Page 123 of Mr. Darcy Comes to Town

“You have the right of it. Five daughters, five easy births, and then…nothing,” Mr. Bennet said, shaking his head and reaching for his glass of lemonade. He took a gulp and his face puckered. “Sour. Drink some before you eat your cake.”

Darcy obediently drank down half of his lemonade before he took his first bite of cake. Once he tried the cake, he swiftly finished it.

“This is delicious,” Darcy praised. “My compliments to your cook. By-the-by, sir, what have you been reading? Are you studying anything in particular?”

Jeffry gave up his attempt to influence Darcy’s thinking and disappeared, having no interest in Mr. Bennet’s scholarship.

Chapter Twenty

Lizzy sat in the orangery, brushing Harry’s coat. She had vented her spleen during her walk. Now, sadness hung heavy upon her heart.

I thought he liked my animals…I thought he would be willing to endure the challenges of my talent…I thought…Lizzy carefully brushed Harry’s forelock, sighing as she did so. Has he been pretending all this time? To please me? I would rather he be honest. Why waste his time, and mine, on a flirtation that means nothing?

“I am rather pathetic, boy,” she whispered to him. “Sighing over a man like I am still five-and-ten instead of twenty. It is best that I know, now, that he will not be patient with my love of animals. Perhaps he is jealous of the attention I pay them? Is that likely, Harry?”

Harry chuffed and nuzzled her cheek.

“I love you, too,” Lizzy said, smiling fondly. She collected his forelock into one fist. “If you were a Harriette instead of a Harry, I would put a riband in your hair instead of letting it hang down over your eyes.” She dropped the hair and moved on to brushing his legs. “I suppose you have to chase every squirrel in the home wood? Look how muddy your legs are.” He tried to look but Lizzy chuckled and pushed his head back out of the way. “People say I have a way with animals, that I can get them to do anything I want. Well, I must say that all they need to do is look at your legs and belly to know that my talent is all a lie since I have asked you and asked you not to chase squirrels—particularly through muddy ground.”

“His love for the sport must overshadow his love for you,” Mary said, her indoor shoes whispering across the red and black quarry-tile floor.

Lizzy looked up at her sister and smiled. “Back from your errand, I see. How is the Gregg household?”

I hope I do not look as weary and heartsick as I feel.

“We only saw Mrs. Gregg and Oscar,” Mary said. “No one is ill there, thankfully. The typhus in the infirmary has not spread.”

“That is a blessing, indeed.” Lizzy switched to Harry’s hind legs. Without looking at her sister, she said, “Mary, perhaps I am out of line to say this, but I think you should marry Oscar. He is sweet on you—has been for an age. Surely, you know that?”

“I…I…” Mary stuttered.

“I think he may need a little encouragement,” Lizzy added, looking up and smiling at her dumbfounded sister. I think she thought no one has noticed her love for our old friend.

“H…he should m…marry someone with more m…money,” Mary said, looking as though she might swoon.

“Nonsense,” Lizzy stated trenchantly. “He has prospects. You could continue to live with Dr. and Mrs. Gregg for a while. Oscar will inherit his father’s practice, and his home.”

“H…he never…he never…”

“Sit in my desk chair, Mary, before you fall down,” Lizzy ordered. She asked Harry to turn around so she could reach his other side and continued brushing her dog. Lizzy watched Mary perch on the edge of the chair, staring at nothing, unblinking. “Would you like to marry Oscar?”

Mary’s pale face suddenly flooded with color. She slowly nodded. “Do you think…?”

“Even when we were little, Oscar always favored you. Jane was so pretty, and I was more lively, but he always sat beside you when he could.”

Mary pressed her palms against her cheeks. “He went away to school, and I thought…I thought his feelings had cooled. Oh, dear…oh dear.”

“Has he given you no indication that he cares for you as more than a friend?” Lizzy asked, frowning a little in spite of her crooked grin.

Her sister rubbed her forehead, thinking. She met Lizzy’s gaze, who saw hope in Mary’s eyes. “Oscar did say that he had meant to ask me to dance with him at the assembly,” Mary offered, wonder in her voice. “I told him I would have said yes.”

“He is not coming? Because of the typhus patient?” Lizzy asked. She worked to remove a stubborn bur. Without waiting for a reply, she said, “That sounds promising.”

“And…and today, he came to Mrs. Gregg’s study door just to speak to us, even though he could have avoided seeing me if he wished. Unless…Georgiana…”

“Georgiana is too young,” Lizzy stated firmly. “I am certain Oscar does not consider her as anything more than a girl.”

“Yes…yes,” Mary said in a whisper. “How…oh dear…how do I show him my regard? I cannot go near him. I cannot see him at the infirmary…what can I do?”