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From this statement, Lizzy took that Fairbanks disapproved of her use of the plunge pool. However, given the outcome of her first adventure, Elizabeth was not about to turn down a second swimming lesson.

“Thank you, Fairbanks, I will remember to plait it next time.”

Having attired the mistress in one of the beautiful gossamer nightgowns that had arrived from the modiste, Fairbanks lay a matching wrap across the end of the bed and bid her mistress goodnight. Tired from her eventful day, Lizzy blew out her candle and tried to fall asleep in her new surroundings but found she could not. After some time, she got up. As she was unfamiliar with the whereabouts of the striker, Elizabeth relit her candle in the hearth and stoked the fire so that she could read a book by the fireside, drawing a beautiful, crocheted rug that was folded over the arm of the fauteuil around her shoulders.

But the words on the page could not hold her attention and instead she found herself staring round her elegant bedchamber in the dim light. She could appreciate it better now since first being shown it by Finn when most of the furniture was still under covers. The elegant gold chinoiserie wallpaper she thought very beautiful, but Elizabeth could not like the imposing ebonized canopied bed that loomed in the darkness, though it was fit for a Chinese empress. Nor did she fancy the huge Venetian mirror, which was too ornate to be pretty.

From the comments he had dropped as he lifted the Holland covers to show her the furniture, Finn was clearly hankering to exercise his passion for redecorating. Elizabeth had at first been reluctant to put Darcy to additional expense, particularly after she had accidentally glimpsed one of the invoices from the modiste. But Fitzwilliam had encouraged her to style her chamber to her liking, and it seemed an appropriate way to thank Finn for his complaisance in helping with Mr Thorne, especially if she could contrive to make it look a little less grand in the process. She liked the style that Finn had brought to her husband’s bedchamber, which was bright and pleasing, luxurious while still being practical.

But having touched upon the subject of Mr Thorne, it was now he who invaded Lizzy’s mind. As the vista of her own marital bliss opened up before her, Elizabeth thought guiltily of her dear sister Jane who was the one who deserved the wealth and high position, having groomed herself in her manners and deportment to fit that office. It seemed too bad that Lizzy, who had only ever wished to spend her days with her father in his library, was the one who had made the eligible match, stumbling into her marriage with Fitzwilliam Darcy. Perhaps Mr Thorne’s position was not so high as her husband’s, but he was certainly very wealthy and well respected. To Lizzy’s mind, he was a far greater prize than the shiftless Mr Bingley. To move her schemes for Jane’s future felicity ahead, Lizzy had petitioned Darcy to invite Mr Thorne to Grosvenor Square for lunch in several days’ time, ostensibly on business.

When a burnt log disintegrating in the hearth disturbed Lizzy from her reverie, she realised why her thoughts had turned to Jane—she was lonely. Used to sleeping with her sister for so many years, the thought of lying alone in a huge empty bed could not appeal, even if Clara had run the warming pan over the sheets just before she got in.

Pulling the rug about her shoulders rather than searching for one of the brocade dressing gowns in the capacious dressing room, Lizzy picked up her candle and stole along the dark private hallway to the connecting door with the master’s bedchamber. When a tentative knock produced no answer, she cautiously opened the door to find the room in darkness.

“Fitzwilliam?” she called out tentatively as she approached the bed.

“Yes?” came the groggy reply.

“Do you mind if I get in? I am cold.”

“Of course not.”

Deciding that Darcy slightly favoured the side near the window, Elizabeth set her candle on the bedside table next to his dressing room and slipped in beside him.

“Did you want to make love again?” he asked, sleepy but willing.

“Mostly I would just like to snuggle.”

Darcy smiled. “I can guarantee you that I am warm.”

They settled down together. After half an hour adjusting pillows and positions, they drifted off with Lizzy firmly clamped to Darcy’s warm back.

Several hours after sending her husband off to work the next day, Mrs Gardiner was obliged to answer a knock on the door herself as Sally was still in the kitchen. Reminding herself that she should soon have a new footman once their lodger Mr Bainbridge departed, Mrs Gardiner opened the door to find, not the delivery boy she had expected, but a tall and handsome well-dressed gentleman with angelic strawberry blonde locks.

“Mrs Gardiner? Mr Bingley at your service!” he said, sweeping a deep bow.

“Mr Bingley!” repeated Mrs Gardiner, thinking the young man might be mistaken for Jane’s twin. Confronted by his disarming grin, Mrs Gardiner suddenly understood all the force of his attraction for her niece.

“I beg your pardon for calling at such an early hour, but having heard Miss Bennet is just returned from her sister Mary’s wedding, I made all haste to present myself.”

Mrs Gardiner immediately began to wonder where Mr Bingley’s information had come from—his Hertfordshire connections or Mr Darcy—and more importantly, what had suddenly changed in his circumstances that he should now wait on them. “I regret that Jane is still in Hertfordshire, sir. She decided to remain there temporarily to support her mother’s spirits—Mrs Bennet was feeling poorly after the loss of two of her daughters to matrimony.”

When Mr Bingley gave a laugh and then bit his lip, Mrs Gardiner knew immediately from his expression that he was thinking of the irony of that situation, given Mrs Bennet’s perpetual state of propelling her daughters into matrimony. It was almost as if she could read his mind.

“Yes, a bit of a surprise, Miss Elizabeth snaring Darcy,” said Bingley, trying to make a quick recover and then realising he had said something improper that was typical of the conversations he had with his sisters but totally inappropriate for one of Miss Elizabeth’s relatives. Women frequently put him on his back foot. Except Miss Bennet, of course, whose kind smiles and gentle manner always set him at ease. “I mean, I had no idea that Darcy was so taken with Miss Elizabeth, even if they did fall off the balcony at the ball! Of course, there was nothing in it! I only wish that someone had noticed the balcony needed repair beforehand. It would have been dreadful if anyone had been seriously injured!”

There was an awkward pause as they contemplated each other. Without the company of either of her nieces, Mrs Gardiner could not invite Mr Bingley inside. Nor on the strength of such a short acquaintance did she feel she could suggest they stroll down the street together.

“Well!” said Bingley. “I had best hie off to Longbourn, then! Please forgive my intrusion.”

“Not at all, Mr Bingley. I hope to meet again when we can become better acquainted,” replied Mrs Gardiner holding out her hand.

With a bow over it, Bingley retrieved his horse from the hitching post and paid off the urchin who was minding it, flipping another shilling towards the boy for his trouble.

As she closed the door, Mrs Gardiner murmured a quiet prayer for Jane—that her inconstant suitor might know his mind, one way or another.

After his visit to Darcy on the previous day, Bingley had immediately confronted Caroline with the evidence of her perfidy. But instead of delivering the stern homily he had rehearsed as he walked back across Grosvenor Square, Bingley had endured a terrible scene with his sisters who claimed only to be looking after their brother’s best interests. The news that Darcy had already actually married Miss Elizabeth Bennet had caused Caroline to swoon. Leaving his sister languishing on the chaise longue while Louisa ministered to her with a vinaigrette, Bingley took himself off to Boodle’s to escape the hysterics. He had crept back into the house long after his sisters had gone to bed and got up early to present himself at Cheapside.