She laughed and rose, tugging him up behind her. “Come, you should greet my father.”

~

Friday brought Mr. Bingley to Gracechurch Street. The women of the family were preparing to leave, the hall filled with bustling as five women tied on their bonnets and slipped on their gloves.

Mr. Bingley apologized and asked if it wasn’t a good time, and Mrs. Bennet said it was no trouble at all, Jane would stay behind. Kitty was sent for and told to stay in the corner to give them privacy. Mrs. Bennet whispered the instructions in her ear but she wasn’t as good at whispering as she imagined she was and everyone heard. Jane was mortified, but Bingley was glad of the time alone, even if it came at the cost of a little embarrassment. Mrs. Gardiner sent in tea before the two matrons, the bride, and Mary were off to the shops.

Bingley was very pleased to spend time with Jane Bennet. He had enjoyed renewing the acquaintance while in town and after much deliberation, he’d decided that Darcy was wrong about Jane’s feelings for him. If she had felt nothing for him, why had she been so nervous when she saw him again? If her heart was untouched, why did she blush so when he touched her in a dance or kissed her hand? No, he was sure Darcy had been mistaken. His friend was just a man, after all.

And if he was right and his friend was wrong about Jane’s feelings, it meant he had left her in the lurch, expecting him to come back and likely being grieved when he did not. Was that why she was so skittish now? Why the ease they had enjoyed in Hertfordshire was so difficult to recapture? Could he blame her? Of course not! He would not want an inconstant lover and neither would he wish one for her.

He knew he might make a nuisance of himself, but he couldn’t care. Darcy practically oozed satisfaction when Bingley saw him last, and he knew why. Darcy was marrying the woman he loved and perpetually looked like the cat that got the cream. Bingley wished such joy for himself, and he knew he would have it with Jane. He would call again and again until she saw it, too.

~

Saturday arrived bright and clear for Elizabeth’s tea with the Darcys. Her mother and Jane were accompanying her. She would take tea with Georgiana and Fitzwilliam, tour the house, and meet with the housekeeper. She would then be introduced to the two women vying for the position of her personal maid.