“Your mother shall be making me a monument, I am sure, when she hears of all your conquests! But of course you should be so sought after, for you are the dearest girls in the world – and Lucy would have me turn you out! Well, I was utterly deceived in her character – she might have confided in me, you know, and I would have been happy to help her! But I cannot like the sneaking and secrecy, the intrigue has made quite a scandal!”
“Even so, I hope you shall not be tempted to such wickedness again, Lizzy,” Mrs. Gardiner admonished.
Elizabeth readily agreed, and Jane hastily insisted that she would give her sister no cause to take such drastic measures to defend her. “I have indulged in a bit of your impudence, just as you advised me, Lizzy, and I am quite capable of standing up for myself.”
But Mrs. Jennings was not finished celebrating their success in charming so many of the gentlemen. “I begin to think you must stay longer than a mere fortnight more, even if you have already made your choice from among so many eligible gentlemen. Edward Ferrars was never the best choice for you, dear Jane, when the viscount is so utterly besotted with you! And you, Miss Lizzy! Shall it be Mr. Darcy or Colonel Brandon? Or perhaps Mr. Julius Palmer has caught your fancy – I saw how he kissed your hand when taking his leave!”
“I should indeed require longer than a fortnight to think of any of our new acquaintance as more than fine friends,” Elizabeth demurred. “Is that not right, Jane?”
Her sister fidgeted uncomfortably, “I like the viscount; he is perfectly amiable, and he has made his intentions clear, but….”
“Oh, do not tell me you have been won over by one of your cousin’s cast-off beaux!” Mrs. Jennings wailed, giving a merry hoot of laughter.
Jane looked stricken. “I fear my heart has not yet been touched by the viscount. Perhaps in time….”
“Of course,” Mrs. Gardiner said with a reassuring smile. “Such decisions ought not be made in haste. Take all the time you need, dearest. And you, Lizzy….”
Elizabeth held up her hands and shook her head. “I have no designs upon anybody. I am only glad to have found so many charming friends in town, but I am content to enjoy them for as long as we are welcome here, Mrs. Jennings.”
Elizabeth felt the falsehood in the pit of her stomach. She dared not aspire to more than friendship with Mr. Darcy, but she feared no other gentleman could ever win her heart, so long as she enjoyed the friendship of such a man as Mr. Darcy. At least they had made amends; that must be enough.
Chapter Sixteen
London
Lady Matilda Fitzwilliam, the Countess of Matlock, leaned languidly against the doorjamb and eyed Darcy with a look that would have made Rebecca proud. “You are fortunate, my nephew, that Phillip remains, in his heart, a man of God. If it were Richard’s rival you were sheltering, I daresay you would be deceased before dinner.”
Darcy looked up from the letter he was composing in the spacious library of his uncle’s house. His aunt – a woman only three months older than himself – managed to chasten him with a disappointed shake of her head. He smiled ruefully.
“I have no wish to disoblige the household. It is only for a day or two; he has nowhere else to go since his mother has turned him out of her house. I confess, I feel rather responsible for Edward.”
Lady Matilda screwed up her face. “Why? I pity his situation, naturally, but surely you cannot blame yourself.”
“He arrived unexpectedly – and in a pitiful state – about an hour ago, when everyone else was away from home; I thoughtby now I might have conceived some way to phrase it prettily for you, but I must speak candidly,” Darcy said with a sigh. “About a fortnight ago, Edward sought my counsel, and I am not proud of how I spoke to him. I disapproved of Miss Steele, for even after a quarter hour in her company, I had a sense that she makes the Bennet sisters uneasy. I refused to speak to his mother on his behalf, to aid him in informing Mrs. Ferrars of his engagement more gently than it was done last evening.”
Lady Matilda scoffed. “She is a horrid woman – can you really think it would have made any difference?”
“It is impossible to know and pointless to speculate,” he replied with a frown. “But I am sorry for how I behaved toward him. Having been so thoroughly admonished by Miss Elizabeth at the ball, I thought only of avoiding any interference in the romantic entanglements of a friend, as I had done in separating Bingley from Miss Bennet.”
“Ha! It seems to me youhaveinterfered, Darcy, and wronged Miss Bennet a second time. By discouraging him from keeping his promise to Miss Steele, you have set him on his foolhardy course of courting Miss Bennet, who clearly dislikes him. How could you, when Phillip claims to admire her?”
The countess turned and smiled into the corridor, and a moment later Phillip stepped into view. “Whom do I claim to admire, Tilly?”
“Jane Bennet. I sayclaimbecause I have seen little evidence of it, for every time we are in company with her, I find you conversing more with her aunt.”
“Her aunt is very pleasant, as is her sister, their hostess, and from what my brother and sister tell me, all their kin in Hertfordshire. But you know I delight in female companionship; I am the only man in this family not perpetually spoiling fora fight.” Phillip kissed his stepmother on the cheek and moved into the room with a jaunty step.
“I shall remember you said that,” the countess drawled. “You are very cheerful today.”
“I have every cause to be. I spent an hour at breakfast with my girls, as the rest of you hedonists remained abed at a most luxurious hour of the morning. I have sent flowers to Miss Bennet, for though last night’s ordeal was distressing for her, my own path is now clear. And I have just come from Mr. Franklin’s office – I shall be of great service to Richard today, and I could not be better pleased for him.”
Lady Matilda again peered out into the corridor. “Good afternoon, sir. I trust you are settled now, and your room is to your liking? Excellent. Darcy is here – composing his last will and testament, I presume.”
Darcy frowned at his aunt’s impudence and then tensed as Edward Ferrars stepped into the room. “I must thank you all for your generosity. I have scarcely unpacked, if I am for Kent in a day or two.”
Phillip looked rather smugly at Edward. “Kent? An unusual choice of destination for a wedding trip.”
Edward shifted uncomfortably. “Miss Steele is to remain in London with her friends; at her request, we shall not meet again. Darcy has been good enough to write to your aunt on my behalf, as I understand she has yet to appoint a replacement after the sudden passing of her parson last month.”
