Elizabeth embarrassed herself with how loudly she laughed. She had to stop the dance and move to the side to catch her breath. “Oh, Mr. Darcy! My sisters and I have often wondered if the boys we grew up with just…stopped. Theylookolder but behave mostly the same!”
Darcy loved her laugh and smiled a full happy smile.
‘Dimples! He has dimples!’ Lizzy was mesmerized. He stood there smiling, and she could not take her eyes off his smile.
Mamie and Mr. Bennet watched the spectacle. “Well, Mr. Bennet, I think you have just lost one of your daughters.”
“And my most sensible one too.” Bennet sighed. He knew it would happen. His daughters would leave him one day. Knowing and witnessing did not make things any easier.
“I do not know Jane well enough to tell, but the viscount seems to be just as entranced. Mr. Bingley has been trying to get Jane’s attention all evening. In your estimation, is she like Lizzy?”
Thomas stared at his eldest for several moments. “She is harder to read, but that smile is a bit different than she gives anyone else. I will have to watch. Do you know anything about the viscount?”
“Only a little. He’s a gambler…or he was. Darcy says he turned a new leaf. If she were my daughter, I would advise her to go very slowly.”
“What would you tell my Lizzy?”
“I would tell her that Darcy is one of the best men I have ever met. It seems to run in the family. I knew his father well before this Darcy was born. A better man you could not find. Andrew Darcy was a bit quick of temper, but of course you knew him. He was your friend. Ethan is an excellent young man. Did you know George Darcy?”
“Only in passing. The summer I spent at Pemberley, Andrew’s elder brother was touring the other estates. Their father was a good man.”
“Such a tangled web.”
“Is anyone trying to deceive?”
“I do not believe so, but we should keep an eye on the viscount.”
“You will watch with me?” Bennet looked Mamie deeply in the eyes. He was not sure he had ever felt this way. He had been quite infatuated with the girl’s mother, but that had waned shortly after they were married. They had very little in common. There was a kind of familiar love, but not the love the poets spoke of. Was this infatuation again? It did not feel the same. Mrs. Russell and he had so much in common. They read the same books and mostly had the same opinions. She made him laugh and understood his dry humor. The weeks they were apart, he thought of her every day, and wished she was there to discuss things with. He would read a passage in a book and want to talk it over. There were problems with a tenant, and he wished she was there to discuss it. And he had a yearning in his body he had not felt in over a decade. How very strange.
It was nearly time to gather up his ducklings, so he went around the room with Mrs. Russell on his arm to bid a good evening to his closest friends. His sister-in-law and Lady Lucas and her girls would be by in the morning to discuss tonight’s festivities. He wondered if the ladies from Netherfield would attend.
Chapter Thirty-two
“I am so glad you and Miss Bingley could join us this morning. Did Mrs. Hurst and Mrs. Russell not wish to come?”
“Louisa has been feeling low in the mornings lately. Mrs. Russell simply wished to rest.”
Lady Lucas and Mrs. Phillips nodded to each other. Although Aunt Lucy had never had children of her own, she had been there for all five of her sister’s pregnancies. She thought of her nieces as her very own but allowed Jane to take charge of the Bennet household after Fanny’s death. She was the best of aunts and only gave advice when it was asked for.
Maria, the younger daughter of Lady Lucas, went over to the corner where Gigi, Kitty, and Lydia were sitting with Mrs. Greaves. They were allowed to sit and listen to the ladies but were to stay silent as girls who were not out should. Anything they did not understand would be discuss with their governess or sisters later.
Charlotte Lucas started the conversation, “You have quite an esteemed admirer Jane. A viscount!”
“We met in Ramsgate. He is very kind.” Jane blushed and looked at her hands in her lap.
Beth teased, “I think he was looking for an angel to help him on his road of improvement. He is dazzled by your halo.”
Jane’s eyes grew fiery, “He has been very honest about his failures. It is our Christian duty to forgive. How is one to ever move on from a checkered past if they are constantly judged and reminded of their faults.”
“Hush Jane, be easy. I was only teasing. If cousin Darcy has forgiven him, I am sure he has turned over a new leaf, and no one should judge him.”
Lizzy sat forward in her chair, “So, is Mister Darcy to be judge and jury of those around him? He approves of his cousin, so everyone else must?”
“Cousin William has a rather stringent set of morals but has allowed more than a decade of abuse by his cousin to be forgiven…with the understanding that if past behavior is repeated, it will not be granted again.”
“Oh my! A decade?”
“Or more. It started when they were children. Another boy who played with them turned jealous and wicked, and Theo joined with him. William put up with a lot of abuse. It is not my story to tell, so I will say no more.” Beth had become very protective of her Darcy cousins. She would tease them relentlessly but never allow anyone else to abuse them. She looked at Gigi sitting with the younger girls. She was proud that Gigi looked ready to jump to her family’s defense, but now she had relaxed back into her chair.
