Page 27 of Mr. Darcy's Folly
“You need not fish for compliments, Miss Bennet,” he said, and she thought he sounded amused.
“I beg your pardon?” she asked, genuinely perplexed.
He tipped his head carefully in her direction. “You truly do not know?”
“Knowwhat?”
He smiled at her. “I was speaking ofyoureyes, madam.”
Elizabeth stared at him, momentarily lost for words. “Mine?”
“Yours,” he confirmed, his tone matter-of-fact, as if it should have been evident all along.
She blinked. “But–but at the assembly, you—”
“Ah.” He let out a slow breath. “That infernal comment.”
She nodded, pressing her lips together. “You claimed I was not handsome enough to tempt you to dance.”
Mr. Darcy gave her a look that might have bordered on exasperation. “And yet, did you never consider how very much my actions since have put the lie to those words?”
Elizabeth opened her mouth to retort but hesitated. She had been so certain of his disdain, had clung to it with a kind of fierce pride. But now, with the benefit of hindsight and his own admission, a new pattern emerged. His attentions at Netherfield, the strange tension in his looks, the way he always seemed aware of her movements in a crowded room . . . Charlottehadsaid he looked at her a great deal.
Had she truly been so blind?
She studied him, her expression shifting from incredulity to wary amusement. “And here I thought Miss Bingley was simply in a perpetual ill humour.”
Darcy let out a short laugh. “Did you never wonder at its cause?”
“I had assumed it was her nature.”
“Partially,” he allowed drily. “But I am afraid my attentions to you did not endear you to her.”
Attentions? He had ignored her for a half an hour when they sat in the library together. Elizabeth tilted her head. “I must own, she was rather pointed in her remarks.”
Mr. Darcy’s lips curled up. “She is nothing if not consistent.”
“She expected you to choose her,” Elizabeth observed, watching him closely. “Why did you not?”
His brows lifted slightly. “Surely, Miss Bennet, you must know that admiration cannot be dictated by expectation.”
She narrowed her eyes playfully. “So you objected to Miss Bingley because of her expectations?”
“Let us say that while I appreciate a well-educated woman, one who wields her knowledge solely as a means to belittle others does not appeal.”
Elizabeth let out a small laugh. “A neat way of avoiding insult, sir.”
He inclined his head. “I do try.”
She shook her head, smiling. “So. You admired me.”
He met her gaze squarely. “Yes.”
“Despite my not being well educated.”
“You have not been to seminary. That is hardly the same thing. Most gentleman’s daughters are educated at home.”
“But with no governess.”
