What unsettled him most was the uncertainty.
The carriage slowed and came to a halt. Darcy descended at once and entered the building, nodding to the clerk who recognised him and led him through the familiar corridors. He was shown not to Mr Gardiner’s main office, but to the smaller room adjoining it, a happenstance that only sharpened his unease.
The door opened, but Mr Gardiner was not inside. The room contained only a single occupant.
Elizabeth Bennet stood near the window.
For a moment, Darcy could do nothing but look at her.
She turned at the sound of his entrance, surprise flickering across her face before settling into a composed attentiveness he recognised immediately. Yet there was something altered in her manner, a quiet resolve that steadied her posture and held his attention fast.
“Mr Darcy,” she said. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“You wished to see me,” he replied. “I came at once.”
She nodded, as though confirming something inwardly. “I asked my uncle to write to you, as I could not ask you for a confidential meeting myself without inviting scandal. I hope you will forgive my boldness, as well as the indirectness of the request.”
“Of course,” Darcy said. “May I ask what has occasioned this meeting?”
Elizabeth gestured toward the chair opposite the desk. “Perhaps we should sit.”
He obeyed without comment, though the act felt momentous in a way he could not have explained. Elizabeth seated herself as well, folding her hands together in her lap. For a brief instant, Darcy feared she might retreat into silence. Instead, she drew a steadying breath and lifted her gaze to his.
“I will speak plainly,” she said. “I have decided not to attend your aunt’s party.”
The words struck him with unexpected force.
“You have,” he said carefully.
“Yes.”
He searched her face for hesitation, for doubt, but found none. Whatever decision she had reached, it had been reached fully.
“May I ask why?” he said.
Elizabeth rose and crossed the room, stopping near the window as though movement were necessary to order her thoughts.
“When I agreed to the plan,” she said, “I believed it the least injurious course. I believed it would spare us both further inconvenience and public ridicule.”
“That was my intention,” Darcy replied.
“I know,” she said. “And I believe you acted honourably.”
The acknowledgment warmed him, though he did not allow it to show.
“But,” Elizabeth continued, turning back toward him, “I no longer believe the plan is honest.”
Darcy stiffened, his eyes searching her face. “In what way?”
“I am not indifferent towards you,” Elizabeth said softly. “Nor can I pretend to be.”
His breath caught, hope flooding through his heart.
She took a step closer, her expression resolute rather than uncertain.
“I asked to see you,” Elizabeth said, “because I could not allow matters to continue under a false pretence.”
Darcy rose to his feet without conscious thought.
