‘Possibly. But I do not think she will leave France. Her life is here, with the glamour and amusements of Paris.’

Elizabeth was not sorry. She could not imagine Mme Rousel in England, where, in her gossamer-like dresses, she would surely catch her death of cold!


***

Elizabeth woke late on the morning after the ball. She and Darcy had not returned home until almost four o’clock in the morning, and when she finally roused herself, it was almost midday.

‘Good heavens!’ she said, jumping out of bed. ‘Why did you not wake me?’ she asked her maid.

‘The master said I was to let you sleep,’ said Annie, as she placed a tray of pain and chocolate in front of her.

‘Well, perhaps he was right. But now I must hurry,’ she said, eating her breakfast. ‘We are supposed to be going riding in an hour.’

Darcy had bought her a new mare and the animal was due to be delivered that morning. They had arranged to go riding by the side of the Seine if the weather was fine.

She had not brought a riding habit with her, having not intended to ride, but she had been able to buy one in Paris. The Darcy money and the Darcy name had ensured that the habit was made and delivered quickly, and it was now ready for her to wear. It lacked the artistry of London tailoring, but nevertheless, it was finer than anything she had worn as Miss Elizabeth Bennet. It was made of dark green broadcloth, with a high waist and a long, slender skirt, and she matched it with a green hat and York tan gloves. Her ruffled shirt showed white between the lapels. She glanced at herself in the mirror and then went downstairs.

As she crossed the hall, she heard a voice she recognised and she smiled with pleasure because the voice belonged to one of Darcy’s English cousins, Colonel Fitzwilliam. She knew Colonel Fitzwilliam well. They had met at Rosings the previous Easter and they had spent many happy hours walking and talking together. They had got on so well that he had thought it necessary to let her know, in a roundabout fashion, that he could not afford to marry a poor wife and that he must marry an heiress if he were to have the comforts he had come to expect from life. She had not been offended, indeed she had thought it well done, and besides, she had not had any interest in him as a husband; she had not even, at that time, had any interest in Darcy.

She went into the drawing room, looking forward to greeting him, but the men did not hear her enter and she heard Colonel Fitzwilliam saying, ‘Are you mad? You should never have married her. What were you thinking of, Darcy?’

Elizabeth was shocked. She had not known that Colonel Fitzwilliam objected to the match. He had liked her at Rosings but it seemed that, whilst he liked her well enough as a guest of his aunt’s parson, he did not like her as Darcy’s wife.

‘Let her go, Darcy,’ he continued. ‘You can’t do this to her. Send her home.’

‘No,’ said Darcy, turning away defiantly.

As he did so, he saw Elizabeth. He held out his hand to her and she went and stood next to him, taking his arm and presenting a unified front to his cousin.

‘Well?’ demanded Colonel Fitzwilliam.

‘Well?’ returned Darcy implacably.

‘Are you not going to tell her? You owe her that much. Give her a choice.’

Darcy seemed to fight a battle within himself, then he turned towards her and searched her eyes, as if he could find the answer to his problem written there. He cupped her face with his hand.

‘Well, Lizzy, what do you say?’ he asked, looking into her eyes. ‘My cousin would like you to return to Longbourn. I want you to stay with me. Which is it to be?’

Elizabeth knew that she had not been accepted by Darcy’s family, that there had been disapproving eyes turned on her at the salon, and that she would probably never be accepted by all the Darcys, but she was not unduly concerned. She was not the kind of person to be easily intimidated, and she was certainly not going to be driven out of Europe or out of her marriage by ill will. If Colonel Fitzwilliam thought that she would crumple under a bad-natured reception, then he had much to learn about her character.

She turned to Darcy. ‘Where you go, I go. If you stay, I will stay.’

Darcy slid his arm around her waist then turned to his cousin and said, ‘You see?’

‘I see only that she does not know what it is she should fear. If you will not take my advice, speak to your uncle,’ said Colonel Fitzwilliam. ‘You have always respected him. Go and see him, and be guided by him.’

She felt a relenting in Darcy and he said, ‘I had already decided to do so. Elizabeth and I are going to visit him after we finish our sojourn in Paris. Now, if you will excuse us, we are going out riding.’

‘I am surprised you can find a horse to carry you,’ Colonel Fitzwilliam said darkly.

‘I brought my own from the Pemberley stables,’ Darcy said. ‘It travelled with us, tethered to the back of the coach.’

‘I should have guessed,’ said Colonel Fitzwilliam. Then, saying, ‘Darcy. Mrs Darcy,’ he made them a curt bow and took his leave.

Elizabeth looked at Darcy enquiringly as he left the room.

‘What was all that about?’ she asked. ‘Does he disapprove of our marriage, or does he think that I am expecting your family to welcome me? Does he think I do not know that there are some among them who will never accept me, and does he really think me so poor spirited I will be afraid of a cutting remark or a cold shoulder?’

‘Elizabeth—’

‘Yes?’ she asked.

He looked as though he was about to say something more and suddenly she felt a sense of dread, as though there were something dark lurking beneath the surface of her life, something which threatened her world, her security, her happiness. But then he stroked her hair and everything was as it should be. He relaxed, and she relaxed as well.

‘No matter. The horses are ready. Let me see if I can convince you to enjoy Paris from horseback.’

They went out into the street, and there in front of the house was Darcy’s impressive black stallion and the sweetest mare Elizabeth had ever seen. Although she was no horsewoman, she had lived in the country all her life and she knew that the mare was exceptional.

‘She is called Snowfall,’ said Darcy.

The name suited her. She was white, with a long mane and tail, no more than fourteen hands high with slender legs and nicely sloping shoulders. Her neck was arched and she had an overall air of elegance.

Darcy made a sign to the groom, who trotted her up and down the road on a leading rein, showing off her paces and her neat, small hooves.

‘She looks as though she has Arab blood,’ said Elizabeth, as the groom brought her to a halt.

‘Yes, she has.’

Elizabeth took a carrot from the groom and gave it to the mare, feeling the animal’s soft mouth nuzzling her hand as the carrot disappeared.

‘Do you like her?’ asked Darcy.

‘I do indeed,’ said Elizabeth.

He helped her to mount, holding her hand as she stepped up onto the mounting block and then settled herself comfortably on the mare’s back, hooking one leg around the pommel of her side saddle before arranging her skirt and allowing the groom to adjust the straps. Then she declared that she was ready.

Darcy mounted beside her and the two of them set off towards the river.

The main city was dirty, but once they approached the Seine, it was clean and beautiful. The river was lined with grand buildings, their long elegant lines stretching gracefully into the distance. Their walls were of stone and their roofs were of a pale grey, as though a watercolourist had chosen the shade to echo the river and the sky.

They rode past the Louvre, where they had already spent a morning looking at the luscious paintings of Titian and Rubens, and where they now saw a great many people making the most of the Peace of Amiens to enjoy the activities which had long been denied them. Elizabeth enjoyed the sights, and she took pleasure in the neat steps of her mare and the warm air and her husband beside her.

‘When your cousin spoke of us visiting your uncle, which uncle did he mean?’ she asked, as they rode over a bridge and came to Notre Dame. The great Gothic cathedral rose against the skyline, a concoction of spires, rose windows, and buttresses which were impressive in their artistry and their size. ‘Not his father, I take it, or he would have said so.’

‘No, not his father. I have another uncle here on the Continent. It is to him we will go.’

There came a cry behind them: ‘Darcy! Elizabeth!’

Katrine and Philippe rode up on matching bays, both of them splendidly dressed, Katrine in a velvet riding habit and Philippe in a caped greatcoat with knee breeches disappearing into highly polished boots.

‘I hoped I would find you here,’ said Katrine. ‘This is the place to meet everyone in Paris. They are all here to see and be seen.’

‘I hear you had a visit from your cousin, Darcy,’ said Philippe, as he and Katrine fell in beside the Darcys and the four of them continued together. ‘He tells me that you are going to stay with your uncle. I envy you. It is many years since I visited the Alps. The clear air, the scented forests, the feel of the night wind against the face… I miss it.’

‘Have you ever been to the Alps before?’ Katrine asked Elizabeth.

‘No, never.’

‘You did not plan them as part of your tour?’

‘We did not plan on coming abroad at all.’

‘Ah. It has been a surprise, but not an unpleasant one, I hope?’

‘Not at all. I like to see new places and meet new people.’

‘Vraiment, it is good what you say. Without seeing new places and meeting new people we grow old before our time. We must make an effort to do new things, must we not? It is what gives life its zest.’

‘But you will return to Paris?’ asked Philippe.

‘No,’ said Darcy shortly.

Philippe raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

‘At least not for a while. But later, who knows?’ said Katrine.

‘You must,’ said Philippe, turning to Elizabeth. ‘We will never forgive Darcy if he deprives us of your company, will we Katrine?’

‘Me, I would forgive Darcy anything!’ she said with a longing look at him. ‘But come, Philippe, we must away. I have to be at the du Bariers’ in an hour and you have promised to escort me.’

They rode off in a flurry of manes and hoofs.

‘Why do you need to see your uncle?’ asked Elizabeth, continuing their earlier conversation. ‘From what you said to your cousin, it sounded as though you wanted his advice on our marriage and our reception in society. Is that so?’

‘Not in the way you imagine, no,’ he said.

‘In what way, then?’

He hesitated, as if choosing his words carefully, and said at last, ‘We are different, you and I. We belong together and yet we are not the same. My uncle is very experienced. He might perhaps have encountered the difficulties we will face before, and know how to deal with them.’

Elizabeth was silent. Darcy too was silent, and the only sound was of their horses’ hooves clopping along the road.

‘You’re very quiet,’ he said after a minute or two.

‘I’m… surprised,’ she said. ‘I thought our differences had been resolved, at least the differences that matter, those involving our hearts and minds. The others, the differences in our social standing and the opinion of other people, I thought no longer mattered to you, as they have never mattered to me. I thought you had overcome them.’

‘So I have, a long time ago. You’re right, they don’t matter.’

‘But something matters,’ she said, bringing her mare to a standstill, ‘because you are not happy.’

He looked surprised.

‘I am happy,’ he said.

‘Then you are not easy in our mind,’ she persevered. ‘Otherwise why would you want your uncle’s advice?’

Again he thought before speaking.

‘Elizabeth, there are things you don’t yet know,’ he said with a frown.

‘About you?’

‘About me, and my family.’

‘You mean there are skeletons in the closet?’ she asked, patting her mare’s neck.

He gave a ghost of a smile.

‘Not skeletons, no,’ he said. ‘But I think I might have underestimated the problems we will face. For myself, it doesn’t matter, but for you… I want to protect you, I want to make you happy.’

‘You do.’

‘No, not entirely. I’ve seen you looking at me, puzzled, a few times since we married.’