Page 144 of A Most Unwelcome Acquaintance

“Because Charles loves her, and punishing Jane will not change him.”

Caroline rose. “You have become timid.”

Louisa’s expression hardened. “No. I have learned the difference between influence and control.”

“Convenient wisdom after failure.”

“Failure teaches what success conceals.”

Caroline laughed without mirth. “You sound like Mary Bennet.”

“I would rather sound like her than behave like Lady Catherine.”

The insult landed with greater force because Louisa had not raised her voice. Caroline looked toward the door, half expecting someone to have heard, but the passage was empty.

“You think I am no better than she is.”

“I think you are close to making the same mistake. Lady Catherine believed authority could force Darcy to accept her judgment. You believe management can produce the same result.”

“I have never ordered him to marry me.”

“You have arranged rooms, dinners, conversations, walks, and every opportunity you could create. You have corrected his opinions, praised his family, guarded his access to women you considered unsuitable, and treated his silence as consent.”

“I have done what any woman in my position would do.”

“No. You have done what you believed necessary because you expected effort to earn preference.”

Caroline felt color rise in her face. “And you believe preference should fall upon Elizabeth Bennet because she walked through fields with a dog and insulted him at every turn?”

“I believe the choice belongs to him.”

“Men are not free of influence.”

“Influence is not attachment.”

“It may become attachment if the circumstances are right.”

Louisa studied her. “What circumstances?”

Caroline crossed to the tea table and adjusted a spoon that needed no attention. “You mistake me. I do not propose to force his feelings.”

“Then what do you propose?”

“Nothing.”

Louisa rose. “Caroline.”

The warning in her name sharpened Caroline’s resentment. Louisa had moved from ally to judge because Jane Bennet’s expected triumph offered her a place in the new arrangement. She could accept Darcy’s preference because it cost her nothing.

“You have no cause for concern,” Caroline said. “I understand my position.”

“I doubt that.”

“You presume too much.”

“I know you. When persuasion fails, you do not surrender with grace.”

Caroline turned away. “You ask me to accept humiliation.”