Page 44 of The Crown’s Gift

"Miss Elizabeth," he said.

"Mr Darcy."

"Miss Mary. Georgiana has spoken of little else this week."

Mary found a smile. "She promised not to tell you how often I stepped upon my train."

"She told me only that she did so more often."

Georgiana looked betrayed. "William."

Their laughter drew several glances, but it also restored Mary to herself.

Caroline Bingley approached in orange silk bright enough to challenge the chandeliers. Her curtsy to Lady Bennet was correct. Her apology had been offered in private two days earlier at Bingley's insistence and accepted by Jane with cautious grace.

"How lovely you both look," she said. "The family diamonds are especially charming, considering they are so newly bestowed."

Lady Matlock's brows rose.

Elizabeth understood the barb: borrowed royal jewels, borrowed consequence, an estate received rather than inherited.

Lady Bennet opened her fan. "The ornament belongs to the Queen. We return it after each presentation. I find that a borrowed diamond shines exactly like an inherited one, but carries less responsibility when the clasp appears weak."

Lady Matlock laughed aloud.

Caroline colored. "How practical."

"The last ten years with Mr Bennet have taught me something."

The line began to move. Conversation ceased. Mary gripped Elizabeth's fingers once, then released them as etiquette required.

Elizabeth entered first.

The room appeared both grand and strangely human: candlelight warming gilded walls, ladies shifting beneath heavy trains, an attendant discreetly retrieving a fallen feather. Queen Charlotte sat at the far end, small, composed, and observant.

Elizabeth approached, made her curtsy, and moved backward as she had practiced. The Queen looked at the diamond in her hair and smiled.

"Another Bennet daughter."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Your father still reads agricultural reports on Sundays?"

Elizabeth's surprise nearly disturbed her balance. "He claims they encourage humility, ma'am."

The Queen's smile deepened. "Tell him the King asks after his drainage."

"I shall, ma'am."

Elizabeth withdrew. At the edge of the room, she turned enough to see Mary enter.

Mary took three steps.

Her train caught beneath one heel.

She stopped.

No one gasped. No disaster occurred. Yet terror emptied her face.