He nodded encouragingly.
“I am amazed you feel there is a difference between our first interaction and those subsequent. I am not saying that you are wrong. I am merely surprised that you noticed.”
“Why would I not?” Darcy asked.
“Because you were so dismissive of me, dismissive ofeveryone.I suppose I cannot say you were impolite that day we first made your acquaintance, but your manner was most definitely not welcoming. Efforts were made to draw you into conversation, but you said as little as possible. I thought, perhaps he is out of sorts for some reason or other. However, when your sister or Mr. Bingley addressed you, you would exude warmth and actually speak more than two words in response. After that, a mask of indifference would slide back into place over you. So, I concluded it must not be you. It must be us,” shesaid, with both hands aimed towards herself. “It must be that you felt we were beneath you.”
Darcy broke eye contact with her and sighed. He had clearly made a very poor first impression.
“Shall I continue?”
Continue?! There is more??
“Ah—yes, please,” he said.
She turned to begin walking again, and he joined her.
“After that first meeting, I shared my impression of you with Jane. I was unsure what to do about Miss Darcy,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Darcy asked, frowning.
“Well, I felt you would not want us to befriend her, and I certainly did not want you to think we were ingratiating ourselves upon her or your society. At the same time, I did not want to do anything to make her feel slighted. Jane suggested we let your behavior guide our own. So, that is what we did.”
“I am glad that you did so. I would not wish my sister to suffer for something I caused,” Darcy said. “Pardon the interruption. Please . . . continue.”
She smiled, then continued. “The morning of the assembly, when I met you and Miss Darcy by chance, I noticed you made more of an effort at conversation than you had previously. I wondered what made the difference. Was it because there were fewer people around? I could see that Miss Darcy was shy, so it was within the realm of possibility that you might have a bit of shyness about you as well. Or, perhaps you conversed more because the topics being discussed were more to your liking. I began to wonder if I had misjudged you. I shall stop there for now.”
Darcy looked at her. “For now? Are you saying there is still more?”
“Oh yes,” she said with raised brows. “There is more.”
Darcy looked into the distance and sighed. “I do not know where to begin.”
“You have quite a bit to work with there, Mr. Darcy," Miss Elizabeth said brightly. "Just take your pick."
“Indeed,” Darcy said drily.
Miss Elizabeth simply smiled at him, raising her brows again before looking back at the path.
Darcy touched her arm so she would stop walking. “I believe I should first apologize for treating you or your family and friends so disrespectfully. I am very sorry. Indeed, I did not mean to disrespect anyone.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your apology,” Miss Elizabeth said.
“I appreciate you pointing out my ungentlemanly behavior so that I may correct it,” Darcy said earnestly.
They began walking and did so in silence for a minute or two.
“You mentioned that you suspected I might be shy. Well, you are correct. I overcame quite a bit of shyness in my youth, but I am still somewhat reserved in company. However, I do not feel that my reserve is to blame in this case. It is a much uglier issue.”
“Oh?” she asked.
“Yes. I lost my mother when I was twelve. A decade later, just after I graduated Cambridge, I lost my father. So, at twenty-two, I became guardian of my younger sister. I also became the largest landowner in Derbyshire."
“I am sorry you have suffered such loss,” she said, compassion in her voice.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “When I became Master of Pemberley, I also became a target.”
Her brow furrowed at his words. “A target?”
