“He will be delighted. Mr Darcy, I forgot to ask, what did Miss Darcy say about Milo?”
“She doubted me…then she cried. Then she laughed. I have not seen her laugh in a very long time.”
Elizabeth smiled, though her eyes were filled with tears.
“My sister will come to Netherfield as soon as Wickham is removed from Meryton. She greatly anticipates meeting you — and seeing Milo, of course.”
“That is wonderful. I am eager to make her acquaintance.”
“Miss Bennet, there is another matter of great importance that I wish to speak to you about. I pray you will forgive me if you find it inappropriate.”
“After everything we have talked about, I wonder what could possibly be inappropriate,” Elizabeth said, laughing through her tears.
“I received a strange letter from my aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh.”
“Oh?”
“She wrote to express her disapproval about the outrageous report that I was your suitor,” he said, watching her attentively, a mischievous twist to the corner of his lips.
Elizabeth forgot to breathe, and a wave of heat exposed her mortification.
“Mr Darcy, I am so very sorry… Dear Lord, what shame! It must have been my ridiculous cousin Mr Collins. Lydia made a joke about it — a silly, poor joke — and the witless Mr Collins must have passed it on to Lady Catherine. I apologise deeply…”
“There is no need to apologise…quite the opposite,” he said, the smile widening on his face. She felt lost as to his meaning.
“You will have to be clearer, sir, as my mind is not as sharp as I would like it to be.”
“I assumed it had been a mistake — my aunt has a tendency to be wrong more often than she admits. At that time, I was notyour suitor, but if you have no objections, I would like to be. Very much so.”
She held her breath, hoping he could not hear her heart hammering. Did he really say that?
“I have no objections, Mr Darcy,” she eventually managed to reply.
“Thank you. Now, as your suitor I must insist you return home immediately. I would not want you to catch a cold. And Miss Bennet?”
“Yes?”
“I hope you will remember to save me a set at the ball.”
“As a suitor, I believe you are entitled to choose which one you prefer, Mr Darcy,” she said with a raise of her brow, her heart now soaring as she returned home. She turned to look back at him a few times, but due to the mist, he quickly disappeared from her sight.
Elizabeth said not a word to her family; what could be said? And how could she, when not even she could yet believe what had happened. Mr Darcy wished to court her, which had seemed inconceivable a few weeks ago. Just as inconceivable as the possibility that the cat she had found was the one Miss Darcy had lost. So many twists of fate that had completely changed her life in such a short while.
Since the gentlemen were expected to call much later in the day, Elizabeth and her sisters went into Meryton to make some small purchases. An hour later, they were about to return home when they were stopped by Mr Denny and Mr Wickham. The latter smiled and bowed to her with a familiarity that was not entirely proper. His face still bore the marks of Mr Ash—Milo’sclaws, but he was all smiles, so Elizabeth presumed he had not yet heard about Mr Darcy’s return.
As much as she tried to control her anger, Elizabeth failed. So she addressed him in a low voice, looking straight into his eyes.
“Mr Wickham, I am glad we met. I wished to inform you that I can no longer honour my promise to dance with you at the ball.”
“Really? May I ask why not, Miss Elizabeth?”
“Because a cat killer belongs in prison, not in a ballroom, and perhaps not even the prison is enough.”
He appeared so shocked that he paled and stepped away, then turned and left without another word. Elizabeth just smiled, watching him depart in haste. It was still too little for what that scoundrel deserved, but the worst was yet to come for him.
That very evening, while dining with Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy, the Bennet family received the astonishing news that Mr Wickham had been removed from the regiment and arrested.
***
