Peggy sighed, loudly. "Don't you start too," she told Victor. After the incident with Mr. Collins, she was angry on the subject, but Victor's comment was light enough that she could almost see the funny side of it.

She averted her eyes from the spectacle of Mrs. Bennet. "I can only hypothesize that she would want me to secure your hand if you were a walrus, so long as you were an eligible, unmarried walrus of good social standing, which is not very far from being a description of the last man she thought I should marry," she said. "Trust me, we wouldn't suit--"

She gave Mrs. Bennet a cheery wave, and walked a little faster, her grip on Victor's arm more of a warning. "Besides which, I'm not planning on getting married," she added with a great deal of asperity. "Ever."

The thought of Steve did cross her mind just then, making the last word just a little less certain than she'd meant it.