Page 69 of The Cheapside Runners
She stared at him a bit, not quite comprehending the words.
“Might you repeat that?”
“I would like to court you. If that is insufficiently specific, I am asking your permission to call on you and spend enough time together to see if we find each other suitable for marriage.”
She stared for a couple of minutes, starting and stopping herreply several times before she got it out.
“I congratulate you, sir. I like to think I can read men like a book with very large type, and I habitually examine every interaction for hidden meaning—but you have caught me flatfooted.”
“Does that happen often?”
“A couple times a year, I imagine.”
Darcy chuckled, glad that the tension and fear of being dismissed out of hand was dissipating.
They stared a minute, then she finally asked, “Why?”
“For the usual reasons, I imagine.”
“You do not do things for the usual reasons, and very few usual reasons would apply to someone like me anyway. Once again, I ask youwhy?”
He blew out a breath, and chuckled. “My cousin and Georgiana’s other guardian, Colonel Fitzwilliam, has taken to saying—and I quote, ‘you have it bad, cousin’,for the previous fortnight.”
She laughed, though it seemed clear she was still somewhat nervous. “It would be sufficient if you wished to court the colonel.”
He chuckled again but then became serious. “I want to court you because you fascinate me… you attract me… you excite me. I am vastly intrigued by your looks, your mind, your ambitions, your bravery… all of it, really. I have been well and truly attracted to exactly two women in my life.”
“I suppose I am one of them?”
“Obviously.”
“I am curious who the other is, and why you are not courting her.”
“Mrs Black,” he blithely replied, then laughed just slightly.
She stared at him for a minute in deep thought.
“Youdo realisethat I have no need to marry at all, andthat though I am the daughter of a gentleman, I have been unambiguously in trade the past several years, so my condition in life is decidedly below yours. You should also note that, while I will curtail or reduce my personal instruction if and when I wed, I do not plan to give up this school…ever.”
“Yes, I understand all that, and find it admirable,” he replied, though if he were honest with himself, he would have to admit he had not thought of half of her assertions. It did not, however, change his ambitions.
“Most men would not,” she stated emphatically.
“I am not most men. If I wanted the same sort of wife that most first circle men want, do you truly think it has been beyond my ability to attract one for a decade?”
She stared at him unnervingly for a moment. “I suppose I understand. After hearing what I have said, and assuming that sooner or later I will say something even more distressing; are you still interested?”
“More than ever! I do not imagine a squeamish man is for you, nor a docile or typical woman for me.”
“Why tell me before I finish my tale? The smarter move would be to continue the evening in case there are any fatal impediments, at which point you could withdraw without me detecting your interest.”
“Basic fairness. I hope you will tell me your story, with or without your charges in the room. Regardless of what you decide to reveal or hide in the next hours, for me to have this goal in mind, with you unaware, seems… dishonest.”
“I will give you that,” she said pensively, then stood thinking for a moment.
“Are you unbothered by the fact that I disabled Mr Wickham in the middle of a dance without breaking a sweat, with nobody noticing, and could have killed him with little more effort?”
“To tell the truth, I wasfascinatedby Miss Elizabeth Bennetbefore I left Meryton and might well have already returned if not for your family. Even with them, I had not given up, and I honestly believe I would have pursued you ere long… even if just to shut up my annoying cousin.”
