Page 24 of The Crown’s Gift

"No. But you appear to value them."

Darcy looked across the water rather than reply.

At Longbourn that evening, Caroline found him standing alone in the library.

"Charles says you rode to Netherfield. Was Miss Eliza at home?"

"I went to see Sir Thomas."

"How disappointing. Though I suppose the father is the better connection. The King's brave little knight and all that."

Darcy closed the book in his hand. "There is nothing little in courage performed while armed men attempt to stop it."

Caroline stared.

"And Sir Thomas is not a connection I am pursuing."

"Of course not."

She smiled, but uncertainty entered it.

Darcy left the room. On the hall table lay a forgotten pair of women's gloves. They were brown, practical, and marked with a faint smear of dried mud.

He knew they were Elizabeth's before the servant confirmed it.

For a moment he touched the stain with his thumb. Then he ordered the gloves wrapped and sent to Netherfield without a note, because every note he imagined revealed more than he intended.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Heir and the Ball

Mr Collins arrived at Longbourn expecting cousins and found Charles Bingley at breakfast.

The error might have been corrected in a sentence. Mr Collins required twelve.

"I beg your pardon, sir, but I was given to understand that Mr Bennet's family remains in possession—not legal possession, naturally, for the unfortunate entail must in time place the property within my own stewardship, but present occupation, which is a different species of possession altogether—"

Bingley set down his coffee. "Sir Thomas owns Longbourn. I lease it from him. The family lives at Netherfield."

Mr Collins stared. He was a tall, heavy young man whose solemnity appeared too large for his features.

"Netherfield Park?"

"Yes."

"The royal estate?"

"The Bennet estate now."

Caroline entered in time to hear this and took immediate interest in the stranger's discomfort.

"You must be Mr Collins. Sir Thomas mentioned that his cousin was expected."

"Expected here, madam. At Longbourn."

"How fortunate that you began with an inspection of your future inheritance."

Bingley gave her a warning look. "You will be welcome to breakfast, Mr Collins, and I shall send a servant to Netherfield with word of your arrival."