I stood in the entryway, looking down a narrow hallway into the house. It was stately and tidy in here as well, no elaborate decorations, but everything seemed quite in order, quite proper.
The servant came back to show me into the sitting room, where the entire family was gathered, and I did not know if they had all come there upon hearing of my arrival or if it was customary for the family to spend the morning together.
They were all standing, all five of the girls in their morning dresses, gazing expectantly at me, well, except for Elizabeth who was not standing but sitting straight up on a chaise. She was looking at me, however.
There was Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet, on opposite sides of the room, both on their feet as well.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Good morning,” said Mr. Bennet.
None of the women spoke. They all simply stared at me.
“I do not mean to be a bother to you all, but I was sort of hoping to speak to Miss Elizabeth alone.”
This got a reaction, all of the girls turning to each other, whispering shocked words to each other.
“Of course you may, sir,” said Mrs. Bennet, in a very loud voice. “Everyone, let us go elsewhere and leave Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to themselves.”
Mr. Bennet tilted his head at me, looking me up and then down, and then he gave me what I could only determine to be a smirk before he left the room. It wasn’t exactly the reaction I was expecting from her father, I had to say.
But everyone else was scurrying out of the sitting room, and Mr. Bennet followed them out and shut the door on us.
And then it was quiet.
I turned to face Elizabeth, who was still looking at me, her expression unreadable. I started over towards her, and then seated myself on a chair opposite hers. “There,” I said. “This way, I shan’t be looking down upon you the entire time.”
“So, it’s very bad, then?” she said to me.
“What?” I said, confused.
“Everyone in my family says that whatever it is that they are saying about me, the gossip, that it’s all nonsense, and that it will blow over very soon and that there has been no consequence to the family, but Mr. Collins did cut his visit short. He left last night, despite his threat to marry one of us.”
“Threat,” I said.
“You have not met him, I take it, or you should understand why I say this,” she said.
I smiled, in spite of myself.
She stifled a smile. “Is it odd to say I have missed you, Mr. Darcy?”
“Not odd,” I said. “It bodes well, I think.”
“You are here, then, to make good on that threat of your own, I suppose,” she said.
“Threat,” I said again, with a sigh.
“You said you could make me marry you,” she said.
“I had nothing to do with it,” I said. “I certainly did not start these rumors. We have Louisa Hurst to thank for that, I suppose, and perhaps your own mother, who likely latched onto the idea of it with something like glee. What they are saying… it looks bad for me as well, you know. This is a solution for us both.”
“I don’t suppose it matters one way or the other to you,” she said. “Unless you really do think I’m breathtaking.”
“Wait, you think I would lie about that?”
“I do not know.”
“Whyever would I do that?”
