Page 15 of Requirements for Love (Love in London with Mr Darcy #3)
“Even if you had liked him, I cannot imagine you would marry a man like that,” he said honestly. “I had not realised it before, but after watching you together, I knew it in an instant.”
“You cannot imagine me with a reserved person?” she asked, with a hint of affront.
“No, I mean, he was intimidated by you,” he said. “And his diffidence and embarrassment could never make him an object of affection for you. You are too assured yourself for such a man. Sir George is a loyal friend, but he cannot meet your mind.”
Darcy knew he could meet her mind in serious debates or flippant banter. A woman who spoke her mind and gave her opinion did not intimidate him. As he and Elizabeth looked at one another, he wondered if she saw anything to admire in him .
He had always assumed all he had to do was ask and she would marry him, but she admitted to previously finding him selfish and ungentlemanly.
The point of this exercise, as far as his interest went, was to introduce Elizabeth to a wider circle where she might find a husband and thereby end his attraction to her.
But he was relieved that she and Sir George would not suit. As they looked at one another, Darcy wondered if he could earn her affection and overlook her family’s behaviour? Did he want to? The part of his heart that said yes was growing louder and bolder.
“You may not have learnt much about Sir George, but we learnt something about you,” Georgiana said to her.
Elizabeth started, and Darcy tore his gaze from Elizabeth’s face. How long had they been gazing at one another?
“What did you learn?” Elizabeth asked. Was her breathless tone in any way due to him?
“That you would like to travel. Your husband must show you more of the world.”
Darcy swallowed the words that he would take her anywhere she wished to go.
“That seems quite…demanding,” she said hesitantly. “I would never not marry a man who was otherwise perfect for me if he did not wish to go on tours across Great Britain.”
“You have every right to wish to see grand houses, picturesque beauties, ruined castles, and sprawling coastlines,” he said as evenly as he could.
“I will add ‘willing to travel’,” Georgiana cried. “And perhaps also a gentleman with greater confidence than Sir George.” She rushed to a side table and opened a writing box where, no doubt, stored inside was Elizabeth’s list.
He watched her for a moment while her attention was on his sister. Did he meet those requirements? Could he overthrow every wish of his family and friends, ignore every example of unacceptable behaviour from her family, and marry her? Could she love him in return?
“I know nothing of what is on your list,” she said in that teasing tone she used when trying to affront him.
“And you never will,” he retorted, smiling.
“Is it a secret?” she asked.
He affected a careless shrug.
“You would grow impatient with a less clever mind, I think. She must have some sense and education so you do not tire of her. Men of sense like yourself do not want silly wives, after all. You never said whether you wanted someone playful or someone serious.”
“Why must it be one or the other?” he asked, crossing his arms. “Many people can be whatever the situation demands.”
“That is fair,” she said in a grudging tone that made him smile. “You must tell me one of your requirements.”
“I do not.”
“Then I will continue to guess. Beautiful?”
“No, I prefer ugly.”
She laughed. “She must be tolerable , I suppose.”
“Only if she expects me to dance with her.”
“Fitzwilliam?” Georgiana asked, coming near and startling him out of his repartee with Elizabeth. “Who are the other two friends who will meet Lizzy this week?”
Now he did not want any of them meeting Elizabeth. “Mr Walsh will come to dinner on Thursday. Captain Peck is so much engaged that he is not free to call until Friday.”
“Perhaps one of them will be better suited for you,” Georgiana said to Elizabeth.
“It is not the end of the world if none of them suit,” he said. He must have spoken more sharply than he realised, given the surprised looks the ladies gave him. “I only mean, we ought not to pressure our friend to feel anything other than what she naturally feels.”
To his regret, his sister looked abashed, and although he did not need it, Elizabeth was giving him a look that told he had better apologise. “I am sorry for my harsh tone, my dear. I did not mean it. ”
“We are both enjoying the project, are we not?” Georgiana hesitantly asked Elizabeth.
“Of course I am,” she insisted. Darcy questioned how that could be true after tonight, but perhaps Elizabeth truly was that gracious a person.
It made him admire her more. “But please do not feel pressured to see me engaged in the next week or two. I will not be disappointed if I leave London in March still single.”
Georgiana looked as though she did not believe it, and Mrs Annesley suggested the hour was late. Darcy did not even have to ask Elizabeth if she wanted his help to get to her chamber. She raised her arms as he approached and bent over her, and she allowed him to carry her down the corridor.
After he placed her on the sofa, he said, “I regret losing patience with my sister. I just do not want you to feel that you must marry one of my friends lest you lose our friendship. You are here to recover, not to feel undue anxiety.”
“Nothing about her project offends me,” she said as she adjusted her skirts and rested her injured ankle on a pillow. “But why does she think she needs to earn my friendship?”
For a moment, he was speechless. “Is that what you believe?”
“It is a possibility. I want her to know that she does not need to find me a husband for me to like her.”
“But why is doing you this service, any service, so important to her?”
“Maybe, after what happened with Wickham, she still feels a little…unworthy?”
He realised he knew absolutely nothing about the hearts and minds of young girls. “How do I help her?” he asked, sitting across from her. “I have already told her I do not blame her.” He was more like a father than a brother, and he was uncertain how to act like it.
“Love her unconditionally, as I am sure that you do,” she added. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Praise her efforts rather than the outcome. Encourage her that she can do whatever she wants to try. Show interest in what she is interested in. Listen.”
Darcy watched a flicker of emotion cross her eyes without understanding it. Were those suggestions the things her father did, or failed to do? He did not have the right to ask her such a personal question. The answer would likely disappoint him and remind her of her own frustrations.
“I will do what I can to show her I like her for her own sake,” she said while he had been lost in thought. “Tomorrow, there will be no mention of the requirements list.”
Darcy grasped her hand. “As distressed as I am that you were injured,” he said roughly, “I am exceedingly grateful you are here.”
He might have brought her hand to his lips, but he was not ready to commit himself, not when he had reservations about her family and he had two other friends engaged to meet her and possibly fall in love with her.