Darcy cleared his throat, and Charles looked at him, then shook his head and returned to his conversation with Jane, who shot me a warning look over her shoulder.
I bit my lip, not wanting to upset her, but I couldn’t stop before getting at least a few answers.
“Who’s riding next?” a booming voice asked as we made it to the front of the line.
“How about we let the others go first?” Charles nudged Darcy and whispered, “Don’t be rude this time. Ride with Lizzy.”
Jane caught my eye and shot me a pleading look. Clearly, I hadn’t been as subtle as I’d intended.
I gave her a winning smile despite the nerves in my stomach. It was fine. The statistics for people being murdered on Ferris wheels were notoriously low. Besides, now was my chance to get some answers before the potion wore off without upsetting Jane.
“Be gentle with the animals,” the worker said as we climbed in.
“Animals?” Darcy asked, but the man had already shut the door.
I settled onto the hard metal seat while Darcy situated himself across from me, his knees bumping mine. A small wolf cub sitting on the floor whined as we started to move.
With a smile, I bent to pick it up and place it in my lap, glancing around to check what animals the other gondolas had. The one in front of us had a glowing fox pup, and the one behind us had a tiny owl with sparkling feathers. Was our pup magical somehow? It wouldn’t make sense for it to be a werewolf since those were illegal, so maybe it was simply a well-trained wolf pup. At the very least, it was extremely cute.
It nuzzled its wet nose against my neck and thumped its tail, and I giggled. I accidentally met Darcy’s eye, and he quickly shifted his attention to stare out the window.
I did the same, trying to organize my thoughts while I absently stroked the wolf’s surprisingly soft fur. My gaze caught on two women walking arm in arm between the fair booths. Caroline Bingley and her sister, Louisa Hurst, whose name I’d confirmed online last night, stopped to watch those dancing in the open area in the middle of the fairgrounds. You’d never be able to tell Louisa was married since she was always with her sister instead of herhusband. Maybe he hadn’t come to Austen Heights with the rest of them.
Caroline looked around, her lips curved faintly up, though the smile looked mocking, and Louisa’s nose looked permanently wrinkled from the number of times she sniffed in disdain. They didn’t look like they were enjoying the festival, but if that was the case, I wasn’t sure why they didn’t leave.
Seeing them reminded me of my earlier question. What had brought the Bingleys to Austen Heights? Except for Charles, none of them seemed like they wanted to be here.
Nowthatwas a conversation I could risk, since Austen Heights was known for gossip. Plus, Darcy seemed like the type who would be more willing to open up if I didn’t focus on him directly. If he ever opened up to anyone. Ever.
“Those are Charles’s sisters, right?” I gestured toward the ground as the Ferris wheel went higher.
The wolf pup’s ears perked up at my voice, but Darcy grew rigid, as if my casual conversation was a new form of torture I’d decided to inflict on him. “Yes.”
I hid a smile. How interesting that I could annoy him so much by talking. I could kill two birds with one stone—appease Jane by being friendly to Darcy and make him miserable while I dug for answers. The thought almost made talking to him bearable. Plus, while potion guaranteed that he only spoke the truth, it didn’t make him talk. I had to persuade him to keep the conversation going.
“They look like him,” I said.
“That’s about their only similarity. Caroline is much louder than Charles and uses her magic constantly, while Louisa hardly ever speaks and is almost scared of her magic.” His eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe he’d said all of that.
“What brought them to Austen Heights?” I kept Darcy in my periphery but focused on the wolf, who watched me with soulful amber eyes.
“Charles has always loved the country.” Darcy drummed the fingers of his left hand on his leg, his tone clipped again.
The truth, but was it the whole truth? He sounded wary, which made me think he was hiding something.
“Yet he lives in New York,” I pointed out with a flirty smile. Better to seem like Lydia than to seem suspicious. Unless acting like Lydiamademe seem suspicious…
“Yes.”
“I can’t help but wonder why he came to such a small town.”
The Ferris wheel creaked softly as we ground to a halt, letting on more passengers somewhere below. Darcy still didn’t answer.
“I heard you guys are staying at the Netherfield Airbnb. Do you like it?” I tried again, anything to keep the conversation alive while the potion was still in effect. As long as I focused on interrogating him, I could keep my nerves at bay. “The tourists always love the names of our buildings when they come.” I was rambling, which was extra pathetic considering the tradition came from the fae hundreds of years ago. He wouldn’t be impressed by that.
“Don’t call it an Airbnb.” Darcy gave me an almost affronted look. “Charles bought it before their arrival, but Caroline would still insist on moving immediately if she heard it called that.”
I blinked at him, although I couldn’t say I was truly surprised. Of course, Charles had bought it. What would it be like to have that sort of money to burn on a spontaneous purchase?
