A/N – Thank you everyone for reviewing, following and reading!

A few small errors have been pointed out. Thanks for that. I'm fixing them as I go.

I'm promising to only use 100% regency appropriate language, but I'll do my best to stay away from word choices that'll take you out of the story.

Some of you have said you are curious to see where I will take this story and I must say, so am I :) I had some ideas that I have already scrapped as they did not feel natural, and I think in the end my characters will follow their own stubborn minds and there is little I can do about it. (But HEA is still guaranteed)

I also can not say for certain how long this story will be, but I've decided to aim for the length of a novella (30-60k words). I prefer to make my first story shorter and be sure to finish it, rather than aim for something long and get lost in too many twists and turns and take months between updates in the end. I know we all have lives but as a reader it's so frustrating to wait that long, so will try my best not to let that happen.

This chapter is a little longer than the first two and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3

The few times Elizabeth saw Mr Darcy that morning, he acted his original cold and aloof self. Gone was the challenging looks from last night. His face wore an unreadable mask just like at the assembly where they first met, and when they were at one time left by themselves in the library, he pretty much ignored her, and kept his eyes in his book and would not look at her after the briefest of greetings. Elizabeth thought she could not be bothered with such an infuriating and insufferable man and did the same.

But try as she might, she quickly grew tired of the book she had picked up. She let her thoughts escape to the man sitting in the armchair in front of her. Hadn't he claimed yesterday that he enjoyed intelligent conversation, and hinted that he thought she was a worthy opponent? Then why was he suddenly all clammed up?

She observed him over the edge of her book. He did not face her but instead his chair was turned off to the side so she was not directly in his line of vision. She had always thought him a handsome man. His profile was regal with a strong jawline, which fit his station in life. But this was contrasted by his hair that was slightly tousled and always a little out of place, something that made him seem more approachable and somehow younger. As he was reading now there was a slight concerned crease in his forehead, like he was pondering something important. She followed his line of vision to the book, held by elegant yet masculine hands, and she noticed that he was fidgeting with his signet ring – as if nervous.

After watching him for a while, she saw that something was missing. He had not turned a single page of his book during the entire duration of her observation. Maybe he was as bored with his reading material as she with hers. Or maybe he was distracted.

She realized the only way to find out was to engage with him, and if it vexed him that she did so, she could at least laugh at the ridiculousness of it. So she gathered her courage, and looked straight at him as she spoke.

"I think yesterday evening, Mr Darcy, you made a claim that I am not to be believed as I frequently say things that are not true."

She got his attention alright as his head bolted up as if being caught.

"But now it is my turn to say the same about you," she continued, "because did you not say that you are fond of conversation if it's of the intelligent kind, and if not, you prefer observation. But today I have noted that you prefer neither."

He took a deep breath as if gathering his thoughts before speaking.

"Do you find it odd that a man who claims he likes well-read people, should also like to read himself?"

"Not at all, but if reading is indeed what you are doing, I do find it curious how you have managed to figure out how to do it without turning any pages. Please do share, Mr Darcy."

He coloured and looked slightly annoyed and Elizabeth thought he was about to berate her for her observation of him. But as he looked up turning towards her and saw the mirth dancing in her eyes, he stopped himself, and whatever words he was about to utter never left his lips. Instead his mouth turned into something that Elizabeth thought was as much of a smile that she was ever going to get out of Mr Darcy as he finally spoke.

"You have proven – yet again – that you are more the observer than I am."

"If so I have also proven that I am more of the conversationalist, as I have most obviously taken part of both activities within the scope of a couple of minutes. But where does that leave you, Mr Darcy? It would seem, if going by the last half hour, you are not fond of conversation, nor observation, nor reading – but staring at words in a book you have no interest in, is your favourite past time. I do not know if that should do more injury to your own vanity or mine. It's hardly a befitting activity for a man of the world, but I can not take any pleasure in what it says about the desirability of my own company. It seems, Mr Darcy, that you have wounded my pride yet again."

Even though she was obviously jesting, it was clear she was referring to the comment she made last night about Darcy calling her 'not handsome enough' and he thought he must seize this opportunity to do the right thing. He was a gentleman after all.

"You must allow me to apologize for the unkind words I said the first night we met, Miss Bennet. I only wanted Bingley off my back and uttered the most ridiculous thing I could think of to make him go away. It was not only unpardonable to say what I did within your hearing, but also wholly untrue. Any man who claims you as merely tolerable would be blind or ignorant, or both."

"So which is it?"

"Which what..?"

"Are you blind or ignorant? Because I do think you fit the description of a man who made just such a claim."

Darcy looked completely stunned and opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. Elizabeth took pity on him and broke into a wide smile.

"Now it is I who need to apologize, Mr Darcy" she said with a laugh. "It seems l can't keep my own jokes at other peoples expense in check. So after showing my own despicable behaviour, there is nothing for it than to accept your apology. You are forgiven, Mr Darcy."

Her bright smile was too contagious and Darcy could not help but let the corners of his mouth twitch. Thoughts of how bewitching the woman in front of him was, made themselves known yet again.

"For shame, Mr Darcy. Where have you kept that smile hidden? I did not know you had the capability," she quipped, which only made him smile wider.

Miss Elizabeth was certainly not like any other young lady he had had he pleasure of encountering and he felt the danger of spending so much time with her. Had he not come into the library to find some solace away from her enchanting ways? Only to find her already seated with a book when it was too late for him to turn around and walk out the way he came.

Sitting now in her presence enjoying her unaffected manners felt like a balm to his soul. The summer had been a brutal wake up call for him where his sister Georgiana was concerned, and he still did not know how to deal with the fact that his sister was almost grown up, and that he had not taken the necessary steps to protect her from the dangers of this world, not taught her how to spot them.

He had been gloomy and cast down since then, and this was the first time he felt alive again. What harm was there in enjoying this moment a little while longer? Miss Elizabeth was an intelligent woman and would know the difference in their station meant that he would not seriously consider her as anything but an acquaintance, perhaps even a friend. She would never assume anything that could never be. No, he would be safe with her. As long as he did not let her atrocious mother get wind of any hint of his interest, it would be alright for him to spend time with her.

"You really should smile more often. Unless of course your goal is to scare most of the people around you into silence." Elizabeth became serious for a second as she pondered what she was saying. "Which, come to think of it, is very likely what you have been doing. And if so, you should probably keep that stern mask of yours in place. It is much more likely to keep people at bay."

"Yet, somehow it has not scared you, Miss Elizabeth."

"No, you have found me out. My courage always rises with any attempt to intimidate me. Which is why I might seem extraordinarily courageous to you – because it's not for lack of trying on your part."

"Do you really find me so frightful as that?"

"Indeed I do, Sir," said Elizabeth and her laugh was back.

But as she looked at him, she noticed he seemed more in earnest, like he actually wanted to know, so she amended her statement.

"...or rather, I did. As I mentioned yesterday evening, I do enjoy the study of characters, and I thought I had you figured out in almost an instant. But since coming here to Netherfield I have been humbled in my notion that I'm always correct in my assessment. I think, Mr Darcy, that there is more to you than what meets the eye after a few brief meetings."

As she spoke, he was leaning forward in his chair, listening intently. "So is that to say that your opinion of me has improved after our first meeting?"

"I do not think my opinion of you could go in any other direction after that disastrous statement at the assembly." She smiled to take the sting out of her words as he looked a little chastised. "You apologizing was certainly a surprise, one I did not expect. Realizing that you are capable of smiling was equally astounding. I think maybe I should just stop being surprised at what you do, and admit that I do not know you at all, and that I should not arrive at any conclusions until I do."

She suddenly coloured realizing what she had inadvertently said and stammered out "Not to say that I will ever get to know you properly. Being thrown together like this for several days is certainly something that is out of the ordinary, and I find it unlikely we will spend much time in each others company in the future, seeing as we move in quite different circles."

The last was said in a more cheerful tone, as to make light of the fact that she was probably correct and would most likely not have an opportunity to sit with him like this again. Somehow the feeling did not come as easily as it would have a few days ago. Oh, how quickly things changed, and how much easier it was when she only thought of Mr Darcy as one of the most unpleasant men of her acquaintance.

Darcy had watched her face as she described how she viewed his character, and he noticed her unease as she accidentally touched on the subject of getting to know him better in the future, and how she withdrew as she corrected the faux-pas. He realized that he did not like the latter, and that he wanted to ease her embarrassment at the former. It was rare that he had such an intimate tête-à-tête with a woman who openly shared her views of him. Come to think of it, he had probably never been in a situation like this before, and he didn't want it to end. It was one of the things that made Miss Elizabeth so special. She could make him feel happy, vulnerable, protective and an intense need for more, all in a matter of just a few minutes.

He knew he had to be careful and not show any regard as to not give her false hopes, but he also did not want her to feel uneasy over their conversation just when they had found some common ground.

"We may not know the same people in town Miss Elizabeth, but a persons station does not decide their desirability as a conversation partner. I have not regretted getting to know you better here at Netherfield and am glad that I have given you a different perception of myself than what I initially did. I do not know how many opportunities we will have to get to know one another better, but anyone who could claim you as a friend I think can call themselves lucky."

Elizabeth blushed profusely at the compliment. She was not much for flatter. However this did not feel like empty praise, but rather as his honest opinion. "If your goal is to change my initial ill opinion of you, Mr Darcy, you are doing a mighty fine job of it." She looked at him intently, and suddenly he felt like he wanted to unburden himself to her, make her understand why he had behaved the way he did.

"I..." he began, and then went silent as he gathered his thoughts. She waited patiently. "The first evening when we met at the assembly I was in an unusually bad mood. Earlier this summer I had to deal with something very unpleasant and difficult relating to an old friend of the family, and I was handling the aftermath of that up until I arrived here in Hertfordshire."

As he said this there was such distress visible on his face that Elizabeth was in no doubt how serious of an issue it must have been. She let him continue.

"I had just arrived earlier that day, and was in great need of some quiet time away from town, away from untrustworthy people, with only my good friend Charles who I know I can be myself with. Meeting new people was the last thing I needed and I would have stayed back if it wasn't because I knew I would have taken away the pleasure of attending from Miss Bingley as well."

Elizabeth understood what he was not saying directly. Attending the assembly was apparently the lesser of two evils when compared to staying home with Miss Caroline Bingley.

"I should not have gone anyway. Sometimes I even question if I should have come to Hertfordshire at all. I have a sister in town, more than 10 years my junior. You have heard her mentioned by Bingley's sisters on several occasions. I'm thinking maybe it was wrong of me to leave her behind... I'm thinking even now that maybe I should return."

He said this in a voice full of sorrow and self-doubt. Thinking about his sister and how that blasted incident with Wickham had broken her heart and made her not trust anyone or even herself was hard to bear. But the torment he felt also came from another quarter. To seriously contemplate returning; leaving Hertfordshire and Miss Elizabeth behind – perhaps forever – was causing him more pain than he was willing to admit. He knew it was what he needed to do sooner or later, but the emptiness he felt was almost palpable.

How had he gone from admiring her to feeling bereft at the thought of not seeing her again, in a few short weeks?

Elizabeth had a similar experience, to a lesser extent, but still realizing that she was far from indifferent to his leaving. She loved the town where she had grown up as well as its people, but she had to admit there was a lack of well-read conversation partners; people who really challenged her. Her father did of course, as they were both fond of reading and debating the merits of this book or that. Her dear friend Charlotte also questioned her views quite frequently, and was not one to back down from an argument just to let Elizabeth have her way. But was there anyone else? Jane did not always agree with Elizabeth, especially when she was being critical towards someone, but her darling sister could hardly be described as challenging.

Mr Darcy had arrived and behaved in a most confusing manner, disagreeing with her and throwing her off balance. She had believed that he disliked her, and she was absolutely certain that she felt the same about him. But that had changed somehow and now she felt regret hearing him talking about going. How had it come to this? She should really leave the library. They had been there together for far too long. But she could not get up and leave, now that he had just revealed a painful part of his life.

She walked over and reached out a hand, placing it gently on the sleeve of his arm, making him look up at her. "I hope that whatever the unpleasantness you had to deal with this summer, that your family is on it's way to healing now. If your sister needs you in town more than Mr Bingley needs you here, it is probably the right thing to do to return to her. If you do decide to stay, know that you have a friend in me should you need one."

She gave his arm a light squeeze and was about to excuse herself when she felt his free hand suddenly cover hers on his sleeve. The warmth of his hand on hers, skin against skin, sent a thrill through Elizabeth and she let out a small involuntarily gasp.

"Thank you, Miss Elizabeth," he said as he regarded her softly, although, she noticed, his eyes were an uncommonly piercing blue. It was like he was willing her to understand something, though she was not sure she knew what. Maybe he didn't know either.

Foot steps could be heard in the hallway and Elizabeth snapped her hand back, gave a quick curtsey and mumbled that she had to see to Jane, before she rushed out of the library.