Page 29 of You Willfully Misunderstand Me

"Good morning, Miss Bennet."

"Good morning, Mr. Darcy."

The greeting never varied, and then there would come the inevitable interruption. A cheerful knock from the passage.

"Good morning, Mrs. Darcy!"

The transformation occurred almost instantly. Elizabeth's smile would widen ever so slightly. "Good morning, Mrs. Kewley."

Darcy, who only moments before had addressed her with studied formality, would naturally inquire whether she had slept well or whether she required anything before breakfast. It was an absurd performance, but each day it became less difficult. And, it was because either had grown comfortable with deception, but because they had grown comfortable with one another.

Mrs. Kewley, wholly unaware that she was educating her guests, proved an enthusiastic instructor in the ordinary expectations of married life.

"You'll have your husband's tea growing cold," she would remark. Or, "Mr. Darcy, you've forgotten your gloves again. Mrs. Darcy, you must keep better watch over him."

Elizabeth invariably protested, "I hardly think Mr. Darcy requires supervision."

Mrs. Kewley only laughed, "My dear, every husband requires supervision. Mine simply stopped pretending otherwise twenty years ago."

Thomas, without looking up from his breakfast, merely nodded. "Thirty."

"No, it was twenty, Thomas, don’t be silly."

"Thirty," he would reply with eyes raised upwards, in a teasing expression.

Elizabeth looked toward Darcy. He returned her glance with perfect gravity. "I believe I must side with Mrs. Kewley,"he said. "She appears to possess the stronger memory, and, I suspect, the final authority."

Mrs. Kewley pointed triumphantly with her spoon, "You see? Your husband understands these matters perfectly, Mrs. Darcy."

Elizabeth lowered her eyes to conceal her smile, "I begin to fear he does."

***

That evening, after another long day, Elizabeth accompanying Mrs. Kewley on her visits throughout the village, and Darcy assisting Mr. Kewley and the harbor men with the endless work of clearing debris and rebuilding the damaged quay, the little party returned to the cottage tired, damp from the sea air, and grateful for the warmth that greeted them.

The familiar routine unfolded almost without thought. Mrs. Kewley disappeared into the kitchen with the determined air of a woman incapable of sitting idle while supper remained unprepared. "There must be something deserving of butter," she declared. "If there is not, I shall find it."

Mr. Kewley chuckled, "And I had better escape before I am enlisted." With that, he withdrew to the small office adjoining the passage, carrying a stack of ledgers beneath one arm. "The cottage does not cease producing bills merely because the harbor has washed itself into the sea."

Within moments, the cottage grew unexpectedly quiet. And, for the first time all day, Darcy and Elizabeth found themselves alone. They were not truly alone, of course. The sounds of Mrs. Kewley moving about the kitchen drifted through the open doorway, accompanied by the occasional clatter ofpans and the unmistakable evidence of someone conducting a vigorous argument with a stubborn loaf of bread. Mr. Kewley could be heard humming softly in the next room as he turned the pages of his accounts.

However, the sitting room belonged, for the moment, to Elizabeth and Darcy, and neither seemed to find the silence uncomfortable any longer.

Darcy crossed to the hearth, where the fire had begun to settle into glowing embers. Selecting another log from the basket beside the fireplace, he laid it carefully upon the flames before glancing instinctively toward Elizabeth. "Are you warm enough?"

She looked up from her sewing with a small smile, "I am perfectly comfortable."

He nodded once, apparently satisfied, and returned his attention to coaxing the flames into fresh life.

Elizabeth watched him for a moment, "Do you know, Mr. Darcy, you ask me that every evening."

Without looking around, he answered, "Do I?"

She smiled, and replied, "Yes, you do."

"I supposed he had not noticed." Thinking internally, he realized he had in fact not noticed that he was in the habit of ensuring Elizabeth was warm.

"Well, I have, sir, and I have not given you a conflicting answer yet," she added teasingly.