Darcy laughed bitterly. “They all are.”
“Why? Cunningham said you admitted to admiring her.”
“Your brother has said a good deal, it seems!”
Fitzwilliam was unperturbed by his brusqueness and only shrugged. “Nothing new there. Was he wrong?”
Darcy wished he was. Life would be infinitely simpler if he were not still thoroughly and helplessly bewitched by Elizabeth. He remained sullenly silent. He might be unable to break free of Elizabeth’s spell, but he was not obliged to admit it.
“Look, Darcy, I know you think her connexions are problematic, but her aunt and uncle seemed perfectly respectable to me.”
“They are.”
His cousin frowned. “That is a notable change of heart. What, pray, has persuaded you to this thinking?”
“I dined with them.” And he had been dining on the self-reproach for his behaviour towards them ever since.
“You dined with them? I thought you said there was nothing between you and their niece.”
“There is nothing. I cannot make it clearer.” Darcy resolved to throw his cousin out if he continued in this vein much longer. He was glad of the reprieve when Bellamy returned with thecoffee, and he did not rush him as he set the tray on the desk and poured them both a cup. He was vexed but wholly unsurprised that his cousin persisted with his questions the moment the butler was gone.
“Are you worried about what Lady Catherine will say?”
Darcy heaved a sigh and sank into his chair, leaving his coffee untouched. “I was.”
“Well, I say do not be! Miss Bennet is already a favourite with everyone whose opinion our aunt could possibly assert matters. And as for Anne?—”
“I said Iwasworried. It is no longer a concern, for I am not and never will be marrying Miss Bennet.”
“Why not?”
He had no intention of giving the real reason, but he baulked nevertheless, for the answer, ‘she does not want me’, slammed into his mind with ghastly force. He seemed to feel it more every time he thought about it—which was incessantly—as though he had not comprehended at first how profoundly the rejection had wounded him. If it had not been certain that his wishes were in vain when he left Gracechurch Street two nights ago, there could be no doubt after yesterday that Elizabeth wanted nothing more to do with him. Her abject dismay, when he told her they must continue to associate with each other if they hoped to locate Bingley and her mother, had said it all.
He kept these wretched reflections to himself, deflecting his cousin with a different admission. As succinctly as possible, he explained why not all of Elizabeth’s relations were as respectable as the Gardiners.
Fitzwilliam turned his nose up. “Hermother?” But his repugnance quickly dissolved. “Cunningham mentioned that she was reputed to be a great beauty for her years. And we all know Bingley to have the restraint of a fox in a hen house.” He shook his head. “A sorry business and no mistake.”
“Do not tell Cunningham. It would be all across London before sunset.”
Fitzwilliam gestured his agreement. “Does Miss Bennet know?”
“I informed her yesterday.”
“That seems…indelicate. Would it not have been better to leave her in blissful ignorance?”
“She needed to know. If she is to be mingling with the likes of Lady Rothersea, she needs to protect her reputation.”
“I daresay she could have done a darn sight better at concealing the truth if she had never known it! How is this going to help her protect anyone?”
Darcy knew very well it was not going to help at all.Thatrealisation had come almost immediately after it was entirely too late to be of any use.
“I had to do something to protect Georgiana from this,” he snapped. “And myself. You see how my name has been indelibly connected to hers. A scandal would engulf us all.”
Fitzwilliam held his gaze for a moment or two, nodding pensively. When he eventually spoke, it was in a vexingly conversational tone. “You know, if you are determined that you do not want her, the easiest thing to do would be to let this out of the bag. Then no one would blame you for wanting nothing to do with her.”
“Ruin her, you mean? Obviously, I am not going to do that!”
“Obviously!” Fitzwilliam replied. “Because you admire her too well.”
