Page 19 of May I Have the Pleasure
He quickly surmised the unknown lady must be the second-eldest, since she stood between Miss Bennet and Miss Mary. The unknown lady wore a yellow silk ballgown and a brilliant smile that he thought he could quite easily fall in lovewith, whether she was his angel or not. He quickly foundher figure to be light and pleasing, her manners engaging, her eyes the loveliest he had ever seen, and the fact that she was staring at him like an exhibit in the menagerie did her no real harm.
Mr Bennet refrained from laughing at him (almost), while Mrs Bennet refrained from calling him a clodpole, though she was smiling.
Miss Bennet, of course, did not even think of making sport of him, so she did the honours.
“Mr Darcy, I do not believe you ever met my next-younger sister, Elizabeth, and now that I think of it, I do not believe I ever even mentioned her—much to my chagrin. She left halfway through that first assembly, so I do not think you were even introduced.”
Darcy paid not the slightest attention to the fact that everyone in the room was watching the interaction with good-natured humour, and he bowed very properly. “Miss Elizabeth, I assure you, the pleasure is all mine.”
“Mr Darcy, your head seems better,” she replied in the voice he had been searching for, which caused his face to light up like a bonfire, quickly followed by hers. Naturally, nobody else had the vaguest idea what that was all about, but it seemed that everyone’s absolute conviction that Mr Darcy was not available for matrimony, might have been a bit premature. Everybody knew Mr Darcy as an amiable man, but nobody in the room had ever seen him act more Bingley than Bingley.
“An angel of mercy changed my life,” he said honestly.
He was smiling brighter than Bingley or Miss Bennet, but then he was abruptly hit by the most disturbing memory of his life.
As if being smote by a vengeful Norse god, he recalled what hadprecededhis rescue, and his face went white as he recalled the words,"She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.”
He had never put together his slight and the subsequent rescue being the same person, and he felt particularly stupid for overlooking the possibility. It seemed Bingley had been entirely correct: hewasstanding around in a stupid manner.It had simply never occurred to him that such kindness could be triggered by such boorishness.
By then, the Bennet parents had moved along to the Bingleys, as had Miss Bennet, so Miss Elizabeth was standing in front of him, and his previously sunny expression clouded in mortification.
“None of that!” she stated emphatically, as if she recalled it herself.
He looked into her eyes, and she leaned close to whisper, “I have heard all about you, Mr Darcy, from a great number of my neighbours. Everything has worked out exactly as it should. I have been seeing to my aunt’s health in London, and if I may be so bold as to suggest, you have been working on your own right here. We have both been where we needed to be, doing what needed to be done.”
He knew they would have to speak about it and put the past behind them, but not in the middle of the receiving line with everyone behind Miss Elizabeth going around. They had unconsciously stepped back, so they were a good yard behind the rest of the line.
“I apologise most profusely for what preceded your act of mercy, Miss Elizabeth. Dare I ask for a set… perhaps, if I am very lucky, even yourfirst, if I am to be forgiven.”
She laughed, and he thought things might just be all right in the end. Her laugh was magical, so very different from the calculated titter he was accustomed to in London—although he had been subject to plenty of frivolity in Hertfordshire in the previous six weeks, so London manners were almost entirely forgotten, and he was beginning to wonder if he would ever visit town again.
She smiled. “I dare say my mother would swoon right on the spot if I did not dance with you, and I most certainlycannot remain theonlylady in the room who never has. We may as well get the miserable chore over with.”
His smile returned to what it had been when he first spotted her. Abandoning Bingley to his fate in the receiving line, he held out his hand to lead her to the refreshment table.
When they had their drinks, Darcy said, “May I offer my deepest, humblest, and most profound apologies. I am guardian to a young sister between Miss Lydia and Miss Catherine in age, and she would be devastated if someone subjected her to such a horrible assault.”
“You had a megrim, and no doubt Mr Bingley and his sister were vexing you considerably,” she replied evenly.
“Does that qualify as a valid excuse in your eyes? It most certainly does not in mine!”
She looked at him earnestly and gave him a frown stern enough to indicate she was not to be trifled with.
“It doesnot, and Imost certainlywill never again accept such with equanimity. My cheek-turning has its limits!
“To be honest, had I not been entirely distracted by the need to go to London to care for my aunt, I would have savaged your reputation without a single qualm. Everyone in this town would despise you instead of esteeming you, as they presently seem inclined to.
“Your wordshurt, even for me, and I am tough as nails. I could name you a dozen who would have been nearly crippled by it—several of whom you have subsequently danced with. That said, you probably know by now that I hear that sort of thing often from my own mother… though, oddly enough, I have heard far less since my return.
He chuckled. “I may have something to do with that, but we can discuss that another time. I quite disliked your mother until I got to know her. Now I understand her better, though my tolerance for her promoting one daughter at the expense of others still has its limits. She even, on occasion, listens to my advice.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Why Mr Darcy! Am I to believe you slayed the dragon?”
He laughed along with her. “Someday, I very much hope you will meet my aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Aside from a courtesy title for being the daughter of an earl, she could pass for your mother’s twin.”
He neglected to mention that he hoped she wouldactually beher aunt when they were introduced, as that was a conversation for another day.
“I have heard a great deal about her from Mr Collins. He is my distant cousin, the heir to Longbourn, and her vicar.”
