Page 7 of The Briar Bargain
As he was considering how he was to protect himself over the next few days, an acrid scent of burning material touched the air. Darcy, always attuned to the smell of smoke, lifted his head to locate the source. A young maid had entered quietly to tend the fire, moving with the kind of discreet efficiency that marked her as well trained. Indeed, no one had paid her any mind until that moment.
Darcy saw it almost at the same moment as Miss Elizabeth: the hem of the maid’s gown had caught a stray ember from the hearth. In the breath between realization and alarm, Miss Elizabeth was already approaching the girl.
He moved to assist, but the danger was past. Miss Elizabeth had stamped out the ember. Before returning to her chair, Miss Elizabeth turned to the maid, who stood frozen. “Are you quite all right?” she asked gently, her voice soft enough to preserve the girl’s dignity.
But Darcy, in suspended motion a few steps away, heard it.
The maid nodded, wide-eyed. “Yes, miss. Thank you, miss.” Her voice wavered, thick with shock and discomfiture. With a quick curtsy and a grateful glance, she hurried from the room.
As Miss Elizabeth turned, Darcy said, too quietly for anyone else to hear, “I should prefer that you call upon a gentleman should a similar situation arise again, Miss Elizabeth.”
There it was again, that amused expression that drove him mad.
“And deprive you of the satisfaction of reproving me afterwards?" she asked. "Let us strike a bargain, Mr. Darcy. I promise to summon you to assist so long as you promise not to scold me untilafterany danger is past.”
Before he could reply, Miss Bennet smiled at her sister. “You were there before I even saw what was happening, Lizzy.”
"Miss Elizabeth," Bingley said, "are you well?"
"Perfectly," Miss Elizabeth said, tossing Darcy a smug look and returning to her seat as composed as if she had simply been given a cup of tea.
His admiration was immediate and unwelcome. His exasperation swiftly followed. Why could she not be safely predictable like other ladies? Why must she be so accomplished in the most inconvenient ways?
When the ladies withdrew after dinner, Darcy felt simultaneously relieved and bereft.
"More port, Darcy?" Bingley offered with a slightly too innocent expression.
"No, thank you," he replied. He had already indulged more than his custom, seeking to dull the unwelcome sensations that Miss Elizabeth Bennet provoked.
Bingley settled back with a sigh. "What a day it has been. Floodandfire. Miss Bennet was not even surprised that Miss Elizabeth was first to spot the trouble.”
He wished he could tell Bingley to stop mentioning Miss Elizabeth. But that would only give rise to more questions.
"Did you see how quickly she moved? Most ladies would have screamed or fainted. She put it out before we had even risen from our chairs."
Darcy's jaw tightened.Hehad risen from his chair. "She could have been burned."
"But she was not. Cool as anything. Quiteextraordinary."
Itwasextraordinary. It was also dangerous and thoroughly typical of a woman who seemed constitutionally incapable of taking the safe path. Why had her parents not taught her better?
"There were gentlemen in the room," Darcy said stiffly. "She should have called for assistance."
"Perhaps. But had she done so, the maid might have been injured before we could get to her," Bingley replied.
"Indeed," Darcy murmured, hoping his tone conveyed polite agreement rather than grudging admiration.
"I can see why you find Miss Elizabeth so intriguing."
Darcy's head snapped up. "I beg your pardon?"
Bingley smiled innocently. "Come now, Darcy. You have scarcely taken your eyes off her since her arrival. You know, you had me fooled for a time, making all those harsh comments about her the first few weeks of our visit.”
Hehadbeen ungentlemanly. But he was now caught in his own snare, for Miss Bingley, his partner in devising increasingly adroit insults, now imagined that they were of one mind. She believed they were friends, of a sort, and had begun taking little liberties in her conversation.
“I think you are long over your dislike for Miss Elizabeth,” Bingley said. “In fact I begin to believe you protest too much. You work so hardnotto notice her that it becomes rather obvious that you wish to do nothing but. And when you learned that the Bennet ladies were to remain here with us, the expression on your countenance was as dark as the clouds."
Blast.Had he been that transparent?
