“That will never change,” Fitzwilliam said with a little smile. “You have always been a caretaker. This inheritance has only improved your reach. I think Miss Elizabeth is just the same.”
“I cannot explain it,” Darcy replied, unaccountably embarrassed. “She has captured my attention in a way I never expected of any woman.”
“She caught your eye from the first,” his cousin reminded him, as though Darcy did not recall. “More importantly, Miss Elizabeth seems particularly well suited to you and your . . . eccentricities. What woman in a thousand would enjoy your lecture on bridge building as she has?”
Darcy pulled a face, and his cousin chuckled.
“I suppose if there are questions,” Fitzwilliam continued, “we can always say that there was interest on your part even before her father sold his commission, but that she was too young then for you to speak.”
“There is no need to invent a story,” Darcy protested. “I am simply hoping she will agree to marry me, when finally I have the courage to ask.”
Fitzwilliam snorted, but said nothing, for which Darcy was grateful. He was anxious enough as it stood without his cousin making jests at his expense.
When they reached the drawing room, the ladies stood and discreetly ran their hands down their skirts to pull out any wrinkles. Darcy unconsciously mimicked them, pulling at the hem of his waistcoat. Miss Elizabeth glanced up in time to see him and offered him a warm smile.
She wore a gown he had not yet seen, one the colour of the morning sky with long sleeves of nearly transparent muslin. It complemented the waistcoat he had chosen rather well.
Fitzwilliam’s eyes shot between his waistcoat and Miss Elizabeth’s gown, and then he dropped his head to hide a smile. Darcy wished his cousin would find himself another place to be.
He cleared his throat. “May I ask after Miss Bennet’s health?”
Elizabeth’s smile grew. “Thank you for inquiring, Mr. Darcy. Jane is well. It will be a few days before she joins us again for dinner, that is all.”
“I am pleased to hear it,” he said. “And you?”
“I am as well as I was a few hours ago,” she replied, which told him very little.
Fitzwilliam was speaking to Bennet and the other ladies, leaving him free to converse with Miss Elizabeth. “That is a lovely gown.”
“I am determined to be cheerful, for Jane is still with us.” She ducked her head for a moment before raising it resolutely and declaring, “You look quite handsome tonight.”
He placed an open palm on the waistcoat. “It is not too much?”
She laughed softly. “No. It is elegant and refined.”
He held out his arm. “May I escort you to dinner?”
“My, how formal,” she teased. “Of course you may.” She placed her hand lightly on his arm, and he felt a sense of peace wash over him.
Fitzwilliam saw what he was about and offered an arm to Miss Mary, leaving Bennet to escort his two youngest.
Darcy pulled out Miss Elizabeth’s chair for her, quite displacing Brooks, who stepped smartly away to hold Miss Lydia’s chair.
Miss Elizabeth sat, but then touched his hand with her fingertips. “Thank you, Mr. Darcy,” she said, gazing up at him.
She was luminous, and he felt his heart leap in his chest. He could not help but offer her a smile. “It is my pleasure, Miss Elizabeth.”
As he moved to sit next to her, he spied Mr. Hill, who was holding the bottle of wine and waiting to pour. The old servant was watching them, and Darcy lifted his eyebrows in question.
It was so quick that Darcy nearly missed it, but he was sure Mr. Hill had given him a wink.
Chapter Ten
Janesoonleftherbed but, mortified by her appearance, would not yet leave her chamber. The bruise on her face had darkened to a deep purple, and eventually it yellowed at the edges. She was not a vain creature, though Elizabeth thought that if anyone had the right, it would be her most beautiful sister. Jane only dreaded being stared at or made the object of thoughtless remarks. Elizabeth was grateful that the accident had done Jane no more damage than a temporary loss of looks and a sprain of the wrist that was quickly healing.
The Bennet sisters took turns sitting with Jane to entertain her, and either Mrs. Keller or Mrs. Quimby remained with her whilst the rest of them were dining downstairs. Elizabeth had never taken the stairs so many times in a day. Her only rest came in the lively dinners, where Mr. Darcy took pains to include her in his conversation. His increased attentions gave her some hope, which she tried, but failed, to quash.
On Thursday, they had callers from Netherfield.