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Elizabeth bent over the ribbon and worked it through properly. She could be civil. She could be grateful for what he did for Jane. She need not offer him her good opinion merely because she was obliged to sit at his table.

When Jane came down, Elizabeth had finished the bag and was able to give it to her with a tolerably cheerful account of the difficulty caused by the ring. Jane admired the new ribbon, thanked her, and went to Charles to discover what the gentlemen had decided about the house.

They meant to visit it on Wednesday. The house was fifteen miles away by carriage road, though a rider could take a shorter way across the hills. The agent could not receive them before two, and Charles wished to examine the grounds as well as the house. Mr. Darcy proposed an inn five miles back along the return road, where they might dine and spend the night. They could take their time over the inspection and complete the journey home after breakfast, instead of making Jane wait up for them.

“I shall stay here,” Jane said, before Charles could begin arranging cushions. “I have had enough long journeys for the present.”

“Then we can postpone it,” he replied at once.

“Why should you? Lizzy knows what I would wish to see.”

Caroline, who had returned in time to hear this, put down her cup.

“I had intended to accompany Charles. I am acquainted with the sort of establishment he requires.”

“I shall be glad to have both my sisters’ opinions,” Jane said. “You will notice different things.”

Elizabeth looked at her. Jane’s countenance was all mild expectation, but there was a firmness in the way she held her cup that suggested she had no wish to hear why the arrangement would not do.

“Sally can attend the ladies,” Mr. Darcy said. “Mrs. Bingley’s maid will remain here.”

“And Mrs. Reynolds will take better care of me than any of you,” Jane added. “I shall rest, sew, and await your report.”

Charles still looked doubtful. Mr. Darcy spoke to him quietly of the rooms available at the inn, and of a message that could be sent ahead to reserve them. Everything was made easy. Elizabeth had only to accept the arrangements and try to serve her sister’s interests when they reached the house.

Mr. Darcy glanced toward her. “Will Wednesday suit you, Miss Bennet?”

“Perfectly. Thank you.”

This time her gratitude was sincere. She disliked the necessity of feeling it all the same.

Chapter Six

BY WEDNESDAY MORNING, Darcy had discovered that Miss Bennet could be perfectly polite to him without giving him the least pleasure in her company.

She thanked him when he passed a dish, answered when he addressed her, and had ceased finding fault with anything at Pemberley. Had he been asked upon the day of her arrival what improvement he wished to see in her manner, he might have described precisely this one.

He found it exceedingly unsatisfactory. He also feared he knew the reason.

Her manner had changed after the visit to Anna. She must have learnt about Georgiana.

She had stopped him after church to ask whether he knew Anna’s mother. He had answered as steadily as he could. Even now he could not recollect saying that she had died without wishing he had found some other words. Was Miss Bennet asking for information, or waiting for him to acknowledge what she already knew?

Martha would not have told her. Mrs. Reynolds knew what depended upon her discretion. Had somebody else spoken? He could not discover how much Miss Bennet knew without risking the disclosure himself.

Perhaps she thought him wrong to have received her sister into a house which concealed such a history. The thought made him look toward the stairs, though Miss Bennet had not yet come down. He could bear her disapproval of himself. He did not know how he should endure hearing her speak slightingly of Georgiana.

There had been opportunities to speak of the book. On Monday he had asked whether she had reached the middle, and she had replied that she was progressing very well. On Tuesday she had been so occupied with her sister that he had not asked again. He would not pursue a conversation she plainly did not wish to have.

Now he stood beside his horse while Bingley made a final visit upstairs to his wife. Sally had stowed the ladies’ overnight things, and Miss Bennet was attempting to persuade Houndsmere that the carriage could depart without his assistance.

“You are to stay with Jane,” she told him. “I explained this before breakfast.”

The dog placed one forepaw upon the carriage step.

Darcy took him by the collar.

“He has never considered an explanation binding.”