Page 69 of Dear Friend

“Mr. Darcy said several things at dinner. You will have to be more particular.”

“He knew why she left Hertfordshire. He knew she had been ill, and he knew there had been no quarrel between her and Miss Eliza.”

“He told you how. Miss Eliza spoke to him of her.”

“Yes.” Caroline's frown deepened. “So he said.”

Louisa regarded her more closely. “Surely you do not imagine Mr. Darcy lied about it?”

“No, of course not. That is not what troubles me.” Caroline rose and crossed towards the fire. “After I first heard Miss Harding mentioned at Lucas Lodge, I had some enquiries made. I wanted to know whether there was any truth in what had been said of her resemblance to Miss Eliza.”

Mrs. Hurst laughed. “Of course you did.”

“There is nothing amusing in wishing to know whether a story is true.”

“Not at all. Particularly when the story concerns a woman Mr. Darcy admires.”

Caroline ignored this. “Miss Harding did not merely leave Hertfordshire. She was taken to Somerset.”

Mrs. Hurst's brow furrowed, plainly confused by what her sister was implying. “And?”

Caroline turned. “Where was Mr. Darcy when Charles wrote asking him to come to Netherfield?”

There was a brief silence.

“Somerset,” Louisa said at last.

“Precisely.”

“Caroline, Somerset is a county, not a drawing room. Two people may occupy it without ever setting eyes upon one another.”

“I am perfectly aware of that.”

“Then I cannot imagine what you are suggesting.”

“That is precisely what vexes me. I do not know.” Caroline began to pace slowly before the fire. “But there are too many peculiarities in Mr. Darcy's behaviour for me to believe there is nothing behind them.”

Louisa's amusement returned. “You are determined to discover a mystery because Mr. Darcy admires a woman you do not.”

“Admires her?” Caroline stopped and stared at her sister. “Louisa, you have known Mr. Darcy nearly as long as I have. How often have you seen him behave towards a woman as he has behaved towards Miss Elizabeth?”

Mrs. Hurst did not immediately answer.

“At the assembly, Sir William spoke her name and Mr. Darcy looked at her as though he had been struck. I saw it. He stared at her.”

“Perhaps he thought her pretty.”

“Mr. Darcy has seen pretty women before.”

“Then perhaps he thought her very pretty.”

Caroline gave her an impatient look. “Within minutes he asked her to dance.”

“He has danced before.”

“Three sets, Louisa.”

That silenced her sister for another moment.