“What you lack in skill, you make up for in feeling,” said Charlotte. “You could play the simplest Scottish air that even a child could play, and as long as you sing along with it you will charm everyone in the room. Now, come.”
Elizabeth reluctantly followed her friend to the piano. She flipped through the songs that were available, but ultimately, she decided on something simple. After placing the sheet music on the piano, she sat down to play.
Despite her unsettled mood beforehand, the joy of the music and the feel of the song soon chased away her concerns, and she was lost. When she was done playing and looked back up at the people in the room, she immediately noticed Mr. Darcy, whose gaze was fixed on her face and whose expression was that of someone who had just seen the most beautiful sunset in their life.
That is what she wanted his expression to be, at least. It could just as easily have been shock at how very bad she was at playing piano.
She did not have an opportunity to find out which it was, however, as her attention was immediately drawn by several of her neighbors who congratulated her, including a few of the militia officers who had recently been stationed in the area for the winter.
Elizabeth did not really see Mr. Darcy, other than a glance or two from across the room, until late in the evening. Lydia had become impatient and bored of simple conversation, and she asked Mary to play the piano so they could all dance a bit.
Elizabeth hated to see her youngest sister put herself out like that, but at least she had asked nicely instead of demanding as she would have done before her time at school.
Before she could even look around, Mr. Darcy approached her. “Miss Elizabeth,” he said, “it would please me a great deal if you would join me for this dance.”
Involuntarily, Elizabeth glanced toward Kitty to see if her sister was upset at Mr. Darcy’s request, but she wasn’t even paying attention. Instead, Kitty was speaking to John Lucas, who was likely asking her for a dance.
“I would be pleased to join you, Mr. Darcy,” said Elizabeth.
He led her to where the dance was forming. Since it was just an informal dance or two at the end of an evening, Mary played a lively tune instead of a slow, stately one, so there wasn’t much room for conversation, but Elizabeth quite enjoyed the sight of Mr. Darcy’s graceful strength as he moved effortlessly through the movements.
The second half of the dance was a little slower, and Elizabeth found an opportunity to say, “I have been quitesurprised to see both you and your cousin stay in the neighborhood so long. It is not often we have people of rank here or even those who are so closely related to nobility as you are.”
She was genuinely curious as to why Mr. Darcy would spend the autumn in such an out-of-the-way town, but when she heard the way her words came out, she realized it could be misconstrued as her only having an interest in his connections rather than in him, personally. She wished she could suck her words back into her mouth.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to mind. “I do not know why Hilldale decided to join us,” said Darcy. “He always does just what he wants and seldom explains anything. Few people have the right or ability to question him. I suppose I could ask him, I learned long ago that even when he explains himself, his reasons never make sense to me. As for myself, I had two very strong reasons to be here this autumn.”
“Let me guess,” said Elizabeth. “One of them is my sister, Kitty.”
“In a way, you are correct,” he said, and Elizabeth felt a sudden pang in her stomach. She barely heard him when he said, “I have seldom seen Georgiana as happy as she has been here, and it is almost entirely due to your sister, Miss Catherine. I would do nearly anything to make my sister happy, you know.”
“I imagine you would,” said Elizabeth. To herself, she thought that what would make Miss Darcy happiest would be to have Kitty as a sister.
“My second reason for coming here was to keep Bingley company. He has seldom had an opportunity to spend an entire autumn in the country, since he has mostly lived in the city. I promised to come with him so that we could hunt and fish together.”
There was silence for a time. Then, Mr. Darcy said, “Those were my initial reasons for coming, but I admit that since being here I have discovered a rather unexpectedly compelling reason to stay.”
“Oh? And what would that be?” asked Elizabeth.
The dance brought them together for a brief moment, and he said softly so that only she could hear, “You.”
It took several moments for Elizabeth to fully comprehend his meaning. When she did she said, “But I thought…” She glanced down the line at Kitty.
“I realized only tonight that you might be thinking something like that,” he said. “Did you not know that your younger sister has no intention of ever marrying? Even if she did, however, I must confess that you are far more fascinating.”
Elizabeth was saved from having to formulate a reply by the dance coming to an end shortly after this declaration.
