"In my defence, Mr Darcy started it."
Jane’s mouth twitched, though she made a valiant attempt to look serious. "Lizzy, surely one misunderstanding cannot have vexed you so."
"Oh, do not Lizzy me in that tone. I know I am being ridiculous. I knew it even as I was doing it, which did not make it any less satisfying."
Jane reached for one of the escaping feathers and caught it between her fingers. "You are very angry with him."
"I am." Elizabeth folded her arms. "It would be much easier if he had not the audacity to be the most handsome man I have ever seen."
Jane laughed then. "I must say, I prefer the Colonel’s blonde good looks. Mama would be proud of us, mooning about over two eligible gentlemen and we have not even been here a day complete."
"It is not funny. And I am not mooning. He is awful and now he is the captain and I am captain, and, oh Jane, I hope I am not thrown too much into his company."
"You do not wish to be captain?"
"I do not know. I ought to be flattered, and I am, a little. I am pleased that Lady Hortensia thinks me equal to it. But she has known me half a day. What could she possibly have seen?"
"That you are a very capable young woman," said Jane firmly. "Now, Lizzy, dearest, all will be well. Is this not what you wanted, a little adventure? And all will be well with Mr Darcy. I am not defending his behaviour," she added quickly. "He was wrong to speak as he did. But he looked very sorry afterwards."
"He looked uncomfortable because I had scolded him in public."
"Perhaps."
"He looked at me strangely during Lady Hortensia’s speech," Elizabeth said after a moment.
"Strangely?"
"As though he were trying to find fault."
"That seems unlikely." Jane rose from the bed and held out her hand. "Come. You truly must dress. The gong will sound before long, and I do not think Lady Hortensia will be happy to discover her newly appointed captain has destroyed her bed linensandrefused dinner."
Elizabeth looked at her sister, so composed and elegant, and felt some of her own courage return. "You are right. Though I warn you now, if Colonel Fitzwilliam monopolises you all evening, I shall take it very ill."
Jane just smiled enigmatically and crossed the room to ring for a maid.
???
The dining room at Chaffley Hall was handsome and brilliantly lit. Candles shone in the wall sconces and along the centre of the table, flowers had been arranged between silver dishes and cut glass. The walls were hung with portraits of Settle ancestors wholooked down upon the company jovially. Elizabeth thought that Lady Hortensia’s enthusiasm for life must be genetic.
Elizabeth discovered her card halfway down the table, set between Mr Thomas Hadley and Mrs Cartwright, a young widow. Mr Hadley rose at once with a friendly bow and beaming grin, everything about him, from his bright silk waistcoat to his elaborate cravat, seemed to suggest an abundance of good humour. Mrs Cartwright, by contrast, was a thin, pale lady in a gown of dove-grey, with a shawl wrapped closely about her shoulders despite the warmth of the room. She smiled kindly, but weakly, at Elizabeth as though even that small gesture was exhausting to her.
"Miss Elizabeth Bennet," said Mr Hadley, smiling as Elizabeth took her seat. "Captain of the ladies. We are honoured."
"You are premature, Mr Hadley. I have not yet done anything to deserve such praise."
"Ah, but you have been appointed. That is half the battle. I have known many a man get by quite comfortably on looking as though he knows what he is about." He let out a bark of laughter at his own joke, but there was something so disarming in his manner that Elizabeth couldn’t help but like him.
"Then I shall try my utmost to look confident, sir."
Mrs Cartwright turned towards her with a grave expression. "I hope there will not be too much exertion. I find an excess of activity very trying."
"Lady Hortensia said the first contest would involve logic and observation," Elizabeth replied. "That sounds reasonably gentle."
Mr Hadley looked towards Mrs Cartwright with immediate concern. "You are not fond of sport, ma’am?"
"I am fond of watching it," she said, with a small smile. "And I used to walk and ride a great deal more than I do now. Since my husband died, I find I do not have quite the strength I once had."
Mr Hadley’s smile softened. "Then I hope the second day is kinder than you fear. If there is anything I can do to assist you, you have only to say so."
