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“So did you court Miss Elizabeth while at Netherfield?”

Darcy gave a scornful laugh, though tinged with a little sadness. What if he had courted her then? What would it have been like to see those brilliant eyes directed lovingly at him? He would never see that expression in them now and must take his pleasure in other things. “No! Rather we had a few skirmishes—me, displaying my acerbic wit, and she besting me. I thought my intellectual pride merely engaged—that I would be satisfied once I had topped her in wordplay—but it is clear now that my interest was engaged from the start. I was just too haughty to admit it.”

“I don’t understand. How did things progress?”

“Well, they did not progress at all really. There was no time. But through no fault of my own I managed to involve myself in a bit of a scandal with her. We danced the waltz together at the Netherfield ball. That was enough to raise eyebrows in Hertfordshire. Why Caroline included the controversial dance I will never know. Afterwards we were waiting for the supper line to diminish on the terrace. Elizabeth leant down to adjust her shoe and toppled off the balcony. I tried to stop her. I have never been so embarrassed by my clumsiness. I managed to grab hold of her, but I was off balance and my dancing slippers just slid on the stone. We both ended up falling over the side. It was quite a way down, over six feet, but we fell onto grass. I was unhurt. I have taken worse tosses off horses. She unfortunately twisted her ankle. I carried her upstairs afterwards. That was when I really knew or should have known. She smelt so good, felt so right. It was like I was iron and she a lodestone. Once I put her down, I did not want to leave. I just wished I could make everyone else disappear, lock the door and sink into the sheets with her.

After I went off to change my cravat, I discovered that her cameo had somehow ended up in my possession. It had fallen into the top of my waistcoat. I took it back to her, even though I knew I shouldn’t visit her alone.”

Darcy seemed to drift off into a reverie, recalling how he had held Elizabeth’s stockinged foot in his hand. How he had wished he could reach under her skirts to untie her garter and roll the stocking down her leg...

“So, you got caught alone with her?”

“What? No! But rumours started circulating at the ball nonetheless—that I had been trying to take advantage of her on the balcony before she fell. I suppose it was my own fault. Apparently, I set the locals’ backs up by not dancing with any ladies outside my own party at the country assembly I attended. But I do not like to raise expectations unnecessarily. There was no one there remotely eligible and I thought it best to dance only with Charles’ sisters.

“Oh, Darce! The best way to not raise expectations is to dance with every girl in the room! And if there is a wallflower, take her for a spin and then everyone will know you are just well mannered.”

While Darcy could see the sense in Richard’s advice, he felt his cousin could not fully appreciate his difficulties. Not being burdened with great wealth himself, Richard was not hunted in the same way.

“One can never be too careful in one’s conduct in public, Richard. As it was, Charles was being incredibly partial to her sister and certainly raised her expectations. He came within aims-ace of declaring himself.”

“And what if he had? A weaver’s brat should think himself lucky to get a beautiful squire’s daughter.”

“But Bingley is trying to improve his connections. He has money but lacks gentility.”

“A squire’s daughter is more gentility than he could probably handle.”

Darcy sighed—in hindsight he was unhappy with the part he had played in discouraging Bingley from returning to Longbourn. No doubt if Bingley had declared himself, he would have been hailed as the saviour of the family.

“Anyway, Bingley was on the verge of visiting Longbourn after the ball—that is the Bennets’ estate or was—when a letter arrived for me. It was from Elizabeth’s mother, demanding that I marry her daughter because of my conduct on the previous night. I was livid. Bingley’s sister demanded that her brother immediately decamp to London before he was entrapped. Of course, I realise now that allowances must be made for Mrs Bennet. Apparently, she arrived home from the ball to discover that her husband had passed away. There is an entail upon the estate. They were staring destitution in the face.”

“As sad as that is, it is still no reason for you to sacrifice yourself in order to play Sir Galahad.”

“I know, but the truth was I had already realised my growing attachment to Elizabeth and was on the verge of succumbing to it. Had that letter not arrived, I would have visited Longbourn with Bingley, and if I had found her amenable, begun to court her. Damn my stubbornness! The whole thing made me determined to run in the opposite direction.”

“I’m sorry, Darce, but I can’t help but think that you’ve now made a hasty decision driven by despair. After such a short acquaintance, after which you don’t see the lady for months, she turns up here and within a week you pop the question.”

“It has been more than a week. You do not understand! Once I left England, I started dreaming of Elizabeth—every night. Then Caroline tried to entrap me several times. She threw herself into the Neckar so that I had to rescue her—Lord, the water was freezing! She invaded my cabin pretending she was sleepwalking, then made me read bad poetry to her.”

“It wasn’t Byron, was it?”

“Yes, that truly cringe-worthy stuff from Hours of Idleness. But Caroline’s stratagems had the opposite effect to what she intended. They just made me realise what a gem Elizabeth is. I do not have to be on my guard around her. She does not constantly bore me by agreeing with me or tittering whenever I say something remotely funny. I can talk to her. She is a real person like Almeria, only this time my heart is engaged. It is an attachment so visceral, it is like she is already a part of me.”

“So, you had this epiphany on the way to Vienna?”

“Yes, and I was so overwrought that I agreed to accompany Bingley to that damn brothel. The woman I chose had chestnut hair just like hers,” said Darcy, sighing. “Thanks, by the way, for telling your father that I caught my malady in a brothel!”

“Ach! Sorry about that, but you told me that yourself.”

“I did not intend for you to rat on me to your father!”

“My apologies. I regretted it as soon as the words slipped from my tongue. Father was saying that you must have been misdiagnosed, that one only caught brain fever in diseased villages. Your doctor in Vienna told me a brothel was the source of the outbreak and Mr Trevor told me that Mr Bingley had dragged you off there after you closed the deal with Hildie. I had no idea that Father would blabber it to Aunt Catherine!”

“Apparently, he thought it would dissuade her from pursuing her grand plan of marrying me to Anne. On the contrary—as Anne and I are both now invalids, Aunt believes we will suit admirably! I am not sure how Aunt thinks Anne will ever get an heir when neither of us has the energy or the inclination to as much as rub together, and I am ‘diseased’ to boot! Does she believe babies are found in the cabbage patch?”

“No, but Father had a laugh about that. Apparently, she plans to sneak a bairn up the back stairs. And your troubles are not yet over. She would not go back to Kent. When Father said there was no room for her at Matlock House with the princess staying and Robert expected home imminently—he wishes!—Aunt merely removed to the Pulteney, so expect more trouble there.”

“I know I took you by surprise yesterday, but now you have had time to think on it, how do you rate my chances of getting Uncle to agree to my marriage to Elizabeth?”