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Meryton?"

    Darcy was dismayed to realize she had discerned his eavesdropping, but once discovered he could not pretend he had been doing otherwise. "With great energy," he agreed, "but it is a subject which always makes a lady energetic."

    Her eyes laughed at him, and he hoped he was forgiven. "You are severe on us."

    "It will be her turn soon to be teased," said Miss Lucas. "I am going to open the instrument, Eliza, and you know what follows."

    Miss Elizabeth turned back to her friend, and if a frown could be merry, that was the expression she wore when she addressed Miss Lucas. "You are a very strange creature by way of a friend, always wanting me to play and sing before anybody and everybody! If my vanity had taken a musical turn, you would have been invaluable, but as it is, I would really rather not sit down before those who must be in the habit of hearing the very best performers."

    Never before had Darcy seen a young lady turn down an opportunity to display her talents. Miss Elizabeth had yet again captured his attention, and he very much desired to hear her play. Surely she possesses more skill than she is willing to acknowledge .

    He watched with some interest as Miss Lucas cajoled and eventually prevailed upon her friend. "Very well; if it must be so, it must," Miss Elizabeth said finally. She gave Darcy a sly glance and said, "There is a fine old saying, which everybody here is of course familiar with--'keep your breath to cool your porridge,'--and I shall keep mine to swell my song."

    Despite Elizabeth's protestations, Darcy found nothing lacking in her performance--in fact, quite the opposite. Her voice is clear and pleasant to listen to, and her playing light and unaffected.

    The same could not easily be said of Miss Mary Bennet, who succeeded her at the pianoforte. If Miss Elizabeth's playing reflected her easy manners, then Miss Mary's was as pedantic as she, and about as pleasant to listen to as the sermons she favored. At the inducement of her two younger sisters, Miss Mary soon switched from sonatas to light airs, good for dancing. Darcy watched with a sense of mild astonishment as the two young girls danced about the room, their open smiles inviting the officers to join them--an invitation the men did not quickly turn down.

    Gay laughter broke into his thoughts, and Miss Lydia sailed past him in the arms of an officer. From the grin on the young man's face, it was clear whatever comment he had just offered had not been entirely appropriate. Why does her father not take control of her? If Georgiana ever behaved so...

    His ruminations were interrupted by their host, and Darcy braced himself for a supercilious display. He had discovered quite early in their stay in Hertfordshire that Sir William Lucas felt the distinction of his presentation at court a bit too strongly.

    The gentleman did not disappoint. "What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished societies."

    Darcy did not turn from the frolicking couples. "Certainly, sir; and it has the advantage also of being in vogue amongst the less polished societies in the world. Every savage can dance."

    This subtle setdown would have told an astute man to leave the subject alone, but intelligence was not one of Sir William's fine qualities. The man smiled and said, "Your friend performs delightfully," as they both watched Bingley take the eldest Miss Bennet to the floor, "and I doubt not that you are an adept in the science yourself, Mr. Darcy."

    Years of experience told Darcy where this was going. Sir William Lucas had two daughters of marriageable age, the eldest nearly twenty-seven, which would be considered firmly on the shelf in London society. If he admitted he could dance, he would soon be coerced into dancing with one of the Miss Lucases, but Darcy would not lie. "You saw me dance at Meryton, I believe, sir."

    The jovial man