“Yes, it is, but I absolutely refuse to play charades.”

“I would not ask you to as I know how you detest it. I can assure you it is an entirely musical evening.”

“Which reminds me. I have a bone to pick with you. Why did you tell Miss Elizabeth I play the pianoforte?”

“Because you do.”

“As you well know, I play at the most basic level and only because Mama insisted I should learn and would stay in the room to make sure I practiced.”

“You are not being asked to play Mozart, so please unfurrow your brow. It will be fun. I promise.”

While Darcy was dressing, he was hoping Elizabeth would not wear her hair down because her long dark tresses would make him want to look into her eyes, and his efforts to be anything other than a good host would collapse. Because he did not want to send the wrong signal, he needed to be in complete control tonight. It was only a few more days before he would be able to go to London and sort things out, but his hopes were dashed as soon as she walked into the dining room. He had thought green her best color, but now he decided it was yellow.

While Ellie had been curling her hair, Lizzy was planning how best to act during supper. Of course, she would be civil to Mr. Darcy, but she would look at him only when necessary. Instead, she would concentrate on getting to know the colonel better. However, those plans failed immediately because tonight Mr. Darcy looked as handsome as she had ever seen him. She did not think it possible for him to be more attractive than when he wore his green coat, black waistcoat, and tan breeches, but tonight he had chosen a black coat with trousers, and there was an elegance in his appearance that caused her heart to skip a beat.

“I know your older sister is to marry Mr. Bingley,” the colonel said to Lizzy who was seated next to him at supper, “but do you have any other sisters?”

“Yes, I have three younger sisters, all at home, except my youngest sister, Lydia, who has gone to Brighton as a guest of the wife of the colonel of a militia regiment. However, that is about to change as I have just received a letter from my sister, Jane, saying that our father has sent for her.”

Aunt Gardiner nodded her head in approval at her brother-in-law’s action. In her opinion, Mr. Bennet should never have approved of the scheme in the first place because there was always the possibility of someone of such a tender age getting into trouble in a town filled to overflowing with young men.

“Longbourn must be a positive bevy of beauties if your sisters favor you,” the colonel said.

Lizzy blushed at the compliment, but considering that Colonel Fitzwilliam must have dined with some of the most beautiful women in society, she was quite flattered by his attention. This exchange did not go unnoticed by Darcy, who was trying to catch his cousin’s eye. Since he was prevented from showing any special attention to Elizabeth, he thought Richard should do the same. Instead, Colonel Fitzwilliam was openly flirting with the woman Darcy was in love with.

“Colonel, I know you have an older brother who is the Earl Fitzwilliam, but are there others?” Lizzy asked.

“Yes, I have two sisters, but just the one brother, and with a brother such as him, one is enough. I assume you read The Insider, Miss Bennet?”

“I must confess, with some embarrassment, that I do, but for those of us who live in the country and who go up to town only once or twice a year, we must have some entertainment.”

“I am pleased to hear my brother’s antics have some value, if only to entertain.”

“Not just your brother, as there are others for whom the printers must buy their ink by the barrel,” Lizzy said, thinking of the Prince of Wales and his brothers.

“Do you pity me then, Miss Bennet? As a younger son, I am destined to a life of self-denial and dependence while my brother has his every wish granted. As milord frequently says, ‘Richard got the looks and hair while I got everything else.’”

Lizzy laughed at his comment. She had read enough about Lord Fitzwilliam to know he had no interest in his own wife but could not stay away from anyone else’s, and that he played at high-stakes card games where he would lose a fortune one night and win it back the next.

“Truthfully, Colonel, when has a want of money ever prevented you from going wherever you chose or procuring anything you wanted?”

Darcy laughed to himself. He had warned his cousin that having a conversation with Elizabeth was quite different than anything he was used to because she always spoke honestly.

“There is truth in your question,” the colonel answered, “but our habits of expense make us too dependent. Unlike my cousin here, younger sons cannot marry where they wish.”

Georgiana, seeing that her brother did not like Richard’s last comment, interrupted by relating news from Longbourn that Lizzy had shared with her. “Elizabeth, please tell my brother about the Crenshaw children.”

“The Crenshaws? Those hellions?” Richard said in a surprisingly animated manner.

“Yes, one and the same,” Georgiana answered, “but I have good news. The beasts have been tamed.”

“I do not believe it,” Fitzwilliam and Darcy said in unison.

“They are beyond reformation,” Richard said. “If I were of a litigious bent, I would have sued their father for destruction of private property. They put some putrid plant in my new boots, making them perfectly useless. When Darcy and I got our hands on those twins, we took them up to the house by the scruffs of their necks to their mother, and do you know what she said? ‘They are infiltrators executing acts of sabotage behind enemy lines.’ And Darcy said to the two boys, ‘Do you know what happens to saboteurs when they are caught?’ but then the mother saved them by telling them to go to their rooms. She then assured me that her husband would pay for a new set of boots, but he must not have known where to send the cheque because I never got it. Bingley made good on it.”

“Richard, I am sorry. I did not intend to upset you,” Georgiana said in a soothing voice, “but it is true. The beasts roar no more.”

“And who accomplished this miracle?”

“Miss Jane Bennet.”

Darcy broke out into laughter. “Richard, now I am sure Georgie is joking. I know the lady, and an unkind word has never passed her lips.”

“I thank you, Mr. Darcy, for being so complimentary of my sister,” Lizzy interjected, “but I can assure you that Jane did succeed where the colonel and you could not, and she did so by the use of her reason.”

Darcy sat back in his chair and gave Lizzy a look that clearly showed he did not believe a word of it.

“We anticipated your skepticism, Mr. Darcy, and so I have brought Jane’s letter for you to read. How such a feat was accomplished begins halfway down the page.”

After reading all of the details of the singular afternoon at Longbourn, Darcy nodded his head in approval. It was true. Miss Bennet had succeeded where everyone else had failed. After putting down the letter, Darcy briefed his cousin on its contents and said, “Well, Fitzwilliam, we must give Miss Jane Bennet her due. She was very clever. I would have thought it would have been easier to raise Lazarus than to get those twins to behave.”

“Call me a doubting Thomas,” Richard grumbled, “but I would have to see them in action to believe it. Never mind. I never want to be in their company again.” Everyone laughed at the absurdity of such young children having so many adults tied up in knots.

“So, Mr. Darcy, will you concede that, in this case, brains succeeded where brawn had failed?”

“I readily concede that female ingenuity won the day, Miss Elizabeth, and I would not debate the point in any event as I have been on the losing end of every argument since I first met you.”

“If you truly believe that, Mr. Darcy, then your losing streak has come to an end because, in this case, I agree with you.”

“I will make a note of it in my journal.”

“Will, I think you are deliberately putting your fingers on the wrong keys,” Georgiana said in frustration. “We have played this duet numerous times.”

“But not for more than a year, and despite what you say, I am not doing it on purpose.”

“Georgie, do you have the music for ‘I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In’?” Richard asked in an attempt to stop the sparring. “Will knows how to play that tune, and I will accompany him.” Georgiana quickly went through her music chest and found the sheet music for the carol.

“Richard, that is an excellent suggestion,” Georgiana said, “as tomorrow is the first of December and St. Nicholas’s Day is but six days off. It is the perfect tune for the season,” and Georgie left her brother so that he might perform.

“I am warning you, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and Miss Elizabeth, that I play badly,” Darcy said, and looking at his sister for a reprieve, which she refused to grant, he told her, “Put Pepper out of the room or he will start barking.”

“Don’t worry, Darcy. I intend to sing very loudly to cover your poor performance,” his cousin teased him.

After Darcy had finished, he asked Mrs. Gardiner what she thought.

“The colonel has a fine baritone.”

“You cannot avoid the question, Mrs. Gardiner. What did you think of my playing?”

“Sir, I will tell you what I tell my children: Practice, practice, and more practice will get you the desired results.”

“Gently put, Mrs. Gardiner,” Darcy said with a smile.

Aunt Gardiner turned to her niece. “Elizabeth, dear, will you sing, ‘I Liked But Never Loved Before’?”

“Oh, no, not that maudlin ballad,” Mr. Gardiner groaned. “Please forgive my wife. She has an insatiable appetite for songs about lost love and other tragedies that will have everyone in tears.”

“I am only asking for the one ballad, Mr. Gardiner.”

“Very well, Aunt, if you will accompany me,” Lizzy said, agreeing to her request. Lizzy had a pleasing alto voice and, like her aunt, had a weakness for romantic ballads, and no sheet music was needed as they knew the song by heart.

“I liked but never loved before

I saw thy charming face;

Now every feature I adore,

And dote on every grace.

He never shall know the kind desire,