Persuading Miss Mary by Leenie Brown

Author:Leenie Brown [Brown, Leenie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leenie B Books

Chapter 13

Mary took her place across from Darcy in the new set which was forming. Lydia had not yet returned from her stroll in the garden, and Kitty was going to keep Elizabeth company while they awaited Lady Matlock’s return. A gentleman with sandy brown hair and an easy smile had taken the seat next to Kitty.

“Do you know him?” Mary tipped her head toward her sisters.

Darcy nodded. “Not overly well, but I do know him.”

“Has he been introduced to either of my sisters?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

Mary’s left eyebrow arched. Then, he should not be talking to them. “Do we wish to sit out this dance?”

Darcy’s brow furrowed. “It would leave a hole in the formation, and we are about to begin. However, I will not deny wishing to extricate Mr. Banks from his seat.” His shoulders lifted and lowered as he took a deep breath. “My aunt and uncle will return soon.”

He sounded almost as if he believed that. But he was correct about them beginning sooner rather than later, for no sooner had Darcy finished speaking and taken one more concerned look toward his wife and Kitty than the musicians began their work.

“There are rules for a reason,” Mary grumbled as she joined hands with Darcy.

“I could not agree more.”

The dance spun them from one place in the line to another, crossing over and back, and circling around the people next to them. All through the movements of the dance, Mary stewed over the lack of regard for rules that Mr. Banks was so blatantly demonstrating.

She stumbled during one of her turns because she was watching to see how Kitty responded, but thankfully, Darcy caught her arm before she could make a complete fool of herself by falling.

Where were Lord and Lady Matlock? The dance was half over, and they had not yet returned.

“No harm will befall them,” Darcy whispered in an almost convincing tone. “Do try to enjoy the dance.”

Mary smiled and nodded. There was little danger to be found in a gentleman merely talking to her sisters in a crowded room. It just bothered her to an exasperating level that he was doing so without an introduction. She could more easily forgive such behaviour at an assembly in Meryton as things were not always as proper at those events as she had expected them to be here in town.

“I have never heard anything untoward about him,” Darcy added the next time they met.

“I am being foolish, am I not?”

“No, you are not,” he assured her. “You, just like me, prize rules and regulations.”

They were separated for several steps before joining hands and passing up and down the line of dancers.

“That is commendable,” Darcy added.

Was it truly? It seemed to be something which made life much more challenging than it was for those such as Lydia who held onto rules loosely – or she did. However, now, Mary was not entirely certain how her sister viewed rules. It seemed as if Lydia was more in favour of them than she had ever been.

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