Page 20 of Her Affections and Wishes

He dragged his eyes from her and said, “I say Mr Travers accuses me of stealing a horse.”

The men laughed. “A good guess,” said Mr Travers, “but Mr Henry Tessier accused you of that.”

He took his loss with good humour, then said, “Miss Bennet accuses me of not dancing.”

She did not have to nod; he knew he was right.

“She cannot know you well,” said Julia. “You danced every dance last night. I cannot imagine you refusing to stand up with a lady sitting down. Not when you are such a graceful dancer.”

Darcy’s expression remained unreadable, and he correctly guessed who accused him of the other crimes.

“I am a little wounded you knew it was me who accused you of jilting a lover,” Julia said to Darcy when his turn ended. “It was all a tease, you know. You would never injure a lover.”

“Who knows what some men are capable of?” said Sir John with a crass wink.

“Or women,” said Darcy. “They are equally capable of cunning and cruelty.”

This silenced Julia, but Elizabeth suspected it would not be enough to deter her from pursuing her dark-haired, rich young man.

Since Elizabeth’s was the first reply Darcy chose rightly, it was now her turn to be the prisoner. As she waited in the corridor for them to decide what her crimes must be, Elizabeth held fast to the hope that Darcy would earn more forfeits. He only missed one in this game, but that was one chance to play Kiss if You Can, Fishing for a Kiss, Cupid’s Turnpike, or any other forfeit that might oblige him to kiss her.

Mrs Tessier opened the door and told her to come back inside, where she took the seat Darcy vacated and began her turn.

“Madam, you stand accused of ordering a bad dinner, forgetting a birthday, taking too long to dress, stealing a friend’s beau, and stealing a horse.”

“That is only five,” said Sir John.

“Oh, forgive me.” She gave an embarrassed laugh. “Miss Bennet, you are also accused of breaking a man’s heart.”

All the air was driven from her lungs as she locked eyes with Darcy. Not a syllable passed between them, and certainly not on the subject of love, but Elizabeth felt it all the same. Whatever flaws he had, or had when she first knew him, he had loved her. Darcy was a good person, with depth and feeling, and a capacity for love and forgiveness.

And she had broken his heart.

“Prisoner,” said Mrs Tessier, jolting her back to attention. “Make your first guess.”

Should she lose on purpose? Would it embarrass Darcy to answer truthfully? Likely not, otherwise he would not have made that her crime. He had to understand that she knew what she had given up. “Mr Darcy,” she whispered, “accuses me of breaking his heart.”

“Correct,” she cried, whilst the other judges clapped.

“How cruel of you,” cried Julia, going along with the game. “What manner of woman breaks the heart of a man like Mr Darcy?”

Elizabeth hated that Julia was right. It cut her to the bone and she could not answer. To her surprise, Darcy said quietly, and whilst watching her rather than Julia, “Perhaps he deserved it, and it made him a better man.”

She had never before had a fit of fainting, but Elizabeth felt it possible now. He considered her to be so proper an object of admiration that he valued her judgment even though she broke his heart. Her own heart felt fit to burst.

The prisoner game proceeded with a few more rounds with more forfeits, but Elizabeth hardly paid attention. She might have said “lost a borrowed book” twice. Julia Metcalfe was practically in Darcy’s lap, and Sir John kept his arm draped around the back of Elizabeth’s chair. They discussed playing a round of Move-all, but Lady Metcalfe insisted it was time for forfeits and Mrs Tessier, so easily led by whomever spoke last, agreed.

When they tallied them, Darcy only had two mistakes. Elizabeth, along with everyone else, had several. Not all possible forfeits were kissing ones, but it seemed likely with this group that they would be preferred.

“How clever you are, Mr Darcy,” cried Julia. “As our first forfeit, you ought to select the first method of punishment.”

That was not how it typically worked, but no one argued with her. Darcy looked reluctant, but perhaps that was due to Julia’s excessive notice. She was obviously trying to set herself up to be kissed by him if he chose it, but he would never pair himself with Julia. He would not raise Julia’s expectations, not when she had been so plain about what she wanted from him.

If Elizabeth could not be certain of Darcy’s feelings for her, it was abundantly clear that he did not love Julia Metcalfe.

Elizabeth watched him think. If he chose one with kissing and they were paired together, it must be a sign that he might someday propose again. She could use that chance to show him how much she admired him now.

“Let us do ‘Weakest Goes to the Wall,’” he muttered, stepping around the chairs to stand by the wall. “I choose Miss Bennet.”