Should he say goodbye to Miss Bennet? He did not want to impose. He would not impose. But the answer was clear. He needed to see her one last time.
He spent the rest of the morning in a state of impatience, willing time to pass quickly. He could not bear the thought of her leaving. It had only been three weeks since he had first met Miss Bennet, and yet in that short time she had somehow become woven into the fabric of his life. He had tried to move on, to forget that she existed. He had told himself he would forget her. Yet she continued to haunt him, day and night.
How was he to live without her? His life stretched before him leached of color, a rainy type of grey.
Then, finally the hour of reckoning arrived. Darcy and Georgiana set out for Green Park. At his insistence, they arrived early. Although the Queen’s Walk was an obvious choice, Mrs. Gardiner had not specified at which end they would be. Darcy was worried that the two parties would not find each other, and that Miss Bennet would leave before they had a chance to talk.
He had no idea what would come of this meeting, if anything, but, come what may, he intended to see her before she left. His eyes searched every corner of the park, hoping to spot Miss Bennet’s familiar figure.
“Look, William,” said Georgiana, pointing under a tree. “There is a snowdrop.”
There was no doubt about it. The small white bloom had pushed its way above the ground, delicate but defiant. The weather was turning.
He looked around him for the first time. It was a pleasant afternoon. The cold had retreated. White clouds were drifting across an azure sky, and the park was paved in afternoon light.
Darcy knew he was clutching at straws, but he took it as a harbinger of hope. Suddenly, a sense of renewed determination seeped into him.
What was the point, in any case, of holding back? This might well be the last time he saw Miss Bennet. Much as he wished to respect her wishes, he could not simply let her disappear from his life. After all, what did he have to lose? What good would it do if he kept his pride and lost the world?
If he had hesitated to dive in when Margaret had fallen into the lake, she might have drowned. It was time for him to take the plunge and risk everything.
Filled with a sense of feverish purpose, he began to mentally rehearse what he would say to her. He would do it right this time.
“There they are,” said his sister, interrupting his carefully constructed speech.
There she was. The sight of her sent his heart scurrying. He could hardly breathe. He struggled to control the impulse to run towards her and enfold her in his arms. His gaze dwelled on the beauty of her form, the elegant curves, the luminescent glow of her skin.
He was vaguely aware that Mrs. Gardiner and his sister were standing close by, but Miss Bennet took up all his field of vision.
He opened his mouth to speak, but all the words he had rehearsed evaded him. His tongue was tied up in knots.
“Miss Bennet,” he finally managed to say, though the words tripped on his tongue and came out breathless. “Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon, sir.” She blushed very prettily. His eyes lingered, trying to take in every detail of her face.
He went to her side, and they began to walk in the same direction. They fell into a heavy silence. Miss Bennet was uncharacteristically flustered. He imagined she found it awkward having to talk to him. Her rejection loomed large in his mind. He was doubly embarrassed as he remembered how horribly he had presented his proposal.
“I heard you are leaving tomorrow,” he said. “Is there a particular reason?”
“I have been away from my family too long.”
At the mention of her family, it occurred to him he knew absolutely nothing about her life at Longbourn.
“We have never talked about your family. Do you have brothers and sisters?”
“I have four sisters. One older than me, and the rest younger. The youngest is Miss Darcy’s age.”
“I cannot imagine having so many siblings,” he remarked. “For most of my time when I was growing up, I was an only child.”
Miss Bennet nodded, but her mind was elsewhere.
“Mr. Darcy, I need to speak to you,” she said.
Darcy was gripped with a sudden panic. Had Mr. Millett offered for her? Was she about to announce her engagement?
“What is it, Miss Elizabeth?” His heart was thumping so loudly he was certain she could hear it. “What do you wish to tell me?”
Her cheeks were scarlet. “It is just that Mr. Millett is on the verge of offering for me, but I do not know if I should accept him.”
