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At last she turned toward him.

"My lord, may I ask something?"

"Anything, my dear."

"When I came to Longbourn, I promised myself that I would never cause trouble. I thought if I were useful and agreeable enough, no one would regret having me." She looked down at her hands. "I fear I have not been particularly successful."

The Earl laid aside his letter.

"Elizabeth, I have made a long study of my fellow creatures, and I have never discovered any sure method of preventing them from regretting things. You might be as useful and agreeable as an angel and still encounter someone determined to complain."

"My uncle used to say something very like that."

"Then I am glad to discover he was a man of excellent judgment."

She gave a faint smile.

"You are not coming to us on trial," he continued. "You need not become a different person to deserve your place. Lady Matlock would be exceedingly disappointed if you ceased to argue, and Richard would be quite bereft."

"He would invent an argument merely to provoke me."

"Undoubtedly. We must allow him his amusements."

They traveled on. When Elizabeth grew tired, she leaned her head against the carriage cushion and fell asleep. The Earl drew a traveling rug across her knees, careful not to wake her.

The Earl watched the girl sleep as the country darkened beyond the windows. She had endured the interview with Mrs. Bennet, the hurried packing, and the wrench of leaving Jane without asking once whether any of it inconvenienced him. Even asleep, she had folded her hands into her lap as though determined not to occupy more room than necessary.

He remembered the road in Hertfordshire, the girl kneeling beside him with her skirt torn and her face set in stubborn concentration. He had been frightened then, though he had spent two years turning the memory into an amusing account of her commanding manner. He had not been frightened for himself as he was now frightened for her. A young woman could survive a harsh household and learn to mistake it for the natural order of things.

He adjusted the rug when it slipped from her knees. The motion woke her only enough to murmur something in German. He did not know the words; he knew the soft, bewildered note of a child expecting her mother to answer.

"Rest, my dear," he said. "We are nearly home."

Elizabeth slept again. The Earl remained beside her until the lamps of London came into view, with his correspondence unread and the travelling rug tucked securely about her feet.

By the time they reached London the lamps had been lit. The carriage rolled through busy streets and stopped before the Matlock residence, whose windows glowed warmly against the evening.

Lady Matlock was waiting in the entrance hall.

She came forward before the servants had finished carrying in the trunks and took Elizabeth's hands in hers.

"Welcome, my dear," she said. "We are so very glad you are here."

Elizabeth attempted a curtsy, but Lady Matlock drew her into an embrace instead.

From the drawing-room doorway came a voice that was unmistakably Richard's.

"I warned Saye that Mother would carry you off before either of us could say a word," he announced. "He refused to believe me, on the extraordinary ground that I exaggerate."

Elizabeth turned. Richard stood beside his elder brother, still wearing the expression of a gentleman who had arrived precisely in time to interrupt a solemn moment. Saye's smile was quieter, but both had clearly been waiting for her.

"It is a serious weakness in my brother," Saye said. "He seldom allows the facts to interfere with a good story."

"And yet he has come to London on purpose to see you," Richard replied. "I submit that this is a most persuasive fact."

"Only because I feared you would make our new guest believe she must spend the remainder of her life at a chessboard," Saye said.

Elizabeth's laugh escaped before she could restrain it. A moment earlier she had been afraid of making a wrong movement on the polished floor; now she was reminded of an afternoon when the brothers had disagreed over the correct punishment for Richard's defeat.