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“I am taking Mr. Bingley to visit his sister, Lizzy,” Miss Bennet said. “We shall see to whatever she requires.”

And then Bingley had been swept off and Darcy was left standing in what was clearly a family parlour.

The bell rang again, with greater insistence. “It is remarkable,” Miss Elizabeth said to her aunt, “how such a small bell can sound so very loud.”

“Elizabeth,” Mrs. Gardiner said in a warning tone.

“I do not criticise,” Miss Elizabeth replied, with a little smile. “I merely observe.”

Darcy could not imagine having an injured and irritated Miss Bingley in his own house. His sympathy must have been clear, for when she turned her attention to him, she appeared both amused and a little sheepish.

It was quite fetching.

“Would you care to sit down, Mr. Darcy?” Mr. Gardiner inquired.

“Thank you,” he said, and took a chair opposite the couple.

Miss Elizabeth took a chair near his but not too close. Thank heavens for that. His own removal to town had not been nearly long enough to break the spell Miss Elizabeth seemed to hold over him. He took a breath.

“Would you like some tea, Mr. Darcy?” Mrs. Gardiner inquired.

Before he could accept, Miss Bingley’s voice, pitched high enough to be heard from somewhere down the passage, could be heard complaining. “You must take me home, Charles.”

Miss Elizabeth pressed her lips together.

“This chamber is unbearably small, it is freezing, and this mattress is too soft.”

Mrs. Gardiner rose. “Pain makes even the most reasonable people fractious. We shall make Miss Bingley as comfortable as we are able.”

There was no mockery or even impatience in Mrs. Gardiner’s words. She simply walked out of her parlour to attend a woman who had no doubt entered her home unwillingly and been complaining ever since.

“Both my aunt and my sister,” Miss Elizabeth said, “are model gentlewomen.” She hesitated. “I am not nearly as virtuous.”

“I am afraid I must disagree, Miss Elizabeth,” Darcy said, speaking before he had considered the wisdom of doing so. “We are not all made alike. That your virtues differ from theirs does not make them lesser.”

Miss Elizabeth’s brows pinched together as she evaluated him.

“Indeed,” he continued, now feeling unable to retreat, “it would be a very dull world if they did. Do not you agree, Mr. Gardiner?”

Mr. Gardiner appraised him and then replied, “I do, Mr. Darcy.”

“You are very kind to say so, sir,” Miss Elizabeth said. “Jane and I called in Grosvenor Street yesterday. I believe you were in the house. We were sorry to miss greeting you.”

Darcy recalled Hurst’s study and the half hour sitting with nothing but a sporting magazine to occupy him. He had wondered why Mrs. Hurst had been so eager to close the door on him. Now he knew why.

“I had come to see Bingley,” he said. It was true. It was also true that he had meant to reiterate to Bingley that removing himself from Miss Bennet was the right course.

“Of course,” she replied, and took her aunt’s place in pouring the tea.

Darcy occupied himself with his cup and tried to think of something else to say.

Mr. Gardiner spoke first. “You have known my nieces some months, I think.”

“Since October.”

“Then you will have met my sister, Jane and Elizabeth’s mother.”

Darcy set down his cup. This was dangerous territory. “I have had that pleasure.”