He needed time to come to terms with the fact that a young lady of very little consequence had refused to marry him.
Elizabeth struggled to come to terms with the extraordinary events that had taken place, but she did not have a moment to herself.
Mrs. Gardiner came in just after Mr. Darcy left and sat next to Elizabeth on the sofa. “Mr. Darcy has given us the news, but I would like to hear all about it from you.”
Elizabeth did her best to tell the sorry tale, but her account was somewhat muddled. Her mind was awash with conflicting emotions. She wanted to burst into tears and rail against fate, yet at the same time, she was filled with amazement. Mr. Darcy had asked her to marry him!
“I still do not understand,” said her aunt, when Elizabeth finished. “Why did you turn him down? Do you hate the man? You never gave any indication of it when he last came to visit.”
“Hate him? Of course not!” said Elizabeth. “Why would I? He has been nothing but kind.”
“Then why do you not wish to marry him?”
Elizabeth sighed. “Because everything he said pointed to one thing. He considers this match beneath him.”
“Well, he is not wrong,” said her aunt, in a reasonable voice. “Pemberley is a very grand estate. Few estates in the country are its equal.”
Elizabeth had already suspected it, but her aunt’s words were the confirmation she needed.
“That is exactly the problem. If he is so very important, then most people are beneath him. His choice of a bride must inevitably be limited to a very small group of ladies.”
“But he has already chosen his bride, Lizzy. You are the one he wants to marry.”
“Not by choice,” Elizabeth pointed out.
Just then, the door opened and Mr. Gardiner came in.
Elizabeth shut her eyes, bracing for the confrontation.
“Now, then, Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” said her uncle. “It is no use pretending to be asleep. What was all that about?”
She opened her eyes to find Mr. Gardiner standing right in front of her. He looked more severe than Elizabeth had ever seen him.His expression resembled Mama’s when she was determined to make Elizabeth do something she did not like. This did not bode well.
“I am not pretending to sleep. I am simply preparing myself for a heated discussion.”
Her uncle took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, and sighed loudly.
“There is not much to discuss, is there? You have no foot to stand on, young lady. Mr. Darcy is everything that is honorable and noble. He is well-to-do, comes from a good family, and is handsome. I find it incomprehensible that you would say no.”
Mrs. Gardiner nodded in agreement. After all, the Gardiners owed Mr. Darcy their daughter’s life, and they could never deny him anything.
“I am not saying he is not. He is clearly a gentleman in every meaning of the word. But the reality is, Mr. Darcy does not want to marry me.”
Mrs. Gardiner patted her on the knee. “Did he say it, Lizzy? In so many words?”
“He gave me exactly ten reasons he shouldnotmarry me. He had a whole list of reasons why he thought it a bad idea.”
“Anyone would be lucky to marry you, Lizzy,” said her aunt firmly. “Never mind what he said. What matters is that he is willing to do it.”
“He is notwillingto do it. He isobligedto do it. Those are two very different things.”
“No one is holding a shotgun to his head, Lizzy,” remarked Mr. Gardiner. “He is a grown man, and he is perfectly capable of making up his own mind.”
“Look. I do appreciate that he is willing to marry me, even when it is against his interest to do so. But it would be kinder for me to release him from the belief that he needs to save me. You must not forget, I am the one that benefits from this marriage, not him.”
“There is no other choice, Lizzy. Mr. Darcy explained the situation to me in detail. The story of Mr. Rescue and the mysterious siren he fished out of the lake is being talked about all over London.”
Elizabeth flushed. “But if I am a mysterious siren, then it means no one knows who I am.”
