"You must have been up late last night celebrating with your family," said Elizabeth brightly.
Eleanor made a face. "Far too late."
"Your announcement took me quite by surprise. Was it not just a few days ago that you told your grandmother that you did not want to marry Mr. Darcy?"
"That was nothing against Darcy, simply that Geoffrey would be hurt if I married his friend. Now that Geoffrey has spumed me, there is no reason I should not marry Darcy. He is better than that fop Lord Deyncourt." Eleanor shuddered. "Given that I must marry someone of whom my family approves, I am happy for it to be Darcy. He is a man I can respect who will not wish me to be something other than what I am. Very few women are so fortunate."
"You no longer care if Geoffrey is hurt by your marriage?"
Eleanor's face lost its animation. "He will not be hurt. He made it clear that he wants nothing to do with me. Why should he care whom I marry?"
"Do you not think that his anger at you shows that he cares very deeply?"
Her lips tightening, Eleanor said, "It shows only that I proved a disappointment to him and that he means to waste no further time on me." Her strong words were belied by a quaver in her voice.
"I do not think him as fickle as that, but given that you are marrying Mr. Darcy, perhaps it is best that you do." Elizabeth was proud that her own voice had not shaken. "Mr. Darcy is a sly one, though. I had not realized he had the slightest interest in you." Eleanor stretched languorously. "He probably did not. It was my father's idea, and it is very hard to refuse my father when he has his mind set on something.
A heavy stone seemed to have taken up residence in Elizabeth's stomach. "It was not his idea to make you an offer?"
"I expect his loyalty to Geoffrey stood in the way. Although we had no time to speak privately, Darcy said something about being put in an impossible position and sounded unhappy about it," said Eleanor indifferently. "No doubt he was speaking of Geoffrey. He seemed to accept it, though. I am a very good match for him, after all."
"Naturally, your family would be a desirable connection for him." Elizabeth wandered to the window, more out of a desire to hide her face from Eleanor than of any wish to admire the view over the gardens. Was it terrible that she wished Darcy to be bitterly unhappy? "I assume the two of you have some plans for the day?"
"He said he would call at some point, but nothing beyond that. My stepmother will no doubt wish to discuss wedding plans."
Spots of color showed in the walled garden beneath the window where early roses had begun to bloom. "Have you already chosen a date?"
"First we must decide on the announcement. Darcy insists that we wait until he can inform his sister in person, and he appears in no hurry to do so."
"He plans to remain here for now?"
"Apparently so."
Then she must be the one to depart. She had thought it through during the long, sleepless hours. She would stay two more days. If she left immediately, Mr. Darcy would know why, and she would not give him that satisfaction. She had lost enough on this trip; she would at least leave with her pride intact.
Wedding plans were not on Lady Bentham's agenda for the day after all and apparently neither was Eleanor. She ignored her stepdaughter whenever possible, her displeasure obvious. Evidently the match with Mr. Darcy was not to her liking. She could not make any direct complaint since the new match was of Lord Bentham's making, but no one was in any doubt of her opinion.
When Mr. Darcy eventually arrived, the icy greeting he received from Lady Bentham did not seem to trouble him. Elizabeth did her best to ignore him, which was not an easy task when Eleanor kept trying to bring her into the conversation. She could not avoid looking at him altogether, and saw several pained glances he sent in her direction. She had no sympathy for him; he had chosen money and prestige over love, not caring that she was left without either. As the day wore on, he seemed to spend more and more time with his gaze fixed on the floor.
After an hour or so of this torture, one of the footmen came up behind her and said quietly, "There is a caller for Miss Bennet."
"For me?" She could not imagine who could be seeking her out here.
"Mr. Paxton awaits your pleasure in the entrance hall."
Eleanor's head snapped toward her, and even Mr. Darcy looked her way. Elizabeth said, "Well, I must not keep him waiting." She curtsied and made her excuses to Lady Bentham, then walked sedately to the hall, feeling Eleanor's eyes boring into her back the entire way.
Paxton stood before a portrait of an elderly gentleman in judge's robes. "Miss Bennet, thank you for seeing me."
"Would they not announce you?"
One corner of his lips turned up. "I did not ask, and it was not offered. Nor was I offered a place to sit, but at least I was allowed in the door, which is more than I would have merited a fortnight ago. I should count my blessings."
"This is intolerable! You were a dinner guest here yesterday."
"Ah, but that was when I had Darcy by my side. But the manners of those at Bentham Park are of little interest to me. I hoped I might convince you to walk about the grounds with me. It is a very fine day."
Although somewhat bewildered as to why he would wish for her company, Elizabeth agreed and sent a maid to fetch her bonnet and gloves. It was odd how quickly it had begun to seem natural to be waited on hand and foot, but leaving Eleanor and Darcy behind did not seem natural.
Paxton led Elizabeth through the front door. "What is your pleasure, Miss Bennet? The woodland walk or the ruins? It would probably be best to avoid the gardens lest my presence pollute them."
"The ruins, then." They set out across the lawn to the path to the abbey.
"You seem surprised to see me," he said quietly.
Elizabeth tilted her head to look at him. "Though we have spent many hours in company together, I have rarely had the opportunity to speak to you separately. Still, I must thank you for rescuing me from the drawing room. I was not enjoying the scene being played out."
"I would imagine not, and I am glad to have spared you from it for a time. But you are correct; I do not know you well enough to pretend that I came to check on your well-being. The truth is that I wanted your company because you are the only person in the world with whom I need not pretend."
"There is something to that," she agreed. "I take it you and Mr. Darcy have not resolved matters between you?"
"What is there to resolve? I have been perfectly civil to him, but have avoided giving him the opportunity to speak to me alone. He tried to tell me that this was not what it seemed, but how could I credit that? Either they are betrothed or they are not."
"How long can you continue that?"
"Long enough. I plan to leave tomorrow on an urgent visit to a sick aunt in London." His dry tone told her it was nothing but an excuse.
She laughed. "I hope her illness is not serious."
"Oh, it is very serious, so serious that it put her in the grave two years ago; but I am sure she would appreciate a visit and some flowers by her headstone. She is better company than I can expect at Hillington."
"At least Mr. Darcy attempts to speak to you. He only casts longing looks at me, as if I should have pity for him." She did not attempt to hide her bitterness. "I must ask one question, though. How did you know about me? Did he tell you, or was it a guess?"
"He told me once about a woman who had refused him. That was before he knew you were here, of course. He never mentioned your name, but when I saw the strength of his reaction to you, it was not difficult to put the pieces together. Your sentiments were more of a mystery. Although I could see you were not indifferent to him. I was not certain until last night when Lord Bentham made his announcement. Then it was plain in your expression.'' He paused. "I am sorry. For your sake, I wish your feelings had not been engaged."
"Did you share your suspicions with Eleanor?" If he had, then Eleanor's behavior meant something completely different.
"I raised the question once, but she
seemed unconvinced, so I allowed the subject to drop. I thought you and Darcy had enough stumbling blocks to work through without the two of us watching you."
"Eleanor's understanding of these matters is sometimes quite different from mine. Apparently, she saw no impediment to accepting Mr. Darcy since she believed you had lost all interest in her."
"Lost all interest!" he exploded. "How could she think that?"
"It is a mystery to me, but Eleanor seems to have little faith that anyone would appreciate her for anything beyond her dowry or her birth."
"And you seem to think the same of Darcy, but I assure you, he is not indifferent to you." He made a sound that was almost a laugh. "May I tell you one of the truly reprehensible things I imagined last night?"
"What was that?"
"You will enjoy this. It was one of those midnight fantasies that makes perfect sense at the time but is ridiculous by light of day. I thought of making you an offer just so I could see the look on his face when he discovered how it felt to have the woman he loved marrying another man." He smiled at her in rueful amusement. "See, I told you it was truly reprehensible."
She gave him an arch look. "Overall, I cannot recommend it as a way to choose the future partner of your life, but I must confess I might enjoy seeing his face as well."
This time his laughter sounded genuine. "Well, I have no intentions of offering for any woman for quite some time, if ever, but I am sorry I did not have the chance to get to know you better, Miss Bennet. I hope we will have the opportunity to cross paths again someday."
"I fear it is unlikely. We have only two acquaintances in common, and I do not anticipate that I will visit either of them in the future."
"Nor I," he said in a heartfelt voice. "Well, perhaps I will call on you someday in Hampshire... no, wait, it is Hertfordshire, is it not? Where is your home?"
"It is near the market town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, not ten miles from the Great North Road."
"There you are! I pass by it regularly."
Elizabeth knew that this was a game of make believe, and that he would never come to Longboum. Neither of them would want any reminders of this time, but it was comforting to pretend they were not quite alone in the world with their losses.
Clocks, Darcy decided, were an invention of the devil, especially the one sitting on the mantel opposite him, the ornate one almost overpowered by the detailed sculptures of shepherds embracing their lady loves. Were it not for that particular clock, he would not know that Elizabeth had been out walking with Paxton for an hour and thirteen minutes. Despite their many years of friendship, Paxton had been unable to spare one minute to speak to Darcy, yet he could find seventy-three minutes for Elizabeth, whom he barely knew. That gave Darcy seventy-three minutes to castigate himself for listening for the sound of the door opening to herald their return, seventy-three minutes of wondering what Paxton was telling Elizabeth about him, seventy-three minutes of recalling just how much cause both of them had to detest him. One such minute could be an eternity of pain, and seventy-three of them surely must count as torture.
During each of those minutes, he had somehow managed to smile and make polite conversation with people he detested, those same people who had robbed him of his chance for happiness. To be fair, he did not detest Eleanor; she was almost as much a victim of this whole mess as he was. What could not be mended must be endured, and he needed to prepare for the strong possibility that he might not be able to extricate himself from this engagement. He had very few potential allies; Edward might support him in breaking the engagement, but he had no power with his father; and his uncle Lord Matlock would be enthusiastically in favor of the match.
If he had too many Eleanor, he needed to treat her with the respect due to that position. And that meant not dwelling constantly on Elizabeth, not taking his pleasure by resting his eyes on her or delighting in her arch remarks, and not wondering what she was thinking and saying to Paxton for seventy-three interminable minutes.
The sound of the door closing gave him a brief moment of relief, but Elizabeth still did not return to the company. It was only natural for her to wish to freshen up after her walk, so he granted her thirty minutes for that task. When she did not appear after forty minutes, he tasted bile in the back of his mouth. Fifty minutes. An hour. An hour and a half. God, he detested that clock!
It was nearly two hours before Elizabeth finally joined them. Despite his resolve, Darcy drank in the sight of her. His heart thumped in his chest as her light and pleasing figure passed in front of him. She had changed her dress, and now she wore silvery satin slippers with light blue shoe-roses, unlike the tan kid half-boots with black leather lacings she had worn earlier. Those must have become dusty during her walk with Paxton. Where had they gone? The gardens, the ruins, walking along the river? Had she kept her hand on Paxton's arm the entire time? Had she laughed for him in that arch manner that caused the corners of her eyes to tilt up in an elfin way?
He had not heard a word anyone had said since Elizabeth appeared in the doorway. This was unacceptable. Turning his head toward Lady Eleanor, he concentrated his complete attention on her.
Lady Eleanor's shoulders looked tense. "Did you enjoy your walk, Miss Bennet?" she asked.
"Very much, thank you." Elizabeth sounded relaxed and happy. "It is a beautiful day and Mr. Paxton's company was quite entertaining."
"I had not realized he intended to call on you today."
"I believe it was a spur of the moment decision. His plans have changed unexpectedly, so he came to bid me farewell. His aunt is gravely ill, and he is leaving to visit her in the morning. He thinks it unlikely he will return to Hillington before Christmas."
Paxton's aunt was dead, damn his eyes! It was an excuse, and Paxton was taking care to make sure he knew it. Beside him, he heard Lady Eleanor swallowing hard.
Lady Bentham said. "What a pity that your acquaintance should be cut off so abruptly."
"I prefer to think of it as an interruption. He said that he hoped to call on me when I return home. After all, it is only twenty miles from London, and what is twenty miles of good road? Would you not call it an easy distance, Mr. Darcy?"
Was she mocking him by throwing his own words back at him, or was she deliberately trying to torment him with images of Paxton laughing with her at Longboum? "A very easy distance," he said without looking at her.
Eleanor said nothing, but Darcy noticed the knuckles of her folded hands were white. Did Elizabeth not realize she was hurting her friend? He could understand why she might be angry at him, but Eleanor had done nothing to her. Perhaps her anger was on Paxton's behalf. Could Elizabeth truly have begun to care for Paxton? He gritted his teeth against a wave of nausea at the thought.
Just when he thought matters could get no worse, a few minutes later Lord Charles Carlisle crossed the room and took the vacant spot beside Elizabeth on the loveseat. Stretching his legs out in front of him, he asked her a question that Darcy was unable to hear over the conversation with Lady Bentham. At least Elizabeth knew enough not to listen to him - or did she? Since that day in the ruins, Darcy had seen her cut him several times, but today she was responding to his question with animation and apparent pleasure. This time there was nothing he could do to stop it without appearing grossly rude to Eleanor. All he could do was to watch out of the corner of his eyes and feel the loss of one more ray of hope with each laugh and arch comment Elizabeth directed to Carlisle. If Carlisle succeeded in his plans for Elizabeth owing to Darcy's inaction....Darcy could not even allow that thought to finish. But if Carlisle moved one inch closer to Elizabeth, Darcy would not be held responsible for the consequences. There was only so much a man could bear.
Finally the room began to empty as the occupants left to dress for dinner. Not having anticipated staying for dinner. Darcy could make no such preparations, so he hid in the library and tried to pretend an interest in the volumes on the shelves.
Elizabeth was more than ready to quit the company a
nd remove the falsely sunny expression she had kept on her face for the last hour. She excused herself from Lord Charles before making her escape.
His hand caught her wrist. "Miss Bennet, last night you made a promise to hear me out today."
It was not the sort of thing she was likely to forget. Why did he think she had tolerated his company this long? "We have been conversing for the better part of an hour, sir!"
"What I have to say cannot be said in front of a drawing room full of people."
"I cannot be alone with you!"
"You were alone with Paxton today for over an hour." His mouth was set in a line.
If she did not know better, she would have thought him jealous. "We were walking in public where anyone could see us, not closeted in a room." It was probably better not to say that she had no worries about Paxton making inappropriate advances to her.
"Can we be alone if we also remain where anyone could see us?"
She stared pointedly at his hand until he released her. "Very well." It would probably be simpler to listen to his seduction attempt than to fight about it.
"Then we can talk here, if that will suit." Glancing around, she saw that the others had indeed departed, though there were still a few people in the entrance hall. "With the door open."
He smiled gently. "With the door open, I know you will not credit this, but I have no intention of compromising you."
"You are right. I do not credit it, but I will attempt to pretend that I do." She chose a chair in direct sight of the door. "Very well, my lord, I am listening."
Naturally, he pulled up a chair so that it was only inches from hers. "Thank you. You do not know how hard it has been for me these last few days when you would not speak to me. That I deserved it, I cannot argue. But pray bear with me; I am going to try to be completely honest, which is something I have done little of these last few years." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "I have no trouble believing that."
Mr. Darcy's Noble Connections: A Pride & Prejudice Variation Page 20
