Darcy’s chest filled with air. Good heavens, how could he possibly keep ahead of Elizabeth Bennet when his head was trying to split in two? He would surely say something she would misinterpret or use against him. “I speak in generalities only, Miss Elizabeth,” was his lame reply.
“Ah. So, you would caution me against insincerity in its most generic form. How helpful. Why, that is precisely how I shall proceed, Mr Darcy, when my father’s cousin arrives in our drawing room and compliments my mother on her daughters and my father on the wonders of Longbourn—you see, I already have some little knowledge of him—then I shall…” She tilted her head, arching her brows in a question. “What? Not take him seriously? I think I have that much in hand.”
“It is not necessary to tolerate insincerity, Miss Bennet. One must maintain their own integrity, even in the face of such... obsequiousness.”
“Oh, now there is a fine word. Are you certain you have not met Mr Collins?”
Darcy smiled. “You paint a vivid picture of him.”
“And you speak as though you have encountered many such characters, Mr Darcy.”
His head panged again. If he only dared tell her… “More than I would care to admit. But it is not their opinions that matter, rather how one holds oneself amidst them.”
“What a curious thing to say.” Her forehead puckered in thought. “But I cannot disagree.”
Darcy tried to nod, but a wave of dizziness washed over him, making it hard to keep his balance. He could not ignore Elizabeth’s concerned glances, her unspoken thoughts clear in the crisp air between them. The biting winter breeze seeped through his coat, adding to his discomfort as they moved along the path. What the bloody devil had made him ride out today and subject himself to even more misery?
Oh, that was right. Wickham.
As they reached a small clearing, the sight of the bench nestled among a cluster of evergreen trees was a welcome relief. Darcy’s stomach clenched, threatening to betray him. He paused, exhaling a breath that fogged in the cold air.
“Mr Darcy, please,” Elizabeth’s voice broke through his haze of exhaustion. “Let us rest for a moment.”
He hesitated, pride warring with the undeniable need to pause. This had been one of his stupider ideas—riding out in a biting wind when he was barely managing to keep his two feet under him. “Perhaps just for a moment,” he conceded, his voice strained.
He hooked his horse’s reins over a branch of the evergreen and dropped to the bench. Not an instant too soon, either, for the earth spun around once or twice, taking his stomach with it.
Elizabeth seated herself beside him, her hands knotting in her lap, but her eyes fixed on him. “Mr Darcy, I cannot help but feel that there is more troubling you than just a lack of rest and a bit of a headache. Have you, perchance, tried willow bark tea? My aunt swears by it.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “With negligible success.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You speak as if this has been troubling you for some while.”
“Indeed. Miss Elizabeth, if you do not mind, I would rather not discuss the matter.”
She studied him for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Very well.” Her lower lip pushed out in thought, and curse him, but if his head had not been about to fracture, he would have been tempted to kiss that plump lip.
No… ear-splitting headache or no, he was tempted, anyway.
Which meant it was a terrible idea for him to stay there, but, just for a moment, he did not possess the equilibrium to leave.
“Perhaps you would be happier discussing something else?” she suggested.
Darcy opened his eyes. “Such as?”
“Why, anything, really. You objected to the last subject, so it is for you to decide what to speak of next. The upcoming ball at Netherfield?”
He winced. “No.”
“Your friends, then? Why are you riding alone today?”
“Because I wished to be alone.”
“Ask an obvious question…” She cleared her throat, and he was fairly certain her eyes were rolling. “Very well, tell me about your sister. You said you would, sometime.”
“I did. What do you wish to know?”
“Oh! What do I not wish to know? Is she in London? You need only nod, for I see that speaking is odious to you. Yes? So, is she staying with family? Is she to be presented at court?”
