Bingley’s face split into a wide grin. “Well, why did you not simply say so? Naturally, I would be delighted to! And what a happy coincidence that I am to take up residence in her neighborhood.”
We stepped into his carriage, and I waited for the door to close. “Just one more thing. Miss Elizabeth insists on calling me ‘William.’ It is a… peculiarity of hers. I would just as soon you did not correct her.”
Bingley gaped at me. “What?”
I smiled. “She is a unique sort of woman.”
He just stared, his face still blank. Then inspiration flickered, and he laughed, slapping his knee. “You fancy her!”
“Nothing of the kind. I simply find her… fascinating.”
“Ah. Yes. Fascinating. That is a long way from an infatuation.”
I straightened my shoulders inside my coat and settled farther back in the seat. “Indeed. A very long way.”
Elizabeth
Janenevercouldhidea blush. And right now, she was blushing more brightly than one of Mama’s big showy rose bushes.
Mr. Bingley, if possible, was even redder than she. From his ruddy hair to his crimson cheeks, he looked flustered and abashed the moment his eyes found Jane. He doffed his hat, accidentally dropped his walking stick, and collided with his friend, the burglar, in his haste to bow.
“Miss Bennet! It is such an honor… I say, the pleasure is all mine, to be sure,” he gushed. “I cannot tell you how delighted I was when D… when my friend here offered to introduce me to you.” He straightened, a besotted smile already softening that freckled face. “I have heard much of you, Miss Bennet, but none of the praise did you justice.”
I flicked a brow at Jane, my lips puckered into a littleI-told-you-so. Her fingertips covered her lips, but she was grinning like Lydia when she has got into the sweets. “Oh, my,” she whispered to me. “He is adorable!”
“May I?” He extended his arm, and Jane hooked her elbow through his. And then they just stared at each other with silly, blank looks and dreamy gazes.
My burglar had sidled up to me, and he lifted his chin toward the oblivious couple. “There. Do you feel safe letting him escort your sister?” he asked in a low voice.
I chuckled. “I think he might be even more harmless than she is.”
William offered me his arm, and we followed Jane and Mr. Bingley down the steps. “I thought you would approve. They will do well enough, provided he does not trip her.”
“What is that?”
“Bingley is the sort whose heart runs on before his head. If you look closely, you will see the remains of a bruise around his eyes and nose.”
“I didn’t have to look that closely, actually. Did he fall and break his nose?”
William grunted. “I will tell you how he got that some other time. But dropping his walking stick in his haste to bow to your sister is rather typical of his character. I say, you did not exaggerate when you claimed her to be the most beautiful of your family.”
I slugged him playfully in the arm. “It is a good thingweare not courting, or I would have tossed you out on your ear for offending me just now.”
His mouth turned up, and he patted my gloved hand. “Beauty is as beauty does. For myself, I rather fancy the feisty sort that keeps me on my toes. But as you say, we are not courting, and neither are they at present. It is only an outing.”
I leaned closer with a whisper. “I should say they are already considering it more than an outing. You might just be setting your friend up for an inevitable marriage into a family that can provide no dowry, almost no social standing, and could be ruined tomorrow if our task fails.”
He glanced at Mr. Bingley and Jane again. They were settled in the carriage already, giggling and speaking in low voices with their faces only inches apart. “Then we must see that our task does not fail.”
Sixteen
Elizabeth
“Well!Whereareweoff to first? Bond Street?” Mr. Bingley still clasped Jane’s hand around his elbow, though both were pink in the cheeks and too bashful to look up at each other in the carriage. Their insistence on sitting beside one another left my burglar and me on the other seat—althoughwewere not touching constantly and staring into each other’s eyes like besotted fools.
“Exeter Exchange,” William announced. “I thought the ladies might enjoy the shopping nearby, and then we may admire the animals in the menagerie.”
Jane’s eyes brightened. “Oh, wonderful! I have not seen that in years.”
