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Elizabeth ceased her playing, “Pardon me, but to what are you referring, Mr. Darcy?”

“It is not true that I am engaged to my cousin Anne,” Darcy spoke softly.

“Actually, I know nothing of the sort. It is not as though you said anything at dinner to refute your aunt’s claims. Why are you speaking to me now?”

“I could not bear to have you return to the parsonage this evening, thinking I was engaged to marry my cousin. I am not.”

“Mr. Darcy, it is not as though you owe me any sort of explanation, other than perhaps to explain why you take an eager interest in persuading me against my own engagement. Besides, this is not the first time I have been made aware of your commitment.”

“That is all the more reason I feel the need to explain things to you. Do you still plan to accompany Ben for our adventure tomorrow?”

“I am aware of nothing that would force me to alter my plans and disappoint my son, Mr. Darcy.”

“To listen to Collins’s words one might think your opinion might have been swayed,” Darcy expressed, passively taunting her over an earlier moment that no doubt caused her some dismay.

Elizabeth certainly did not like the sound of that. She was far from amused. The look she bestowed on Darcy was more telling than words could ever be. Elizabeth struck a loud chord in a momentary exhibition of her frustration.

Darcy waited a moment or two before speaking again. “Perhaps we shall have a chance to speak of this in the morning.”

“Perhaps,” Elizabeth ventured to say. She started to say more but thought the better of it once Colonel Fitzwilliam joined the two of them. It did not go unnoticed by him how disturbed Mr. Geoffrey Collins had grown over the sight of Darcy and Elizabeth engaged in hushed whispers.

“How did you find my friend in Hertfordshire?”

The welcome addition of Colonel Fitzwilliam was a cause of considerable relief for Elizabeth, and she endeavoured as best she could to bestow as much of her attention as possible towards him.

When Lady Catherine had played as long as she chose, the tables were broken up, the carriage was offered to Mrs. Collins, gratefully accepted, and immediately ordered. The party then gathered around the fire to hear Lady Catherine determine what weather they were to have on the morrow. From these instructions, they were summoned by the arrival of the coach, and with many speeches of thankfulness on the younger Mr. Collins’s side, they departed. As soon as they had driven from the door, Elizabeth was surprised to find Mr. Geoffrey Collins sitting as close to her as she could ever recall, with his hand resting securely on her own.