Elizabeth walked to him and took his outstretched hands, allowing him to kiss her hand before speaking.

“Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Darcy.”

He nodded and reintroduced them to Georgiana and promptly called for tea. The four sat and Mr. Darcy engaged Jane in conversation. Elizabeth understood he was giving her an opportunity to converse with his sister and gave the younger woman her attention.

Miss Darcy was tall, taller even than Lydia, and on a larger scale than Elizabeth, again reminding her of her youngest sister who was also on a larger scale than she. Not that Elizabeth was delicate. That word would better describe Mary or Kitty, but she was slender and only an average height, without any of the pleasant plumpness that characterized her friend Charlotte or her youngest sister. Jane was of a similar build, though ever so slightly softer, likely due to the differences in their activity levels. It had always been a point of frustration and hilarity that her mother would go on and on about how graceful Jane’s figure was and how beautifully all her clothes fit her when Elizabeth’s figure was incredibly similar and she received nothing but criticism from her mother.

Miss Darcy was exceedingly shy and Elizabeth couldn’t help but compare the stories Mr. Wickham had told her to the reality before her. What a fool I was to listen to that man! They spoke of the activities available in town and Miss Darcy said how she longed to return to Pemberley. Slowly and with great patience, Elizabeth drew the younger woman out by asking her to tell her about Pemberley and her favorite parts of the estate. Unsurprisingly, she loved the music room best and a sitting room that had belonged to her mother and that her brother had recently had redone specifically for her.

Mr. Darcy suggested another tour of the house, this one more intimate than the one the day before. They had remained in the public rooms with Mrs. Bennet. She had asked so many questions about the furnishings and fabrics and whether any of the art was by well-known artists that they hadn’t had time to tour the entire house.

Mr. Darcy took Elizabeth’s arm and Jane fell back with Georgiana, easily setting Miss Darcy at ease with her gentle nature.

After looking at Miss Darcy’s personal sitting room at the back of the house and Mr. Darcy’s study near the library, Darcy led them to the master’s chambers. He showed them the sitting room at the end of the hallway that connected to his room first. Georgiana became engrossed in telling Jane the family history of a painting on the far wall and Darcy took the opportunity to speak privately with Elizabeth.

“This is part of my private apartment, but I thought we could use it more as our personal sitting room.”

“Oh?”