Page 85 of A November to Remember

“Then we are at an impasse, Mr Darcy. If you insist on taking all the blame, you leave me nothing to apologise for.”

“You have nothing to apologise for.”

“That is a very dangerous precedent to set.” She let out a soft laugh. “If you tell me I am without fault, I shall become insufferable by Christmas.”

“I am willing to take that risk.” Mr Darcy’s thumb brushed her knuckles lightly.

“Where does that leave us, Mr Darcy?” She kept her gaze steady, refusing to shy away from the intensity in his eyes.

“I would like to court you.”

Elizabeth’s heart gave a most inconvenient leap. She could hardly pretend this thought had never occurred to her, but hearing it spoken so plainly deprived her of all the clever replies she had prepared.

“You would?”

“Very much so.”

Elizabeth smiled at the readiness of the answer.

“There is also the matter of Roc. He will never speak to me again if I do not do everything in my power to ensure you keep bringing him apples.” He kept a perfectly solemn expression, though a teasing glint illuminated his dark eyes. “Furthermore, I find I rather enjoy receiving apples from you as well.”

A joyful laugh erupted from Elizabeth’s throat. “You are absurd, sir.”

“I am entirely serious.” He stepped closer, the space between them narrowing. “Roc requires constant bribery, and I require your company.”

“This is a most unusual argument in favour of courtship, sir. Am I to understand that my principal qualification is an ability to feed your horse?”

“Roc has excellent judgement. I trust him.”

Elizabeth squeezed his arm, her smile radiant. “I should be delighted to provide apples for your horse, Mr Darcy. I agree to your courtship. Not reluctantly.”

He exhaled a long breath, the tension leaving his shoulders. “Thank God!”

He tucked her hand more securely into the crook of his arm, and they resumed their walk down the orchard path. The mud no longer seemed treacherous, and the grey sky felt irrelevant.

“We shall see how you bear it, sir.” Elizabeth offered him a challenging smile. “Though you have been spared one particular trial. My cousin, Mr Collins, departed with astonishing haste yesterday. He threw his belongings into his trunks and ran to the post-coach, muttering about Lady Catherine and goats.”

Mr Darcy’s expression did not change as he helped her around a puddle. “Did he? How very unexpected. I trust his journey back to Kent will prove uneventful.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, studying his impassive profile. “It was suspicious. One day he was determined to heal the breach, and the next, following a brief visit to the circulating library, he vanished. I cannot help but wonder if a certain gentleman from Derbyshire had any part in this retreat.”

Mr Darcy looked down at her, the left corner of his mouth twitching with amusement. “I am merely a guest in Hertfordshire, Miss Elizabeth. I have no influence over the reading habits or the travel arrangements of the clergy.”

“You are avoiding the question, Mr Darcy.”

“I am admiring the orchard, Miss Elizabeth. The trees are of a superior quality.”

Elizabeth laughed, patting his arm. “We shall negotiate those evasions at a later time. For now, I believe we must fetch my sisters before they freeze.”

She left her hand on his arm although they were not on treacherous ground anymore. Ahead of them, Kitty and Lydia emerged from behind the shrubbery, arguing over whether squirrels could be persuaded to answer to names.

Chapter Twenty: A Host of Regrets

November 26th, 1811

On the morning of the twenty-sixth of November, Longbourn contained five young ladies, one housemaid, one pair of curling tongs, and an ungodly level of noise. Lydia was screaming at Kitty about the tongs. Kitty was screaming at Lydia about a ribbon that had been hers in the first place. The housemaid was on the landing holding a hairbrush in one hand and a pin-cushion in the other, turning her head from one bedchamber door to the next.

Mrs Bennet, standing by the staircase in her second-best wrapper, did not hear any of it, because she had been walking two inches above the carpet since Sunday.