“Shall we?” Bingley asked, clearly pleased with his purchase. “Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth, we must thank you for sharing the morning with us.”
Elizabeth and Jane curtsied together. “It was our pleasure.”
As they parted ways, Elizabeth glanced back once, just once, to find Darcy still watching her. For all his formality, there was no denying that something had shifted.
And she did not know what to do with that.
Five
“You are staring outthat window as though you can melt the snow with the very heat of your glare,” Charlotte said as she breezed into Longbourn’s drawing room the next day.
Elizabeth turned from the glass, blinking as if caught in a mischief she had not meant to admit. “Nonsense. I was merely admiring the view.”
Charlotte arched a brow as she settled into a chair. “Admiring it, or trying to escape it?”
Elizabeth’s lips curved somewhat, but the smile felt too thin. “And what precisely would I need to escape, Charlotte?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Charlotte leaned forward with a smirk. “Perhaps a certain tall, brooding gentleman who seems to have taken an uncharacteristic interest in you.”
Elizabeth scoffed and crossed the room with deliberate ease. “If Mr. Darcy has any interest, it is in finding faults to catalog. I imagine he has compiled an extensive list by now.”
“Perhaps he has,” Charlotte said. “And yet, he seems determined to look your way all the same.”
Elizabeth paused. “You are imagining things.”
“Am I?” Charlotte tilted her head. “I watched him at your aunt’s tea the other day. He barely spoke to anyone but you.”
“Perhaps he finds my faults more entertaining than most,” Elizabeth replied, sinking into the chair across from her friend. “I shall endeavor to provide him with more material.”
Charlotte laughed softly. “You always deflect, Lizzy. But tell me—how fares the wager?”
Elizabeth waved a hand as though swatting a fly. “As dull and pointless as the day it was made.”
“I would not call it pointless. You are winning, after all.”
Elizabeth’s brow arched. “Winning?”
Charlotte leaned back. “You have him watching you, Lizzy. Speaking to you. Thinking of you, I would imagine.”
Elizabeth hesitated, her retort catching on her tongue. Finally, she said, “If he watches, it is only to confirm his low opinion.”
“And what if it is not? What if he is beginning to admire you?”
Elizabeth barked a laugh, though it came sharper than intended. “Mr. Darcy? Admireme?Pray, Charlotte, do not start writing novels. No one could credit the stories you make up.”
“You jest, but I think he finds you more intriguing than you care to admit. I told you you could turn his head!”
Elizabeth snorted. “I am simply fulfilling my part of the bargain by becoming an object of curiosity for a bored man.”
“Are you? Or are you starting to enjoy it?”
Elizabeth’s breath caught—not enough to be noticeable, but enough for her to feel it. She masked it quickly with a quick wave of her hand. “You give me too much credit. I am merely testing my wits against his pride, nothing more.”
“And if itweremore?“ Charlotte asked, her tone gentler now. “Lizzy, you are so determined to win this wager that you may not realize the stakes are changing.”
“The stakes,” Elizabeth said coolly, “remain the same. I either win or lose.”
Charlotte’s smile was faint but knowing. “And yet, you will not even consider the horror of what you will owe if you lose.”
