Thinking of Miss Catherine made him seek her out with his eyes. She was not currently on the dance floor, though he had seen her there a few times. She had even danced once or twice with Georgiana so that his cousin could have some fun even though she was not allowed to dance with the gentlemen.
He finally spotted Miss Catherine on the other side of the room, when a break in the dance gave him a wider view. She was standing with Georgiana and another young lady, and the three were speaking together. If his memory was correct, the third young lady was another of Miss Catherine’s sisters, though he couldn’t remember her name.
Her face was plain with a sallow complexion, and her expression was serious, almost forbiddingly so. She was the kind of young lady who was likely seldom asked to dance, for she looked as if she wouldn’t enjoy it.
Stephen had spent the evening asking random young ladies to dance, but he hadn’t thought to ask this one. He decided to ask and see if her behavior and conversation were as stern as her expression.
Excusing himself from Darcy’s company, he headed toward Georgiana and her companions.
As he approached the small group, they turned to him. Georgiana smiled and said, “Stephen,” while Miss Catherine curtseyed and said, “Your Lordship.” The other lady curtseyed but said nothing.
“I hope you ladies are enjoying your evening,” he said.
“Oh, ever so much,” cried Georgiana. “Even when Catherine was dancing, Miss Mary has kept me company. Besides, it is so interesting to watch everyone.”
Stephen bowed toward the young lady who must be Miss Mary. “I hope my cousin has not kept you from dancing yourself,” he said.
She blushed, though her face remained serious as she replied, “I do not get asked to dance very often.”
“Do you like to dance?” he asked.
Miss Mary shrugged. “It is pleasant enough as a form of exercise, but I also enjoy conversing with others on the sidelines. Miss Darcy and Kitty have been excellent company.”
By this, Stephen assumed that she did, in fact, like to dance, but she found it necessary to console herself by claiming that it wasn’t particularly important to her. He did not question her on that. Instead, he asked, “And who is Kitty?”
Miss Catherine raised her hand in a rather sheepish way. “That would be me,” she said. “It is what my family and many of my neighbors call me. I have tried to get them to call me Catherine now that I am out, but it seems that the name may be a permanent fixture in their minds.”
“I apologize, Catherine,” said Miss Mary. “It truly is a difficult habit to break.”
Miss Catherine waved away Miss Mary’s apology. “Do not be overly concerned. I have seen how difficult it is for us all to stop calling Elizabeth Lizzy, so I completely understand.”
Changing the subject, Stephen asked Miss Mary, “I wonder if you would be kind enough to dance with me for the next set.”
A bit of pink appeared in Miss Mary’s plain, stern face. She said, “I would be happy to. Thank you.”
He then turned to Miss Catherine. “The dance after that is the final one of the evening. Would you be willing to dance with me for that set?”
“Of course,” she said, though she showed no signs of particular pleasure. Stephen honestly couldn’t tell whether Miss Catherine was happy about the invitation or not.
“I look forward to it,” he said to both sisters. “I shall leave you three to chat further, and I will return at the end of this set.”
~~~~~
Elizabeth Bennet, along with every other person in the room, noticed when the party from Netherfield entered the assembly room. A murmur went around the room, and every single matron told the lady next to her how surprised they were to see them, since no one even knew Mr. Bingley had returned from London.
Mr. Bingley was easy to spot, since it was well known that the gentleman had blond hair, and there was only one blond gentleman in the group. Elizabeth watched as Mr. Bingley was greeted by Sir William. As introductions were being made, she let her gaze slide over the rest of the group.
There were only four ladies, though one of them looked no older than Lydia. The youngest one was looking around the room eagerly, almost as if she was looking for someone in particular. Elizabeth assumed this was Miss Darcy, who Kitty had talked about a great deal for years. She was clearly accompanied by a middle-aged companion whose focus was mostly on Miss Darcy.
The two other ladies, however, looked far less pleased with their surroundings. Both of them had noses that were slightly wrinkled as if they were smelling something unpleasant.
The gentlemen were far more varied. The shortest of the lot had large sideburns and was slightly red in the face. He quicklyleft the group once he spied the refreshment table. The other two were vaguely similar in looks, though the shorter one was quite a bit less handsome, and his looks were made slightly less pleasant by the fierce look on his face as he gazed around the room.
The tallest was the one who grabbed Elizabeth’s attention the most. Since the young Miss Darcy was holding his arm, Elizabeth guessed he must be Mr. Darcy. He was tall, definitely over six feet in height, and his face was a perfect imitation of a Greek statue, complete with aquiline nose and deeply set eyes.
Elizabeth had never in her life been so immediately drawn to a man. He was perfect. He was also far, far out of her reach. She had heard enough from Kitty about the Darcys, and she knew that Mr. Darcy was both extremely wealthy and well-connected, since he was nephew to the current Earl of Matlock.
Shoving her feelings of attraction down, Elizabeth turned away from the group. She suddenly had very little desire to watch them.
