Elizabeth and Jane curtsied lightly. “And we look forward to being seen.”
Darcy said nothing more, but as Elizabeth turned to join her sisters, she was keenly aware of his gaze following her.
Bingley burst through thelibrary doors with all the subtlety of a hunting dog on the scent. “There you are, Darcy! I thought you had slipped off to the woods or something.”
Darcy barely glanced up from the desk where he had been sorting correspondence. “If I had, it would have been in pursuit of silence.”
Bingley dropped into the nearest chair, sprawling with an ease that Darcy both envied and found insupportable. “You cannot blame me for wanting to escape my sisters. Louisa has been lamenting the color of the curtains in the breakfast room for an hour now, and Caroline—well, you know how Caroline is.”
Darcy set down his quill, arching an eyebrow. “I imagine Miss Bingley was lamenting something equally dire.”
“Quite,” Bingley said, grinning. “She seems to think my entire fortune is being squandered by tolerating provincial tastes. She has been glaring at the furniture for clashing with her gown.”
Darcy leaned back in his chair. “That does sound dire.”
“Dire enough to send me seeking better company,” Bingley said. “And since you are the only tolerable option in this household—besides my dog—I thought we might discuss the terms of our wager.”
Darcy sighed and folded his arms. “I had hoped you would let the matter rest.”
“Let it rest?” Bingley leaned forward, his grin widening. “Not when it is becoming so entertaining.”
Darcy stood and crossed to the window, the morning light casting long shadows across the grounds of Netherfield. He had retreated to the library after breakfast precisely to avoid this conversation, yet here was Bingley, like a burr stuck to his breeches.
“Entertaining for you, perhaps,” Darcy said. “For me, it is merely tedious.”
“Oh, I disagree. I think you are finding it far more engaging than you will admit.”
Darcy turned to face him, one eyebrow raised. “Engaging?”
“Yes.” Bingley’s tone grew mockingly solemn. “You are clearly more invested in this than you thought. Or shall we discuss your behavior at Lucas Lodge?”
Darcy stiffened. “I see no reason to revisit that.”
“But I do,” Bingley said, his grin returning. “You may not have noticed, but I have rarely seen you so attentive during a conversation.”
“You made that claim the other day, and I advised you at the time there was nothing in it.”
“Oh, I thought it strange at the time, to be sure, but I saw it again yesterday when we saw Miss Elizabeth in town, and you sallied with her like—”
Darcy exhaled sharply. “Miss Elizabeth Bennet has a talent for provocation. That is all.”
“Is it? Or is it that she has found the one chink in your armor?.”
Darcy’s eyes narrowed. “If this is your idea of humor, Bingley, it is poorly executed.”
“It is not humor; it is strategy. And I have a proposition for you regarding our little wager.”
“Proposition?” Darcy turned to face him.
“Indeed. Darcy, you are going to lose, and you know it. Trying to be receptive and cheerful to an entire town? It is not in your nature.”
“You make me out to sound rather an ogre.”
“No, merely stating fact. I say you will be wasting your efforts if you are determined to learn to tolerate the eccentricities ofeveryperson in Meryton. Doomed for failure, I say, for the moment you set your mind to face one, another will bite at your heels.”
Darcy crossed his arms. “They would not dare.”
“Andthat,“ Bingley said, pointing at Darcy’s chest, “is why you will lose, my friend. This very manner of yours which makes you so forbidding is the very thing that will prohibit you from being amiable. And since I am feeling generous, I propose that we constrict the terms of our wager to one person. One who manages to embody the charm of the town and will challenge you to be at your very best.”
