Georgiana looked up again.
“You would not judge another person so harshly in the same situation,” he continued. “Youwould consider their youth, their inexperience, and the circumstances in which they were placed. You would not suppose that they ought to have seen through what was deliberately concealed from them.”
She hesitated. “I do not know.”
“I do,” he said with quiet firmness.
Georgiana was silent for a moment, then said, with a trace of curiosity, “Has anyone else been so deceived?”
Darcy paused. It was not a question he had expected, though it was not unreasonable. He might have answered in general terms and left it there, but he had already determined, once, that truth was better given plainly than withheld for the sake of comfort.
“Yes,” he said.
Georgiana looked at him more intently. “Someone you know?”
“Yes.”
There was a brief pause. “Who?”
Darcy considered only a moment longer. “Miss Elizabeth Bennet, among others.”
Georgiana’s expression altered at once. “Miss Bennet?”
“She was not deceived in the same way,” Darcysaid, as he shifted slightly where he sat, “but she had formed an opinion of him which was not correct, and which might have put her at risk. When I became aware of it, I thought it necessary to speak to her.”
Georgiana studied him. “You told her?”
“I did.”
“And she believed you?”
Darcy met her look. “She listened to me, and yes, in the end, she believed me.”
Georgiana was quiet for a moment, then said more slowly, “From all you have told me, Miss Bennet must be very clever.”
“She is,” Darcy said.
“And older than I am.”
“By some years.”
Georgiana seemed to consider this. “Then, if she could be mistaken, it is not so surprising that I was.”
Darcy nodded. “Not in the least.”
She drew a breath, as though something in her mind had settled. “I am glad you told me,” she said.
“I would not have you judge yourself more severely than is just.”
Georgiana looked at him again, though now with a different kind of attention. “You must think very well of Miss Bennet,” she said.
Darcy did not immediately answer. “I think her a person of understanding,” he said at last.
Georgiana’s gaze lingered. “And of judgement.”
“Yes.”
There was a slight pause.
