Page 39 of The Countess and Her Sister

“A great many people who enjoy such talk might still be insufferable bores,” Rebecca drawled as she came to join them. “Surely you are not going on about drapes and upholstery – I had hoped for some salacious gossip about your beaux.”

“We were discussing which brocade might best inspire Mr. Bingley to make immediate love to Jane in the middle of the music room,” Elizabeth quipped. “I am sure the right paisley will send him into a frenzy of passion.”

The sisters all laughed, and then Rebecca shook her head.

“I suppose I cannot coax you into telling me where you and Mr. Darcy disappeared to in the garden at Cameron Court, Lizzy, nor why you and Mr. Bingley tarried in the library, Jane, when Mr. Darcy was showing the manor. But perhaps I can entice one of you to some mischief with a little wager?”

Jane giggled. “Must you always?”

“On every occasion; it is the most steadfast Fitzwilliam tradition. The second earl was a particularly gifted gambler, which I believe accounts for much of our wealth.”

Elizabeth chortled. “I thought the great family legacy was a proclivity for meddling in others’ affairs.”

“That is what is written in Latin on the family crest, I think,” Rebecca replied.

“Well, Jane, I believe it is your turn, and I know you spent a small fortune on Thomas at the fair this morning.” Elizabeth nudged her sister playfully.

Jane waggled her eyebrows. “What is the wager?”

“Ten pounds that Richard and Lady Susan shall be wed by Michaelmas; I should warn you, I mean to begin a campaign of interference to accomplish the feat this very day.”

“Given the state of our brother on the morning after the ball, and the shade of scarlet he became when Lady Susan returned his cape, I shall take that bet – though with a hope of losing,” Jane said.

She performed a whimsical handshake with Rebecca, who laughed wickedly.

“No, no – I am betting against my brother, for I fear he does not have the good sense to see what a fine match he might make. That Lady Susan has encouraged such an alteration in you has made me quite desirous of calling her sister! But I have not never thought of my brother as the type to marry, and it may beyond even my talents to accomplish it.”

“Then let us make it twenty pounds,” Jane said. “And I shall begin the assault directly.” Laughing as she parted with them, Jane left her sisters to go coax their brother into admiring her new friend.

“I have a wager with Richard about you, you know,” Elizabeth said to Rebecca as they sat on their blanket and stared at the sunlit scenery.

“If it has something to do with Henry, that will never happen. Richard knows it.”

“He may begin to doubt this certainty after today, for you seemed very merry in your cousin’s company. I am counting my coins already.”

Rebecca sighed and threw herself backward against a stack of plush cushions and stared up at the fluffy white clouds slowly drifting across the bright blue sky. “I am simply having a very lovely day,” she said dreamily.

“And shall you deny that Henry Tilney has something to do with it?”

“Can I not have one day to imagine something fanciful? I shall resume assiduously discouraging him tomorrow, unless the weather remains so fine. Springtime in the country makes me feel like a girl.”

Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at Rebecca. “You are a girl, as much as you aspire to be a thorn-backed old spinster bedeviling villagers.”

“But a spinster I shall be – it need not follow that I must wither into a crone without a few happy memories of flirtation to revisit as I choose.”

“And why are you so determined to resist a man who is clearly infatuated with you?”

“He is enamored of all womankind, and rightly so. But Lizzy, I…. I have never told anybody….” Rebecca’s face was shaded by something troubling, and her shoulders sagged under the weight of some great secret.

But Mr. Tilney and Mr. Darcy were walking toward them with refreshments, and Rebecca hissed in annoyance. Then she let out a wistful sigh as her lips spread into a slow smile. “It is pleasing, I suppose, to inspire such blasted persistence!”

Elizabeth snorted. “You love it.”

After enjoying a glass of lemonade, Mr. Darcy entreated Elizabeth to walk with him along a wide and well-shaded gravel path that led around to the lake at the front of the manor.

“Though I am not overcome with the urge to go for a swim, the sight of the lake reminds me of a little surprise I arranged for you,” Elizabeth told him. “My uncle means to invite you to Matlock for some fishing in a few days’ time. I remember what you said about fishing with your father.”

“And I remember what you told me of your father – your happy memory flying kites.” When they reached the front of the park, Mr. Darcy gestured to a bench beside the lake. There, a colorful high-flyer sat waiting for them.

Elizabeth admired the well-fashioned kite, patterned in green and gold and adorned with a long tail of tassels and streamers. Mr. Darcy loosened a generous length of the thick cord, and then handed her the kite. “Can you get it airborne, Lizzy? I should like to watch you.”

Heat flushed her face as she gripped the bracing spars, and she began to run as she held it aloft.

She found the direction of the wind, feeling Mr. Darcy’s gaze of appreciation on her as she moved, her skirts billowing about her.

When the moment was right, she released the high-flyer and it soared upward, the streamer billowing playfully on the breeze.

Mr. Darcy loosened more of the tether and then made his way to Elizabeth’s side, all the while working to keep the kite aloft. He offered the cord to her. “Can you manage it?”

She took over the kite with unfettered glee. “It is another of my accomplishments, though perhaps an unconventional one.”

“You fly it well; perhaps one day you shall teach our children.”

The tether nearly slipped through Elizabeth’s fingers as she gave way to astonished laughter at his boldness.

The kite dipped in the sky before leaping back upward on another current of air.

Elizabeth laughed again. “I can imagine you must be certain of your success, for you have wooed me quite thoroughly, Mr. Darcy. But alas, you only inspire me to prolong the courtship you have made so enjoyable.”

“Your hand is well worth the earning, and I am enjoying the process immensely,” he said, brushing away a lock of hair that had blown free and begun to bounce around the side of her face.

Then he stroked her cheek, his gaze tantalizing and proud of the effect his touch had on her.

“I could not be any less confident, for you are so delightfully reassuring, Lizzy. Pemberley suits you, for your smile has never stirred my heart more than when seeing it bestowed on all that might be yours.”

Elizabeth let out a shaky breath of emotion. As much as his words meant to her, she was not ready – she was not sure Jane was ready. “You would have me accept you because I have now seen the splendor of Pemberley?”

Mr. Darcy’s ardent look turned brazenly flirtatious as he leaned close enough for her to feel his breath on her skin.

“I would have you accept me because we cannot resist one another, as much as we both have tried. We could not repress our feelings at the masquerade, nor the day that I asked to court you, nor in any of the private moments we stole at so many stops on our journey north. I have been kissing you all across England, Elizabeth, and I do not mean to desist now.”

Several feet of tether escaped through Elizabeth’s fingers as Mr. Darcy drew Elizabeth into a slow, tantalizing embrace, and she managed to wrap the kite string twice about her hand before bringing her arms around his neck to draw him closer.

His lips moved gently over hers, and he held his hands flat against her back as he pressed her closer against himself, kissing her until she pulled her lips away with a low moan before gulping in air.

Her fingers had become tangled in his hair, and his hands had moved dangerously low down her back – and then they heard laughter.

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy snapped their heads in unison to see Richard and Lady Susan strolling arm in arm on the gravel path. “You had better start advising your friend Mr. Bingley on how to court a pretty woman,” Lady Susan called out as she and Richard approached. “And perhaps your cousin.”

Richard clapped Mr. Darcy on the shoulder as Elizabeth stepped backward. “I hate to say it, but it is time for us to dress for dinner. I suppose you may have a particular announcement to make?”

Elizabeth laughed ruefully. “Not quite yet – I should wish Jane to make one first.” She gave Mr. Darcy an apologetic look and squeezed his hand. “But soon, very soon.”

“She and Mr. Bingley shall have some catching up to do,” Lady Susan drawled. She extended a hand to Elizabeth. “Come and dress with me, Miss Lizzy. We shall conspire to bring about a great many things a lot of people desire.” She winked boldly at the gentlemen before leading Elizabeth away.

***

Lady Susan’s notion of assistance was not as scandalous as Elizabeth expected.

The charming widow was certainly intelligent and impudent enough to enjoy a bit of intrigue, but on this occasion her frankness did her credit.

She invited Jane to join her and Elizabeth in their toilette, and advised them on what to expect of the evening.

“I have resided in this area for quite some time, though my late husband’s property passed to a distant relation.

Since coming to stay at Pemberley, I have grown acquainted with many of the prominent members of the neighborhood.

I understand that you saw little of them in your previous time at Matlock, Lady Jane. ”

“Robert preferred to entertain his friends from London, rather than the local gentry,” Jane murmured.