“My father did not have a ballroom at all.” Elizabeth lowered her voice again. “Is that why you all say that Mr. Darcy isrich, just because he has aballroom?”
“Chiefly assembly balls?”
“And small private gatherings in a cleared out dining room. We could have five to six couples comfortably in our dining room when the table was moved out.”
“Not balls,” Lord Matlock said firmly. “I acknowledge your right to move the conversation from such masculine topics as war and fox hunts, but we shall not swing all the way to something so wholly feminine.”
“It is my view,” Elizabeth said, “that a ball ought to be a neutral topic, as in the ideal case there are an equal number of gentlemen and ladies present at such an event.”
“Yes,” Hartwood replied, “but thepurposeof balls is to manage womanly concerns.”
“Dancing?”
“And flirtation, with an opportunity for gossip. Besides the chance to arrange marriages.”
“I’ll not hear that! Flirtation is a matter that men delight in as much as women.”
“Men,” Hartwood replied, “delight in being stronger than other men, with a larger estate, a prettier wife, and a finer pack of dogs. We merely engage in flirtations with the fair sex because we enjoy their presence too much for our own peace of mind.”
Was this another reference to the idea that she had seduced Darcy with her illegitimate arts and allurements, as everyone, except Jane, but including her mother and father, believed her to have? Or was he merely making conversation?
That was the most annoying part of hosting Darcy’s family. She constantly could not decide if she should be offended or not.
When Elizabeth did not reply, Hartwood asked Darcy, “Eh, as a newlywed, what is your present opinion of flirtation? How did you and our Eliza flirt?”
Darcy coughed. “I hardly was conscious of engaging in flirtation.”
“Always so serious,” Lord Matlock said. “You have no notion of what to do around women. Much like your father.”
“Iammuch like my father,” Darcy replied.
“Man of honor, man of reserved and quiet manners,” Hartwood said. “But with deep feelings that can be brought out byconversationwithoutflirtation.”
“What precisely do you mean,cousin?” was Darcy’s sharp reply.
“You are a man of honor. That is all I mean.” He looked at Elizabeth and winked at her. “As a woman, and thus as a creature who understandsflirtation, how did Darcy flirt?”
She thought he was daring her to become offended. She thought about Darcy and flirtation.
Hehadkissed her, without a word or a spoken by-your-leave, and he… after the past weeks, she rather suspected that he had married her principally because he so desperately wanted to take her into bed.
It was not a promising beginning. This passion that he had for her — that she had begun to feel towards him, mostly against her conscious will — would burn out. Such passions always did.
And then he would still be left with a wife who he believed to be mercenary, unscrupulous, and, apparently, terribly dressed. And this was what made her the most unhappy about them being here. It reminded her that she was in a terrible position, and that it had been amistaketo let herself be shoved into marrying him, and a mistake to not have slapped him the instant he bent his lips towards her.
“Come now, I must hear the tale. How did my cousin flirt?”
“He chiefly flirted with his eyes,” Elizabeth replied.
They all laughed, except Darcy who frowned thoughtfully.
“As for his words…” she then laughed. “He believed he would become more fascinating by puncturing my vanity than by praising it, and I confess it did work — the first words I heard from him, about myself, were ‘she is tolerable enough, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me.’”
Everyone laughed now, except Georgiana who gasped and said, “He would not!” and Darcy whose frown turned yet more thoughtful.
“Did I say that?” Darcy pushed away his food, as though he suddenly was not sure he wished to eat it.
For her part Elizabeth’s stomach had felt rather off the whole day, especially in the morning, though it was not so bad now.
