“Or perhaps your demeanor is due to the separation from Miss Bennet? If so, I cannot say your taste is flawed, Darcy, for she is an excellent woman.”
Perhaps he should have restrained himself, but Fitzwilliam’s mention of Miss Bennet did not please him. “What do you know of Miss Bennet?”
“Less than you do, I will warrant.” Fitzwilliam shrugged with his usual insouciance. “Idoknow that she is a gem, and I suspect you admire her. It is fortunate that Lady Catherine is blind,otherwise she would even now be knocking down Collins’s door in her fury, and you know he cannot protect her.”
It was something Darcy had not considered.
“What I do not understand,” continued Fitzwilliam, “is why you have not acted on your inclination. It is not as if you are bound to some colorless lady of society—you have wealth and prestige enough to ignore such things if you wish.”
Fitzwilliam paused to consider, then he added in a thoughtful tone: “Then again, I wonder if she would accept you if you offered for her.”
“What do you mean?” asked Darcy, fearing he already understood the answer.
“I cannot say with certainty,” replied Fitzwilliam. “Several times I sensed she was not pleased with your acquaintance, and yesterday, when I saw her on the estate, that impression increased tenfold.”
Was he the only one who had not seen her antipathy for him? Darcy supposed he should be grateful, for even Lady Catherine, who watched other ladies like a bird of prey, had seen nothing, for Miss Elizabeth had given no indication she even liked Darcy. This business of Fitzwilliam meeting her on the estate was something of which he had known nothing, the mention of it filling him with dread.
“What happened yesterday?”
Fitzwilliam scratched his chin. “When we met, she appeared as lively as she ever was, but she grew quiet and claimed a headache after a time. I escorted her back to the parsonage, but I thought her more discomposed than ill.”
Darcy considered him. “When was this?”
“The afternoon, some hours before the absurd parson was to come to Rosings for tea. I thought Miss Bennet stayed behind because of her indisposition, but now I wonder if she was ill at all.”
“Of what did you speak? Was it something that upset her?”
“I would never say something to upset her, Darcy,” chided Fitzwilliam. “It was nothing more than the amusing anecdote you told me about saving Bingley from a predatory female.”
It was obvious from Fitzwilliam’s expression that he saw the ice that had formed around Darcy’s heart, though he did not speak. For several moments, Darcy endeavored to master himself, while his cousin waited. Though the mystery of how she had learned of Darcy’s part in that affair was now clear, he suspected her dislike was formed long before Fitzwilliam’s confession.
“That was not well done, Fitzwilliam,” said Darcy at length. “The lady in question is Miss Bennet’s elder sister, Miss Jane Bennet.”
Stricken, Fitzwilliam gaped. “I had no notion, Darcy.”
“Of course, you did not,” said Darcy, pushing away his concern. “I was not explicit, though I am surprised you remembered my passing comment on the subject.”
Fitzwilliam shrugged, still embarrassed. “It was the knowledge you had been with Bingley, coupled with my understanding of his behavior with the ladies. That Miss Bennet might know the lady in question never occurred to me.”
“I have been the cause of my own misfortune,” replied Darcy, feeling bone weary. “It is not your fault.”
“What happened, Darcy? I know you advise Bingley, but I struggle to understand how a lady of Miss Bennet’s quality could have a sister so deficient as you suggest.”
“Miss Bennet isnotdeficient,” said Darcy with a sigh. “Miss Bingley and her sister were concerned that she was not a woman of society possessing a stupendous dowry, but my concern lay in her interest in him and her family.”
Darcy explained his actions, knowing there was no reason to withhold anything. He also recited what Miss Bennet had toldhim, hoping that his cousin could give him some perspective on the matter. Of Wickham’s part in all this, he said nothing—Fitzwilliam despised Wickham and would think of nothing else if he heard the libertine’s name, and Darcy had not decided yet what—if anything—he should do about George Wickham.
When he finished, Fitzwilliam considered before speaking. “Well, it appears you perhapswerea little officious, though given Bingley’s character, your concern was not unwarranted. I cannot know the particulars, of course, except for what you have told me.IfBingley’s interest in Miss Bennet were true, then Miss Elizabeth has some justification for her anger.
“I am surprised you misjudged her. It was not half an hour after I made her acquaintance that I understood Miss Bennet was no ordinary young lady impressed with wealth and status. If her sister is of the same quality, I cannot think she is deficient in this respect.”
Darcy grimaced, but he did not shrink away. “In my defense, I can only say that I seem to have misjudged her. Given her mother’s behavior and Miss Bennet’s general reticence, I cannot but think my misapprehension was understandable.”
“The question is what you mean to do about it.”
It was a question for which Darcy had no immediate answer, but one he thought about for the rest of the journey back to London. Though he did not want to consider the mortification attendant on such a confession, Miss Elizabeth’s words stuck with him. Did Bingley not deserve to know of his misjudgment, to follow his inclination? Darcy did not even consider the notion that Miss Bennet had dissembled, for he had the firmest belief in her integrity. But the question continued to haunt him, and he yet had no notion of how to proceed.
AFTER SEVERAL DAYS, Elizabeth decided she needed outside counsel. The contents of Mr. Darcy’s letter were a complete surprise, such that she could make no sense of it. If she believed Mr. Darcy, his actions, though meddlesome, were understandable, though she still lamented Jane’s low spirits. The bigger question in Elizabeth’s mind was the matter of Mr. Wickham, for he was the obvious danger, if what Mr. Darcy said of him was true.
