But then Mr. Darcy’s voice interrupted her, deep and yet rather angry, growing louder and louder until we could make out exactly what he was saying.
“…put everything ahead of myself and what I want! Worry only about appearances, about appeasing a whole slew of peopleI don’t even care about! And no one ever asks what I want! But of course, it doesn’t matter, because I’m not allowed to want things!”
A pause. Lady Catherine’s high-pitched, unintelligible voice filled the air.
“No,” cried Darcy. “No, none of that bit about responsibility. There must be some kind of balance. If a man can’t choose who he wants in his own bed, then why even bother living?” The door opened, and Mr. Darcy strode out, red-faced, hands clenched in fists.
He saw me and his expression tightened. Now, he looked embarrassed.
I bowed my head.
He cleared his throat. “You’re standing out here.”
“We are on our way back to the parsonage, I think,” said Mr. Collins.
“Oh, indeed,” said Charlotte. “How will we explain this to Maria?”
“I’m just glad she didn’t come along and overhear those positively iniquitous things,” said Mr. Collins with a huff.
“So,” said Mr. Darcy. “You heard?”
I licked my lips.
He looked at my lips.
“Come along, then, Elizabeth,” said Charlotte. “He can’t have you in his bed until he marries you.”
fitzwilliam
I decided the best course of action about all of that was simply never to bring it up with her again.
The next day, well, once we had slept and awakened to live Thursday again, I met her when she was coming out of the parsonage that morning.
“You’ve never been here before.”
“I calculated when you should meet Colonel Fitzwilliam and thought I could guess when you would likely leave the parsonage and decided I’d simply come and meet you here,” I said. “Shall we walk?”
She looked back over her shoulder.
“It’s better to simply randomly meet each other while walking, I think. Otherwise, I’m going to be compromising you every single Thursday.”
She smirked at me.
I flushed, feeling my face heat. No, not saying a word. Not aword.
“Let’s walk, Willie,” she said, starting off without me.
“You’re going to call me that forever, are you not?” I said.
“I don’t know, perhaps.” She was laughing. “Wee Willie Darcy!”
“Oh, Christ,” I muttered, falling into step with her.
She was still laughing.
“It occurs to me that if I am trying to make you like me, Miss Bennet, I am doing an appalling job.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said, turning to look at me sidelong.
