Not mere amusement.
Awareness.
As though the announcement had shifted something unspoken between them too.
Elizabeth’s breath caught.
Then she became abruptly conscious that other people were watching.
Charlotte Lucas first.
Mrs. Bennet second.
Even Mr. Bennet’s eyes lingered upon them both with quiet interest before turning away again.
Most unsettling of all, Wilson noticed it too.
Elizabeth stared down at her teacup, a flustered feeling stealing her ability to speak.
The possibility of an attachment no longer belonged solely to teasing remarks, accidental pairings, or twin-engineered opportunities.
Others saw something now. Elizabeth wondered whether they might be right.
A Campaign Advances
Netherfield had never felt less like Caroline Bingley’s domain. Darcy realized it soon after arriving downstairs for the engagement dinner.
The house itself remained elegant, of course. Candles blazed warmly against polished silver. Additional flowers had been brought into the drawing room despite the season, and the servants moved with practiced efficiency through every corridor. The atmosphere differed markedly from Caroline’s preferred entertainments.
This was not a fashionable dinner.
It was a family celebration.
Bingley had insisted upon it.
“The whole family, Darcy,” he had declared three days earlier with irrepressible delight. “Jane would wish it, and I cannot deny her anything now.”
Darcy suspected Bingley never would again.
Accordingly, Longbourn arrived not in polished fragments but in full force.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet entered first with Jane and Elizabeth. Mary followed beside Kitty and Lydia, who appeared deeply pleased with her inclusion in grown society despite Mrs. Bennet’s repeated cautions regarding behavior.
Then came the twins.
Then the governess.
Then absolute chaos.
Thomas and Toby burst into the front hall arguing over whether Netherfield’s stair banister might support sliding.
“It absolutely would,” Toby insisted.
“Until you broke your neck,” the governess replied calmly.
“Then perhaps only once,” Thomas conceded.
Bingley chuckled outright before propriety could stop him. “Excellent. Excellent. My governess never allowed such discussions at my childhood home.”
