Elizabeth thought a few minutes more before she reluctantly grumbled, “All right. I do not like it, and I think it is officious interference at best… but… I will try! I promise nothing.”
Jane jumped across the sofa and hugged her sister, who stared at the floor, wondering what she had got herself into.
“Tell me about your Mr Jameson. You have been surprisingly short of candour and detail in your letters.”
Jane coloured. “I trust you, Lizzy, but I do not trust everyone at Longbourn. I did not want rumours floating around Meryton, and you know as well as I do that the privacy of your letters can never be assumed.”
Elizabeth nodded morosely, then shook off her feelings; it was time to get to work.
“You met him at an assembly some weeks ago, correct?”
“He was in a corner with a scowl that could challenge your Mr Darcy.”
“How can you put those three words together in a conversation, let alone a sentence? He is far from my Mr Darcy. I barely know the man, and I am not enamoured of the part I do know.”
“If you say so. Hedidstare at you a great deal.”
“Stop trying to deflect. So, he looked uncomfortable?”
“I must confess, he attracted me almost immediately,” Jane admitted sheepishly.
“Probably because he was as much the opposite of thatother manas it is possible to be, if he resembled Mr Darcy. Are you certain that is the proper criterion for a man? That he benotwhat you are accustomed to?”
“Perhaps. That is part of what worries me. Are we both just looking for the opposite of what we have experienced, and if so, how would we know?”
“How do you intend to find out?”
“Oh, you will work it out.”
“That is far from the best idea you ever had, Jane.”
“Perhaps not, but it will do.”
“Pray, continue.”
“I engineered an introduction. Uncle Gardiner knew a man who knew him, and he arranged it. I fear the first entreaty was received with about as much grace as Mr Darcy showed you, but he found his manners and reconsidered. I was too far away to hear what was said, which was probably for the best.”
“I can assure you that eavesdroppers never hear well of themselves.”
“I suppose not. At any rate, hedidask and we endured the most awkward dance in history.”
“The second most awkward.” Elizabeth laughed. “You should have seen me with Mr Darcy at the Netherfield ball.”
“I missed that entirely.”
Elizabeth shook her head, resolving that Mr Darcy must not distract them from the matter at hand.
“He took me back to Aunt and Uncle when the dance was over, resumed his pacing for half an hour, and left. I thought that would be the last I ever saw of him,” Jane said wistfully.
“And was it?”
“No. I saw him a week later at another ball. He seemed in better spirits. He greeted me cordially and asked me to dance almost at once.”
“Was that one better?”
“Marginally. We at least talked, though nothing beyond the commonplaces.”
“He sounds more and more like Mr Darcy with every step. At least you did not quarrel with him.”
