passages he believed might interest her and asking whether she agreed with the author's conclusions. Elizabeth read the book so carefully that Mr. Bennet accused her of preparing for a trial. She wrote a reply of four pages, expressing gratitude and dissent in approximately equal quantities.

To her delight, the Earl responded.

Their correspondence continued after he returned to his estates. His letters told of the places he visited and the public affairs that interested him, without speaking to Elizabeth as though she were incapable of understanding them. Hers described Longbourn, her reading, Jane's accomplishments, and the minor misfortunes of the household. She did not write about Mrs. Bennet's unkind remarks. It seemed disloyal to do so, and besides, those remarks appeared to her less important when she was occupied with a good argument about history.

Lady Matlock occasionally added a page, asking after Elizabeth's health or sending a pattern she thought the girls might enjoy. Christmas brought a gift of German poems selected with help from a knowledgeable acquaintance. Elizabeth was delighted; her aunt Fanny was less certain what to make of it.

"I suppose those noble people have taken a fancy to you," Mrs. Bennet remarked one evening. "Such friendships can be very useful if they are properly cultivated. You must take care not to contradict his lordship too often."

"I believe he enjoys it, Aunt," Elizabeth answered.

"Men do not enjoy being contradicted, child."

Mr. Bennet lowered his book. "How fortunate that you have never contradicted me, my dear. I should otherwise have passed a miserable married life."

"You are determined to misunderstand me!"

"Entirely. It provides my chief amusement."

Elizabeth hid a smile behind her needlework. She had begun to understand that her uncle and aunt used words rather differently, and that his jokes, while diverting, seldom resolved the matters over which they disagreed.

The following summer Lord and Lady Matlock invited Elizabeth to spend a fortnight with them. Mr. Bennet examined the invitation and approved it readily. Mrs. Bennet was initially delighted by the distinction, then anxious about Elizabeth's gowns, then offended that a niece should enjoy such an opportunity while her own daughters remained at home. Nevertheless, she supervised the necessary preparations and repeated to her friends that the Earl himself had insisted upon the visit.

Elizabeth found the Matlocks' country house less intimidating than she had feared. Its rooms were magnificent, but the family moved through them with the easy familiarity of people who had little need to admire their own possessions. Lady Matlock showed Elizabeth a comfortable chamber overlooking a garden and informed her that she should consider herself free to read, walk, or join the family as she pleased.

The Earl introduced her to his younger son, Richard, a handsome young officer with laughing eyes and a talent for discovering another person's weakness in conversation. His elder son, Lord Saye, was attending to business on an estate of his own and would join them later in the week. Richard appeared to regard his brother's absence as a temporary suspension of all necessary order.

"So this is the young lady who brought my father to obedience," Richard announced.

"Only temporarily," Elizabeth replied. "I fear the improvement did not last."

"Then you must stay longer. My mother has struggled with the matter for years."

"Richard," Lady Matlock protested, though she was smiling.

"I am considering the public good, Mother."

Richard announced that he would teach Elizabeth chess and set the pieces out upon a small table by the library windows. He explained the movements with the solemnity of a commander conducting a siege, only to discover that she had played regularly with Mr. Bennet. Elizabeth listened politely, which should have warned him that she was planning something.

"You may have the first move," Richard offered, settling into his chair.