Page 49 of Elizabeth Bennet Says Yes to Mr. Darcy

I closed my eyes.

“You're right.”

Her expression wavered.

“Don't give in so quickly. I had several arguments prepared.”

“I'll hear them all.”

She took a few steps, gathering her thoughts.

“I don't want you to leave.”

My heart clenched.

“Why?”

“Because your departure won't make the rumor disappear. Because Jane is getting married soon and she wants you there. Because Georgiana is at Netherfield and I wish to know her better.”

She stopped.

“And because I wish to see you.”

I gripped the back of a chair.

“Elizabeth, don't say that out of pity.”

“That's precisely why you irritate me. When I condemned you, you were convinced your judgment was better than mine. Now that my opinion might favor you, you refuse to believe it.”

“What I wish to hear from you is precisely what makes caution necessary.”

“Then hear something else. The rumor is humiliating, but it will only become true if I let the debt dictate my conduct. You gave me freedom by helping my father without conditions. Don't take that freedom away by leaving before I can use it.”

I looked at her.

“What are you asking of me?”

“To stay until the end of the week. To come to the Meryton assembly on Friday. To let me answer Wickham and the others with my actions.”

“I don't want you to face a scandal for my sake!”

“It's not only for you. It's for myself.”

I couldn't refuse her that without committing the very fault she had condemned.

“Very well.”

She exhaled slowly.

“You'll stay?”

“Yes.”

“And you won't announce a break?”

“No.”

Her smile trembled.