Elizabeth had observed this on that awful day, but she did not acknowledge it, and only grimaced.
The viscount nodded knowingly. “You think she may be protecting the true culprit, while vexing the woman who spurned her guardian?” Elizabeth furrowed her brows, chafed at what might vindicate Mr. Willoughby.
“Well, I cannot say what I admire more,” the viscount said with a wide smile. “Miss Bennet, Mrs. Gardiner, you have been wonderfully circumspect – it is no small thing to allow one’s mind to be changed.”
Mr. Darcy coughed, and smiled at Elizabeth, who made a droll face at him.
“On the other hand, Miss Elizabeth,brava!Your devotion to your wounded cousin does you credit,” the viscount told her. “I shall never forget the sight of watching you attack him! If heisproved to be a villain, he will have entirely deserved it, and I am sure your heartbroken cousin will be grateful.”
Elizabeth shook her head, still mortified by her own actions. “But if he is not a villain, perhaps I am. I will certainly owe him an apology, which is not a pleasant thought at present.”
“But your apologies are so very charming,” Mr. Darcy drawled.
Viscount Bellamy guffawed. “And Darcy ought to be the judge of such things, as often as he is giving offense!”
“Another time, I hope you will actually heed my advice, Lizzy,” Mrs. Gardiner said. “You have disregarded my good counsel before, but never so swiftly!”
They were soon approached by Mr. Willoughby and Colonel Brandon, who seemed uneasy companions. The colonel bowed and addressed himself to Mrs. Gardiner, while Elizabeth assiduously avoided meeting Mr. Willoughby’s eye. “We have come to take our leave of you. We depart for Yorkshire tomorrow; I intend to discover the truth of the matter we have quarreled over.”
“And we mean to take your advice, Mrs. Gardiner,” Mr. Willoughby said.
Mrs. Gardiner perked up, looking satirically at Elizabeth, as their companions all laughed. “That is music to my ears.”
Mr. Willoughby bowed his head, his gaze locked on Jane. “My mother still wishes to call tomorrow with Sophie, if you will receive her.”
“Certainly! She is a charming girl,” Jane said, looking at Mr. Willoughby as if she might weep.
“She is about your age,” Elizabeth said to Miss Darcy. “I believe you shall like her, if you happen to visit us tomorrow, as well.”
Mr. Darcy stiffened a little, and Mr. Willoughby perceived it. “If you prefer to wait until my character has been vindicated before your sister becomes acquainted with mine, sir, I completely understand.”
“Pish, Darcy has no objection – he always looks this way. Of course we will call tomorrow,” the viscount said, beamingat Jane and seeming rather proud of how this unsettled Mr. Willoughby. Jane, however, seemed to finally realize that the viscount meant to pay her his particular compliments.
“And, Miss Elizabeth, I owe you my thanks,” Mr. Willoughby said, bowing deeply to her and waiting until she would finally look at him. “Miss Grey has flatly refused to ever enter into an engagement with me; I intend to send you every flower in London by way of thanks.”
“If you wish to make amends sir, and you are truly vindicated of your offense against the colonel, you need only apologize to my cousin,” Elizabeth said curtly. Colonel Brandon nodded his agreement, his expression stony.
“You are absolutely right, Miss Elizabeth. When we return to London and this sordid business is put right, I hope I may rely on you to communicate my sincere apologies to her, along with all that I told you,” Mr. Willoughby said, directing this last part at Jane. She trembled a little but nodded her head.
When the two gentlemen departed, the viscount asked Mrs. Gardiner what advice she had given them. She sat up a little straighter, looking proud of herself. “Mr. Willoughby insists he has never met Miss Williams, and Mrs. Hatchard said that from April to September, her son never left London, not even for a day. She and I asked the colonel if his ward had come to London during that time, but she did not. If Mr. Willoughby is telling the truth, then Miss Williams would not know him by sight, for she has not visited the colonel in Devonshire in more than ten years, since she and Mr. Willoughby were children.”
The viscount nodded appreciatively. “The colonel might dress up a stable boy and present him to the girl as Mr. Willoughby, and catch her in the lie.”
“Exactly,” Mrs. Gardiner said. “And if it is a very handsome stable boy, she will agree most eagerly. He willlikewise present Mr. Willoughby as a servant, and see if she knowshim.”
“Vastly clever! Well done, Mrs. Gardiner,” the viscount said, clapping his hands in applause. “I know I ought not indulge in such gossip; you have done me a great service in thrusting it upon us, Miss Elizabeth, for I am vastly diverted. I hope you ladies will all consent to stand up with me when the dancing begins again. I could not imagine better companions for the evening.”
The viscount proved an affable companion himself, for the newness of his elevation had rendered him humble and warm, though he was not as fine a dancer as his cousin Mr. Darcy. Both of the Ferrars brothers also stood up with Jane and Elizabeth after dinner, which was not at all pleasant, though naturally Jane bore it better than Elizabeth.
Even so, Elizabeth was resolved to be in better spirits for the second half of the evening, and with Mr. Darcy, Miss Darcy, and Viscount Bellamy all resolved to remain close to the Bennet sisters, it was quite easy for them to be excessively diverted.
Chapter Ten
London
The morning after the ball, Jane and Elizabeth took their breakfast on a tray in Elizabeth’s room, and then they began composing a letter to their cousins in Hertfordshire. Jane's ankle was sore from her evening of dancing, and Elizabeth propped a stack of pillows under Jane’s foot and insisted that she incline comfortably on the plush bed, warm and cozy in a heap of blankets and pillows.
Elizabeth sat at the little escritoire by the window that overlooked the busy square, and for a few minutes she sat back in her chair to bask in the sunlight as she sipped her peppermint tea. Finally she set it aside and turned to Jane with a serious expression. “I feel that we have so much to say to our cousins, but I hardly know what to write.”
