“Very long,” said Darcy. “The house will be shut down completely. I do not believe Mr. Bingley intends to come back again.”
There, thought Darcy full of self-righteous dignity.That ought to put her in her place.
She put up her chin and looked straight at him for the first time since her revelation. “Do you mean to say that, while Mr. Bingley has been singling my sister Jane out for particular attention, exposing her to gossip, and making her care for him, he was already planning to leave and never return?”
“Yes!” said Darcy, without thinking, his words like a rapier, cutting and hacking.
Then, as the implication of her words sank in. “No!”
He realized too late that he had fallen into a trap of his own devising. He could not say that Bingley was genuinely attached to Jane, because then Bingley would be unable to extricate himself. Yet he could not blacken his friend’s name by implying that Bingley was a heartless scoundrel who had flirted with Jane, then abandoned her.
He had landed himself in a pickle.
“Wemay have been guilty of an innocent deception that went amiss,” she said, in that same hard voice. “That isnothingcompared with a young gentleman choosing to toy with a lady’s affections for his own amusement.”
Darcy knew on some level she was right, but he had no way to explain the situation to her without revealing his friend’s true feelings. Besides, his anger was still burning. Fueled by the acrid sting of disillusionment, he lashed out.
“At least Mr. Bingley did not tell outright lies.”
“No, he did far worse,” responded Elizabeth. “He deviously concealed the truth. He is doing so at this very minute.”
He looked ahead to where Mr. Bingley and Miss Bennet were walking, their shoulders almost touching as they leaned towards each other.
“You think Bingley devious?” he countered. “When your mother has been putting all her energy into ensnaring him? If anyone is guilty of exposing your sister to the censor of her friends and acquaintances, it is your mother, who has been bragging to all and sundry that Bingley is about to offer for Miss Bennet. Or you might blame Miss Bennet herself, for using her smiles to lure Bingley into complacency.”
He was breathing heavily, furious and desperate at the same time. She winced as his words hit their mark. He felt fully justified and more than pleased with himself for scoring a point. A part of him sensed that by blaming Miss Bennet, he had gone too far.
“And how do you explain that—episode in the maze yesterday? Was I using my smiles to entrap you as well? Were you an innocent victim?”
The words shook him to the core. “What?” he said, bewildered. “No—how could you think—?”
He was rocked off balance, reduced to stuttering.
“You have said more than enough, Mr. Darcy.” Her voice was like the north wind, chilling him to the bone. “I believed you both to be gentlemen, but now I see I have been misled. I should have trusted my first impressions. From the beginning, from the very first moment, your manners impressed me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others. You and your friend, sir, have taken advantage of us.Youare the ones guilty of treachery. Do not blame us. Look to yourselves.”
She turned and started to walk back towards Longbourn, then stopped.
“Kindly inform my sisters that I am indisposed, and that weallneed to return home.”
Without another word, she set down the path.
***
AS SHE LEFT, SHE TOOKall Darcy’s anger with her. Without it, the despair he was holding back came flooding in, leaving him without the strength to stand. Staggering towards the fallen remains of a tree trunk, he sank down and idly watched a line of ants scurrying around, carrying a treasure to their home. He envied the mindless toil that kept them too occupied to experience unhappiness.
He could not bring himself to move.
You are the ones guilty of treachery.
Darcy had kissed her. If someone had come upon them, Elizabeth would have been compromised. And now she believed he was toying with her, that he was devoid of honor.
How could he have made such a mess of it all? He felt wrung out, deprived of all strength. He did not know if he would ever be able to stand up again.
“I say, Darcy.”
Darcy raised his head and found Bingley and Miss Bennet peering down at him. “Are you unwell?”
The sight of Bingley’s unsuspecting expression rekindled Darcy’s anger at being duped. Somehow, Elizabeth had made him forget that aspect of the situation. He could never forgive her for what she had done. Bingley thought Miss Bennet an angel, but she had been deceiving him. Should he blurt out the truth about Mrs. Bennet’s illness? Surely Bingley deserved to know.
