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“YOU WISH ME to introduce you to men who I think would be a good match for Miss Bingley?” said the colonel.

Elizabeth had barely caught him coming off the dance floor, wishing to get to him before he could ask someone else to dance and be lost to them for another half an hour.

It was getting late, and she did not wish to lose the entire evening.

She wished to accomplish something . “Yes, I would ask my husband, but I think you might be more comfortable at making introductions in general. Furthermore, I think you might have a better idea of the sort of men she is looking for. I have been attempting to do this in what I think was a backward way. It has not worked, anyway.”

The colonel was quiet.

It wasn’t the response she had been expecting, and she wondered if she should actually give up on the entire evening.

She didn’t like to accept this setback, but maybe she had no other recourse.

“I don’t mean to intrude upon your evening, sir, if you are enjoying yourself.

Please, if you do wish to dance with someone else, I would not stand in your way.

There is no reason for you to do me favors. We are barely acquainted, truly.”

In truth, had she not already determined that the colonel appeared more friendly than he truly was? He had been quite complimentary towards her, but she had pinned him as simply being that way. It wasn’t because he truly liked her more than anyone else.

“She asked you to ask me?” said the colonel, and there was something different in his voice.

“No, no, she doesn’t know what I am about,” said Elizabeth.

“Truthfully, I think she…” She sighed. No, no, if she scolded the colonel for being overly solicitous now, that was no way to get a favor from him.

“Never mind that. I am formally withdrawing my request and I make no claims upon your time. I think I must gracefully accept that tonight has been a bit of a defeat.”

“Truthfully, you think she what? ” said the colonel.

“No, nothing,” said Elizabeth. “I think I have embarrassed myself. If you’ll excuse me, sir, perhaps I shall seek out a bit of refreshment.”

“Let me fetch it for you,” said the colonel. “You wait right here, Mrs. Darcy. I shall bring you back whatever you require.”

“I am trying to say that I do not wish to impose upon you.”

“You could not impose upon a person if you tried, I don’t think,” said the colonel, smiling at her. “You are indeed extraordinary, madam, and you seem to have no idea of it. How positively refreshing. My cousin is a very lucky man, I think.”

Elizabeth flushed. He was doing it again. This man. “You, sir, are a flatterer, and don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“I am no such thing,” said the colonel, his smile widening. “Flatterers say things they don’t mean in order to manipulate others. I never say things I don’t mean.”

This gave her pause.

“What shall I bring you?” said the colonel.

“I am serious that I do not need you to go on an errand for me,” she said absently, studying him.

Perhaps she had this man wrong. Was she being too harsh on him?

It could be that her opinion of his mother had colored her impression of him.

“I am sorry if I was offensive, sir. I am a bit out of sorts this evening, I’m afraid. ”

“Why is that? Is there anything I can do? ”

She considered what to say, and while she was sorting through how to put it, he spoke again.

“It’s my mother’s doing, is it not?” he said.

“She insisted we all come back to town when she heard stories about you. At first, we were staying away precisely because of you, you see. She was not speaking to Fitz because she was miffed that he had gotten married without telling anyone. And then, when she heard that you were making such a splash in the London social scene, she had to come back and put a right stop to that. It is not even about you, I’m afraid, Mrs. Darcy.

She wishes to punish Fitz through you. If I can give you any advice, it’s simply to give it time.

My mother will give up on it as soon as she feels she’s caused the proper amount of suffering to my cousin.

” He shrugged, shaking his head. “I tried to intercede on your behalf, you know, but I may have made things worse.”

“How does it even affect my husband?” said Elizabeth.

“She wishes to isolate him by isolating you.”

“But he rather enjoys being isolated!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “We were isolated before I decided to do something about that, and he didn’t even notice.”

The colonel chuckled. “Oh, you are correct about that, I think. You know him well. I am so happy he has found a wife who understands him. You don’t mind, though. You are as enamored with him as he is with you.”

Elizabeth felt her cheeks heating and she cast her gaze down. “He is easy to be enamored with.”

“He most certainly is not.” The colonel was still chuckling. “I am jealous of that, I must say. If only I could find someone who finds my faults so easy to forgive.”

She looked up at him. “Are you looking for a wife, sir?”

He shrugged. “I suppose I’m the age for it.

If it’s going to happen, it should happen soon.

It is only that I have very little to offer as a second son.

My mother would like a lateral match, of course, a woman of the right breeding and from the right family.

But the truth is that those women are often seeking out matches with men who are up-and-comers, self-made men in trade who can keep the daughters of earls and barons in the style they are accustomed. ”

“I can look for you,” said Elizabeth with a shrug.

“The reason that I was asking for introductions is that I dabble a bit in matchmaking. I am trying to make a match for Miss Bingley. I promised her that I would devote myself to it this winter, and I feel I am simply failing at bringing it about. Perhaps I’ve made it too complicated.

She has told me that she does not need to have love in her marriage.

She is looking for the right sort of man, a man with the right connections, and I…

well, I have seen what it is like to be transformed by a love match, a marriage with a man who adores me and who I adore in return.

She is my best friend. I want that for her.

I thought I could find that for her.” She shook her head.

“Maybe I’m fooling myself. Maybe the London social scene is not the place to find such things. ”

“Maybe that is not a thing you can find for another person,” said the colonel quietly. “Perhaps that’s something that needs to be navigated oneself.”

Elizabeth spread her hands, feeling helpless.

“Now you sound like my husband. He does not even think matchmaking is possible. But I know it is. I know that I can do this, that I have. And what’s more, if I saw the right man for Miss Bingley, I would know it.

If he were out there, I would sense it, and I’m sure of it. ”

“To be clear,” said the colonel, “Miss Bingley does not know you’re here soliciting my help in looking for potential suitors? This is something you are doing on your own?”

“Well, not at this moment. I actually told her I’d be right back.

She is likely wondering where I’ve gotten off to.

But, in general, she knows I am looking for a match for her.

We actually… it’s a bit of a ridiculous story, but we meant to match her to Mr. Darcy, and it so happened that he wanted me instead.

She was gracious about it, and that is all the more reason that I must make it up to her. ”

“She knows you’re a matchmaker,” said the colonel, stroking his chin. “Hmm. Tell me more about it. How many matches have you made, Mrs. Darcy?”

She sighed. “You’re making fun of me. ”

“Oh, perish the thought,” he said. “I am genuinely curious.”

“Well,” she said, “rightly speaking, I suppose, maybe only four. I might claim five, but the first one, between my sister and her husband, I must admit they were already attached. Miss Bingley and I nudged them to get married, but it may have been a foregone conclusion at that point. Then there were three pairs of servants and also Miss Bingley’s sister—”

“Mrs. Hurst.”

“You know her?”

“Barely,” said the colonel. “So, this is something you and Miss Bingley do together. She is a matchmaker as well?”

“We have different strengths,” said Elizabeth.

“She sees the social connections of a match, for instance. She knew that Mr. Hurst had property and a baroness grandmother, but I got him to stop looking at his cards long enough to notice Louisa. My strength is to understand how to motivate people, I suppose.” She lifted a finger.

“Oh, perhaps we can also claim my friend Charlotte and her new husband Mr. Collins, although I think Charlotte would have married positively anyone if it meant she could get out of her father’s house.

She is eight and twenty, and rather desperate, to be honest.”

The colonel’s eyes were dancing. “This is all abundantly interesting, Mrs. Darcy.”

“You are making fun of me.”

“I promise. I would never do such a thing.” But he was protesting too much.

“I really ought to go and find Miss Bingley,” she said, looking around to see if she could see her.

“Knowing how to motivate people. Yes, I suppose that is quite evident, isn’t it, or you would not have upset my mother so deeply? You do have a skill.”

She turned back to the colonel.

“Well, let’s see it, then,” said the colonel. “You say that if you saw the sort of man who would love your friend Miss Bingley, you would know it. Is that true? ”

“I think so,” she said, a little confused by this turn in conversation.

“Come along, then,” he said. “I shall make some introductions. You likely wish Miss Bingley to be party to it all? So that you can see these men interact with her?”