A Continued Affection

Part 28

"They do not look like a couple in love," Sally remarked, in a loud whisper. She turned her head first one way and then another, isolating Elizabeth and Darcy apart in the crowd.

"And what is a couple in love supposed to look like?" Mr Egerton remarked, drily.

The smile that played about the edge of his lips made Mary smile too, easing the anxiety she had felt at Sally's observation. She, too, had noticed the distance between her sister and Mr Darcy, had seen the stormy look on Mr Darcy's handsome face as he stalked into the assembly room, forcing the crowd to part around him like the red sea. She had noticed Elizabeth's absence and had just begun to go and look for her, when she spied her, lurking at the edge of the crowd, her face uncharacteristically pale and serious.

"Well, they might choose to stand close to one another, for one. You and Mary appear more in love than they do!"

This had been pointedly delivered, with a grin that only Mary could see, but Mr Egerton certainly identified from the warning tone of his reply.

"I need not remind you, sister, that appearances can be deceptive."

Mary's smile fell, but she recovered herself quickly, before Sally could notice and comment on it.

"What a pity Miss Egerton could not be with us this evening," she remarked, hoping her voice did not betray her.

"Oh, yes. She hardly cares to go anywhere these days." Sally sighed, before brightening. "Except to dine at Mr Darcy's. I am pleased she came then, and hope that if we are to have more similar gatherings she will slowly come out of her shell."

Mr Egerton cleared his throat and the effect on his sister was so immediate that had Mary been suspicious by nature she might have wondered if this was a signal they had concocted between them before the evening began.

"There is Miss Lavinia Bertram - do excuse me, Mary, I did so wish to greet her before the evening's festivities truly begin."

She was gone before Mary could say a word, and Mr Egerton smiled.

"You have been abandoned with me again, Miss Mary. This is becoming habitual."

She glanced at him, noticing the wry smile he seemed to wear so often was back in place.

"Would you like to sit down?" she asked, laying a hand on his arm so he might know where she was. "We need not stand here so precariously amidst the crowd."

"It does not bother me," Mr Egerton claimed, but he allowed her to lead him to a quieter corner, where he might lean gently against one of the ornate marble columns and place himself a little more easily.

"So, now that Sally is gone, I may ask you plainly. What do you think of your sister and Mr Darcy? Is it as dire as my sister seems to imagine?" He pulled a face. "She is quite adept at matching and dispatching couples at will, so I do not know that I trust her assessment of things. She has been wrong before..."

Mary's smile faltered, and she felt sure that this was a reference to Sally's sly jibe at them. You and Mary appear more in love than they do... Did he dispute her observation? Or disagree with it, entirely?

Almost subconsciously, Mary took a step back, thinking that perhaps they did, indeed, stand too close to one another for a couple who were nothing more than friends. She glanced around the room, trying to discern the behaviour of others and match it, and was so lost in her attempts to emulate her neighbours that after a long moment of quiet, Mr Egerton swallowed.

"Mary?" A smile played about his lips.

"I am here," she said, quickly turning back to him. "Forgive me. You asked about Mr Darcy and my sister...I do not know what to tell you." She sighed. "At present, they are on opposite sides of the assembly room. I admit, if I had not heard Lizzy's confession with my own ears I would doubt it entirely. As for Mr Darcy..."