He walked her to the door and said a final goodbye as she walked to Mr Darcy’s carriage. She turned just before entering the vehicle, meaning to wave to him. But she saw that his entire stance had sagged, and his smile had disappeared. She felt a pang for him and swiftly accepted the footman’s help into the carriage.
“How did it go?” Georgiana asked tentatively.
“It was fairly easy. He is a gentleman, and he behaved so. No harsh words were exchanged.”
“Good.”
“The next meeting will be tough,” Elizabeth said.
Mrs Annesley surprised her by putting her hand over Elizabeth's clenched hands. “Ugly actions often come from ugly emotions, but people generally excuse themselves with pretty stories. Be sure to listen to the pretty story your friend tells, because there will be some truth in it, I imagine, but be aware that she must have been feeling envy or anger towards you, or both; she might have been feeling fear for herself and anger towards the world, as well.”
“Thank you, Mrs Annesley. I will try to do as you suggest.”
Elizabeth was shown to the parlour of Lucas Lodge, where Lady Lucas and Maria flanked Charlotte. Maria smiled at her and wished her good morning with an uncertain voice; Lady Lucas greeted her but could not meet her eyes. “We shall leave you two to speak privately,” Lady Lucas said. “I know that young ladies who have beensuch good friendsfor so many years will wish to…speak privately.” Lady Lucas and her younger daughter promptly left.
Charlotte and Elizabeth took seats. Charlotte was looking down, rather than at Elizabeth, and she said softly, “I am very sorry. I did not mean to start a rumour. I have tried to set the record straight, and I hope you will forgive me.”
“I hope I will, too,” Elizabeth said. “Perhaps, if you could actually look at me, and then explain what you did and why you did it?”
Charlotte glanced up, meeting Elizabeth’s eyes briefly, but then she lowered her eyes again.
“I just told my mother what I saw. I did not mean for her to tell everyone.”
For the moment, Elizabeth allowed that ridiculous lie to stand; Charlotte had always known that her mother was even more prone to spreading gossip than Elizabeth's mother. For many years, neither Charlotte nor Elizabeth would ever say anything to their mothers unless they wished it spread far and wide.
But Elizabeth put that aside and said, “And what is it that you saw, and that you told your mother?”
“I saw you walking, as you so often do. I had just dealt with the chickens and the cow, and I wished to see where John was in the garden, so I went to the shrubbery walk where I can overlook our land—and part of yours—and I saw you.”
Elizabeth nodded silently, urging Charlotte to go on.
“You were with a man. At first I did not know if it was Mr Darcy or Mr Goulding or someone else. You seemed to be happy speaking together, and then he kissed your hand and turned away.”
“And…”
“Well, I felt that it was startling to see that you were meeting with men in secret, in the early morning.”
“I was certainly not meeting withmen, plural, nor was I intentionally meeting withaman. I was taking my usual walk.As you said before, it is something I often do. Mr Darcy was taking an early-morning ride, as is his wont. We did not set up a time or place to meet in secret. We never have done so. We just saw each other, and stopped to converse a while.”
“It—it just seemed wrong. I was certain that your father would be unhappy with you meeting him like that.”
“As I said before, it was not wrong. It was an accidental meeting. Also, the rumour stated that I was allowing liberties—but a kiss on my hand from a man to whom my father has given permission to call on me—that is not him taking nor me conferring a liberty. Allowing liberties would involve at least being embraced or kissed, would it not?”
Charlotte did not reply, other than to shift uncomfortably on the settee.
“Even if you were to see Mr Darcy and I kissing and embracing, I would assume that you would think, ‘Oh, joy! They must be betrothed!’”
“Do you really think that Mr Darcy—with his ten thousand pounds a year, his gigantic estate, his noble relations—will propose to the daughter of a country squire? I thought it must be Mr Goulding you were with. He is the sort of man I can see you marrying, since you apparently will not have my brother.”
“Mr Goulding has blond hair and is quite short, for a man; Mr Darcy has very dark hair and is very tall. I do not think it is possible that you did not know which man you saw.”
Charlotte stayed silent.
Elizabeth said, “We ladies are in a scary position, and you and I know that all too well. We do not have the opportunity to join the Army or the clergy, we cannot train to be a barrister; we cannot even become an apprentice and learn a trade. We have to stay inside most of our lives and wait and hope for some man to discover us and ask us to marry. We have little power to go forth and meet men, we have no expectations that we can choose tocourt or propose to them, we have merely the power of refusal, which is no power at all if there are no proposals to refuse. I understand all of that.”
Charlotte blushed, but she still said nothing.
“Even so,” Elizabeth said, “I would always wish that all of my sisters and friends will be happy, and I would wish to aid them in finding the man or situation that will make them happy. I would hope that my friends and sisters would do the same for me.”
