Page 41 of Infamous Relations

“Dear minx,” Darcy said fondly, lifting the hand he still held to his lips and lightly kissing her fingertips. “For your sake I will gladly discuss St James with that old knight until we find some mutual acquaintance he can celebrate, but be assured that in return I will be asking him for stories of the childhood exploits of a certain young lady I know.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Oh, dear.”

Her expression was so alarmed that Darcy began to laugh. Kissing her fingertips again, he chuckled “I begin to think that you were even more troublesome as a child than I feared.”

The sound of the front door opening and closing made Darcy sigh and let go of Elizabeth’s hand. Standing, he moved away to a respectable distance, and had assumed his usual pose standing stiffly by the window when the parlour door opened to admit Mr. Gardiner and Maria Lucas.

“M-Mr. Darcy!” Maria gasped, dropping a hasty curtsy.

“Miss Lucas.” To Elizabeth’s surprise, Mr. Darcy unbent significantly, smiling gently and approaching Maria. He reached out to take her hands in his and spoke softly to her. “I am so very sorry for the loss of your brother. I am sure that it will be a great comfort to Mrs. Collins, to have her dear sister close by at this trying time.”

“Oh,” Maria looked quite overcome. “Thank you,” she whispered shyly at last.

Darcy pressed lightly on her hands again before releasing them, turning back to Elizabeth. “I invited your uncle Mr. Gardiner to stay at Rosings Park until he has to return to London,” he told her. “While social calls are of course out of the question, my cousin Anne has indicated to me that she would like to see you - and to meet Miss Bennet - before your return to Hertfordshire. Your uncle’s residence at Rosings will provide an entirely unremarkable reason for your presence, therefore. May I tell Anne that she will see you on the morrow?”

Surprised, Elizabeth looked at Mr. Gardiner, who gave her a benevolent nod. “I… yes. Please tell Miss de Bourgh that Jane and I will be delighted to attend Rosings tomorrow.”

Darcy took his leave with a handshake for Mr. Gardiner and very correct bows to both Maria and Elizabeth. Only Elizabeth saw the smile he darted her before he exited the room, though. Or so she thought, until she turned to see her uncle’s hastily hidden smirk.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Elizabeth was not at all surprised when Mr. Darcy arrived at the Parsonage a little before she and Jane planned to depart for Rosings the following morning. That he was accompanied by Colonel Fitzwilliam was rather less expected.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” she said with an arch little smile. “We are much honoured by your escort.”

Darcy bowed over Jane’s hand almost perfunctorily before turning to Elizabeth and taking her hand to kiss. “After what happened to you on your last walk to Rosings,” he said quietly, for her ears alone, “it would have been unconscionable of me to allow you to make that walk without my escort. Never again, Elizabeth, will I put you at risk.”

She looked up into his eyes and smiled, allowing him to retain possession of her hand, tuck it into the crook of his elbow. “You did not put me at risk — Will.”

“We may have to agree to disagree on that point.”

“As on many others, no doubt,” her tone was pert, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at him. “But then, you seem to rather enjoy it when I disagree with you.”

He smiled rather sheepishly at that, pressed his gloved fingers lightly atop hers. “You are at your most fetching when you are passionate in defence of a point.”

Delighted to have discovered something else about him, Elizabeth tightened her hold on his arm and moved a little closer. “I believe that I shall be sure to disagree with you regularly, Will, to ensure that your regard of me remains constant!”

“You need have no fear of it diminishing even if we in the future agree on every single topic, I assure you,” he said fervently.

Walking in their wake at a slightly more sedate pace, Jane and Colonel Fitzwilliam both carefully averted their eyes. Colonel Fitzwilliam, though, could not resist asking the question.

“They seem to have, ah, settled any differences that may have previously existed between them?” he made it a question.

“I believe that a very honest conversation yesterday cleared the air, rather,” Jane said with a small smile.

“You and Miss Elizabeth are very close, are you not?”

“As close as two sisters may be,” Jane’s smile was loving. “She is the best of sisters.”

“She says the same thing of you, Miss Bennet. Long before I laid eyes on you, Miss Elizabeth had regaled me with tales of your sweetness, your good nature. I half expected to see a halo atop your head and angel wings sprouting from your shoulders.”

Her smile vanished. “Pray, do not call me an angel, sir. I am far from that.”

“That was what Bingley called you,” Fitzwilliam realised, “his angel…”

“He set me on a pedestal, and I think I might be afraid of heights,” Jane whispered. Blue eyes lifted, looking into his beseechingly. “I do not want to be admired only for how I look, sir. I want to be admired as Mr. Darcy admires Elizabeth; for everything I am.”

For a few steps further they were silent, as Fitzwilliam gathered his thoughts. And then he smiled, broadly, and said “Do you realise, the first time I saw you, you were smacking Darcy across the face with every scrap of your strength?”