“As I recall, Papa,” she said pertly, “you were not immediately enamoured of Mr. Hill, either.”
Mr. Darcy and Mr. Fitzwilliam both glanced at her with some surprise. She supposed they were not used to a daughter teasing her father, at least, not in company. She pressed her lips together and sighed inwardly. She had been nearly three years at Longbourn now, and still she had not learnt when to hold her tongue.
She did not bother to glance back at Mrs. Quimby. No doubt their companion would have something to say when they were alone again.
Jane was hiding a smile, but she had scandalised Mary. Poor girl—she ought not to be shocked at anything Elizabeth did anymore. As for their visitors, she did not care a jot, as long as Papa was not angry with her.
He was not; he merely narrowed his eyes, a gesture ruined by the slight lift of his lips.
“Insurrection in the ranks,” he said with a shake of his head. “Come, gentlemen, let us go inspect your chambers. I shall have no success passing myself off as gentry here.”
When the men had all gone, Elizabeth worried her bottom lip and looked over her shoulder at Mrs. Quimby. Their companion cleared her throat and patted the empty chair next to her.
Chapter Two
“Itisyourownfault,” Jane said firmly. “You allowed your mind to wander whilst we were hosting Papa’s guests.”
“I did,” Elizabeth admitted. Sarah finished Elizabeth’s hair and bobbed a curtsy before leaving to tend to Mary.
Jane gently touched Elizabeth’s shoulder. “The natural consequence of your inattention is that you could not politely decline to dance with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Fitzwilliam.”
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “I would prefer not to, Jane.”
“I know,” her sister replied. “Yet you must.”
“I have not danced since . . .”
“You have danced with Mr. Solomon,” Jane corrected her. “You have danced with us. You have even danced with young Mr. Lucas.”
“Mr. Solomon was our dancing master, and Papa insisted,” Elizabeth said. “You know that does not count. And Jonathan Lucas is ten years old. I am not so cruel as to refuse his gallant request.”
“They do count. I am sorry to say it, for I know you loved Lieutenant Tanner, but you were very young, and it is not as though you were engaged. You were not even out.”
“That sort of thing matters little when you lived as we did.” Elizabeth sighed. “I know it is foolish. Papa would have kept us waiting until I was eighteen, and I cannot say Harry would still have wanted me after all that time.”
“Well, of course he would have wanted you, Lizzy,” Jane insisted. “But I . . . forgive me, Lizzy, but I suspect you would have outgrown him.”
“Jane!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “How can you say that?”
Jane took Elizabeth’s hand and kissed it. “I do not mean to pain you, dearest, but I must speak. Lieutenant Tanner was all that was amiable and good, but you were only just sixteen and he was barely older.”
“He was nineteen, Jane, and our feelings were real.”
“I would never doubt what you felt.” Jane paused. “It is not your heart that is at issue,” she said carefully, “but your mind. You are clever, Lizzy, even more so now than you were then.”
“Precisely. Harry was the only one who . . .”
“Who appreciated your intelligence? Who did not scoff at you or tease you for it?” Jane asked.
Elizabeth nodded. “He knew I was pert, and he loved me anyway.”
“It is not just your pertness, as you call it,” Jane told her. “Lieutenant Tanner was in no way deficient, but you are very like Papa in your aptitude. I fear that for you to be truly happy, it will not be enough for a man to love you despite your mind. You require a man who will love youbecauseof it.”
“Leaving perhaps three men in all of England to choose from,” Elizabeth reminded her. “And none of them are here in Hertfordshire.”
“You do not know that.”
“And because Papa no longer travels anywhere, I never shall.”