Elizabeth shook her head for the tenth time that morning as if a testament of her stubbornness were still necessary, yet they all saw on her countenance a feeble yet incontestable ray of light, the proof that her inner fight could be finally won by hope.
“Please, Miss Elizabeth, believe me,” Georgiana spoke with courage. “I pity Cousin Anne for being this feeble creature. Yet she is not a proper wife for my brother, no matter how tenacious Lady Catherine is or what stratagems she intends to use.”
“And she is utterly right!” Lady Oakham exclaimed. “Anne is not suited to a passionate man like Darcy, but…there are many other ladies in London prepared to marry him at any cost. Take Lady Olivia—”
“Oh!” exclaimed Georgiana, blushing deeply. “When I met her a few months ago, her presence sent shivers down my spine.”
“Indeed, my dear. You have seen it right. If a lady like her intends to win Darcy, she will stop at nothing to attain her aims. Between Lady Catherine and someone like Lady Olivia, Darcy will finally capitulate, convinced, as men often are, that the time for marriage has simply arrived.”
“What, then, are my chances?” Elizabeth asked, but the ladies in the room could tell the difference in her voice and perspective from an hour ago.
“Your chances lie in your purity, intelligence, lively nature, and genuine love for my cousin. And whilst this may not seem advantageous now, as you have hurt him, your most potent weapon is his love for you.”
“And you advise me to continue to…”
“Yes, you must remain in his vicinity, but in a manner distinct from Lady Olivia, who smothers him with her constant presence. You could write him a letter!”
“Oh no, I do not think so,” Elizabeth said, shocked by the idea.
“I implore you, Lizzy, reflect on the counsel Lady Oakham is offering you,” Mrs Gardiner urged, pleased that her niece was receiving such support.
“Yes, Lizzy, please heed this advice.” Miss Darcy called her by her familiar name, a hint of playfulness in her tone, indicating that some rules could be broken.
Elizabeth smiled at the young lady. “You are leading me down a treacherous path.”
“Please, Lizzy,” pleaded Jane. “I need at least one of our stories to end well.”
Elizabeth was experiencing one of the most intense moments of her life, torn between her old nature—uncompromising and sometimes prejudiced—and accepting that any man she would marry would have both qualities and faults.
“You can make him realise that you regret what happened in Kent but that your response was, in essence, an answer to his insulting declaration,” Lady Oakham said.
“And please remember that he explicitly declared his profound love for you,” Mrs Gardiner added, looking to theother ladies for their approval, which she received in the form of vigorous nods.
“Yet he unjustly loathed my family, deeming Jane a fortune hunter!”
“That would make an excellent beginning to your letter, persuading him that his ideas about your family are wrong. Your present position is changed. You do not want to fight but to make him know your family and acknowledge that your feelings have undergone a transformation.”
“He must know Jane’s true nature. I do not deny it is regrettable that Mr Darcy harbours such terrible thoughts about her,” Mrs Gardiner said. “Every member of our family possesses both virtues and flaws—even Jane.”
“Such is human nature, ladies,” Lady Oakham agreed. “We must be happy when around us we have people who present a good balance between faults and qualities. And I am sure Darcy is in the same situation.”
“But how can I possibly write him a letter? It would be a grave impropriety. Only betrothed couples are permitted to correspond.”
“Yet, Fitzwilliam wrote to you, and you regarded his gesture as perfectly acceptable.”
“He personally delivered the letter to me…” Elizabeth hesitated. But her hesitation arose not from her unwillingness to break the rules of decorum but rather from her uncertainty as to whether such delicate matters could be settled through letters. To what extent could he alter his opinion of her family based on mere words? And yet, in the end, that was all she had.
“Nevertheless, he was not your betrothed, which indicates that, in his mind, your relationship had transcended mere friendship despite the absence of an engagement.”
“A matter of interpretation…but yes…I agree.” Elizabeth finally spoke with her usual jest, allowing her defiance of convention to shine through.
“We could see it as a relationship without set rules,” Lady Oakham continued. And her beautiful face expressed the joy of play, even though the subject was one of great seriousness. But in the end, love could not be only suffering, and the hope that had awakened in their hearts made the ladies recall their own loves, while Georgiana found herself dreaming of the love that was yet to come.
“And what would that kind of relationship look like?” Elizabeth asked, curious about this unusual idea.
“A man like Fitzwilliam must have strong feelings for a lady if he asks her to marry him.”
Elizabeth blushed and nodded, remembering his words of love.
