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The following day seemed to drag along into eternity while Darcy waited for the appointed time for the Bennet sisters to arrive.

When Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst announced they had accepted an invitation to dine with them, he was more excited than was probably wise to show.

The prospect of seeing Miss Elizabeth and furthering his acquaintance with her was too tantalising to ignore.

“I am surprised at you, Mr Darcy,” Miss Bingley said as she entered the drawing room. “Did you not say you owed your sister a letter? I have never known you to neglect your duty to dear Georgiana, yet here you stand, full three yards away from the writing desk.”

She smiled coyly at him. An attempt at flirtation, perhaps? “Our guests will be here shortly. Surely it would be impolite to be engaged in writing letters when they arrive,” he answered, still looking out the window.

Miss Bingley sidled up closer, looking out the window with a disinterested air. She parted the curtain and followed his gaze down the road. “I thought Charles and Miss Elizabeth got on very well the night of the Assembly. She would be an excellent match for him.”

He said nothing to this, but her words hit their mark. Darcy clenched his jaw, wishing she would leave him in peace.

“Anyone would be sure to appreciate his good temper. He is always so eager to please, and she seems to have a similar temperament. I am sure her mother would be overjoyed with the match.”

Darcy nodded curtly, telling himself to hold his tongue before he said anything he would later regret. Jealousy was a foolish and clumsy emotion, yet he could not deny that he felt it, even as the carriage turned up the road and made its way to the front of the mansion.

“Your guests have arrived,” Darcy said curtly. “We should greet them.”

Miss Bingley nodded, thankfully saying nothing more. She turned and walked out of the room and he followed at a safe distance, doing his best to regain his composure. When they entered the foyer, Mr Bingley and Mrs Hurst were waiting for them. “Where is Mr Hurst?” Miss Bingley asked.

“My husband is in the study reading the paper,” Mrs Hurst replied. “He will join us shortly, but he said not to wait supper for him. He will be in as soon as he is able.”

Though the excuse was inadequate, no one challenged it.

Mrs Hurst was always having to cover for her husband.

It was just as well. Without him, the numbers were even for the supper party.

With luck, the evening would go smoothly.

Darcy rather suspected that Bingley was as eager to further his acquaintance with the eldest Miss Bennet as Darcy himself was for the second, whatever Miss Bingley might have to say to the contrary.

For that, he was glad. Darcy could not entirely explain the emotion. It was only that he thought Bingley’s temperament better suited to Miss Bennet than Miss Elizabeth, doubtless.

Darcy could not bring himself to admit the other possibility.

Surely it could not be that he was already feeling something that he had thought was only a distant eventuality?

Infatuation and fascination, of the kind that might lead to real love…

It had seemed like he might never find the right person to spend the rest of his days with.

But perhaps it was happening now, catching him unawares as his mother had often told him it would.

“Now, let us show them what London manners are,” Miss Bingley instructed. “You especially, Charles. You want to make a good impression on Miss Elizabeth.”

Mr Bingley gave his sister a sideways glance just before the front door was opened to admit their guests.

He said nothing, and his features changed immediately as Miss Jane Bennet entered first. She was extraordinarily beautiful, dressed in a light pink muslin.

And while the style was simple, a bit of lace had been added around the empire waist to elevate it for the evening.

Darcy held his breath as Miss Bennet stepped out of the way to allow her sister to enter.

She was also dressed in a muslin, but of a deep, emerald green shade.

There was no lace on her dress; its only ornamentation was a silk black ribbon tied about the empire waist of her gown.

The contrast was exceptionally effective in showcasing the sparkle of her dark eyes.

Mr Bingley stepped forward, along with his sisters, and greeted the ladies. “It is so good of you to accept our invitation, ladies. Please, do come in,” Mr Bingley said. He was all eyes for Miss Bennet.

“It was an honour to be invited, Mr Bingley, Miss Bingley. And Mrs Hurst, it is a pleasure to see you again,” Miss Bennet said, her voice soft but elegantly clear.

“Charmed,” Miss Bingley said. Darcy frowned at her curt incivility. In contrast to Miss Bennet’s tone, Miss Bingley’s dripped with insincerity, even sarcasm. “I hope the journey over was not too uncomfortable, Miss Elizabeth?”

“Not at all. Why should it be?” Miss Elizabeth asked.

“The carriage looked very small indeed, no bigger than a cart, really. Did your father have need of the main carriage this evening?” Miss Bingley asked.

Darcy wished he could step in and steer the conversation in a more appropriate direction.

But this was not his house. It was Bingley’s place to rein in his sister, and one Darcy could not bring himself to usurp.

Though Darcy doubted Bingley, as the youngest sibling, would have the fortitude to do so.

“This is our main carriage. And no, my father rarely dines out,” Miss Elizabeth said.

She did not seem fazed by Miss Bingley’s rudeness.

“Indeed, had I been left to my own devices, I might have wished to walk. It is only a few miles from Longbourn, and it is an unusually warm evening. And with not a rain cloud in sight, it would have been most enjoyable.” Her ironic smile gave ample evidence of how little she cared for Miss Bingley’s veiled criticisms.

“Shall we not go into the drawing room? I am sure supper will be announced any moment,” Mrs Hurst suggested, and they all moved in that direction.

Darcy made a point of hanging back so he might get a word in with Elizabeth as they walked down the corridor. “How do you do, Miss Elizabeth?” he asked.

“Good evening, Mr Darcy,” Elizabeth replied briefly. “I am quite well.”

Darcy smiled to himself to hear her reply, so utterly free from coquetry or flirtation. Miss Bingley would have done well to follow her example, for it showed a much more appealing elegance than all her too-pointed attentions.

“Miss Elizabeth, do come see us. I have a question that I am certain needs your expertise,” Miss Bingley called as they reached the drawing room door.

“Oh?” Elizabeth replied. She glanced at Darcy, then gave a slight bow. “Excuse me.”

She walked up to the brother and sister, and they headed into the drawing room, settling near the hearth.

“My brother has said he wished he read more, and I recall hearing that you are a great proponent of the arts and of literature especially,” Miss Bingley asked.

“Is it true that you read as you walk? I think my brother would find so much more enjoyment in reading if he could do so out of doors.”

Miss Bingley stayed beside Mr Bingley and Miss Elizabeth only long enough to see that they conversed easily, then left them alone.

She then pulled Miss Jane Bennet aside to ask her advice on some subject, leaving him to converse with Mrs Hurst. It was not more than a few minutes before Mr Hurst came in and asked to speak to his wife in private.

Darcy was left alone, watching as Miss Bingley played hostess.

If he was not mistaken, she seemed to be pairing them off — and leaving herself to be his mate.

“Jane!” Elizabeth said brightly. “I think we are in need of your expertise now. I have given every recommendation that I can, and now you must confirm what I have said to Mr Bingley, about the best places to go for walks about the countryside.” No sooner had her sister joined them than she stood aside so the pair of them could talk.

Darcy took a deep breath, thinking that it was at last his turn to speak with Elizabeth.

Perversely, his luck seemed bad to the last. Darcy had not more than opened his mouth before supper was announced, and they were all herded into the dining room by Miss Bingley.

He watched her with a frown. Indeed, he was not imagining things.

She seemed bent on separating Bingley and Miss Bennet at all costs and throwing Bingley and Miss Elizabeth together instead.

For one who had expressed such concerns about her brother marrying with a woman of great consequence, it was highly peculiar.

∞∞∞

Elizabeth sat down to supper with feelings decidedly mixed.

Perhaps it should not have surprised her after the interlude in the drawing room, but it did.

Why had Miss Bingley seated her next to Mr Bingley, with Mr Hurst on her other side?

Had Miss Bingley misread her brother’s feelings on the night of the assembly?

Or were there other designs at work? Jane had been seated at the opposite end of the table, nearly as far from Mr Bingley as possible.

To Elizabeth’s satisfaction, she was confident that Jane’s well-concealed disappointment could not have been perceived by anyone else.