Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “You are terrible.”
“Come now, let us have some sport!” I cried. “Why should Mr. Van der Meer be safe from our conjectures?”
“I do not see why I should be subjected to the same inquisition as Jane,” she protested, but rather weakly.
“Come now, dear friend,” I coaxed, leaning towards her conspiratorially. “You cannot pretend you do not notice how he seeks you out just to sit and talk with you.”
“Of course not. I’m not blind, Lizzy, but neither am I stupid. He is just a kind man, no more.” But then her mouth puckered, and a series of giggles escaped her lips, causing Jane and me to exchange amused glances.
“Now, that sounds promising!” I teased. “I cannot even recall the last time I heard you giggle like our younger sisters.”
“You can stop fancying whatever you are fancying, Elizabeth. I was only laughing at something he said the other day.”
“Oh?” Jane shot me a pleased grin. “Are you going to tell us?”
“It is probably not that funny, but it seemed so very amusing in the moment. He told me about the first time Mr. Bingley introduced him to Mr. Darcy.”
A funny twist knotted my stomach, and I sat up straighter. “Do tell,” I heard myself implore.
“Why, he thought Mr. Darcy meant to insult him. They were at the gentleman’s club, and Mr. Dacy was upstairs fencing.”
My eyebrows lifted. “Fencing?” I murmured. Of course, I knew that was a rather common activity at the club, but I had never imagined any man of my acquaintance actually taking part in it. Would he have been out of breath? Red in the face, with his hair damp with perspiration and his shirt clinging to his chest?Thatwas an interesting image.
And was he… good at it? I could not fancy Mr. Darcy doing anything that he did not excel at. He was too fastidious, too stubborn not to practice unto perfection. The side of my mouth turned up, as I imagined a modern gentleman, standing between his lady and sure danger with nothing but a foil in his hand and the gleam of confidence in his eye as he promised to save her. He would cast one last look over his shoulder as he stepped into—
“Lizzy, are you even listening?” Jane’s voice interrupted my happy little daydream.
“Hmm? What were you saying?”
Charlotte shook her head. “We lost you for a moment there.”
“Oh, it is nothing. Just a silly… what did you say about the first time Mr. Van der Meer met Mr. Darcy?”
She snickered. “Mr. Darcy tried to give him his face towel, thinking he was one of the serving boys, and became rather frustrated when Mr. Van der Meer took it, then gave it back. Apparently, Mr. Van der Meer had not yet removed his coat, and he was standing nearby with a glass of something. Mr. Darcy only glanced at him as he was drying his face—I understand he was rather winded and distracted—and made a wrong assumption. They had a good laugh about it afterward when Mr. Bingley cleared the matter up.”
I smiled and let my eyes drift to my hands. “Mr. Darcy does seem adept at poor first impressions.”
“But he improves upon closer acquaintance, would you not say, Lizzy?” Charlotte prodded.
I lifted a shoulder. “Somewhat. Do you need another blanket, Charlotte? More tea?”
She shook her head. “If you try to toss another blanket on me, I will melt. Listen to her, Jane! Perfectly content to rib us mercilessly, but when we speak of Mr. Darcy, she changes the subject.”
“Mr. Darcy!” I scoffed. “You would try to link his name with mine? Stuff and nonsense. Why you have seen us together. We cannot be in the same room without quarreling.”
“Did you not tell your Aunt Gardiner only recently that you thought you would admire a man who could debate with you?” Charlotte asked.
“And that’s not fully true, anyway,” Jane added. “I saw you the last two times you spoke with him, and you looked like you were doing anything but exchanging verbal blows. You could not stop smiling at him.”
“I did no such thing,” I retorted. “Smile at Mr. Darcy! Your imagination has run away with you, Jane. It’s this infatuation with Mr. Bingley. I do hope he comes to the point soon enough and you can someday be rational again.”
Charlotte cupped her hand around her mouth and whispered loudly to Jane. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”
“You are being ridiculous,” I insisted. “Besides, everyone knows I am doomed to remain a spinster. Mama has made sure I know it well, for there does not exist any suitor capable of winning my heart who would be willing to tolerate my acerbic side. Sweetness and sarcasm do not make good bedfellows.”
Jane rolled her eyes at Charlotte, and Charlotte puckered her mouth and lifted her brows in reply. “Would it surprise you to know that they can, in fact, exist in the same person? I believe I know a fellow who fits that description.”
“Ah, but herein lies the rub,” I said. “If such a persondoesexist, and he can be only one in a hundred thousand, I daresay, what are the odds he would ever offer forme?How can one find happiness when they are so steadfastly committed to marrying for love? It is a cruel paradox, I assure you.”
