His Uncle's Favorite (12 page)

“Yes—many handsome gentlemen indeed! When I was young, it was customary for a gentleman who liked a young lady to attract her attention, but these days things have changed. All these girls, so willing to catch a man with wealth and connection…a little strange to me. By the way, do you like anyone in particular, Miss Elizabeth? Please feel free to spend your time with them; you need not stay with me.”

“I assure you, it is a pleasure to talk with you, Lady Brightmore.” She was amused by the conversation. “But I am still curious—about whom were you talking?”

“Well, well—what kind of question is that? You were looking closely at their group, so you can tell for yourself. Which of them is the most handsome, do you think?”

Elizabeth felt herself blushing, but it was too late to stop the discussion; she looked at the group once more, aware that Lady Brightmore was watching her.

“All of them could be called handsome if you ask for my opinion.”

“True, true, they are all handsome, but—”She was interrupted by Lady Selina, who sat near them. “Of what are you and Miss Elizabeth talking so seriously, Mother?”

“We were talking about the most handsome gentleman in that group, my dear.”

“Oh, you are talking about Darcy again. What did he do this time? I notice he barely speaks a word while Mary, Sophia and Florence are all over him. Poor man—just wait until the music begins. I will ask to dance with him, and he will be forced to dance with other ladies, too.” She started to laugh while Elizabeth silently stared at the gentlemen.
Mr. Darcy?

How did Lady Selina know that the ladies were
‘all over him’
? And why did she not hesitate a moment to identify the
‘most handsome’
gentleman as being Mr. Darcy. Of course, he was handsome—nobody could deny that—but the others were good looking and also pleasant and amiable. He only appeared silent, distant, and haughty.

Her eyes met his again, and he smiled at her; his entire face seemed lit, and his lips parted as though he were trying to say something. She hurriedly averted her eyes and returned her attention to her companions.

“Mr. Darcy is his usual self,” she said.

“Yes, he is mostly the same when he is in a large company. I think his aloofness is what appeals to all these young ladies, besides his wealth—that and his figure, of course. And the way he wears his clothes.” Lady Selina laughed, and Lady Brightmore joined her.

“You are so right, my dear! One can easily estimate a man’s qualities and assets by looking at how his clothes fit his body.”

“I can testify to that, based on my own experience with my dear husband. Our marriage proved that my early judgement of his qualities were all correct.”

Elizabeth blushed violently at Lady Brightmore’s statement and Lady Selina’s reply, shocked by the highly improper exchange and not knowing how to reply. Lady Selina patted her arm. “My dearest Miss Elizabeth, I am afraid we have offended you with our language. Please forgive us; my mother and I have a particular way of speaking that is far from what decorum would require. Will you forgive us?”

“Lady Selina, please call me by my given name. After such a conversation, it feels strange to be addressed in such a formal manner.”

Lady Selina and her mother-in-law began to laugh openly while Elizabeth could not decide whether she should be shocked or laugh with them. She struggled not to notice how their clothes fit on some of the gentlemen in attendance—but with little success.

Immediately after dinner, the music began, and though tentatively, a few couples took their places on the dance floor. Lady Selina and her husband were the first, followed closely by three other pairs. The colonel asked Elizabeth while the viscount invited Jane.

For the next two dances, both Bennet sisters were asked by other gentlemen; Mr. Darcy showed no interest in dancing until Lady Selina almost forced him to dance the third with her. After an hour and a half, Elizabeth finally took a seat near Miss Darcy. Only after she was seated did she notice Mr. Darcy a few steps behind them. Her cheeks were red from the exercise, and she arranged a lock of hair she could feel on her nape.

“Miss Elizabeth, would you like something to drink?” Mr. Darcy’s amiable tone took her by surprise. She accepted, he offered her the drink, and had nothing more to say.

“So, here you are, Miss Elizabeth,” said the colonel, approaching. “I would be honoured if you would dance another with me.”

“I thank you, colonel, but I am afraid I have to refuse you this time. I would like to rest a little; I hope you do not mind?”

“Not at all! But, in order to compensate for this refusal, you must save me the first two sets at the ball the day after tomorrow! I hope I am not too late with my request.”

“Gladly, sir, and no, you are not too late. Nobody has asked me to save a dance and only two days until the ball.” Elizabeth laughed.

“Well, a man cannot be too careful about these things,” he said and departed after asking Darcy whether he was injured after being forced to dance with Selina.

Though she could see he was offended by the colonel’s remark, Elizabeth could not help laughing, as did Miss Darcy. Mr. Darcy remained serious for a few moments; then he smiled.

“You may laugh at me, Miss Elizabeth, but this is how I am. I do not feel comfortable dancing unless I know my partner really well. I do not appreciate that my cousins are amused at my expense, but there is little I can do about it.”

“You could exercise a little more, perhaps? I am certain there is more than one young lady in this room whom you know well enough and who would be happy to dance.”

“Perhaps… I shall try to follow your advice…in the future.”

“A very polite answer—as polite as your intervention earlier when you kindly saved me from the torture of playing before all these people. I have to thank you for that.”

“You are most welcome, Miss Elizabeth. I know how it feels when someone insists on something you do not wish to do.”

She blushed at the hidden reproach then smiled at him.

“I understand your meaning, sir, but it is not the same. I did not feel comfortable to perform because I do not play the piano as well as I would wish to, and that is precisely because I do not take the trouble to practice. But you are a skilful dancer—as I have the pleasure of knowing myself—so you have no excuse.”

“Perhaps you do not take the trouble to practice the piano, but certainly you have employed your time much better. No one admitted to the privilege of hearing you could think anything wanting. It seems neither of us performs to strangers,” he said, holding her gaze.

No word came from Elizabeth for some time. Finally, she replied. “Yes, so it seems…”

“Brother, do you think we could go for a sleigh ride tomorrow? It has snowed all day long.” Georgiana turned the conversation in a most welcome way. “It is quite a shame that I promised Miss Elizabeth and I could not keep my word.”

“It is very likely you will have a beautiful day for a cold journey around London tomorrow. I will ask Oliver to have the horses prepared in the morning.”

“Will we have your company, Mr. Darcy?” asked Elizabeth, and a moment later she blushed in embarrassment.
What came over me to ask such a preposterous question? What will he think of me? What will Georgiana think of me?

“Unfortunately, I have fixed plans for tomorrow morning, but I thank you for your question, Miss Elizabeth. I can only hope that another opportunity will arise soon.”

He was smiling at her with perfect amiability, and she could do nothing but smile back. The last quarter of an hour spent in his company, their conversation, his change in manners, and his words with hidden meanings were completely new and difficult to accept. She still anticipated any minute to see him behave as he did in Hertfordshire. And her silly reaction, including her improper question about his joining them on the sleigh ride, made her even less comfortable. She smiled with unconcealed pleasure and relief when the earl moved near her.

“So, dear Miss Elizabeth, are you pleased with your evening so far? What do you think of Lady Brightmore? I noticed you spending a lot of time in her company.”

“I am grateful to her ladyship and to you, sir, for this lovely evening. I am having a wonderful time, and so is Jane. As for Lady Brightmore, I cannot imagine a more pleasing or agreeable lady. I loved spending time with her.”

“Yes, I imagined you would. She was equally pleased with you, as I expected. Well, you will have more opportunities to spend your time in Town in an entertaining way. And speaking of entertainment, I noticed that Bingley’s sisters spoke with Miss Bennet. You know, they are amusing only if one does not give much credit to what they say.”

“I know that; thank you, sir.” She laughed.

A moment later, the earl moved a step closer to her and leaned slightly to whisper playfully. “And also speaking of entertainment…would you like a short walk in the park with an old man? The day after tomorrow, maybe?”

At her puzzled look, he confessed with a trace of guilt, “A mutual friend of ours is passing through town for a few days, and I plan to see him, but I would like to keep it secret from my sons—and from Darcy, of course. I thought
you
might like to meet him briefly.”

“Mr. Wickham is in town?”

The earl barely had time to nod in agreement before he exclaimed cheerfully, “Darcy, you are here. May we help you with something, Nephew?”

Elizabeth hesitated a moment before she felt composed enough to turn and face Mr. Darcy. He seemed somehow disconcerted, as it was obvious he had interrupted their conversation, but he stepped forward and bowed politely to Elizabeth.

“You cannot help me with anything, Uncle, but I was wondering whether Miss Elizabeth would be kind enough to help me correct one of my major faults.” Both Elizabeth and the earl stared at him, eyes wide, so he continued, clearly amused.

“Miss Elizabeth, would you do me the pleasure of dancing the next set with me? In order to improve my skills by practicing more, as you wisely advised me earlier.”

Elizabeth was certain the earl’s laughter was heard by the entire room, so, without further thought, she put her hand into Darcy’s and followed him to the dance floor.

The music finally began.

Chapter 6

Mrs. Gardiner and her nieces were among the last guests to leave Lady Brightmore’s party. The late hour, the freezing wind that struck them the moment they left the house, the excitement of the evening, and the stressful anticipation of the days to come were reason enough to fall asleep as soon as they entered their rooms in Gracechurch Street. In Elizabeth’s case, however,
soon
meant rather late.

The extraordinary event of Mr. Darcy asking her to dance—only a few minutes after he took the trouble to explain his opposition to the pastime—needed an extraordinary explanation, but Elizabeth had none.

He had asked her to dance in Hertfordshire, and even there his gesture puzzled Elizabeth exceedingly. During the entirety of that ball, she could see how appalled Mr. Darcy was by the behaviour of the attendees—and principally her own family. Yet, he asked her—Elizabeth Bennet—to dance with him! And, if any doubt remained, their harsh conversation during the dance only proved to him once more that his invitation was unwise, which made it unlikely that he would repeat such a mistake again. Had he forgotten those things? He must have; there was no other explanation for his renewed request.

Mr. Darcy of London seemed a wholly different person from Mr. Darcy of Hertfordshire. If Elizabeth had any remaining doubts about this, they vanished with their conversation during the set. Though Elizabeth could not recall every subject of their discussion, his amiability was vivid in her mind.

On further reflection, however, she admitted that, as Lady Selina pointed out, with the others around him, he was his usual self. Even in the matter of dancing—except for a compulsory dance with his cousin Selina and the one with herself—he did not dance at all. The satisfying feeling that she was the only lady in the room on whom he had bestowed such attention was difficult to deny—as it was also difficult to deny the fact that she had enjoyed the company of
this
Mr. Darcy quite a lot.

Just before sleep defeated her, three things still spun in her mind. First—Mr. Bingley’s presence at the forthcoming ball seemed more possible than ever. Second—she must wake up early and prepare for the sleigh ride, as she would meet Miss Darcy at ten o’clock. Third—among all the gentlemen at the party, Mr. Darcy was indeed the one whose clothes were most flattering to his figure. It was fortunate that Lady Brightmore and Lady Selina had pointed out that feature to her; she had never paid close attention to it before with any gentleman.

***

“Lizzy, you look pretty and rested, my dear. May I presume you slept well?”

Not at all,
Elizabeth was tempted to reply, but instead she smiled approvingly at her aunt. She felt rested, though, and anxious for a long ride in the freezing, December air.

“Lizzy dearest, are you sure it is wise to ride in this weather?” Jane asked with a trace of worry. “It has been snowing since yesterday.”