Page 17 of Honor Requires

The conversation progressed in this manner for some time—light, easy, and entirely free from effort. Elizabeth found herself speaking without hesitation, her remarks met with ready engagement. Mr. Darcy's attention was notably steady and unassuming, suggesting a high regard for both the substance and the presentation of the discourse.

He does not merely hear—he considers carefully what is being said. The thought pleased her more than she expected.

After some time, Mr. Gardiner rose, excusing himself on account of a small matter of business that required his attention. “I shall not be long,” he assured them.

Mrs. Gardiner nodded. “Do not hurry yourself.”

With his departure, the group shifted naturally. Mrs. Gardiner turned her attention more fully to Miss Darcy, engaging her in conversation upon music and education, while Elizabeth found herself seated opposite Mr. Darcy, the two of them momentarily removed from the others.

There was a brief pause—comfortable but marked by a certain awareness.

“It is very good of you to call, Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth said at last.

“The obligation is mine, Miss Bennet. I had hoped we might renew the acquaintance begun so…unexpectedly.”

She smiled. “You refer, I suppose, to Bruno’s introduction.”

“I do,” he replied gravely. “It is not every day one is so thoroughly overpowered upon first meeting.”

“You bore it with remarkable composure.” She cringed inwardly, residual embarrassment coloring her cheeks.

“I had no choice,” he quipped, the words eased by a small smile.

Elizabeth laughed. “You might have scolded me.”

“I might have,” he said. “But I found myself disinclined to do so.”

That was kind of him—more kind than most gentlemen would have been.

“I am glad of it,” she said. “I should not have enjoyed beginning our acquaintance under censure.”

“Nor I.”

Their eyes met briefly, and Elizabeth felt again that curious sense of being seen—of being regarded with more attention than mere politeness required.

She looked away first.

“You have found Ramsgate agreeable, I hope?”

“Very much so,” Mr. Darcy replied. “It has answered all my expectations—and exceeded some.”

She glanced at him with a hint of mischief. “I wonder which expectations those might be.”

He did not hesitate.

“The improvement in my sister’s health,” he said. “And the formation of agreeable connections.”

Elizabeth felt a warmth rise to her cheeks.

He speaks very directly.

“I am pleased we may be counted among them,” she said, striving for lightness.

“As am I.”

There was a steadiness in his tone that made her glance at him again.

He is not a man who speaks lightly. The thought lingered.