Page 57 of Eavesdroppers Never Hear
“If this be your second childhood…” she glanced at the oblivious sisters at the pianoforte before giving his hand a squeeze, “…do not be in too much of a hurry to grow up.”
He laughed, and tried to answer, but her hand on his made him mostly incapable of speech, so he simply returned her squeeze and smiled.
Bingley and Jane interrupted them in time to avoid awkwardness, saying the rain was increasing so they should return to Longbourn.
In short order, they reversed the morning’s journey. Elizabeth noticed the officers leaving her aunt’s house, so presumed her sisters must have been well entertained. She shuddered to think what they got up to without any of theirelders, but she could not spend all her time doing her parents’ job. She noticed Carter, Chamberlayne, and Wickham ducking around the corner and making a break for the barracks at a run, then never gave them another thought.
~~~~~
Saturday played out much like Friday, with the three elder Bennet sisters visiting Netherfield. The colonel made an appearance, and Darcy asked Elizabeth to get to know him, as he was his closest confidant and Georgiana’s other guardian. He now seated himself by her, and talked so agreeably of Hertfordshire and Derbyshire, of travelling and staying at home, of new books and music, that Elizabeth had never been half so well entertained in that room before.
Well, that was an exaggeration. She had indeed had quite a few significant conversations in that very room, but none carefree enough to pass for entertainment. Some had been close to a knife fight, and her latest discussions with her beau were more akin to lovemaking. She was becoming increasingly comfortable with William. She had decided in her own mind that she liked him, and likely more; but he still frightened her a bit, and she wondered if she did the same to him. She would, of course, never ask as she did not have the nerve, but she could think about it.
From the colonel she learnt more about the Darcys, and she found it informative, even though she strongly suspected half of it was wrong or exaggerated.
The day went quickly with Jane and Mr Bingley only slightly more comfortable with each other.
Elizabeth was in the middle of a conversation with Darcy, who very politely asked her for a set at the ball.
She laughed. “We are courting. Of course, you may have a set.”
“Which?”
She recognized his nervousness and smiled. “The first, naturally… unless you want to open with Georgiana, since it is her first dance.”
“Fitzwilliam would kill me… and he carries a sword everywhere he goes.”
“Perfect,” she said with a smile and found herself meaning it. With a twinge of nervousness, she added, “And the supper, of course.”
Darcy gave her the biggest smile yet, and she wondered if that statement was the moment where her fate was sealed. It was certainly not irrevocable, and she fully intended to take advantage of the time to make a good decision—but things were proceeding at breakneck speed.
~~~~~
Elizabeth noticed Jane and Bingley go off to a quiet corner for a conversation which left him looking resigned.
Darcy raised an eyebrow questioningly.
She sighed. “Jane and I have not been talking as much as we once did for some reason. I suspect Mr Bingley hoped for the opening set, and she gave him another.”
“Oh,” Darcy said, looking relieved that his opinion was not being sought.
“In answer to your question of yesterday, I believe it was the wrong question.”
“Which one?”
“Did Mr Bingley hurt his chances by going to London?”
“And?”
“I am coming to believe there is an inevitability to couples that work out. A pair that is meant to be together will work through all obstacles, and if they do not—”
“They are not meant to be.”
“Exactly.”
He looked thoughtful, so she quickly squeezed his hand. “We cannot say if we were meant to be yet, but in the end, Mr Bingley had to leave. If he kept his sisters here, I doubt Jane would ever have spoken to him.”
She glanced around to be certain they were not overheard. “Just between us, I suspect Jane is disconcerted by how quickly he abandoned them. Whether they deserved it or not, they went from his good graces to his brown books over one conversation that was not so different from previous diatribes. A woman takes a tremendous chance when she marries. Her husband has enormous power over her life, so…” She licked her lips nervously. “…we cannot afford mistakes.”
