Mr and Mrs Darcy 02 Suspense & Sensibility (13 page)

"I envy you. Our discourse in here was not intelligent, merely educational."

She sipped tea from her own cup and surveyed the room. Harry had risen
from the sofa and was subtly backing toward
Kitty under the assault of Lucy's
chatter. Fanny had commandeered Edward's and Elinor's attention and presently
expressed outrage on some matter. Robert now used his quizzing glass to study
the tea service pattern, an inspection Regina aided by clearing a plate of tea
cakes three at a time.

"How
long will it be," Elizabeth asked, "before everybody decides that we
have endured enough of one another's society for the evening?"

"I
suspect that once one person makes good his escape, the rest will soon scatter."

"We all
spent a good part of the day traveling. Do you suppose you and I could leave
now with propriety?"

He consulted
his watch. "Unfortunately, it is early yet."

"But I
am ready to retire."

He regarded
her with concern. "Are you fatigued from the journey?"

"I
believe I am." She coyly broke their gaze and scanned the room once more. "At
least... hypothetically."

Eight

"Nothing should prevail on him to give up his
engagement. He would stand to it, cost him what it might."

-
John
Dashwood to Elinor and Marianne,

Sense and Sensibility,
Chapter 37

By the night of
Harry's grand birthday fete, the rain had cleared, and Norland reverberated
with the sounds of youthful merriment. Harry, it seemed, had left no
acquaintance uninvited, and as the house and grounds filled with school chums
and club friends, frivolity ruled. The billiards room never emptied, the air
echoed with shots at game birds, and the hunt was pursued with a wildness and
intensity that rivaled any fey legend.

Fanny accepted the invasion with surprising graciousness. Though by law
the house officially belonged to Harry since his father's death, it remained
very much hers in essence. Elizabeth suspected Fanny's indulgence of Harry's
rambunctious friends stemmed from a hope that their antics would distract him
from Kitty.

If that were indeed her design, however, Harry himself thwarted it. When
a young man's vision is filled by only one lady, all the entertainment in the
world cannot divert his attention from her. Though he played the generous host
and partook
of the fun, he
distanced himself from its more frenetic activities. Despite his mother's
none-too-subtle encouragement to spend as much time as possible with his gentlemen
friends - in lieu of the young ladies of fortune who one by one had been
discounted by Lucy Ferrars - Harry eschewed their companionship for that of
Miss Bennet. Not that the besotted Kitty was herself anything approaching
staid, but Elizabeth observed in them a growing seriousness that met her
approbation.

Darcy noted
it, too. "I think Mr. Dash wood is even more of a changed man since our
arrival at Norland," he said as they watched Harry lead Kitty to the
center of the ballroom for the first dance. Elizabeth stole a glance at Fanny,
who appeared about to choke on her own bile at the sight of Kitty being
accorded the honor of opening the ball.

"Yes.
He seems very much to desire not only Kitty's approval of himself and his
estate, but ours, as well. I never would have thought of Kitty as a settling
influence, but I am glad for it."

"You do
approve of him, then? We have spoken of my thinking of him as a brother, but would
you also welcome him as such?" He offered Elizabeth his hand, and they
joined the couples forming a line on the floor.

"I
would. But it is premature for either of us to speak openly of Mr. Dashwood
that way when the gentleman himself has not yet declared that intention."
The opening strains of the music sounded. She bent in a curtsy.

"Not
yet declared it to whom?"

She jerked
to a stand, rapidly assessing him in the few moments the dance's first figure
would allow her to face him. His face was completely impassive, but his eyes
held amusement.

"Darcy!
Has Mr. Dashwood - "

The steps of
the dance forced them apart. She stumbled through the figure, distracted by his
cryptic question. Had Mr. Dashwood sought Darcy's permission to marry Kitty?
Had he already proposed to Kitty herself?

Elizabeth
nearly bumped into one of her fellow dancers as her gaze ricocheted from Darcy
to Harry to Kitty. The dance had brought the latter two back together, but as
they faced each other, Elizabeth could detect in their manner no secret
understanding.

Darcy at
last stood opposite her once more. "Will you now explain yourself?"
she asked.

"Explain
what?"

"Are
you in Mr. Dashwood's confidence?"

"I
believe so. Why, today he entrusted to me a review of Norland's accounts."

"Darcy!
You are being deliberately obtuse. Are you in his confidence on more personal
subjects?"

The dance
parted them again, and Elizabeth was forced to endure shuttered expressions
from Darcy as his only response. With growing impatience, she walked through
the succeeding figures until they were reunited.

"Do not
keep me any longer in suspense," she said.

Before he
could speak, the figure brought Regina Ferrars and her partner directly next to
them. "Mrs. Darcy! Are you enjoying the dance?" Regina puffed with
exertion. "I think there are twenty couple! We'll be half an hour in this
set, at least. Isn't it splendid?"

Elizabeth
met Darcy's gaze. He crooked his lips in a maddening smile and said not a word.

"Yes -
splendid," she replied.

This was
going to be the longest half hour of her life.

When the set
at last ended, Harry immediately led Kitty off the floor, through the throng,
and out of the ballroom. Elizabeth caught Darcy's arm and drew him to a quiet
corner. "Tell me," she demanded.

"I have
nothing to tell."

"Your
expression suggests otherwise."

"Does
it? I shall have to work on that."

"Has
Mr. Dashwood spoken to you? Has he proposed?"

"Why
would he propose to me? I am a married man."

"With a
more patient wife than you deserve." She released an exasperated breath. "Has
he proposed to Kitty?"

"I do
not know." He smiled - a real smile this time, not the taunting one he'd
borne until now. "The night is still young."

She seized
upon the intimation. "He plans to offer tonight?"

"He
asked me this afternoon whether I thought your father would approve a match
between them. I told him that I believed so, and that he could rely upon my
endorsement should Mr. Bennet solicit my opinion. Beyond that, I am not privy
to Mr. Dashwood's intentions." Something past Elizabeth's shoulder caught
his attention. "But I suspect your sister is. Here she comes."

Kitty didn't
walk across the room - she floated, oblivious to the sea of people as she made
her way straight for Elizabeth. Mr. Dashwood followed in her wake but became
sidetracked by William Middleton. Kitty did not wait for him but pressed on
until she reached her sister's side.

"Lizzy!
I have the most wonderful news!" She lowered her voice so that no one but
Elizabeth could hear, but she needn't have spoken at all - her face revealed
everything. "Mr. Dashwood just proposed, and I have accepted him."

Elizabeth
hugged her with genuine joy. "You will be very happy together, I am
certain."

"He
means to go to Longbourn directly he leaves here to ask Papa's permission in
person. I would like to go with him. Will you and Mr. Darcy take me?"

"Of
course."

The evening
slipped by in a blur from that moment until supper. The sisters could not talk
openly of wedding plans or trousseaus, but they did determine that the distance
between Norland and Pemberley was not so very great if one traveled with four
horses and fair weather. Mr. Dashwood joined them
long enough to receive quiet
congratulations from Elizabeth and Darcy, but his duties as a host prevented
him from spending as much time in Kitty's company as he obviously wished.

About an
hour before supper, Elizabeth and Darcy left the noisy ballroom in search of a
spot where they could indulge in a few minutes' quiet conversation without fear
of being overheard. They wandered into the dining room, where servants were
coming in and out as they prepared to serve the meal. The small alcove stood
empty except for a large arrangement of spring flowers that emitted a fragrance
too lovely to leave.

Elizabeth
inhaled deeply. "Mmm. Do let us linger here a moment."

They slipped
into the alcove and around one side of the table. The nook was unlit, but the
dining room's many candles provided sufficient indirect illumination that they
could talk without standing in the dark.

"You
are happy," Darcy said. It was a statement, not a question, for her
delight in the betrothal was so evident that she feared her expression would
announce the engagement before Mr. Dashwood and Kitty could.

She nodded,
grateful for the opportunity to speak freely of her joy for at least a few
minutes before returning to the party. "This is a good match for Kitty."

"I
would not in general consider you a woman prone to matchmaking."

"Neither
would I," she said. "I certainly do not share my mother's belief that
any husband is better than no husband. But I truly cannot imagine a superior
partner for my sister than Mr. Dashwood."

"Nor
can I."

"Now
you admire your own handiwork. You have helped him become a steadier man, one
worthy of my sister."

"I did
no more than offer direction," he said. "Mr. Dashwood is his own man.
He himself made the transformation, and he
could not
have done so if he did not wish to. The change would not last."

"Nevertheless, I thank you for extending him your friendship."

"You need not. Though you encouraged my initial overtures toward
him, it was not long before genuine amity motivated me. Why, I think I now like
him quite as well as I do Bingley."

"We are fortunate in having two such gentlemen as my sisters' husbands."
Of her third brother-in-law, Mr. Wickham, she omitted mention altogether. Darcy
could scarcely tolerate the utterance of his name, and she did not want to
allow Lydia's scapegrace spouse to spoil such a perfect evening.

"Does Kitty's betrothal mean we can leave London without finishing
the season? Or do you wish to stay until the bitter end?"

Elizabeth recalled her conversation with Georgiana at the pianoforte.
One engagement was enough for their family this season. "I believe once
Kitty's wedding clothes are ordered, our business in town is finished. I imagine,
however, that Kitty might wish to remain in London longer so as to see Mr.
Dash-wood regularly."

"I thought you might say that. Very well. Though I had hoped to
take you back to Pemberley soon."

"Pemberley?" she asked in a light tone. "Why ever would I
want to return to Pemberley now that you have immersed me in the glittering
society of the
beau monde?"

Darcy lowered his voice. "I am a selfish man, remember? I do not
want to share you with the
beau monde."

She glanced quickly toward the arched entrance to the alcove, suddenly
quite conscious that no one could see them where they stood. Meeting Darcy's
gaze again, she saw that he - her utterly straitlaced, ever-proper husband -
was also very aware of the unexpected privacy of the moment.

"Mr. Darcy," she whispered, "I hope you are not
contemplat-
ing something
shocking, like kissing your wife in the middle of Mr. Dashwood's birthday fete?"

"Never."
He took one of her gloved hands in his and slowly interlaced their fingers. "But
I confess," he whispered back, "that I was contemplating kissing her
here. Only contemplating, mind you." He leaned toward her.

"What
are
you
doing?"
came a haughty, all-too-famriiar voice from the dining room.

Elizabeth
and Darcy jumped apart, dropping each other's hands as if burned.

"I had
those place cards carefully arranged!" Fanny Dash-wood's voice bounced
harshly off the china and crystal settings in the dining room. Elizabeth, still
startled, required a moment more to finally realize Harry's mother was speaking
not to her and Darcy, but to someone else entirely. They, thankfully, remained
unseen in the alcove.

"You
have titled guests," Fanny hissed. "You are defying the proper order
of precedence."

"They
are my friends," said Mr. Dash wood. "They will not mind."

"I
mind. Will you let the news circulate throughout the
ton
that at a fete
I hosted - "

"Norland
is my house now. I will accept the earth-shattering repercussions of sitting
beside the woman I love at my own birthday celebration."