Page 47 of Eavesdroppers Never Hear
“Exactly,” he said with a laugh.
She glanced to Collins and saw that he was listening with interest, which was an improvement over talking or staring in his disconcerting way. Perhaps he was not beyond the reach of amendment?
“The second is obvious if you think about dynasties. The rich and powerful remain as such by thinking of their legacies. Owning two large estates is fine for your generation, but it practically demands at least two sons if you want to improve the family’s standing. On average, half of children are male, so two sons most likely require at least three live births, and more likely four, to say nothing of a spare. That seems a lot to ask of a lady too sickly to learn rudimentary accomplishments.”
Collins gulped at the harshness of the critique but had enough sense to keep his mouth shut.
Darcy whispered, “You worked out quite a bit in such a short time.”
“I am clever, but not that clever. That all came much later. In the heat of the moment, all I knew is that you would not and could not do such a thing. Even in the extremely unlikely case where you were dishonourable enough to court two women at the same time, you are not a good enough liar to pull it off.”
Darcy laughed uproariously, while Collins weakly joined in a moment later.
Collins finally realised he was in a place he did not belong, and quietly excused himself, much to the couple’s relief.
~~~~~
As Collins left, Elizabeth felt the strangest sensation. The farther the interloper got from her, the safer she felt. Of course, there was not the slightest danger from Mr Collins in the first place, but there was a feeling of safety with Mr Darcy that was hard to explain. She idly wondered if that was the nascent beginning of feelings for the man. Thus far, she had steadfastly avoided putting a name to what she was experiencing—but she was perfectly willing to name what it was not! It was not indifference, that was for certain.
She remembered going to sleep feeling like speaking with militia men, (who were obviously up for a bit of flirting), as disloyal. That indicated some kind of connexion. She thought about telling Darcy about it but decided to wait until the feelings clarified slightly. It would be unfair to him to claim feelings that were neither fully developed nor understood.
They walked toward the house where her mother and sisters were ready to pounce on the poor beleaguered gentleman, but she was in no hurry.
As they approached, she gave him a brief synopsis of her previous evening, and brief descriptions of the officers. Shecould barely remember any of the men’s names or stories, and suspected her beau would not care anyway, so she simply gave her impressions of what the conversations were like (dull) and how she spent the later parts of the evening (better).
Darcy described the fox hunt as a fox hunt exactly like the one before and the one before that and—”
She had to punch him lightly in the arm with a giggle to get him to stop.
“I take it you do not like fox hunts?”
“I can take them or leave them. The foxes are vermin which need to be exterminated, but I mostly leave it to my groundsmen.”
“I have never been to one, so I have no opinion.”
Darcy nodded, and they spoke for a couple more minutes on the previous day’s events.
Neither one was quite willing to admit they had missed the other, but both were beginning to feel the connexion forming.
~~~~~
Darcy survived the meeting with Elizabeth’s family, and took their overt enthusiasm with good grace, much to Elizabeth’s pleasure. She was beginning to think that once she met Lady Catherine, she would no longer need to feel embarrassed by her mother and sisters. That thought gave her a soft smile, which in turn gave Darcy one to match, even though he had no idea what she found so amusing.
He was to be back at Netherfield for the arrival of the other guests from town, so he could only call for an hour.
He spent most of the hour fending off questions from Mrs Bennet, trying to speak intelligently to Mary and Jane, trying to speak less intelligently with Lydia and Kitty, and generally making himself known to the family.
Elizabeth was happy with how the whole thing went off. Nobody embarrassed her unduly, nor did her beau seem to have any trouble navigating the shark infested waters of the Longbourn parlour. Her father and Mr Darcy spent a good quarter hour talking about the books in Pemberley, and Mr Bennet gave her a significant look suggesting she might get to the point sooner, rather than later. She suspected the man would have trouble deciding which was better: having one daughter well settled or acquiring access to such a fine library.
Darcy left in good order after giving Elizabeth a slightly less chaste kiss on both knuckles. He turned around and tipped his hat at his traditional spot before kicking his horse into a gallop.
Elizabeth watched until he went out of sight, then with a sigh, returned for luncheon and interrogation.
21.Association
Darcy met the coach as it pulled into the drive, handed the ladies down, and gave Georgiana a hug and bows to everyone else.
“Welcome to Netherfield,” Bingley said with something just short of his usual conviviality. “May I introduce my aunt, Mrs Ashford.”
