Page 11 of Undone

…a man carrying a burden.

Elizabeth dismissed the thought as the second set began.

There being fewer gentlemen than ladies remaining, Elizabeth found herself obliged to sit it out. She accepted a vacant chair a short distance from where Mr. Darcy stood, more because ithappened to be empty than from any deliberate wish to observe him.

Indeed, she doubted he had noticed her at all.

Twice she looked towards him.

Twice she found him gazing absently across the room, as though the assembly scarcely existed.

Whatever occupied his thoughts appeared infinitely more compelling than anything Meryton had to offer.

By the time the second set concluded, Mr. Bingley was making his way towards his friend with the buoyant step of a man whose evening had answered every expectation.

"There you are," he said with a laugh. "I had begun to think you meant to spend the whole evening studying the wallpaper."

Elizabeth smiled despite herself.

She paid little attention to what followed until she heard Mr. Darcy readily agree that Mr. Bingley had been fortunate in securing Jane for the first set.

Elizabeth's eyes sought her sister almost instinctively. Jane's happiness had always been her own, and it pleased her that even a gentleman as reserved as Mr. Darcy should perceive what everyone who truly knew Jane must inevitably discover.

Then her own name reached her ears.

"...Miss Elizabeth..."

Almost without intending it, she listened.

"...an excellent dancer..."

"...a most agreeable companion..."

Heat rose unexpectedly to her cheeks.

Mr. Bingley was speaking of her and complimenting her. Then he heard him persuade his friend further to ask her to dance.

There followed a pause.

Then she heard Mr. Darcy say, "I have no wish to dance."

Elizabeth could not help wondering why everyone appeared so determined that the gentleman should dance if he plainlypreferred not to. Surely it was no great offence to remain by the wall if dancing gave one little pleasure.

"Oh, come, Darcy," Mr. Bingley persisted.

Another pause followed, and then, in a voice rather louder than seemed necessary, Mr. Darcy replied, "She is tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me."

For a single suspended instant Elizabeth wondered whether she had mistaken the words. She had not, and the warmth fled from her cheeks as quickly as it had risen.

She had no desire to sit another moment within hearing of a conversation she ought never to have heard, and rose at once. It was only as she turned away that she caught sight of Mr. Bingley's expression, his eyes widened in evident horror, and as Mr. Darcy began to follow his friend's gaze, Elizabeth did not wait to discover whether he had recognised that she had heard them. She had no wish to afford him the satisfaction.

She went in search of Jane, but had not gone far before Charlotte Lucas joined her.

"You seem in a rush, Lizzy."

Elizabeth laughed, though the sound carried rather more spirit than she felt. "I have just been informed that I am tolerable."

Charlotte looked at her in surprise.