"They do not look like a couple in love," Sally remarked, in a loud whisper. She turned her head first one way and then another, isolating Elizabeth and Darcy apart in the crowd.
"And what is a couple in love supposed to look like?" Mr Egerton remarked, drily.
The smile that played about the edge of his lips made Mary smile too, easing the anxiety she had felt at Sally's observation. She, too, had noticed the distance between her sister and Mr Darcy, had seen the stormy look on Mr Darcy's handsome face as he stalked into the assembly room, forcing the crowd to part around him like the red sea. She had noticed Elizabeth's absence and had just begun to go and look for her, when she spied her, lurking at the edge of the crowd, her face uncharacteristically pale and serious.
"Well, they might choose to stand close to one another, for one. You and Mary appear more in love than they do!"
This had been pointedly delivered, with a grin that only Mary could see, but Mr Egerton certainly identified from the warning tone of his reply.
"I need not remind you, sister, that appearances can be deceptive."
Mary's smile fell, but she recovered herself quickly, before Sally could notice and comment on it.
"What a pity Miss Egerton could not be with us this evening," she remarked, hoping her voice did not betray her.
"Oh, yes. She hardly cares to go anywhere these days." Sally sighed, before brightening. "Except to dine at Mr Darcy's. I am pleased she came then, and hope that if we are to have more similar gatherings she will slowly come out of her shell."
Mr Egerton cleared his throat and the effect on his sister was so immediate that had Mary been suspicious by nature she might have wondered if this was a signal they had concocted between them before the evening began.
"There is Miss Lavinia Bertram - do excuse me, Mary, I did so wish to greet her before the evening's festivities truly begin."
She was gone before Mary could say a word, and Mr Egerton smiled.
"You have been abandoned with me again, Miss Mary. This is becoming habitual."
She glanced at him, noticing the wry smile he seemed to wear so often was back in place.
"Would you like to sit down?" she asked, laying a hand on his arm so he might know where she was. "We need not stand here so precariously amidst the crowd."
"It does not bother me," Mr Egerton claimed, but he allowed her to lead him to a quieter corner, where he might lean gently against one of the ornate marble columns and place himself a little more easily.
"So, now that Sally is gone, I may ask you plainly. What do you think of your sister and Mr Darcy? Is it as dire as my sister seems to imagine?" He pulled a face. "She is quite adept at matching and dispatching couples at will, so I do not know that I trust her assessment of things. She has been wrong before…"
Mary's smile faltered, and she felt sure that this was a reference to Sally's sly jibe at them. You and Mary appear more in love than they do… Did he dispute her observation? Or disagree with it, entirely?
Almost subconsciously, Mary took a step back, thinking that perhaps they did, indeed, stand too close to one another for a couple who were nothing more than friends. She glanced around the room, trying to discern the behaviour of others and match it, and was so lost in her attempts to emulate her neighbours that after a long moment of quiet, Mr Egerton swallowed.
"Mary?" A smile played about his lips.
"I am here," she said, quickly turning back to him. "Forgive me. You asked about Mr Darcy and my sister…I do not know what to tell you." She sighed. "At present, they are on opposite sides of the assembly room. I admit, if I had not heard Lizzy's confession with my own ears I would doubt it entirely. As for Mr Darcy…"
"You must not judge Mr Darcy by my sister's standards," Mr Egerton put in. "He is a more reserved man than most, and it would be entirely out of character for him to swoon and carry on and make declarations in the manner my sisters both seem to deem romantic."
His voice dripped with disdain, and Mary could not help but ask the question that was on her lips, caring little for propriety nor even thinking it impolite to ask.
"Then how is a young lady ever to know a gentleman cares for her?" She flinched, hurrying to caveat her question. "How am I to be certain that Mr Darcy cares for my sister, I mean, as he once did?"
Mr Egerton was still a moment, apparently considering the question. Mary held her breath, realising she cared to hear his answer for more reasons than a concern for her sister. She wished to know, herself, if all her family's teasing was right. She had not quite dared to believe that Mr Egerton could truly care for her, or if he did at all, then certainly not as anything more than a friend. She had no idea what clues to look for and prayed he would tell her, even if he was to ascribe them in general to his sex and not own them for himself.
"It is obvious in a hundred small things," he said, at last. "I suppose, oftentimes, the fellow is not even aware himself of it. Perhaps he mentions the young lady more in conversation than others. Or seeks to establish her wellbeing first and foremost, when in a party. Or…" He trailed off, and Mary was surprised to see the slightest tinge of colour in his pale cheeks.
"Yes?" She prompted, wanting more than anything for him to continue. She forgot that they were two people in a crowd of hundreds. The sound of the crowds faded to a dull roar behind her as her every sense remained attuned to the gentleman before her.
"He would seek her company, to the exclusion of all others. He would want what is best for her, even if it goes against his own wishes, even though he might dare to hope for something…" He trailed off, reaching up a hand to his lips as if to keep them from parting again, from spilling more of his thoughts.
Mary's heart turned cartwheels. Why, he could be describing himself! It was just what she had hoped for. Now, if only she could find some way of reassuring him that she felt the same way.
"Mr Egerton," she began at last, glancing over her shoulder to ensure that she would not be overheard or disturbed by any acquaintance.
"Mary, I have been very selfish with you, commanding your time like this." Mr Egerton's voice had shifted, grown strained and painful, and Mary feared she had said or done something wrong.
"Not at all –"
"You have once again felt duty-bound to accompany and entertain me when you might be meeting others or dancing or otherwise enjoying yourself. You need not stay beside me -"
"I wish to," Mary blurted, taking a step closer to him and slipping her hand into his. Interlacing her fingers through his, she squeezed his hand. "I would stay beside you always, if you wish me to."
Mr Egerton's breath was ragged, his words an urgent whisper.
"Do you mean it?"
Mary smiled, feeling surer of herself, and him, than she had in weeks. As she spoke, it seemed as if a weight was lifted from her thin shoulders, and she could see the whole of her life stretching before her, a happy path she would walk with this gentleman beside her.
"With all my heart."
He lifted their entwined hands to his lips and pressed the lightest of kisses to the back of her hand.
"I did not dare to dream of this," he said. "But I cannot bear to think of anything else."
"Here you are!" Sally cried, breaking the spell. Mary made to move away, but Mr Egerton held her tight so that Sally was forced to stop, mid-tirade, when she saw the happiness radiating between the pair.
"I could find no sign of you and began to worry I would not see you again all evening when - oh! Oh, Mary! Sidney! You cannot mean to say you have proposed, at last?"
"Not proposed, no," Mr Egerton confessed, and Mary glanced at him just in time to see his features lift in amusement. "You rather spoiled my attempt, sister dear."
"Oh, well then let me go away again!" Sally cried, blinking back happy tears and disappearing again before Mary could stop her.
"Has she gone?" Mr Egerton asked, leaning closer so that he could whisper to Mary. "Or is she lurking close enough to overhear my dreadful attempt at romance?"
"She is gone," Mary said, watching Sally melt into the crowd, although she did not take her eyes off the couple and even stopped at one point to wave, which made Mary laugh. "But she will be back before long, I am sure."
"Then I will be brief. It serves me well, for I am ill-suited to making speeches -"
"And I am ill-suited to receiving them," Mary put in, relishing the warmth of his hand around hers.
"Will you marry me, Mary? I know things are not ideal, and I am sure you wished for rather more in life than -"
"Yes, Mr Egerton," Mary said, quietly, putting a stop to any more of his worries, excuses and concerns with an answer he had once never dreamed he would ever hear on the lips of a young lady. "I will."