A Continued Affection

Part 17

For once, Mary was not unhappy to have stepped away from the piano, for the gentlemen returned to join them and she found herself sitting quite alone for a moment. It was only a moment, though, for Mr Egerton soon came to join her, finding his way with surprising ease and sinking heavily into a chair.

"Hello," she said, eager to alert him to her presence. She paused, before clarifying, a little awkwardly. "It's Mary Bennet."

"Ah, it is not you playing, then," Mr Egerton replied, pulling a face when Caroline Bingley took a trill too fast and tied her fingers in discordant knots. "I might have guessed."

This last was murmured so low as to only reach her ears and accompanied a grimace that soon gave way to a sly smile. Mary could not resist smiling, too, pleased to receive such an easy compliment.

"I should like to dance!" Lydia declared, forsaking Kitty for a moment. "If one of the gentlemen would care to ask me!"

Mary groaned and thought she saw Mr Egerton's lips quirk in amusement. Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley exchanged a look, as if either one were in no great hurry to acquiesce, when one glance from Jane persuaded Mr Bingley and he stepped forward, bowing magnanimously.

"I should be honoured, Miss Lydia."

She curtseyed, surveying the room in triumph, as she had secured the only gentleman either willing or likely to offer to dance that evening.

A collective gasp of surprise rolled through the room when Mr Darcy strode forward, offering his hand to crestfallen Kitty, who was sniffing back tears at the way Lydia always managed to have her way.

"You wish to dance with me?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"That is what people do, I am told," Mr Darcy replied, his voice gruff but not unkind.

Soon both couples were dancing and Kitty began to blossom at this show of attention, quite outshining Lydia, who scowled in her direction and loudly scolded Mr Bingley for every misstep he made.

Soon, they were joined by another pair, as Sally Egerton impishly suggested to Georgiana that they ought to round out the dancing and never mind that there were not enough gentlemen to go around, which made everyone laugh and whispers of conversation began to spring up again, amongst both the dancers and those observing.

"You do not wish to dance, Miss Mary?" Mr Egerton asked, prompting her to smile.

"Again, no." She swallowed. "I have never once displayed a preference for it, so I shall relieve you of ever having to ask me again. I am quite contented here." She bit her lip, then, wondering if she had spoken to fervently and forwardly. Was it wrong to so freely admit partiality? She liked sitting beside him, describing whenever he asked her to, and she had grown so used to the habit that she now fancied she could pre-empt his questions and answer them as soon as he opened his mouth to begin to ask.

"Your sister Sally has made a perfect pairing with Georgiana and the two dance rings around the others, much to Mr Bingley's delight and Mr Darcy's concern." She dropped her voice. "I think he is quite surprised to find himself dancing and rather regrets whatever fleeting impulse made him suggest it, although my sister is delighted to have been asked."

"It was a kind gesture," Mr Egerton remarked, a hint of sadness registering in his voice. "I should like to have been a position to do the same."

"You should not," Mary countered, determined to ease his disappointment with a joke, the way she had seen Elizabeth do many times before. "Kitty is an enthusiastic dancer, but careless. You would be in danger of losing a toe!"

This was enough to provoke a low rumble of laughter and Mary sat back in her seat, pleased with her success. She allowed her attention to wander, idly watching the dancers and listening to Caroline Bingley's playing, which had grown more careful and demonstrative since she noticed Mr Darcy dancing.

"Where is my other sister?" Mr Egerton asked, after a moment of contented silence.

It took Mary a few moments to locate her, but at last she saw the elder Miss Egerton perched on a settee with Jane and Elizabeth and said as much, explaining in as great detail as she could the interplay of smiles upon the faces of the three young ladies.

"I am pleased to think she is making friends." Mr Egerton smiled, himself, and it seemed as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Did you have a chance to speak to her very much yourself?"

"A little," Mary conceded, although I confess I was most often in company with Sally, and Georgiana Darcy, who is so kind and clever and quite unlike her brother -" Mary stopped all of a sudden, biting down hard on her lip and reddening. Mr Egerton did not seem scandalised by her comment, though, although he did do her the courtesy of swallowing the worst of his laughter.

"Indeed, Mr Darcy is a serious kind of fellow. I can well see how someone might prefer the company of his sister." He conceded, with a grin.

"I have had very little cause to speak to him at all," Mary said. "Although I must credit him with the suggestion for my family to come to London, I suppose." She frowned, recalling the conversation. "It was strange of him to suggest it. I did not know that he took such an interest in us, although -"

"Yes?"

Mr Egerton's voice had grown serious, sharp and short, and Mary realised how surprising it must seem to hear Mr Darcy's name on her lips, to suggest the man who was still practically a stranger had all but insisted upon their coming to London. She bit her lip, weighing the risk she was taking, and then decided that, of all the people she knew in London, perhaps Mr Egerton was the best to trust with her confidence. He would advise her well and keep her counsel, she thought, and her heart beat a little quicker at the thought of sharing the secret with him.

"You know Mr Darcy well, I believe?" she hedged, watching him carefully for any flicker of emotion across his face.

"A little," he conceded, lifting his eyebrows. "We come to know one another better now. I think rather highly of him, although-" He frowned, looking a little put-out by the direction their conversation had taken. "Mary -"

"I only ask because I have cause to believe I know something about him - about his past, and I am not sure how best to act on the knowledge."

Mr Egerton stiffened. If Mary had not been sitting so close to him, nor watching him so closely, she might have missed the way his entire face blanched.

"Mary -" he began, his voice urgent. "I must entreat you -"

"It is about my sister," Mary blurted out, certain that she would not rest until she had told all.

"Your...sister?" Mr Egerton frowned, as if this was the very last word he had anticipated hearing on her lips. "Which sister?"

"Elizabeth," Mary sucked in a breath, taking one last glance around the room to ensure that she would not be heard either by those she spoke about or by anyone else who might profit by the knowledge. They were safe, she thought, but even so, she moderated her tone to a low whisper, leaning a little closer to her companion to ensure that only he might hear her.

"I have come to believe that they were acquainted once upon a time, before something happened to part them. I wonder, Mr Egerton, if you might be willing to help me reunite them..."