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“Lord Hilldale,” Fanny simpered. “Is my Lydia not pretty? You will not find a prettier or livelier girl; I am sure she will make you an excellent partner for the first, and possibly the supper sets.” If Jane rejected her assistance, then she would put Lydia forward. Jane would be sorry that she had not listened to her mother! Fanny ignored the fact she knew not if the viscount was married. At the same time, she ignored, or chose to ignore, the looks of disgust directed at her by many in the room.

For his part, Bennet could not have been happier. His wife was already exposing her vulgar behaviour; it was most diverting. Bennet was blind to the looks aimed at him for not checking and correcting his wife.

“Mrs Bennet, it is not my habit to offer any dances to one who, I believe, is younger than my cousin, Miss Darcy. Besides, in polite society it is still the prerogative of the man to request a set from one with whom he desires to dance,” Hilldale responded. He could have said more, but he chose not to at this time.

Fanny was shocked to be rebuffed in such a fashion. Perhaps the ill-tempered viscount was already married.

Lydia was not upset that the stodgy old viscount did not want to dance with her. She had reserved the three important sets for Wickham, and the rest she would dance with other officers. Perhaps even Colonel Fitzwilliam. Now that he was wearing his scarlet coat, he would be graced with her hand for a set. She dragged Kitty to a settee where they soon had their heads together and were giggling.

Bingley approached his angel once port and sherry had been distributed by two footmen. “Miss Bennet, may I reserve your first, supper, and final sets?” he requested.

“Mr Bingley, I am afraid I am not willing to dance more than one significant set with you because that is tantamount to a declaration that we are engaged, and that is not the case. At this point, only my second set is spoken for, so you may chuse one of the three sets you mentioned, as they are all unclaimed,” Jane replied softly.

He was not trying to overhear, but Hilldale did hear Miss Bennet’s response, and it impressed him. He was interested to see how Bingley would react.

Jane thought that for a moment Mr Bingley looked like a puppy someone had kicked. She did not want to cause him pain, but she was not willing to push her principles aside to sooth his feelings.

As shocked as he was to be refused by his angel, Bingley rallied. “In that case, may I reserve the first set?” At her nod, he scrawled his name in that space on his angel’s dance card. He turned first to Miss Elizabeth and then to Miss Mary and wrote his name on their cards after they each agreed to dance a set with him.

Darcy approached Miss Elizabeth; it was now or never. “Miss Elizabeth, will you allow me to dance with you at this ball?” Darcy requested. “If you chuse not to, as you have in the past, I will not insist that you do not dance tonight.”

Elizabeth had no intention of refusing him a set, but the fact that he made it a true choice for her was impressive. He was not forcing her hand, and for that she was grateful. “Even had you not been so gracious as to give me freedom of choice, I would not deny the man with whom I had agreed to begin our acquaintance anew. I am not some sort of ogre, you know.” She said the last in jest.

Hearing her now, Darcy could tell the difference between true teasing and the way she attempted to needle him before, when in his blindness, he thought she was flirting with him. “You are generosity personified.” He bowed to the lady he loved. She extended her wrist, the one which had her dance card tied loosely to it. Darcy held the card and attached pencil and saw she only had two sets reserved. “Do I tax our new understanding to reserve the opening set?”

Even though she had not expected to have Mr Darcy request significant dances, Elizabeth found that she did not object to the idea of dancing those two dances with him. “I would be happy to have you partner me for that set,” she said and found she meant it.

This was not the time to be timid. “Do I ask too much to claim your supper set as well? Before you refuse, consider this: it will give us time to sit together during the meal and come to know one another better.”

There was no doubt in her mind that Mr Darcy was in earnest. Judging by the look of hope and longing he was giving her, Elizabeth finally accepted that Mr Darcy was in fact attracted to her. Unlike Jane’s decision regarding more than one significant set with Mr Bingley, Elizabeth decided to be bold. “I will cede those two dances to you as well, Mr Darcy.”

He wrote his name in the space for supper before she changed her mind, or he discovered he had not heard what she actually said. As Miss Elizabeth smiled warmly when she looked at her card, Darcy decided it had not been in his imagination.

Elizabeth had to hold her breath when Mr Darcy smiled and revealed his dimples for the first time. ‘Oh my!’ she thought as her heart rate sped up.

While his cousin was asking Miss Elizabeth to dance, Hilldale approached her older sister. “Miss Bennet, I know we have only just met, but may I have the favour of your supper dances?”

Jane did not care what rank the man held, but he was very pleasant-looking, and she thought, irresolute was not something this man was. “They are yours, Lord Hilldale,” Jane agreed as she extended her wrist with the card tied to it. She watched as the viscount wrote his name in bold strokes.

“Is it too forward of me to write my name in for a second set, not the final one?” Hilldale enquired. “I do not want to place you in an awkward position by asking for two significant sets.”

“Lord Hilldale, are you sure you want to dance a second set with the same woman?” Jane verified.

“I am, as long as you are willing,” Hilldale confirmed.

As she had granted Mr Bingley two sets at the assembly when they first met, Jane saw no reason to refuse the viscount. She offered him her card, and he took her third set, the one after Cousin Collins’s.

Elizabeth and Mary both agreed to dance a set each with Viscount Hilldale and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Mary spent most of her time next to her suitor while Elizabeth circulated around the room. They had technically been introduced when the Bennets arrived, but Elizabeth had not spoken to Miss Darcy yet.

It had taken Elizabeth all of a few moments to be able to tell that Miss Darcy was crushingly shy, as her brother and Colonel Fitzwilliam had stated, and was nothing like the creature that other man had claimed her to be. She saw Mr Darcy join his sister and her companion. Elizabeth approached the group. “Miss Darcy, it is a pleasure to meet you beyond the introductions your cousin made. I have heard that you are a great talent at the pianoforte,” Elizabeth said warmly. She did not miss how appreciative Mr Darcy was for her paying attention to his sister.

“I do love to play the pianoforte, but I am no great talent. I practise for many hours,” Georgiana responded humbly. “I have been looking forward to knowing you, Miss Elizabeth. It has been ever since William wrote about you in his letters,” Georgiana added, barely above a whisper.

“Mr Darcy wrote about me!” Elizabeth exclaimed with an arched eyebrow. “And you still want to know me?” she jested. She knew her joke had not hit the mark when the younger girl looked horrified.

“William said very good things about you,” Georgiana managed before her eyes dropped to the rug again.

“Anna, dear, you will soon learn that Miss Elizabeth loves to tease,” Darcy explained. “If I am not mistaken, she only teases those she likes. Is that not true, Miss Elizabeth?”