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“I expected you might be.”

“But I know what I wish to ask, and it is not about Jane.”

Her aunt nodded once. “Then the night was useful.”

Elizabeth was not yet willing to concede it.

CHAPTER 10

Darcy knew something was wrong before he had been in the room five minutes.

Miss Elizabeth received him with perfect civility—a curtsy, a pleasant “Good day, Mr. Darcy.” But the warmth of yesterday was gone. There was no easy teasing or readiness to engage him. She greeted him as she might any gentleman who had come to call.

This was exactly what he had wanted. But while he had promised himself to keep his distance from Miss Elizabeth, he had not expected her to cool towards him. He did not like it.

He tried to account for the change but could not recall offending her. Perhaps Miss Bingley had said something after they departed yesterday, or perhaps Miss Elizabeth was merely tired. She had spent much of the week caring for an exacting patient while assisting her aunt with the household.

But it was also possible that yesterday’s warmth had not been for him at all. He might have mistaken her general good humour for something more particular.

Mrs. Gardiner sat near the fire with Miss Bingley, who had recovered just enough to sit upright, though she still required a few pillows to sit upon. The children were upstairs with their lessons, which meant the gathering was far more tranquil than it had been the day before.

“Mr. Darcy,” Mrs. Gardiner said, indicating the chair near Miss Elizabeth, “you may take your usual chair, if you like. Henry has not built a fortress beneath it today.”

“That will be an improvement.”

“Do not be too certain,” Miss Elizabeth said. “He may only be waiting patiently until you are off your guard.”

That remark was almost like those from yesterday, but Miss Elizabeth had already lowered her eyes to the work in her hands. Embroidery today, rather than the mending.

“I shall remain vigilant,” he said.

She smiled faintly, which bothered him more than it ought. There was nothing timid or unsure about her, but the smile implied that there was.

Darcy sat down.

Miss Bingley sniffed. “You have become remarkably indulgent, sir. You even allowed the older boy to take a move over again.”

“Not at all,” he said. “Master Edward took excellent advantage of his additional chances, which shows some greatness of mind, I think.”

Miss Bingley’s attention turned elsewhere.

Miss Bennet was engrossed in her conversation with Bingley, but Mrs. Gardiner smiled. Miss Elizabeth did not.

Yesterday, she would have, Darcy was nearly certain of it. Yet today, she evaluated him briefly before bending her head over her work, drawing the needle through the cloth. He found himself wishing Master Edward would demand another chess match with him, if only to give Miss Elizabeth a reason to laugh.

Bingley had meanwhile begun telling Miss Bennet some story about the previous evening, when he had attended a dinner delayed by a man who insisted upon explaining, at unreasonable length, why a particular shipping company was about to revolutionise the transport of tea. Darcy had been at the dinner too—while most of the ton would not return to town until after the new year, there were parties and dinners enough over the festive season. Unlike Bingley, he had managed to avoid the conversation.

“I could not separate myself from the man without making a social blunder,” Bingley said with a smile, “and I have made quite enough errors in judgement this month without adding another.”

Miss Elizabeth’s gaze moved to Darcy and away again. There had been nothing extraordinary in the glance. It lasted scarcely a second. Yet it had come at the precise moment Bingley had said “errors.”

Darcy’s heart froze. Miss Elizabeth knew what he had done.

He attempted to calm himself, for he did not know what she had been told. Bingley might have confined himself to Darcy’s mistaken judgement of Miss Bennet and his advice against returning to Netherfield. Or he might have included Darcy’s opinion of the Bennet family. Or his concealment of her presence in London.

Darcy’s jaw tightened. Or about his wishes for Georgiana.

Miss Bingley shifted against her cushions, drawing Mrs. Gardiner’s attention. “Are you uncomfortable, Miss Bingley?”