“Surely Richard did the same with you,” Elizabeth replied. But she had satisfied her duty to her cousin, and had drunk enough wine that she was perfectly content to be teased in turn for her own budding romance.
To Elizabeth’s surprise, Jane urged her to caution. Perhaps it was not so very shocking that Jane did not wish her to make any hasty decisions about the man she admired, but generally Jane had always been convinced of the genius of all her schemes and odd notions. Elizabeth could not be dissuaded, however, for though she did not doubt Jane’s belief that there may be a great many charming gentlemen in London, she had already met one called Darcy, and she was determined that he would prove the best of them.
The next evening, Elizabeth and her relations attended the opera. They were too large a party to all sit in the Fitzwilliam box, but Mr. Darcy had one of his own, and the separation of their party into the two opera boxes afforded Elizabeth a chance to enjoy Mr. Darcy’s company free from the watchful gaze of her mother.
There was a great fuss of arranging themselves, for everybody had some particular opinion of who they wished to sit with. Lady Anne and her daughter were tardy in their arrival, but Lady Catherine was determined that her sister and niece mustjoin her in the earl’s box, and so must Jane and Richard. There were two very well-pleased pairs of lovers at the end of so much maneuvering, though Elizabeth thought herself more fortunate than her sister, for the dowager countess made a far more distractible chaperone than Lady Catherine – Lady Rose and Lady Rebecca carried on whispering between themselves during the first half of the performance, claiming all their mother’s disciplinary attention.
Elizabeth enjoyed the performance, and all the more so because she was taking it in at Mr. Darcy’s side. Listening to the rousing arias seemed to evoke a great deal of unspoken emotion in him, which she observed with tremendous relish; she was delighted to find him a man of such depth of feeling.
Her enjoyment of the opera lasted until the intermission. The dowager countess bid Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley procure libations for the ladies, and as soon as the gentlemen went off to oblige her, Lady Catherine and Lady Anne came to spirit Elizabeth off with Jane, to be introduced to more eligible gentlemen.
Jane whispered a reminder to Elizabeth to keep an open mind about the new acquaintance they met with. Of course she would be perfectly civil, but Elizabeth summoned her warmest smiles and cleverest repartee only to satisfy her mother. She had no wish to mortify her relations, which would only disadvantage her sister and Georgiana. Even so, Elizabeth was relieved when Lady Rebecca intercepted her.
“Well, Aunt Cathy is no judge of character,” Lady Rebecca huffed as she managed to detach Elizabeth from a group of tedious lords and their haughty mothers.
“The Winstones have not a farthing to their name, and shall probably be run out of town by creditors before either of the mediocre sons of the family might stammer out a proposal.Viscount Royston is full young, only just returned from his grand tour, and the rumor is that he wishes to join the navy – even your mother must know he is not looking for a wife at present. And the Marquess of Queensberry, what a joke! Lord Douglas is more likely to take a husband than a wife, if you take my meaning! Indeed, some say he is a little too partial to Rupert," Lady Rebecca whispered, screwing up her face.
Elizabeth raised her brows in astonishment, waiting for her cousin to say more, and she was eagerly obliged. “Douglas would make a decent husband, if ever I were forced to marry – he would leave me alone, which is the greatest favor a man could pay me, and I should spend his fortune in peace, albeit in Scotland. Oh, Lord, here comes Sir John Dawson. Who is that with him? Ah, Sir Rolland. You have another admirer, Lizzy; your mother must be delighted to find you so spoiled for choice!”
Elizabeth’s head was fairly spinning as she received a barrage of compliments from the next set of suitors. Sir John Dawson made a few inspired remarks in an attempt to be poetic. Sir Rolland glanced round to ascertain that Mr. Darcy was indeed observing them – he had come in search of Elizabeth with the promised offering of refreshment, and had lurked a short distance from her as she was whisked about.
“Miss Elizabeth, you look remarkably fine this evening. Lady Rebecca, you are as elegantly fearsome as ever; devoured any souls lately? This must account for your fresh-faced air of satirical grace! How is that for poetry, Dawson? Shall you compose the ballad of the hellcat for this ravishing menace to society, and her exquisite acolyte?”
Lady Rebecca laughed heartily. “Speaking as much pretty nonsense as ever, Sir Rolland. But far better for me to corrupt cousin Lizzy than the likes of you, sir – and by the by, Richard says you owe him ten shillings, though he would not say why.”
“He bet me that a particular friend of ours would soon find himself driven mad with amorous sentiments – but I am not yet convinced the debt is owed. The object of our speculation is an odd fellow prone to every manner of strange humors, and at present he is hardly wooing his lady, but skulking and creeping about with an ill-featured expression that shall hardly inspire the heart of a discerning lady.”
Sir John Dawson stammered something scrupulous about the evils of gambling, but Elizabeth paid him little heed as she turned to look back at Mr. Darcy. Why did he not simply come and speak with her? They had been conversing easily enough in his box just a quarter of an hour ago.
When it was time for the opera-goers to return to their seats, it was Mr. Bingley who led Elizabeth back to their places, while Mr. Darcy trailed sullenly behind them. He resumed his seat at her side, but fidgeted strangely and said little for the remainder of their time together. When Lady Catherine’s old friend Lady Darrow invited them all to a party at her townhouse, Mr. Darcy declined to accompany the Fitzwilliams and their relations.
Elizabeth stubbornly resolved that she would be of good cheer, anyhow, but she could not entirely escape a nagging sense that she had done something wrong.
Chapter Five
The next week brought a flutter of activity for Elizabeth and her relations, and she ought to have been reveling in so much society. She was very cross with Mr. Darcy, whose manners had grown withdrawn. She saw little of him, and the few conversations they managed were stilted and brief.
On one sunny afternoon, the whole household agreed to walk together in Hyde Park. Elizabeth hoped for Mr. Darcy as a walking companion, but instead the earl maneuvered to recommend himself to her. He reeked of alcohol and cigar smoke, and Elizabeth cast a desperate glance around to Mr. Darcy, desperate for rescue, but she found him at Rebecca’s mercy, looking equally dissatisfied.
As they meandered along the Serpentine, it was Lady Catherine who saved Elizabeth from the tedium of Rupert’s self-aggrandizing expostulation; she swiftly whisked her nephew away to push him at a group of simpering young heiresses who had congregated nearby to admire the swans. Free at last from the encumbrance of her cousin, Elizabeth looked around for Mr. Darcy, hoping they might at last converse as freely as they had once done.
He walked on, and met with a group of gentlemen, all dapper and speaking with great animation. He looked over at Elizabeth with a warm smile, which she took as an invitation to approach them. “Will you introduce me to your friends, Mr. Darcy?”
“Ho,Darcy, eh?” One of the gentlemen clapped him a little too hard on the shoulder before sweeping into a flourishing bow. “Neville Crumhorn, at your service, fair lady.”
“Perceval Ramsbottom,” said another of the gentlemen with equal gallantry. He lightly lifted Elizabeth’s hand to his lips to place a gentle kiss there. Mr. Darcy scowled at his friends.
Sir Rolland Moore was amongst them, and he gave Elizabeth a devilish grin. “Since we are all using false names, you may address me this afternoon as Mr. Gaylord Fiddlebridge, esquire. How do you like that, Miss Elizabeth?”
“Ah! The famous Miss Elizabeth,” cried the gentleman with the most unfortunate of the false names. “We are very pleased to meet you – we have heard much of you from your devoted admirer.”
Elizabeth looked between Sir Rolland and Mr. Darcy, unsure which of them Mr. Ramsbottom meant to indicate. Mr. Darcy grimaced, but Sir Rolland appeared perfectly content to have the credit of singing her praises.
“Is she not a ravishing creature? She is a splendid dancer and musician, as well, and I am told she is prone to a philosophical turn of mind, though I have not yet had the pleasure of plumbing such depths with lovely Miss Elizabeth.”
The other two gentlemen seemed content to engage with her in a lively conversation, in the usual style of growing acquainted with an eligible prospect, and Elizabeth found them all perfectly charming and uncommonly amusing. They teased Mr. Darcy a great deal, and unlike when Elizabeth had done thesame, he looked positively wretched. She began to fear he was wishing her away, as if she ought not to have intruded at all.
She could not at all account for it, for the gentlemen all made a point of speaking well of Mr. Darcy to her, and in such a way that made it clear they suspected an attachment had been forming. Should he not be glad of their praise, and their apparent approbation of her? She could only breathe a sigh of relief when Sir Rolland announced that he and his two companions were expected by Mr. Culpepper, and must depart.
