“I am happy to be here, Miss Bennet. And I am happy that I met you.”
“Oh… I took a brief walk…”
“Yes, I know you enjoy walking. Will you return home now?”
“Yes…”
“Would you like to take the carriage?”
“No, I would rather not…I mean…I would rather walk. The weather is so lovely, and nature is so pretty with all the autumn colours.”
She looked flushed and somehow uneasy, and he assumed he looked no different.
“Very pretty indeed,” he said, glancing around.
“Pemberley must be beautiful at this time of year.”
“It is, I remember it from my childhood. Sadly, I am rarely there in this season.”
“Oh… Is Miss Darcy in good health?”
“She is. She is in London with…her companion.” He was about to mention Anne but chose not to open the matter of his family issues so soon.
A little pause made them aware that they were standing still, facing each other, with the carriage waiting nearby.
“Miss Bennet, if I am not intruding, would you mind if I walked with you to Longbourn? I can send the carriage ahead while I benefit from a little exercise. If you do not mind…” he repeated, his eyes meeting hers briefly.
“I do not mind at all, Mr. Darcy. Quite the opposite, I would say.”
Walking side by side with Elizabeth towards Longbourn was thrilling and enchanting but also slightly embarrassing. Neither of them was at ease, and he hoped her nervousness was of the same nature as his.
After a few minutes, she stopped and turned to face him.
“Mr. Darcy, I have planned many times how to secure a few moments alone with you, and I cannot miss this chance. Please allow me to thank you for your extraordinary generosity to my sister Lydia…”
She spoke animatedly; she was agitated and flushed, and he found himself wishing to remove her bonnet and touch a curl of hair that was dancing on her neck.
To suppress the gesture, he placed his hand on her arm, grasping it gently to make her stop.
“Miss Bennet, please stop! Please! I am already upset with Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner for telling you. The last words in the world I want to hear on your lips are those of thanks and gratitude.”
“Oh…” She stopped, either because of his grasp or because she remembered her words when she rejected him.
“Please do not be upset with my uncle and aunt,” she said. “I wished to know…I needed to know…and I wondered why…”
“You wondered why?”
“Yes,” she admitted. “I could not imagine why you would bestow such profound kindness on a girl who was a stranger to you.”
“Truly? I was hoping that, since you discovered the secret, you had guessed why I did it, Miss Bennet. I selfishly did it for someone who was not at all a stranger to me…”
“Oh…”
“I hope you do not feel uncomfortable. Please know I do not wish to embarrass you and even less to force your gratitude.”
“I do feel uncomfortable because I am ashamed for all the trouble you went to on my family’s behalf. As for my gratitude, it is not forced but well deserved.”
“Could we please not mention it again? Or at least not before I have the chance to apologise for my aunt’s visit.”
