Second Glances: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Continues (Tales of Less Pride and Prejudice) by Alexa Adams

“quite like a Greek hero, and I cannot tell you how pleased I am to have all such fears laid aside. Here you are, in the flesh!”
    “Oh, yes, here I am! Delight in this opportunity of ridiculing me further as much as you like, for I can easily perceive that you had not near enough of the treat the other day.”
    “I’m not sure I would attribute my delight to ridicule, as you term it, but I cannot deny that I am inordinately pleased to spar with you once again.”
    “You enjoy making young ladies uncomfortable?”
    “Uncomfortable? Surely not! I can promise you, Miss Bennet, that if that has been my affect, it was entirely unintentional. I am something of an eccentric, you know, but I can assure you I have no wish to do anything but see to your happiness.”
    “This is a very unusual conversation, sir!” she declared, as they again parted.
    “I know I have been a bit abrupt, Miss Bennet, but I thought it best to speak frankly to you, as we seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot.”
    “Rather an understatement, don’t you think? You nearly killed me!”
    “Thank goodness I did not!” he declared with such intensity that she laughed.
    “You cannot be serious, can you?”
    He looked at her with bewildered amusement. “Never have I been more so!”
    “I see you are prone to exaggeration! I’ll have you know, Sir James, that I am familiar with eccentrics, having been reared by one, and I will not be bamboozled by you, so you need not even try,” she said with finality, as if the subject were quite closed.
    “But I am sincere, Miss Bennet, I assure you!”
    “Do you not see how impossible that is to believe?” she replied, and the set came to an end.
    As he led her from the floor, he whispered, “Then I shall just have to strive to convince you.”
    Returning Kitty to her guardians’ custody, Sir James shared a few words of camaraderie with Mr. Darcy before asking Georgiana to dance. Mr. Brooks, in turn, claimed Kitty’s hand, and the Darcys, who had sat out the first, also joined the forming line. Having gotten past the dreaded dance with Sir James, Kitty felt she could relax and enjoy herself, and eager to make up for her neglect of Georgiana’s interests, Mr. Brooks was left to wonder how his partner could be the withdrawn creature he had met earlier in the week. Kitty was a ready conversationalist; though she lacked Elizabeth’s quick wit, she was able to speak easily on a variety of subjects. It was not long before Mr. Brooks was able to discern those qualities that both Miss Darcy and Sir James valued in this surprisingly unassuming young lady. It was he who introduced the subject of houses, knowing only that Longbourn was a small estate, and was charmed by the candid naivety with which Kitty discussed her family’s circumstances, as well as her own prospects. A sister of Mrs. Darcy need not broadcast her almost portionless state, but Kitty frankly acknowledged the predicament, stating truthfully: “So you see, Mr. Brooks, I have little to recommend me but my charm, and though I have a smaller share of that commodity than most of my sisters, I am certain that I do have more than Mary, and even she made a very good match, though I admit to hoping for something better than Mr. Collins.”
    “Is Mr. Collins so very bad?”
    “Not so very bad, I suppose, for a Rector.”
    He laughed. “Is there something very wrong with marrying a Rector?”
    “My sister Lydia thinks so, but I disagree. She says she would not have had him, had it been she he had proposed to, but I think I must have accepted him, were it me, as Longbourn is entailed to him,” she sighed. “But I am very happy to not have been asked. He and Mary are quite perfect together, you know.”
    “No. I did not.”
    She nodded seriously, “They are, I assure you, and a lady really must not be forced to marry when she is so disinclined as to not be able to persuade herself to the notion. And if Mr. Collins were to have been rejected,