Page 26

When the ladies went upstairs for their bonnets, Bingley remained with Darcy by the window.

“I had begun to place Jane’s chair,” he said.

“There will be other windows.”

“I know. It is absurd to be disappointed before she has even seen it.”

“It is not absurd.” Darcy folded the particulars Pritchard had left with him. “You wished to give her a home.”

“I should prefer to give her one she could bear to live in. Elizabeth was right about that.”

“Yes.”

Bingley glanced toward him. “She generally has a reason for objecting. One need not enjoy hearing it.”

Darcy put the paper in his pocket. He could have wished his friend less ready to perceive the application of his own remarks.

Miss Bennet returned first, carrying Jane’s little memorandum book. She had written several observations during the viewing and now opened it to check something before they left.

“Have you enough to tell your sister?” Darcy asked.

“Enough to disappoint her without making her sorry she stayed at Pemberley.”

“I hope you will tell her that I advised against it.”

Elizabeth looked up. “I shall tell her what happened.”

The reserve returned. Was she thinking of the nursery he had not provided for his own sister’s child? He had asked only for a fair account of the house, but he could no longer hear her guarded answers without fearing a reproach she would not speak.

“Then she will have a fair account,” he said.

Her expression softened a little. “Thank you for considering the nursery.”

“It required consideration.”

“Not everyone thought so.”

He was pleased by the thanks, and more pleased than he ought to have been by the distinction she had made. Before he could answer, Caroline joined them and asked whether Charles was ready.

Outside, the groom brought his horse. Darcy waited while the carriage was loaded and the ladies took their places. The rooms at the King’s Stag had been reserved; they had only the road before them and the prospect of a comfortable dinner at its end.

Bingley leaned from the window. “I shall not tell Jane how far I had progressed with that chair.”

“Tell her,” Miss Bennet said from within. “She may like to know where you meant her to sit.”

Darcy heard the change in Bingley’s voice when he answered her. By the time the carriage moved, his friend was smiling again.

It occurred to Darcy that Miss Bennet had done more than find fault with the house. She had also made it possible for Charles to leave it without feeling entirely foolish.

He would have liked to tell her so. For the present, he contented himself with riding where he could see her through the window, though she gave him no reason to suppose she had noticed.

Chapter Seven

ELIZABETH WAS GLAD to see the sign of the King’s Stag, though she would have been gladder if the painted animal had stood several miles nearer Pemberley.

Across the carriage, Caroline had closed her eyes. Charles was rereading the memorandum Jane had given them, as though he might discover one wish the house had fulfilled after all.

“Your account of the garden will please her,” Elizabeth said.