Page 6 of He Taught Me to Hope (Darcy and the Young Knight’s Quest #1)
“I feel I must. I do not like that I might have been a cause for disappointment. How can I make amends?”
“I shall be quite satisfied to enjoy a ride on your magnificent stallion this day. You promised I might have a ride the next time we met. You do remember, do you not?”
“Yes, of course, I did promise you that. Have you ever ridden a horse on your own before?”
“Yes, I rode my own horse this morning!”
“You did! I would love to meet your horse. Where is it?” Darcy asked as he looked about, in search of a pony. He wondered how he could have missed it.
“He is right here!” Ben exclaimed as he ran towards the fence and pointed to his makeshift wooden horse.
Darcy smiled as widely as he had since his arrival in Hertfordshire.
“Indeed, it is a fitting horse for a young knight. However, since you will be riding a king’s mount, it is better I maintain a tight hold over the reins, in spite of your unquestionable bravery.
Are there any objections to this arrangement? ”
“I have no objections, my lord. Now, let us not banter about any longer.”
Darcy could not help laughing at his impertinent companion.
“I am obliged to do whatever you say, sir. Allow me to lend you a hand.” Darcy lifted Ben, sat him atop the fierce stallion, and handed over a portion of the reins.
Keeping a very firm control of the remaining length, he walked along beside the horse a short distance and then returned to their original spot along the lane .
Once Darcy had lifted Ben down to the ground, the young fellow raced over to the fence to retrieve his satchel. He beseeched King Arthur to partake in sustenance with him. He even suggested their horses might enjoy some of the bounty.
Darcy stood by patiently as young Ben offered his horse one of the apples. He found the young boy’s fearlessness to be amazing. Darcy accepted the apple handed to him. He leaned against the fence and took a large bite. Ben faithfully mimicked Darcy’s posture as he bit into his own apple.
After a moment or two of hesitation, Ben raised the question that had been foremost in his mind for days. Darcy rested his hands on the fence railing behind him. Still trying his best to imitate Darcy in every pose, Ben looked up to him and asked, “Will you be my new best friend?”
“That is a considerable honour to be invited to be one’s best friend—would you not rather bestow such a privilege upon someone closer to your own age?”
“No. The few people I know who are my own age—I find fairly boring.”
“Still, one’s best friend is a distinction that requires considerable advisement by both parties. What say you we start out as good friends for now? Does that sound satisfactory?”
“Will you come back on the morrow, my King?”
Darcy answered, “I would rather not make any promises.” Upon witnessing the dismay in Ben’s eyes, Darcy’s heart sank. “I shall, however, do my best.”
“It is a deal! Shall we shake on it?” Ben offered his hand.
What excitement filled the air! There was not one dour face in the entire room. The atmosphere was boisterous and bursting with enthusiasm and anticipation, especially for the Bennet girls.
Elizabeth was obliged to admit to having a far better time than she had expected. Having enjoyed a set or two, she decided that perhaps for one evening, she would forget her troubles and just have fun with her sister Jane and her dear friend Charlotte Lucas.
Charlotte and Jane shared a common, yet unspoken, motive.
Both of them secretly harboured the hope that their time to meet a husband finally had come.
Their eagerness was evidenced by the fact that both of them had their eyes trained on the door in anticipation of the arrival of the Netherfield party.
It was astounding to them that the newcomers had been in residence for nearly two weeks, and yet remarkably little was known of them.
The talk of the town was that there were two single gentlemen and one young lady.
Others speculated there were at least three gentlemen and two women.
No one was sure, and everyone was eager to find out the truth of the matter.
Elizabeth’s initial reluctance to attend the assembly paled in comparison to Darcy’s stance.
The last thing he wanted to do was to lower himself by mingling with the locals of Hertfordshire, with all of their ill-bred country manners.
He was determined he would not attend the Meryton Assembly, despite the adamant insistence by his friend, Charles Bingley.
It had been Caroline Bingley’s entreaty which ultimately proved persuasive.
“If you do not attend the assembly, then, neither shall I. I shall be quite contented in remaining here with you. I am certain we might find a way to entertain each other.” It was enough said. Darcy was off in a flash to summon his valet.
A hush cascaded throughout the room upon the arrival of their party.
It seemed to Darcy that the musicians stopped playing as well, but maybe he imagined it all, as he later surmised.
He was decidedly uncomfortable, to say the least. After an awkward pause which lasted an eternity in his mind, a portly gentleman surfaced from amongst the crowd and greeted them.
Though Darcy did not have any notion of the gentleman’s identity, he seemed to know Darcy’s name.
Darcy barely acknowledged the gentleman’s cordial greeting.
As Darcy, Bingley, and Caroline walked through the mass of gawking strangers who cleared a path in a manner that brought to his mind the parting of the Red Sea, he concealed his growing disdain with a mask of indifference.
It is just as I imagined it would be—a flood of scheming mamas and their unmarried daughters with but one purpose in life, to capture rich husbands. Why on earth did I agree to attend an assembly such as this? Oh, yes! Caroline.
Darcy was half way through the crowd when he nearly stopped dead in his tracks.
One young woman off to his right had managed to do what he would have imagined impossible.
Not only did she catch his eye, but also in the span of a few seconds, she captured his imagination.
Darcy averted his gaze as quickly as did she.
Neither of the two managed to look elsewhere for very long.
What amazing eyes! I feel as though I have met her before—but where?