Cause to Repine

Elizabeth kept telling herself this was just the same as every other ball she had ever attended before, and there was no reason for so many butterflies in her stomach. She also kept telling herself, nearly every time her thoughts drifted in the direction of a certain gentleman from Derbyshire, that her relationship with Darcy was strictly friendly. He was destined for a beautiful, accomplished, titled heiress who would dance this season at Almack’s in a new white silk dress every week. A young woman whom his aunt, who was a Countess, had already specifically identified as his future bride. He could never be interested in a simple country miss wearing a twenty-year-old satin dress, no matter how well she looked in it.