They were alone. He had not expected to meet her here. He was both thrilled and terrified it had happened. He plunged ahead, reckless and impatient, unable to endure his uncertainty a moment longer.
“May I have a word with you, Miss Elizabeth?” Darcy broke into her thoughts.
“If a word with me means you plan to chide me and accuse me of nefarious dealings, then perhaps it would be better to indulge in small-talk. I do not wish to take up where we left off.” She paused. “I believe it is customary to talk about the weather. It is certainly the safest topic for us to discuss.”
“I would rather not discuss the weather, Miss Elizabeth. I have other matters I wish to pursue.”
“Very well, Mr. Darcy. You can start by explaining why you are in the garden instead of drinking brandy with the gentlemen.”
“I am here because I am avoiding your cousin.”
He watched for any indication that the engagement had taken place, but she did not react. Nor did she correct him and say Collins was her fiancé.
There was really no point in talking about anything else if she was engaged. It was embarrassing, but he needed to know the answer too desperately not to approach it directly.
“He referred to the possibility of an engagement.”
“Mr. Collins?”
“Yes.”
“It is already settled, you know.”
Darcy’s heart dropped. It was too late. He ought to have offered for her before. If he had not been so wrapped up in his own sense of aggrievement, if he had not been feeling so sorry for himself, then he could have prevented it.
“I see,” he said. ‘Then I take it congratulations are in order.”
“Congratulations? Oh. You misunderstand me. When I said settled, I meant that I would not accept Mr. Collins under any condition. Mama would consider it an insult if I took him away from Lydia, and Papa has indicated he will never talk to me if I marry him, so you see I could never say yes. Not that I ever considered doing it. I would have refused him in the first place, if I had not been interrupted.”
She laughed softly.
“So you see, this whole muddle with Mama was completely unnecessary. She did not need to interrupt me, because I would have refused him anyway.”
Relief made him giddy. He wanted to pick her up and spin around with her and laugh. This was excellent news.
Why had he never considered that possibility? Yet again, he had not given Miss Elizabeth enough credit for knowing her own mind.
At last, he had an opportunity to clear the air. He did not deceive himself that it would be easy. It was quite possible that they would quarrel again. He cringed at the prospect of regurgitating their whole argument. He had no idea how it would end, but it had to be done.
At least he had a very good sense of where he should start.
“I would like to offer you an apology.”
“So youdointend to continue where we left off,” she said. “I wish you would spare both of us the unpleasantness.”
He felt much the same, but there was too much at stake.
“First an apology, then an explanation,” he said, earnestly. “If we each explain our point of view, we might be able to understand each other. Do you agree?”
He wished there was more light, so he could read her expression.
“I suppose so,” she said, with obvious reluctance.
“Since I became master at Pemberley, I have been approached by all manner of fortune-hunting young ladies, their mothers in tow, words of flattery dripping from their lips. Over the years, I have come to despise pretension of any kind, and have become particularly sensitive to any attempts to trick or entice me into situations that might force my hand.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips and threw him an angry look.
“I was expecting an apology, Mr. Darcy, not a speech about your social importance. While I understand your position perfectly, Mr. Darcy, I can assure you that none of us had any intention whatsoever of forcing your hand. If anything, Mama has done everything she can to discourage you from approaching us. I hope you will acknowledge the truth of that. Have you ever seen any sign from any of us that we wish to entrap you in any way?”
