'I heard you and Mr. Darcy were in town.' He looked the same as she remembered, from his slender build to the spectacles that had a habit of sliding down his nose. He wore a new suit, a consequence, she presumed, of the poor scholar having at last found steady employment. Like his other clothing, the suit exhibited an unusual number of pockets. She’d seen him pull everything from pocketknives to candles from his costume.
'How do you like your new post?' she asked. Under the patronage of Darcy’s friend Lord Chatfield, Professor Randolph had recently secured a position as the British Museum’s resident archaeologist.
'] could not be happier. I have just returned from-examining a formation of standing stones in the North Country, and there is talk of sending me to the Continent as soon as the war is over. I would love the opportunity to return to Athens and Rome.'
'Return? I know you came here from America, but I did not realize you were so well traveled.' Upon reflection, there was much she didn’t know about Professor Randolph.
'This would mark my third expedition to the sites of those ancient civilizations.'
She rang for tea. As they waited for the refreshments, he enquired after her and Darcy. She reported that they’d enjoyed a quiet sojourn at Pemberley since the archaeologist had last seen them.
'You appear happy,' he said, 'which I am glad to witness after the troubling events that transpired right after your marriage. Do you still have the amulet?'
'Indeed, yes. I would not part with such a generous present.' When she’d first met the professor, he’d carried a silver pocket-watch with ancient protective symbols he’d specially commissioned engraved upon it. Following their ordeal at Netherfield, he’d given it to her.
'Do you carry it on you?'
She felt a pang of conscience. 'No,' she confessed. 'But please don’t think it goes unvalued. I keep it safely in a drawer. I am afraid my husband does not care for the sight of it.'
Randolph chuckled. 'I am little surprised. He does not seem to be a man who possesses much tolerance for things he does not himself believe in.'
'Either that, or he prefers gold timepieces to silver.' They shared a smile. Then she added, 'Mr. Darcy, like many people, trusts only what he can observe with his own five senses.'
'And you?'
The arrival of tea prevented immediate reply. She was more willing than her husband to accept the inexplicable, to concede that science had limitations and that sometimes the ability to see a thing had nothing to do with eyesight. She had long relied on instinct in addition to reason when forming judgments and making decisions. In her experience, an impression unsupported by objective evidence could nevertheless be accurate. But she’d also seen some of her impressions proven false in the end, and so hesitated to place all her faith in them.
'I believe in intuition,' she said when the servant withdrew, 'but I know it is not infallible.'
'Many people — women especially — are perceptive,' the professor said. 'But you seem unusually so. It may merely be that your acknowledgment of the unknown makes you more aware of subtleties that
The sound of another carriage pulling up brought the breathless entrance of Kitty a moment later.
'Lizzy, he is here!' Kitty stopped short upon realizing that the archaeologist was still in the room.
'Miss Bennet.' Randolph rose and bowed.
She made a hurried curtsy. 'Lizzy, Mr. Dashwood climbs the stairs even now!'
'Gracious, Kitty With you to announce all our callers today, I should have given Mrs. Hale the day off.'
The long-anticipated gentleman appeared at last in their drawing room. He greeted Elizabeth warmly, then had eyes only for Kitty. He took her offered hand. 'It is a pleasure to see you again, Miss Bennet. I would have come sooner, but my mother summoned me to Harley Street this morning and has occupied me all afternoon. I hastened here directly I concluded with her.'
Kitty’s smile suggested that she would have forgiven Mr. Dashwood a detour to the moon, now that he was finally come. 'Of course your mother has a superior claim on your time.' She went to the sofa, where he sat down beside her. 'I was so happily occupied in recalling our dances last evening, I hardly noticed the hour.'
Elizabeth refrained from observing that Kitty’s serene reflections on the previous evening’s entertainment had nearly worn out the carpet. She instead introduced Mr. Dashwood to Professor Randolph. 'Mr. Randolph is an archaeologist with the British Museum,' she said.
'Indeed?' With apparent reluctance, he withdrew his gaze from Kitty to afford the archaeologist something that passed for polite interest. 'Do you dig up old bones? Mummies? That sort of thing?'
'I prefer to leave the dead at rest. My interest lies primarily in art and ritual objects.'
'Why, then, I should have you out to Norland sometime to have a look through my attics. There are all sorts of musty old items gathering cobwebs up there.'
'I think his studies tend toward more ancient artifacts,' Elizabeth said. 'Do they not, Professor?'
'Actually, some astonishing treasures turn up in the attics and cellars of old houses.'
'I think an ancestor or two of ours did a good deal of collecting. Lots of sculptures and such. An old looking glass, some Chinese vases. Mother doesn’t care for any of it, so it’s never left the attics since we took possession of the house. Huh! I haven’t thought about that stuff in years. I used to explore up there when I was a boy — it was a good place to hide from my nurse.'
'I should very much enjoy the opportunity to see your collection,' Randolph said.
'As would I,' Kitty echoed.
Mr. Dashwood laughed. 'You would like to traipse through my dusty attics, Miss Bennet?'
'I would love to see all of Norland.'
Elizabeth winced at Kitty’s boldness but, not wishing to correct her before the gentlemen, let it go unchecked.
Mr. Dashwood seemed surprised and flattered by her interest. 'I confess, the house never held much appeal for me. I’m hardly ever there, and when I am I soon grow bored.'
'The country
'Miss Bennet, I believe your company could make even a month in the country tolerable.'
Kitty ducked her head, unused to receiving compliments from handsome gentlemen.
'Fortunately' Mr. Dashwood continued, 'I shan’t be gone that long this time.'
His statement brought Kitty’s head up sharply. 'What did you say, Mr. Dashwood?'
'I’m afraid I must leave town tomorrow. My mother is of the opinion that I have delayed for too long some duties of estate since my father’s death. That is what she wanted to speak to me about today. She insists I take care of matters at once.'
Kitty’s countenance held the look of a girl who’d been given a new ball gown, only to have it taken away before she could wear it. 'How long will you be away?'
'I hope to conclude my business within a week.'
'A whole week?' Kitty said the word as if it had been a twelvemonth.
'Sooner, if I can.' He rose and held out his hand to draw her up. 'Might I call upon you when I return?'
'Most certainly — the minute you arrive in town.'
'Kitty,' Elizabeth gently admonished.
'I shall. I promise.' He seemed about to say more, but then became conscious that others observed them. And that he still held Kitty’s hand. With obvious reluctance, he released it.
Professor Randolph stood. 'I’ll take my leave, as well. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dashwood.'
'Likewise. While I’m at Norland, I shall have a look about the attics to see if I spot anything worth your notice.'
'I’d be honored to examine whatever you find.'
The ladies escorted their callers to the door, where they collected their greatcoats and walking sticks. Kitty sighed heavily as the gentlemen departed.
'A whole week,' she repeated. 'How shall I ever survive?'
'Kitty, a se’nnight ago — no, a mere two nights ago — you did not even know Mr. Dashwood. I’m sure that in all of London you can find something to occupy yourself.'
