Charlotte gave Elizabeth a quick smile and said, “Well, perhaps that is exactly what I was doing—helping you! I did not mean to start the rumour, but you could see the rumour as providential. Surely Mr Goulding is a gentleman, and he will offer to marry you. You should not hold out for Mr Darcy, for he will never propose.”
You do not really know Mr Darcy. You are going by assumptions—prejudice, really—just as I used to.Elizabeth felt glad to have learnt a lesson from being proved wrong.
She said to Charlotte, “I was very grateful that Mr Goulding took the time to tell the truth and refute the gossip, but he and I met this morning and together decided that he will not suit me, nor I him. We decided that he should not continue to call. So…no, the rumour was not in the least providential.” She bent to see Charlotte’s eyes and said, looking straight into them, “It was poorly done, and it caused harm to Mr Goulding, my parents, my sisters, and myself.”
“I am sorry! I am truly sorry, Eliza, and I did not mean for all of this to occur.” Charlotte started crying. She continued, “I truly do worry about you, you know. Two years ago you laughed at Mr Goulding, and a year ago you laughed at John. You should feel incredibly lucky that Mr Goulding apparently forgave you and tried again, and I guarantee that Mr Darcy would despise you for laughing at him.”
“Actually, Mr Darcy loves when I tease him.”
Charlotte’s tears became wracking sobs. Elizabeth had never seen her friend—or her former friend, or whatever Charlotte now was to her—cry like this before. Elizabeth reached out to hug her. Charlotte clung to her.
Minutes passed. When Charlotte’s tears finally became gentler, she began to whisper a repeated loop of “I am sorry, Eliza! I am so sorry.”
Eventually, Charlotte pulled away. She whispered, “My brother hid it well, even to my parents, but you really hurt his feelings. He told me so, in private, and he swore me to secrecy, begging me not to tell you. But….” She shook her head, hiccuped once, and then started explaining again, “...Well, he recovered surprisingly quickly. I have to admit that it must have been just an immature infatuation, not the kind of mature love that would be the basis for a marriage. But….”
“But?”
“Ialwaysthought you would be perfect together. For years, I thought so. You were the perfect age for one another. You got along. I thought that, if no man ever offered for me, I could still live with you and my brother, when he inherited, and we could still be the best of friends.”
“So it was harder for you than it was for John, when I dismissed the idea as impossible? When I said so casually that John was like a brother to me, and we could never marry?”
“I suppose.”
“It sounds like your decision to tell your mother what you did was a bit of jealousy, and a bit of worry for your own future happiness, and bit of heartbreak for an idea that could never happen. Do I have that right?”
“It was entirely selfish, in other words,” Charlotte muttered.
Elizabeth could not think how to respond. She said, “I hope that, by the end of the day today, the rumour will be dead, and the truth will continue to spread. For now, I will continue to tellthe truth to people who matter to me—such as Miss Darcy and my father. In an effort to further restore the truth between the two of us, let me say that I think the courtship between Mr Darcy and me has become more serious.”
“Really?” Charlotte asked. She sounded truly amazed, and Elizabeth felt an urge to be insulted by her surprise.
Instead, she said, “Really, truly. But nothing is settled. Nothing is official. So…please do not tell your mother.”
“I definitely will not,” Charlotte promised. And her attempt at a little laugh somehow transformed into sob and a gulp.
Elizabeth gave her one more quick hug and left.
Mr Darcy and Georgiana both came all the way out to the carriage to greet her when she arrived at Netherfield. Mr Darcy handed her out himself and spoke to his driver and footman before putting her hand on his arm and asking tenderly, “How did your meeting with Charlotte go?”
Georgiana had taken Elizabeth’s other arm, and at her brother’s question scolded, “William! It went poorly! Look at her—is there any doubt?”
“Well, Poppet, I wished Miss Elizabeth to be able to use her words to express anything and everything she wished to express.”
“Oh, of course. Apologies.” Georgiana blushed as if she had made a majorfaux pas.
Elizabeth said, “Honestly, it went as well as it could. I understand Charlotte’s action better, and more importantly, she does as well. Still, I cannot feel as close as we once did. Perhaps that would have happened, in any case, as we grew and moved apart. But…part of me feels so sad for her and also for me,because for years Charlotte was the friend I had felt closest to…and I do not have many friends.”
“I am your friend,” both Darcys said.
The perfect unison made all three laugh, but Elizabeth almost immediately sobered, and she said, “In just two days I hope to call you something infinitely more dear, Mr Darcy. And if that happens, I will be able to call yousister, Georgiana.”
Darcy murmured, “It will happen, if you still choose it, my infinitely dear Miss Elizabeth.”
“Before we go inside, please tell me what I need to know about your relations. What do they know and what have they understood of the comings and goings and my father’s nonsense?”
Georgiana squeezed her arm in a show of support. “Our uncle and aunt like you.”
Mr Darcy said, “They asked Richard some very pointed questions last night, and he judged it would be best to tell them everything he knew. He reported to me when I saw him mid-morning that they are surprisingly supportive of us, and I have not seen anything that gives me pause in their behaviour.”
