Page 34 of The Vanished Bennet Sister

"That sounds correct," Darcy said.

"You say it as though you already knew."

"I arrived at a similar conclusion some years ago, but it is more useful to hear it stated clearly." He paused. "She expressed it well."

She regarded him from the corner of her vision, a habit she had developed from childhood. It was a way of observing him without provoking the kind of notice that would cause him to conceal what he was feeling or thinking. Then: "Do you not dislike her?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"At the theatre, you seemed…not quite at ease. When you were introduced."

He considered it. "We had a conversation at the theatre that I found rather pleasant. That would not have occurred if I disliked her."

"No, I suppose not."

She returned to the question of what gowns to acquire, and whether a shade of blue matched her skin or it was better to go for something more definitively grey. Darcy made appropriate responses but was not, in the most clear sense, attentive.

He had been considering a certain truth at length with some reluctance, preferring instead for his conclusions to arrive in orderly sequence rather than ambushing him in carriages. Miss Elizabeth Bennet was not an easy person to set aside. He had been sure, at least for some time, that he had succeeded in that task. After all, having reviewed the situation, the conclusion was that the interest he had in her was a misattribution of novelty.

But that opinion had changed gradually, demanding re-examination.

She occupied his musings with a regularity that no explanation could account for. It was dissimilar to the recurrence of an unfinished task and more alert, more active.

If he was being specific about it, it seemed more like interest.

Throughout his life, he had come to know many sharp-witted women. For most, sharpness was often a kind of defence, a weapon held between themselves and the world, useful for keeping things at bay in place of engaging with them.

Elizabeth's intelligence was not a defence. It was an instrument of engagement, directed at subjects rather than away from them. She received information, deliberated upon it, and the effect of that, when she spoke, was that she spoke with immense clarity.

At the theatre, she had supported a point he disagreed with, and by the end of the exchange he had found himself revising his view because she had given him a more accurate account of what the reality was.

This frequency with which she appeared in his thoughts, after every encounter, was reliable evidence of this trait.

He was still thinking about this as the carriage arrived at Madame Voclaire's.

Madame Voclaire's establishment occupied a spacious corner of the Anioch Street that belied the seriousness of what it contained. The outside offered a discreet signboard and a gown in the window, displayed solely, as if there was no need of extra advertisement. The inside revealed the details that the window items only implied: an absolute silence in which one could hear the sounds of footsteps on carpet and view bolts of fabric that were not available elsewhere in London. The senior assistant, Mrs Duroc, welcomed Georgiana into the dressing areas with a degree of attention that communicated both her own importance and the significance of the client without either being overstated.

Darcy waited in the outer room. There was a side table with a vase of hothouse flowers and a view of the street through a narrow window was adequate to occupy a man whose thoughts were already occupied. He had managed several minutes of solemn contemplation when a distinct woman emerged from the dressing areas.

Mrs Lavinia Bingley was evidently concluding her own visit with the establishment. She was in the act of adjusting her gloves when she spotted him, and the recognition resulted in her usual smooth smile.

"Mr Darcy. What a fortunate coincidence. I was hoping to have the opportunity of a brief word."

He inclined his head. "Very well."

"I shall not speak for a protracted period, as I know your time is valuable." She did not lower her voice. She did not need to; the room had only the two of them in it, and the assistant who had accompanied had withdrawn with the discretion of the well-trained. "I have come into possession of some intelligence that I believe you will find relevant, as a friend of Charles's and a man of good sense. You would naturally wish his domestic happiness to rest on a secure foundation."

"I would, indeed."

"Mrs Bennet confided to me, in the course of a conversation that I think she believed private, that the third daughter of the Bennet family, Mary, was not born to the family. She was taken in as an infant. There is no blood connection to the Bennets whatsoever."

Darcy offered no commentary. She did not seem to take offence at this and continued speaking.

"I raise it only because a man of Mr Thwaite's standing might reasonably feel that a lineage with this uncertainty attached was not what he had understood himself to be marrying into. His mother is well-connected in ways that make lineage a matter of some consequence. A man in his position, courting a girl of uncertain origin, deserves to understand what he is building before it becomes contractual." She nodded as if in advance approval of her next statements. "The relevant people in his circle will need to be made aware and I intend to ensure they are. I mention it to you because given your own family's grand standing and your own understanding of what such matters mean in certain circles—you might share the view that this is information worth circulating."

Darcy looked at her for a long moment. Wheels turned in his head as he restrained himself, deciding the proper way to express the extent of disapproval and disgust he felt.

"What you are planning is the spread of information received in private confidence, obtained from a woman who trusted you and used as a weapon against a family that has done you no injury. All for the purpose of advancing your daughter's prospects. And I imagine, separating your son from a woman he cares for. Although I must say, I do not think that Charles would easily be swayed from courting Miss Bennet. You are asking me to assist in this. And you have assumed that I will agree, merely because I come from a family of consequence. Like several upper-class individuals, I may have opinions about appropriate manners and how individuals ought to conduct themselves, but I would never approve of this level of malicious misconduct."