“Did you not warn me to guard my heart, Lizzy?”
“I did, Jane,” agreed Elizabeth. “Yet you are not blind, and I am not above teasing you, regardless. It is still best to guard your heart, but you must own that his preference is promising.”
“As I recall, you said that about Mr. Bingley.”
“So I did,” agreed Elizabeth. “Colonel Fitzwilliam isnotMr.Bingley.”
“Yes, we have established that much.”
Elizabeth turned to her sister. As the colonel was still focused on Kitty and Lydia, there was time for a brief private conversation. “Not long after Mr. Bingley arrived, you called him the best man of your acquaintance. Tell me, Jane, do you think the same of Colonel Fitzwilliam?”
Though Jane considered the question for several moments, Elizabeth did not think her sister was trying to avoid responding, nor did she appear to misunderstand her feelings. Rather, Elizabeth was certain Jane was trying to articulate what she wished to say.
“Colonel Fitzwilliamisa good man,” replied Jane at length. “That much is clear. Beyond that, I am trying not to extend myself by speaking too warmly of a man when I still do not know him well.”
For a long moment, Elizabeth regarded her sister. Then she reached out and squeezed Jane’s hand. “That, my dear Jane, is the most sensible comment you made in some time.”
“Miss Bennet is ever sensible.”
Elizabeth looked up to see Colonel Fitzwilliam standing before them, grinning in a way that reminded Elizabeth of Mr. Bingley. The man was leaning on his cane, interested in the sisters’ tête-à-tête—Elizabeth wondered just how much he had overheard. Behind him, Kitty and Lydia were whispering together, their eyes finding the colonel every few moments, conversation punctuated by occasional giggles.
“I hope, Miss Elizabeth,” continued Colonel Fitzwilliam, a teasing lilt in his voice, “that you do not consider your sister insensible.”
“Not at all, Colonel,” replied Elizabeth, opting for a daring response. “Jane is as rational a woman as I have ever met. It is only that she sometimes trusts too easily.”
“Lizzy!” hissed Jane, appearing mortified.
The colonel, however, gave her an unreadable look, then sat on Jane’s other side and turned to regard them. Turning roguish, he winked at Elizabeth.
“Of your sister’s trusting nature, I had no doubt. After all, she appeared to trustmeat once. My cousin would say that is a fatal error, indeed!”
The laughter came easily to Elizabeth’s lips, joined by Jane, though her sister peered between them, her looks promising retribution. As Jane was such a gentle soul, her retribution was not something to be feared.
“Now,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam, turning serious again, “can I suppose that your comment was not merely a jest, but contained a measure of truth?”
Though Elizabeth threw her sister an apologetic look, Jane only shook her head. “I own it without disguise,” replied Jane in her soft voice. “Between us, I look on the world to find good, while Lizzy looks with suspicion.”
While it was not entirely accurate, Elizabeth did not respond, wanting to know what Colonel Fitzwilliam would say. His gentle smile, already warm for one who had only just made Jane’s acquaintance, told Elizabeth much about his already burgeoning feelings.
“It takes a special sort of person to look at the world with such favor, Miss Bennet.” Then he grinned at Elizabeth. “But it is also welcome that you have such an able cynic to help you see the darker parts of the world around us.”
“Lizzy has a habit of ever keeping me safe from myself,” replied Jane, throwing Elizabeth an affectionate smile.
“Not at all,” said Elizabeth. “Jane is perfectly capable of the discernment necessary to see shades of gray.”
“Of that, I am certain,” replied the colonel. He paused for a moment, pondering his next words. “I will own that I have heard something of the current tenant of Netherfield, at whose sufferance I enjoy your company. Though Darcy said little, I understand the Bingley party did not think much of the neighborhood.”
“That is an understatement,” said Elizabeth when Jane did not respond at once. “I suspect we were all too provincial for them, though Mr. Bingley appeared at ease with us.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam regarded her for a long moment. “Was Bingley comfortable in company or was there a certain... direction to his interest in the neighborhood?”
“He paid me quite excessive attention,” whispered Jane, with no prompting from Elizabeth.
This time, the pause was longer. “Enough to have engaged his honor, perhaps?”
Jane flushed bright red, but Elizabeth had no compunction at all about responding. “That is not for us to say, Colonel. However, what Icantell you is that every time Mr. Bingley was in company with Jane, he had little attention to spare for anyone else.”
“From what I know of Bingley,thatis not at all unusual.”
