Page 19 of Her Whole Heart
As he was pressing his signet ring into the wax seal, Mr. Yardley knocked on his door and inquired whether he was at home for Mr. Bingley.
“Of course,” he said, and handed the older man his letter.
Bingley bounded in a few moments later. “Darcy, where have you been? I have not seen you since the Ashfords' ball. You missed the Carutherses' ball, and you are always at the club on Wednesdays when you are in town, but I did not see you there either.”
“I was at the club on Tuesday, and have been involved with some business matters, Bingley.”
“Business with Lord Carlisle?” Bingley inquired.
Darcy looked at his friend sharply.
“Come now, Darcy, it was around the ballroom in moments.” A little laugh at Darcy’s expense was the end of his friend’s interest. Bingley was as agreeable as ever. He could not know what the earl had demanded of him. Of course not. The earl would not wish for it to be said that he must force a man to befriend Miss Elizabeth.
“How was the Carutherses' ball?” Darcy cared not a whit, but he could see Bingley wished to tell him.
“Miss Bennet was there.”
Absorbed with his own troubles, Darcy had entirely forgotten Bingley’s infatuation with the eldest Miss Bennet. In fact, he had not even asked after her when he had met Miss Hamilton and Miss Elizabeth at Hatchard’s. He poured himself a brandy and silently held up the decanter to inquire whether his friend wished for one.
“Yes, thank you, Darcy.”
“I presume you danced with Miss Bennet.”
“I did. I asked her for another as well, but she had already promised her other dances. Every man at the ball wanted a set with her.”
For the second time that day, Darcy found himself offering advice. “Bingley, two dances are enough to raise eyebrows, if not expectations. Do not be impetuous. If not for yourself, be mindful that you place Miss Bennet in a difficult position. You have only just met, and she cannot know yourintentions. If she accepts two dances from you, it will be thought that you are courting. If she does favour you but must refuse you for propriety’s sake, she risks driving you away. An unenviable situation.”
“Miss Elizabeth said much the same thing,” Bingley admitted. “But it took her fewer words.”
That was odd. Was Miss Elizabeth expecting a man wealthier or better connected than Bingley to show an interest in her sister? Given Miss Bennet’s appearance, he supposed it was not unreasonable. “She told you not to ask her sister for a second dance?”
“Yes, in a manner of speaking,” Bingley said. “We danced together, and afterwards she asked permission to say something forward. As it turns out, it was not forward at all, just common sense.”
Darcy was stuck on the earlier part of Bingley’s statement. “You danced with Miss Elizabeth?”
Bingley laughed. “Of course I did, and I was far from the only one. You know, I rather like Miss Elizabeth—she would be a far more congenial sister than the two I have.”
Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst would not be in town for another month or more. They had been detained in Scarborough by their relations, and Bingley had wisely ignored their pleas to come fetch them early.
“It is ridiculous,” Bingley continued. “How is anyone meant to know one another if we cannot even spend time together at a ball?”
“I happen to agree, but unfortunately we are not the arbiters of what is acceptable.” Had he been, Darcy would have kept Lady Winters from wetting her gown and strolling through the crowd at Viscountess Riverton’s Twelfth Night ball last season. Wealth did not assure taste, only the ability to satisfy it.
“Did you know Miss Elizabeth was so clever? When I escorted Miss Bennet to her sister and asked Miss Loughty to dance, she was speakingat length with Miss Torrington and discussing that bird she flies. What is it again? Miss Elizabeth said something about a kestrel or peregrine?”
Dread gnawed at Darcy, and he closed his eyes. “A falcon.” Only a handful of men in society still practiced falconry, and they were all elderly oddities. For a young woman, it was eccentric. It would be one thing were she already married and her husband approved her pursuit, but to be yet unwed and engaging in a medieval sport long out of fashion made her an easy target for the gossiping ladies of the ton.
Despite being sponsored by Lady Carlisle and supported by his own uncle, Miss Elizabeth’s position in the ton was not entirely secure. Darcy was aware he had done some of the damage himself with his insult, and he had remedied that somewhat by being seen with her and Miss Hamilton at Gunter’s. But Miss Torrington was absolutely not the sort of friend Miss Elizabeth ought to be making.
He groaned.
“Are you well, Darcy?” Bingley asked.
He wasnotwell. Darcy was certain the earl would blame him for not having attended the ball. He might have prevented the interaction or at least shortened it. A fortnight in London, and Miss Elizabeth was already aligning herself with this peculiar woman. Lord Carlisle would be displeased with him, and Darcy did not want to suffer the consequences of that displeasure.
It was Lord Carlisle’s decree that had made Darcy send his regrets to Lady Caruthers and remain at home. A small gesture of defiance that had soothed him, at the time.
Darcy waved away his friend’s concern.
