Page 59 of The Engagement at Longbourn

“You are confident in argument. Not always in judgment.”

She stiffened.

Darcy saw it and did not retreat. “You asked for honesty.”

“I did.”

“You were wrong about Wickham. You admitted it. You were also wrong about me in some particulars.”

“Some?”

“Some.”

She gave him a narrow look.

He almost smiled. “And I was wrong about you,” he said. “I thought your impertinence merely entertaining. I did not understand how often you use it to protect people—including yourself.”

Elizabeth went quiet. The winter air seemed very clear. “Do you dislike that?” she asked.

“No.”

“Do you wish me to stop?”

“Never.”

The answer came so swiftly that she laughed.

Darcy smiled. They sat shoulder to shoulder beneath the bare elm while the sun broke weakly through the clouds. For the first time, Elizabeth thought of the day when he would leave Longbourn and felt no relief at all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

A Ball at Netherfield

By the first week of February, Bingley decided recovery required a ball.

Darcy called this logic unsound.

Bingley called it excellent. “Everyone has been miserable for months,” he said. “You nearly died. Wickham nearly robbed the regiment. Caroline has been sulking. It has rained for six days. We require dancing.”

“I cannot dance.”

“You may watch.”

“I dislike watching.”

Elizabeth, who stood near the pianoforte at Longbourn while the debate occurred, said, “You have spent half the autumn watching people from the edge of ballrooms.”

Darcy gave her a grave look. “And learned the error of it.”

Bingley pointed at him. “There. Moral improvement. We must celebrate.”

The ball was fixed for the following Friday. Mrs. Bennet entered preparations as if commanding a campaign.

Jane’s white muslin was trimmed anew. Elizabeth chose a deep green silk altered from a gown of Mrs. Gardiner’s. Kitty and Lydia negotiated over ribbons with such intensity that Mr. Bennet threatened to assign colours by drawing lots. Mary announced she might not dance.

Lydia said, “La, Mary, no one will believe you solemn if you dance twice.”

Mary replied, “I do not care what anyone believes.”