Stunned silence followed Elizabeth's pronouncement.
Lydia seemed entirely ready to giggle, laugh, or otherwise show her amusement. Kitty looked ready to follow whatever Lydia did. Mr Bennet looked like he would keep a stone face to see what happened so he could make sport of it. Mary looked disapproving, as usual. Jane looked as serene as ever, so it was an open question whether Mrs Bennet's censure, Lydia and Kitty's giggling, or Mr Bennet's open laughter would be the first to arrive.
Perhaps fortunately, perhaps not, they were forestalled by a voice that was unexpected, though it obviously should not have been.
"I certainly hope Miss Bennet was not injured," a grinning Mr Bingley said as he entered the parlour just ahead of the rest of the Netherfield party, in advance of Hill's superfluous announcement.
The attention of the entire party turned towards the door, with everyone wondering exactly how long their guests had been outside the doorway and what exactly they had heard.
Elizabeth felt some modest anxiety. It was one thing to endure her family's embarrassing foibles, and quite another to witness the Netherfield party observing them. She did have some pride, even if she could not match Mr Darcy's.
Ever the peacemaker, Jane said, "It was more metaphorical lightning than actual, sir. I remain unscathed."
Miss Darcy looked slightly confused, while her brother looked somewhat entertained, which seemed to Elizabeth to be against his nature. Miss Bingley and the Hursts were absent, for which Elizabeth decided she liked Mr Bingley even more than she had previously.
Mrs Bennet had not even had time to arrange the seating to her liking, so the Netherfield party found their own places with alacrity. Mr Bingley and Miss Darcy practically ran to their favourite spots, while Mr Darcy joined his sister, and the colonel avoided the younger sisters by engaging Mr Bennet in conversation about politics, though she doubted either of the men really had their heart in it with so much potential entertainment in front of them.
Elizabeth found herself watching the interactions far more than paying attention to her companions, but they seemed happy enough with her silence. She knew Mr Darcy preferred silence above all things, and really did not know Miss Darcy well enough to speculate. She supposed she and the young lady probably had some things to discuss, but certainly not in the current company.
Kitty and Lydia sat not far away, so Kitty, rather uncharacteristically spoke first. "Miss Darcy, that is a lovely gown. The shade goes well with your colouring."
Elizabeth snapped out of her stupor to look over, wondering which sister they were attempting to emulate, if any. A comment on clothing was hardly new conversational ground to plough, but it was as worthy of an opening salvo as any. She was happy to see both her youngest sisters entirely without apparent guile, giggles, or fits.
"I thank you," Georgiana said, somewhat shyly. "I like yours as well. Where did you get the pattern?"
"We had it made in Meryton. Our local dressmaker has most of the latest fashions, and our uncle has ready access to good materials."
"That sounds lovely."
Elizabeth observed that her companion had abandoned her disguise for obvious reasons. She was dressed much as she would expect, in expensive fabrics but simple and modest styles and light colours befitting a young lady not yet out. She wondered how in the world her brother pulled it off, but only for a minute. Once Mr Darcy and the colonel settled on the impromptu visit as their explanation for Miss Darcy's presence, it must have been a simple matter to send a trusted servant to town. One man could ride hard for London with a note, and another could return immediately with a trunk. It could easily be done in a day. While she found the whole thing a bit silly, she had to begrudgingly admit to being somewhat impressed.
While she almost took pity on poor Miss Darcy, who seemed to have reverted to her timid state, she reflected that anyone who could face down her tormenter of the past summer with such aplomb should certainly not be intimidated by the likes of Kitty and Lydia Bennet. If she could not handle the drawing rooms of Hertfordshire, she would be eaten alive in London.
Kitty and Lydia were undeterred, and with only occasional prompting by Elizabeth, and the occasional stern look, the three younger ladies started a conversation that was slightly awkward for a time, but finally smoothed out.
Elizabeth noticed Mary sitting alone as usual. Remembering that she had been her one-lone defender at breakfast, she exchanged places and interjected some discussions about music. Kitty and Lydia tried to prevent her from doing such a pointless and cruel act, but she found she could dissuade them by simply clasping her hands together and smiling beatifically at them in a wildly exaggerated version of Jane's serene countenance to get them to settle down, with the clear implication that she could just as happily emulate Mrs Bennet if it became necessary.
Elizabeth monitored and encouraged the group for perhaps a quarter-hour but quit when it devolved into essentially two separate conversations happening at the same time with poor Miss Darcy in the middle. Elizabeth thought about rescuing her, and then thought some more, and was just giving the whole idea a third think when she nearly squealed like Lydia at an unexpected address.
"You are remarkable," Mr Darcy said.
Elizabeth shook her head in confusion, and looked over to Mr Darcy, whom she had mostly forgotten was close. Whether her forgetfulness was deliberate avoidance, absence of mind, or plain old obtuseness, was hard to determine.
She looked at him and spoke quietly enough to match him, and not coincidentally, be inaudible to her sisters and Miss Darcy.
"You are easily impressed, sir."
He surprised her yet again by chuckling slightly, saying only, "You accomplish in minutes what my relatives fail in weeks, so I shall stand by my statement."
Having no real idea how to respond but feeling some sort of enjoyment at the compliment (and just possibly the slightest hint of a blush), she simply said, "I thank you," then asked about a book they had discussed several weeks earlier at Netherfield.
They resumed the… debate… right about the same place they left off those weeks ago, and she gradually forgot about both her companions and her discomfort.
For the first time in a while, she was happy to be back in a situation where she understood what was happening with absolute certainty:
She was right, he was wrong and that was all there was to it!
She had no idea how long they had been speaking, though she thought it might take hours to convince the stubborn man of the obvious superiority of her position, when she was surprisingly interrupted by Mr Bennet.
"Mr Darcy, I hate to interrupt your argument, but I thought I might save you from my daughter who never admits defeat. Your cousin says you play an adequate game of chess, so might we get a game in before dinner?"
"It would be my pleasure," Darcy said jovially, and he just chuckled when Elizabeth muttered, "Coward!"
Without her foil, she realized she had been in the man's company for at least an hour without a disapproving stare, but she had no more idea what to think about him than she had that morning.
She looked over to the gaggle of girls that comprised her younger sisters and saw Miss Darcy looking at her longingly.
"Who is for a walk?" she asked, only to have the offer accepted with almost alarming haste.
She thought for a moment that she probably should feel bad about abandoning the lady to the cruelties of her younger sisters, and decided right then and there to add feeling bad about it to her list of things she might get around to someday.
She stood up, and politely asked the rest of the inhabitants.
She noticed some fashion plates scattered about one side of the table and musical scores on the other and had to suppress a laugh.
Mary, of course, had no more interest in walking than she ever did, while Kitty and Lydia looked enthused to have Miss Darcy to themselves for once. It was not long before they found themselves suitably attired and walking through the back garden, chattering about bonnets and ribbons.
Fortunately for Elizabeth's sanity, the colonel, being a more than adequate cavalryman, swooped in to protect her flanks, and managed to divert Kitty and Lydia with some stories of heroism and bravery that Elizabeth judged as almost certainly fictional.
To her pleasure, she learned that Miss Darcy liked a faster pace than her sisters, and it was not long before two dozen yards separated them. Since Kitty and Lydia could chaperone each other, and they were in full view of the house anyway, they could fend for themselves.
With a grin, she took Miss Darcy's arm and dragged her through a garden gate, and they set out across a meadow towards a frog pond she had tried to learn to fish in as a child (with nothing to show for it).
She was tired of trying to work out what was happening without some conversation, and a frog pond seemed just the place to start.