Page 24 of Requirements for Love (Love in London with Mr Darcy #3)

Peck leant back and crossed one ankle over his knee as he thought. “Well, if I cannot have field sports, then I prefer racing, fencing, or boxing, and those are easiest done in town.”

“You are a sportsman?”

He nodded. “I like nothing better. Surrounded by my friends, engaged in a challenging activity. What is there not to love?”

“Forgive me if I am being impertinent, but I believe you enjoy competition.”

Peck grinned. “I do. Even more than my friend Darcy. A bond is forged between men who race or box or fence, but the competition is just as enjoyable.”

“I am afraid all I can offer you is to beat me at cards or chess.”

“You must not let me win,” Peck said with an ingratiating chuckle. “That would never do. ”

Elizabeth levelled him with a stare, but a smile tugged at her lips. “You flatter yourself into thinking I would defer to you so much that I would throw a game in your favour.”

“Ah, but would you do it to win my favour?”

“Would that be necessary?”

“Not at all, but I hope you will still enjoy my company after I beat you at cards. I would be devastated if I warranted no mention in tomorrow’s letter to your sister.

” Peck tore his eyes from Elizabeth to look at the rest of them.

“Shall we all play? A round game, for all five of us, perhaps. Or loo?”

Darcy might actually be sick if he had to sit near to them and hear more of the banter between Peck and Elizabeth. They were not truly flirting, were they?

“No, you may all play without me,” Darcy said. “I will sit by the fire with my book.”

“Then why do we not play whist?” Peck asked the ladies. They must have all agreed while Darcy busied himself with finding a book to stare at while he sat in frustrated contemplation.

“Should we bring a small table near to where Lizzy is sitting?” Georgiana asked.

“The breakfast table might be more comfortable,” said Peck. “With your permission?”

When Darcy turned round, he saw Peck had picked up Elizabeth to carry her across the room to the breakfast table so they could play.

Darcy’s fingertips pressed so hard into the cover of his book that he creased the leather.

There was nothing lingering, untoward, inappropriate, or scandalous about the way Peck held her and set her down carefully on a chair.

But Darcy hated to see it.

He spent the next half an hour staring at a page of his book.

It was just as well that he sat here rather than at the table.

He did not have the patience to sit across from Elizabeth tonight.

Whether she genuinely liked Peck or was engaging with him just to spite him , the result was the same: Elizabeth wanted nothing to do with him and showered all of her smiles on Peck .

For a while, they were mostly silent except for the requirements of the game. Sometime later, they all cried out in surprise or disappointment when Elizabeth did something to cause her to lose a trick.

“You promised to not throw the game!” Peck laughed.

“It was a mistake,” she cried. “I don’t think I have so entirely forgot the game, but I could make a tolerable figure yet, with a good partner,” Elizabeth said in a pointed tone and with a heavy look at Peck.

She then flashed a bright smile at him. Darcy suddenly wished very much that he was part of the game.

It took all of his fortitude to sustain himself through the rest of the evening, adhering most conscientiously to his book.

He would not even look at Elizabeth and spoke in a monosyllable when Peck called over his shoulder in some attempt to include him.

When his friend left and everyone went to bed, Darcy did not even offer to carry Elizabeth to her room.

Had she been bantering because it was her nature, or because she had a partiality for Peck?

Her pointed dislike of him today was a marked change that could only be attributed to what she overheard on the stairs.

Was Elizabeth merely angry, was she fickle, or had she never been as fond of him as he was of her?

More importantly, had his honest admission to his cousin been a mistake that ended in him breaking his heart?

When she awoke Saturday morning, Elizabeth was alternately angry at Darcy and regretful of her being ill-tempered with him when she remembered how dejected he looked when he left the drawing room last night.

She was still hurt—affronted, really—but avoiding Darcy was beneath her.

Despite his insulting comment about her family’s want of sense, there was no cause to ignore her host.

How absurd were her deepening, affectionate feelings for a man too proud to offer to a woman with a family like hers? Even if Darcy loved her, for there was no mistaking he might have kissed her the other evening, would she even accept a man who held her family in disdain?

When Darcy approached her today, she would accept his apology.

She rose and tested her full weight on her right foot, but the pain made her wince.

She had to stay here for another week, and she wanted to remain friends with Georgiana.

Destroying her acquaintance with Darcy would make one unendurable and the second impossible.

Elizabeth ran her fingers across the painted flowers and tendrils that decorated the handle of the walking stick he had allowed her to borrow.

It was lovely, and he had been exceedingly kind all week, aside from his hurtful comment about her family.

Her affectionate feelings had come on quickly, but were so deeply felt she could not see how her feelings for him would ever move on.

She took up the walking stick and limped her way to the breakfast table in the small drawing room.

Her arm and wrist were sore from moving this way.

To do so once or twice a day gave her some independence, but with no one to carry her, her arm muscles and her good ankle would be screaming before evening.

To her surprise, Darcy was nowhere to be found.

“He went out early, I understand,” Georgiana said when Elizabeth asked. “He said something about riding to Hampstead Heath with his friends and being gone for the day, but it seemed a sudden thing.”

“Young men rarely explain their plans to their younger sisters,” Mrs Annesley said kindly.

She ignored the idea of his avoiding her in return. The ladies passed a pleasant meal together, but when Mrs Annesley left on an errand that Georgiana declined to join, she turned to Elizabeth with an excited grin.

“Now we can properly evaluate Captain Peck!”

Elizabeth, who had limped into the other room, started in surprise and nearly lost her balance. “How do you mean?”

Georgiana eagerly brought her list from the writing desk. “We must see how he measures up to your requirements. ”

“I think I need more than a call and an evening of cards to determine his character.”

“Oh, of course,” Georgiana agreed, coming to sit next to her. “But he returned to visit you last night, and you smiled at him a great deal.”

Elizabeth blushed. “Was I in too high spirits? I was not meaning to trifle with him.” How mortifying if her enthusiasm for a friendly man and her reluctance to engage with Darcy had led to indelicacy on her part.

“No,” Georgiana whispered earnestly, shaking her head.

“No, there was nothing improper in your manner with Captain Peck. Mrs Annesley would have said something privately to me if she thought there was. I only thought, since you talked together in so lively and quick a manner, that you must like him.”

Elizabeth took Georgiana’s hand. “Did I neglect you last night?” she asked fearfully.

She had certainly wanted to neglect Darcy, still full of contempt and anger at his words on the stairs, but she never wanted to slight Georgiana.

It occurred to her that she owed her new friend the truth about how she, too, was taken in by Wickham’s lies.

She would have to confess it all soon—once she found the words.

“I never want to be the kind of person to ignore a friend just because a man gives me attention.”

“No, I enjoyed listening to your conversation.” Georgiana gave her a hug, and Elizabeth smiled at the gesture, hoping they could always be friends. “I only just met Captain Peck myself, so I could hardly say two words to him.” Georgiana held up the list. “Now, shall we begin?”

She was so artless and eager that Elizabeth allowed herself to be drawn in by her enthusiasm. “Very well,” she said with a smile. “Let us see how the good captain measures up.”

Georgiana cleared her throat with a dramatic flourish, and Elizabeth had to laugh. “He seems very kind, and inclined to allow you to sport with him. That is two of the eight requirements met. Is he clever?” she asked thoughtfully.

“He is sensible, but I am not sure if he is clever. However, sensible might be enough for me. ”

“That is true,” Georgiana agreed. “Does he ‘respect your family’? We could not know that yet.”

“He spoke affectionately of his own sister and listened to me talk of mine. I would say that is promising.”

“Number five is ‘write you long letters’ and number six is ‘travel with you’.” Georgiana frowned to herself. “Those are good qualities for a husband to have, but it will take a longer acquaintance to answer those.”

She agreed. Captain Peck spoke well, but he might not be the sort of man to write long letters or indulge her wish to travel.

Men could never know what it was like for a woman to be beholden to a father or husband or brother for the ability to go anywhere.

“Those qualities speak to an attentiveness I have not seen from Captain Peck.” Georgiana’s face fell, so she rushed to add, “But we had only met twice.”

“Number seven is ‘confident’. He speaks readily. I do not think him a shy man.”

“He is not timid. He is confident in his talents as a sportsman and a card player, and in his conversation, so perhaps that carries over to other areas.”

“Finally, ‘honesty’.” Georgiana frowned. “Well, I could not tell if he lied. I am not the most discerning person when it comes to men.”

“Neither am I,” Elizabeth whispered. She knew they both thought about how they had wrongly trusted George Wickham. How was she to admit her own history with Wickham, and would it make Georgiana think less of her, or make her feel less alone in her lack of discernment?

Georgiana was the first to brighten. “But Fitzwilliam would not have a friend who was deceitful. Captain Peck is my brother’s friend, so he is likely a loyal person, and that ties in to honesty.”

She remembered what Darcy had said about honesty’s connexion to integrity and courage. If Georgiana equated loyalty to honesty, then the Darcys held a great deal more than truthfulness to their notions of what being honest meant.

“I think he will prove his honesty through his behaviour, of which I have only seen a little. ”

“But do you think he could meet your requirements?” Georgiana asked, clutching the list. “Do you want him to be the man to meet them?”

“I think we have determined, my dear Georgiana, that it is far too soon to take Captain Peck’s character after one formal call and an evening of cards.”

Georgiana’s shoulders fell, but she nodded and put away the list. “Do you like him, Lizzy? That must account for much, does it not? If the idea of seeing him again makes your heart beat fast and your stomach dance with flutters?”

Elizabeth grinned at her friend’s notions of romance. “I think I will need more than that to commit myself to a man.”

“But surely, if you did feel that way, it must be a good sign? A sign that you want to know him better and learn if he is worthy of you?”

At first, showing Captain Peck any notice was just a means to avoid talking with Darcy.

But she did like the captain’s lively manner.

He was good-looking and easy to talk to.

He clearly enjoyed meeting her, although she had yet to see if he had a steadiness of character to go along with his pleasing nature.

What made her heart beat faster and feel flutters in her stomach was the memory of Darcy casting a longing look at her lips, of remembering when she had seen his bare forearms with his sleeves rolled up, or recalling the look on Darcy’s face when he listened to her and had a faint smile on his lips.

But if Darcy thinks so little of my family, how can there be anything between us?

Why not help Captain Peck on a little and learn if he really admired her? They had a slight preference for one another, perhaps, given how well they got on and his calling again so soon after the first visit. They could meet tolerably often, and that would help her learn if she could ever love him.

It might even help her stop feeling any fast heartbeats or flutters when she thought of Darcy.

“It is too soon to be certain,” she said slowly as Georgiana looked crestfallen, “but Captain Peck has attractive qualities, and there is no reason not to know him better.”

Georgiana shrieked with glee and clapped her hands, and went on about how she hoped he would call again next week, and he would certainly continue the acquaintance after she returned home to the Gardiners’ on Friday.

To think a few days ago she had been hoping it would be Darcy who called on her after she returned home.

Meeting Captain Peck again seemed perfectly likely and not at all objectionable. But should she use all the influence of her charm to captivate and secure Captain Peck’s heart?