Page 9 of Her Whole Heart
“As they did you. You did not sit out a single dance.”
Elizabeth waved one hand. “None of them were interested in me. Not like Mr. Bingley was interested in you.”
“It was only a dance, Lizzy.”
Mr. Bingley’s eyes had nearly fallen from his head when he spied Jane for the first time. “It would have been two dances had you allowed it,” she reminded her sister.
“Two dances is too much for a man I have only just met.”
“Agreed. But you like him.”
“I do not see what there isnotto like. He is sensible, good-humoured, lively—”
Elizabeth hummed an agreement. “And unlike his friend, he has excellent manners.”
“He does,” Jane said, her voice wistful and faraway.
“Handsome, too,” Elizabeth added, “which a young man ought to be if he possibly can.” In truth, she thought Mr. Darcy the handsomer of the two, even when he scowled. Well, no matter. There were plenty of men in London, and he had made it clear that he was not for her. The only question before them was if Mr. Bingley might be for Jane.
On Friday, Darcy was standing in his uncle’s parlour, waiting for dinner to be announced, when the message found him. “What is this?” he asked the butler.
“I do not know, sir. It was forwarded from Darcy House.”
He turned the square of paper over in his hand and examined the wax.
“That,” Milton said, looking over Darcy’s shoulder, “is the Earl of Carlisle’s seal.”
“I am only surprised that it has taken this long,” Fitzwilliam said laconically from where he was seated on the settee, one arm thrown carelessly over the back. “I half-expected you to receive it an hour after you returned home.”
Darcy sighed. He had been expecting it too. When no word had arrived by the middle of the day, he had foolishly thought he might have escaped notice. He broke the seal and unfolded the single sheet.
“Summons?” Fitzwilliam inquired.
The Earl of Carlisle requests the pleasure of your company, he read. “Summons,” he confirmed.
“Why is Carlisle summoning Darcy?” Uncle Matlock asked from the doorway. “Whatever it is, make your amends, boy, and quickly. I need Carlisle’s support in the Lords.” He glanced at Milton. “What did Darcy do?”
“He opened his mouth,” Fitz said, and Darcy wanted to throw something at his cousin to wipe the satisfied look off his face.
“And said what?” the earl inquired. “It could not have been at the ball last night, could it? I was there and heard nothing.”
“Miss Elizabeth heard it again and again, thanks to Darcy,” Milton informed them, and Darcy’s stomach twisted. Fitz was still angry with him, and it appeared Milton was as well. They were not wrong to be. He had been ungentlemanly, but how much worse had it been for Miss Elizabeth? He was able to remove himself from the unpleasant scene he had himself created but she had been stuck there the entire evening. No matter that she had been impertinent. She had not deserved that.
“Miss Elizabeth who?”
“Bennet,” Milton supplied.
“Bennet.” The earl stood quietly for a moment before asking, “Did Miss Elizabeth have a sister with her, a blonde girl?”
“Yes,” Fitz confirmed, a lift of his brows expressing his curiosity.
“Quite beautiful, Miss Bennet,” Milton said. “I would not be surprised were she to marry very well.”
Lord Matlock nodded to himself. “And they come from an estate near London somewhere?”
“Hertfordshire,” Fitz said.
“They have finally come to town,” he murmured, almost to himself.
