Something dark shaded the colonel’s face for a moment, but then he smiled at Elinor. “I hear your cousin Miss Elizabeth has the temerity to deliver impressive set-downs.”
“I do not wish Edward any ill, I am only very sorry for every particular. He must have some reason for yielding to his mother’s demands, and I know it shall weigh on him.”
“Have you no compassion for yourself, Miss Dashwood? Are none of your tears for your own misery, but only for others? I should not be half so generous if my heart were broken.”
“I am afraid it would be terribly selfish to dwell upon my own feelings, when I am not the only person affected. I believe Edward must be truly unhappy, his behavior has made Jane exceedingly uncomfortable, Miss Steele may discover that she has pinned the hopes of four long years on him for it all to come to nothing, and I know my mother and sisters worry terribly for me – I hate that I should give them pain, when the last year has already brought us so much sorrow.”
The colonel stood and began to pace. “He knows Darcy, eh? Perhaps I ought to write to my cousin and demand he give the fellow a sound thrashing! Forgive me, Miss Dashwood, but if you will not think of yourself, I must be outraged for you. You have been very-ill used, but there may yet be some justice in this world.”
“No, please,” Elinor said calmly, rising to her feet and taking a step toward him. She laid a hand on his arm to still his pacing. “To be so reliant on the whims of his mother must be punishment enough for him, and even that I pity.”
He covered her hand with his. “You are too good, Miss Dashwood. But you must allow me to speak to Sir William Lucas about his wife’s remarks. My sister is Bingley’s hostess, and neither of them would have allowed such cruelty to go unanswered, if they had heard it. And you, of all people, who showed Miss Maria such conciliatory kindness – it is not right!”
Elinor sucked in a shaky breath; she was greatly affected by the fervor of his words, for she had never before been defended so boldly. “Very well,” she said.
His countenance softened at once, and he brought her hand to his lips. “Thank you; I believe you comprehend that Ihate to be idle, when I might be of service. Fitzwilliams do love to be useful.”
Elinor stared at her hand, feeling a phantom trace of his lips where they had brushed her skin, but then she beheld his droll expression and laughed. “Tonight has certainly taught me that, and I quite admire this family trait.”
He raised a finger to his lips and winked. “Never tell Rebecca.”
Elinor smoothed out her dress, suddenly nervous at the prospect of returning to the dining room, and reluctant to part with the colonel’s sole company. And then her mother stepped into the room and cleared her throat.
“Forgive me, but I hear the other ladies coming; they must be withdrawing to the parlor. I have been waiting in the corridor, but for propriety we shall say that I have been with you. Elinor looks quite recovered, Colonel – you have my thanks.”
The colonel gave Mrs. Dashwood a deep bow and one of his most dashing smiles before taking his leave. Elinor supposed that he meant to join the gentlemen for cigars and brandy after the meal, but not long after she and her mother accompanied the other ladies to the parlor, the colonel entered the room.
He approached Elinor with a small plate of apple tarts and beckoned for her to join him at a nearby table which was almost entirely occupied by a large chessboard. “Do you play?”
“A little – not since my father – I may be sadly out of practice.”
“An ideal opponent, then,” he said with a grin, as he pulled out her chair for her. “Perhaps this will inspire you, for we both missed the dessert course, which is my favorite. I am fond of sweet things.”
Elinor gaped at him as he sat down across from her and placed the plate of apple tarts beside the chessboard. She wasnot surprised that he should flirt with her, for he struck her as the sort of gentleman to whom such banter came naturally, but it was another thing entirely that he should forgo the company of the other gentlemen and then single her out before all the ladies. It was likely only a gallant gesture meant to cheer her, but Elinor was grateful nonetheless.
***
Marianne exchanged a significant look with her mother as the ladies entered the parlor, and again when the colonel joined Elinor at the chess board. She had promised not to give voice to any speculation, but surely she was entitled to think what she pleased – and such thoughts of the colonel’s attention to her sister did indeed please her.
Her mother came to sit with her, and in a hurried whisper informed Marianne of what had transpired between Elinor and the colonel. Marianne was shocked and appalled, and privately rather mortified that she had been too engrossed in her conversation with Mr. Bingley to notice her sister’s distress.
Her mother assured her it was for the best. “I believe a new attachment would be just the thing to cheer her, for I am sure something happened between Elinor and Edward, some awful falling out at Christmas.”
Determined not to break her promise to Elinor, Marianne commented only on Lady Lucas’s insolence. “The whole family ought to be shunned in the village! Mr. Bingley told me that he has suffered from diminished popularity in the neighborhood, and though it is a natural consequence of his abandoning Jane, I should think that accosting half the Bennet family in the town square is far more egregious!”
Mrs. Dashwood regarded her with a curious smile. “Have a care, my dear – one might imagine you begin to think kindly of Mr. Bingley.”
Fortunately for Marianne, just then Lady Rebecca entered with Miss Lucas; the latter had changed into one of Lady Rebecca’s old cast-offs, and she looked very ill in it. Miss Lucas noticed the colonel at once, and seemed as if she would approach him, but Lady Rebecca linked their arms together and practically dragged Miss Lucas toward her mother.
After a few outlandish comments on how well the over-trimmed frock suited Miss Lucas, Lady Rebecca moved away and sought out Marianne, who parted with her mother and motioned for Lady Rebecca to sit with her by the fire, at some remove from the rest of their companions.
Lady Rebecca grinned as she leaned back against the plush chair opposite Marianne. “Is it not an excellent trick, my generosity to Miss Lucas?”
Marianne could see that her friend knew very well that she had baited Marianne into spilling the wine, and the two friends shared a little burst of laughter. “I am only astonished that you would bring something so hideous on your travels! It is nothing like the style of your other gowns.”
“It was a gift from my aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and I think it an excellent one. I have always hoped to make some sort of spectacle with it, and when I was packing my trunks in London, I thought I might yet put it to use – for evil, of course.”
Marianne shook her head at her friend’s impudence. “I think you have also played a trick on me – with your seating arrangement at dinner.”
