More Introductions:
As was her custom, Elizabeth rose early the following morning, before everyone but her Father, who was just settling himself in his study. She collected her bonnet and gloves, pausing briefly at the study door before calling a farewell and leaving the house. Mr. Bennet watched from the window in his study with a fond smile on his face as his favourite daughter set off on her favourite path, before returning attention to his book.
Being familiar with her route left Elizabeth time to dawdle whilst reminiscing fondly on the previous night's events. A smile graced her face as she thought of Jane and Mr. Bingley's interaction at the ball. Their mother didn't really need to scheme that much. The sudden thought of her mother's boisterous behaviour towards the unsuspecting gentleman brought a shiver and scowl to replace the previous happy thoughts. These thoughts soon brought her towards the subject of a certain gentleman—he was a puzzle—who had risen to take a challenge when she had deemed him too proud.
He had been forced to dance with her, but said it wasn't complete torture. Elizabeth was wondering if it was a genuine comment or if he was just being polite. He intrigued her. He was an interesting person to study, and the one thing she prided herself on doing well was her accurate drawings of people's character. Unfortunately, Mr. Darcy had drastically changed to being civil towards the end of the evening, which didn't fit the profile she had previously formed.
The gentleman in question seemed quite content with ignoring everyone until his first dance with Elizabeth. Thankfully for Elizabeth, said gentleman had danced with other ladies in attendance trying to prove his own theory. This removed any speculation of him favouring Elizabeth and though it only dissuaded her mother slightly from her schemes.
She smirked slightly as she remembered Mr. Darcy's shocked expression when Miss Bingley had practically dragged him to dance with her for the first set. As if materialized from her thoughts, a horse appeared in front of her, startling Elizabeth who hadn't heard the approach of the large animal. Quickly she composed herself to realise that there was more than one horse. She was relieved to find that she knew the two riders.
"Good morning, Miss Elizabeth. I trust you are well?" Mr. Bingley asked whilst dismounting his horse to greet her properly. She curtsied as she replied positively and asked about the health of himself.
"Mr. Darcy." She acknowledged with another curtsey the gentleman that had just been in her thoughts. They exchanged inquiries as to the other's health and seemed to reach a lull in the conversation where the second gentleman not-so-subtly coughed, drawing the attention of the pair who had been busy searching for a way to insert their conversation last night but to no avail.
Exchanges were made about their families were made between Elizabeth and Mr. Bingley. They conversed, leaving the tall gentleman to attend to his horse.
"What brings you out this morning?" she inquired, nervously watching the horses from the corner of her eye.
"I was showing Darcy some trails he could ride. Do you walk often, Miss Elizabeth?" He was all smiles and charm, but not to the same extent as he lavished on Jane. This fact caused Elizabeth to smile brightly before she replied that she walked as much as the weather would allow. At the mention of the weather, she looked towards the greying sky which looked like it was about to burst any second. Mr. Darcy seemed to recognize this too.
"It looks like it's going to pour soon. If we don't get back soon we might find ourselves in the middle of a storm," he stated, drawing nearer to the pair, and bringing his horse with him. Elizabeth jumped slightly when the horse drew near to her. She didn't notice its actions, busy trying to decipher the clouds. The action brought a tiny lift in Mr. Darcy's mouth that Elizabeth deciphered as a smile.
"Is something amusing, sir?" she asked archly, embarrassed by her action. He lifted his brow, a small smile breaking the surface. An absent thought of how handsome he looked when he smiled flitted across Elizabeth's mind as she took a step back because the horse's nose came in contact with her arm.
"Don't worry. Hermes won't hurt you," he told her with a sombre expression. Gone was the smile that had lit up his face. His expression brought some reassurance, but not enough to move back to where she stood previously.
"It's not that I fear he will hurt. It's just my last encounter with a horse wasn't very pleasant, and it left me with a severe distrust towards them," she responded, still eyeing Mr. Darcy's horse cautiously.
"How can one horse determine your dislike for all?" he asked, curious to her explanation, for was it not she who had said his dislike was unfounded because not every partner was the same?
Elizabeth smiled, correctly understanding the path his thoughts had taken. "I did not say I disliked them, Mr. Darcy," she corrected. "Distrust is not the same, nor do I avoid riding when it is required."
Mr. Bingley, who had until then watched the interaction between the two with interest, interrupted to ask if Miss Elizabeth would be so kind as to let them escort her to the boundary of Longbourn, reasoning they were going that way, and including that it would be best to hurry before it rained.
Submitting to Mr. Bingley's logic, they set off in a comfortable silence, with the men towing the horses beside them, away from Elizabeth, who walked in the middle of them. She bid both farewell as they mounted their horses and turned in the opposite direction whilst she walked back to her home.
Her whole family was seated at the table eating breakfast when she joined them. No one noticed her entrance except those that noted her absence. Jane offered her a smile before passing her the lemon pastry she had saved before her other sisters had devoured the whole batch. Thanking her sister, she bit into the sweet pastry before Mrs. Hill arrived with a note to Jane.