fireplace until she nearly collided with him.
“Oh!” She exclaimed, retreating several paces in alarm. “Forgive me! I did not see you there!”
“Obviously.” His voice echoed about the room, resonant tones imbued with traces of latent laughter. “It is understandable, however, so no need to apologize.”
For some reason Kitty felt a flair of irritation. “You could have alerted me as to your presence. Then neither of us would be suffering such embarrassment!”
“Why should we be embarrassed? It is a dark room so clearly you did not want to be seen. Seeking privacy, I assumed. As was I.”
“Nonetheless, you should have made your presence known.”
She could sense his shrug even though the gloom was too great to see more than a vague outline. “It is a large room so I rather hoped you would wander to the far side. I did not wish to intrude upon your solitude, but apparently the intrusion was fated to be for both of us.”
“Intrusion was what I was evading, oddly enough,” she blurted, biting her lip at the rude slip.
“What sort of intrusion?”
“Unwanted conversation, ironically.”
He chuckled, the sound reverberating. “Yes, ironic indeed. Doubly so as I fled here for the same reason.”
She cocked her head, straining to see more than an outline of what appeared to be a tall, brawny figure. The voice was indecipherable. Was he young or old? None of the squeak inherent in the truly young, or the tremulousness of the aged, but anywhere in between was possible.
“Who were you avoiding?”
“The dozens of available women from forty years on down who my father deems it his self-appointed duty to parade under my nose at any gathering we attend. Weddings, funerals, all are fair game as far as he is concerned.” There was that smoldering laughter again, not a trace of resentment in his words. Kitty realized she was smiling.
“Only forty years on down? How fortunate you are. My mother considers any male not yet in his dotage eligible.”
“Is she here now? Pointing out the wealth of handsome and not-so-handsome specimens in uniform? Is that why you scurried away?”
And she did laugh. “No, she is not here, but I was actively imagining her face when I tell her that I did not flirt with and gain the favors of at least one officer. She will be deeply disappointed in me.” And for the first time there was no bitterness in the thought.
“I gather that we are both horrid children, severely upsetting to our parents,” he said.
“Indeed we are.”
“I, for one, have vowed never to force those of the opposite sex upon my children, when they arrive.”
“Interesting. Of course, the paradox is that if you do not fulfill the wish of your father, you will never have any offspring to uphold your vow to!”
He laughed aloud, slapping his thigh in mirth. “Excellent! Touche, miss. That, I confess, has never occurred to me! Perhaps I should return to the parlor and see who he has scared up.”
“It sounds as though he may have reached the point of desperation with you, so I am not sure you can trust his judgment at this juncture.”
“Hmmm… You are undoubtedly correct. I think I am safer here in the dark conversing with a complete stranger. Ah!” And she discerned the slap of his palm against his forehead. “But I forgot that you were seeking solitude and avoiding unwanted conversation. So we now have a dilemma.”
“How so?”
“Who should leave? I was here first, so logic would dictate that you depart and face the lurking male hounds. But then I do pride myself on being a gentleman, so decorum dictates that I bow out gracefully and manfully bear the agony. What shall we do?”
“Do you have a coin? We could flip for it, the loser rejoining the assembly and taking their chances.”
“Alas, it is too dark.” And neither mentioned the simple solution of pulling the drapes.
“Well, we have been talking now for some fifteen minutes, so are no longer
“True, true. And the conversation, at least from my perspective, has not been completely unwanted.”
“I agree.”
Silence fell, Kitty sensing his eyes upon her and feeling the smile. A comfortable quiet settled about them. He shifted from one foot to the other, still leaning against the fireplace and Kitty could now perceive that his arms were crossed over his chest. She paced around a chaise, fingertips brushing over the edges for tactile direction, unconsciously striving to attain an angle that might cast greater clarification upon her partner.
“Are you here as a guest of the bride or groom?”
“The groom. My father is a general in Colonel Fitzwilliam’s regiment. I have known him for years, although I cannot say we are close confidants. My brother went to the Academy with him, so is closer in age and relationship. And you?”
“The groom as well. My sister is married to his cousin, Mr. Darcy.”
“Ah! So you would be Miss Bennet?”
Kitty nodded, hesitating to speak. For some strange reason, she suddenly felt uneasy, but could not quite place her finger on why.
Then he spoke, “You preferred anonymity, yes?” His voice was soft, almost a caress. “Stay in the shadows, talking with the unseen, unknown individual where it is deemed safe? Why is that, Miss Bennet?”
“I suppose if I never see your face or know who you are than you cannot affect me.” The words burst forth, Kitty blushing at her private confession, but he did not seem perturbed.
“Hmmm… Perhaps. Although, in my experience it is the hidden one who is the greater threat. The enemy who lurks in dark places and springs out unawares.”
“Is that not, in effect, what you have done?”
He laughed, the sound musical. “From a certain point of view, I suppose that is correct. Although, strictly speaking, you sprung in on me.”
“But you were lurking in the dark place.”
“Merely because I arrived first. The scenario could have been reversed.”
“You are laughing at me,” she accused, suppressing a girlish giggle.
“Only a little. In truth I am just pointing out the absurdity in both of our rationales and actions.”
“What do you mean?”
Again she felt his shrug. For the first time since entering the library he moved from his languid repose against the mantel, standing straight and even taller than she thought, nearly as tall as Mr. Darcy, and took one stride toward her.
“We hide ourselves away to avoid what we have decided are unpleasant consequences. We seek to be left alone or at least to our own devices without exterior finagling. We weary of the game imposed upon us by well- meaning parents. And we somehow have divined that there is a safety to the dark. Yet, and I can only speak honestly for myself although I am sensing the same from you, we are actually enjoying ourselves. You see? Absurdity.”
“I suppose you now want me to congratulate you on your brilliant deductions and acknowledge that I am enjoying myself?”
“Only if you mean it.”
Kitty laughed, helpless against the smug, gay inflection obvious in his retort. “I believe, sir, that you are impertinent!”
“I have been accused of worse.”
He moved again, but in the dark she lost sight of where he was. “Sir?”
“I believe, Miss Bennet, that it is time for us to dispense with the shadows.” He was to her right, not five feet away, and beside the nearest cloaked window. “Are you willing to face the light of day with all its accompanying glories and ugliness?”
“Which are you? The former or the latter?”
