Caroline wished to talk over her dance with Mr. Darcy with Elizabeth, unfortunately she did not have the opportunity.
Instead Elizabeth had been approached immediately by her white collared cousin for their dance.
A boring bloated bothersome fellow, Caroline thought.
Colonel Fitzwilliam approached her quickly for their “dance”, and as he had promised when he asked her for it, he led her to the corner of a room, and had them sit it out in conversation.
It was impossible for Caroline to keep from laughing — though she tried — as he loudly insisted that he was a simple soldier, who could not forget that she had said she would much rather the order of the day be conversation than dancing.
She’d seen enough of the officer’s dance with Eliza to know thathehad no deficiencies on the ballroom floor.
Colonel Fitzwilliam always had a quite odd way of behaving, but the fact was that while she thought him to be mostly unserious in the mixture of praise and laughing censure that he laid thick upon her, she had begun to rather depend upon him as someone else to converse with when Darcy’s reserve defeated her efforts to draw him into conversation.
However once the next dance ended Caroline had to smile at the way Elizabeth eagerly called out to her and rushed over, laughingly pretending to apologize for abandoning that bloated boring cousin as she hurried away from him.
“Caro!” She exclaimed, “How was your conversation! — and you as well, Colonel Fitzwilliam. Did the two of you prove that conversation is in fact superior to dancing?”
He said, “Beyond a doubt,” exactly as Caroline said, “No.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Which was it?”
“I believe,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said, “that as we have only experienced togetheroneof the options, we must test the other — Miss Bingley, which would be a convenient set for us todancetogether?”
Caroline rolled her eyes. “And if none of them are convenient?”
“Then, Miss Bingley, what is an inconvenient dance for us to despise together? I would suggest the supper dance.”
Some hopeful part of Caroline was sure that Darcy would ask her for either the last dance of the night, or the supper dance. But… well it would dohimno harm to be told that he had to select a different dance. “The supper dance would be sufficiently inconvenient for me.”
“I shall see you then.” Colonel Fitzwilliam grinned at her, winked, and walked off.
“Eliza,” Caroline immediately turned to her smiling friend, “did you observe me with Mr. Darcy at all? How did he appear during the dance? How would you judge his expression?”
Elizabeth’s smile slid away. She sighed. “I… Colonel Fitzwilliam is a very distracting man. I hardly paid attention.”
A pouty frown. “You must have seensomething.” Caroline smiled. “It cannot be long.”
“Have you considered, maybe… you seemed quite happy during your conversation with Colonel Fitzwilliam, you both were laughing and—”
“Lizzy. You need not dissimulate with me. You can be frank.”
Elizabeth sighed.
An icy sensation stabbed at Caroline’s throat.
Happiness itself was being attacked. “He will love me. It wouldn’t befair. I’ve shown him. It wouldn’t be fair! I’ve shown him how happy he would be. I’ve shown him he’d be lucky. The luckiest man if he married me. He’ll have to marry me. I’ve shown him.”
“You have.”
“He has tosee! Itwouldn’t be fair.I’ve done everything I can. You know that I always succeed.”
Elizabeth put her arms around Caroline and hugged her. Caroline stiffly refused to bend into the embrace.
When Elizabeth stepped back, Caroline said, “And my dress — both you and Colonel Fitzwilliam admire it. I am certain Mr. Darcy did as well.”
“De gustibus non est disputandum.”
“None of that Latin! Your father can use it. Not you.”
