Caroline said, “Mrs. Bingley knows all of it, Colonel.”
Jane said, “Please sit with us, Colonel. May I offer you refreshments?”
“No, I thank you.” The Colonel sat in a chair opposite the ladies. Miss Bingley looked remarkably well, considering her recent ordeal.
“I am quite well, I assure you,” she told him.
“You look it,” he replied, and then reddened, surprised at himself for having made such a personal comment.
Caroline was surprised as well, and she stared at the Colonel for a long, silent minute.
Jane, keenly aware of the undercurrents in the room, suggested that the two of them take advantage of the fine weather and go out for a walk. “I will send a maid with you, of course,” she added. Jane hurried upstairs and spoke to her own maid, Emma. “Give them space to speak alone,” she instructed. Emma nodded her understanding.
Outside in the pale March sunshine, Caroline took the Colonel’s proffered arm. “Colonel, I cannot find the words to thank you,” she began.
“Please do not try,” he said. “It was only what any gentleman would have done.”
“And yet no one else did,” she said. “Everyone else looked away.”
“Doubtless they assumed you had gone with him willingly,” the Colonel said, distastefully.
“But how was it that you knew I had not done so?” she queried.
“I know you would not behave in such a manner, nor attach yourself to someone who only wanted you for your fortune.”
They walked on for a minute in silence, Emma many paces behind them. Caroline broke the silence, saying sadly, “Perhaps my fortune is my only desirable quality.”
The Colonel stopped at once. Staring down at her upturned face, he said, harshly, “You cannot possibly believe that.”
In the same small, sad voice, she continued. “I thought that Lord Russell was truly courting me, until Charles informed me that he was a gambler and deeply in debt. I then treated him coolly, hoping to discourage him, and he retaliated by – well, you saw his retaliation.”
“I am certain you have other, more worthy, suitors.”
“There is Mr. Lindsay, I suppose. He is the second son of the Earl of Lindsay.”
“That sounds promising,” the Colonel replied. His voice was calm, but he wondered why he felt a sudden urge to find the man and warn him off.
“I suppose it is,” Caroline replied.
“You seem rather disinterested in the prospect.”
“That is it exactly. I am disinterested. But I will say ‘yes’ if he says ‘will you’ because I must be betrothed before the end of the Season.”
“Why such haste?”
Caroline shook her head. “Because I have been a fool for so long that I have missed my opportunities. I have been rude, vain, opportunistic – and in so doing, have chased away anyone who might have been interested in me. You were right, you know, that night at Darcy House. You were so very right that I could not bear to hear it, and so I turned to Mr. Gardiner. He is very kind, by the way.”
“Yes, my mother speaks highly of him as well.”
“But how is it that you understand me so well?” she asked, and she lifted her eyes to his.
Green. He had known her eyes were green, but he had never before noticed the golden flecks in them…golden flecks that were a perfect match to those gold streaks in her hair…
“Colonel?” Her voice broke his reverie.
“Yes?” he whispered.
“Why are you staring at me?” she whispered back.
