When Miss Darcy finished the concerto, she rose with a little bow, and Elizabeth clapped vigorously.
Lady Catherine called Georgiana to sit next to her, while Darcy said to Elizabeth in a quiet voice, “I can think of no prettier sight than watching you enjoy music.”
“What!” Elizabeth looked at him with wide eyes. “What can you mean by that?”
“Yes.” He had that intent and wholly serious look that he often used. “You close your eyes as you listen and start swaying with the music. There is a sort of pleasure, ecstasy… complete delight and loss of self-awareness in the expression of your face. It is beautiful… your expression is as lilting and sweet as the song itself.”
“Oh, I fear I’ll never be able to forget myself while listening to music in the same room with you again.”
“I sincerely hope that is not the case,” he said. “I recall one time at Lucas Lodge… you had enjoined me to turn the pages for Miss Bingley. I believe she was playing the same piece that Georgiana just finished with. But though I sat byher, I believe all my attention was upon you.” He lowered his voice and added very quietly, “It was from that day I began to think of you as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance.”
“Oh, my.” Elizabeth flushed bright red.
He was standing far enough away from her that it could not be obvious to Lady Catherine if she glanced their way that he was flirting with her, but to Elizabeth… knowing that he had admired her… this amounted to a declaration that he still admired her.
“Oh, my,” she repeated. “And to believe I thought you were unable to flirt.”
Darcy laughed. “Did you?”
It seemed to Elizabeth that on the other side of the room there was an implicit conspiracy on the part of Miss Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam and Charlotte to keep the attention of Lady Catherine firmly fixed upon them, thus giving her and Mr. Darcy a little semblance of privacy.
The attention of Mr. Collins, of course, was always fixed upon his noble and condescending patroness, Lady Catherine, the widow of a baronet.
“And I made such diligent attempts to push Caroline forward before your attention.” Elizabeth shook her head with a half-smile. “What failure!”
“I assure you,” Darcy said with an edge to his voice that made something of its intimacy fall away, “I had perceived that you meant to advance the interests of yourfriend. No one could have been more attentive to her interests than you.”
Well.
He still resented. And he had ample reason to resent Caroline.
That gave Elizabeth herself a little reason to back away from him.
“Yes but with no success. A perfection of friendship would have led to my efforts showing some fruit. You cannot judge a person for ineffectually striving, when no harm was done.”
“Do you not mean benefit?”
Elizabeth flushed.
“You’ll have no success in improving my opinion of her. You cannot succeed in that — I always hold firm to the principle that the intention matters more than the result in judging men.”
A damned sensible,damnedopinion. Elizabeth could hardly determine what response to make.
The two of them studied each other for a long moment further, eyes meeting and some spark going between them.
Those soft lips. His deep eyes. His serious expression.
By some mutual agreement the two of them went to rejoin the general conversation.
Lady Catherine noticed them returning, and she frowned as she glanced between the two and her own daughter who demurely sat in her chair by the fire, blankets piled atop her.
Poor creature!
Cold in such a way in April. The fire made the part of the room nearest the head quite unbearable, but Elizabeth needed to let her heart stop speeding.
Was Caroline always to be the subject that divided her and Mr. Darcy?
Even if he still admired her — no, Elizabeth would be honest with herself: Eventhoughhe clearly still admired her, he would hardly make an offer to the sister-in-law of Bingley, to a woman who still insisted on championing her friend.
