Page 164 of A Most Unwelcome Acquaintance

“No.”

“I assumed as much. Bingley has the face of a man riding toward happiness. You have the face of one approaching judgment.”

“I deserve some.”

“That has never kept a man from hoping for mercy.” Bennet stood and opened the door. “Elizabeth is outside. Sarah took her to the lower meadow, unless the sheep are at Netherfield again.”

Darcy paused. “Do I have your permission to speak with her?”

“You have permission to speak. Anything beyond that depends upon Elizabeth, which I assume you know.”

“I do.”

“Then you have learned the most useful lesson in this house.”

Darcy found Elizabeth near the stile beyond the kitchen garden. Sarah stood on the far side of the field, watching three sheep that had pressed against the hedge as though considering escape. Elizabeth rested one hand on the top rail and looked toward Longbourn, where Mrs. Bennet’s voice reached them through an open window.

“All of Meryton should know before dinner,” she said as Darcy approached.

“Bingley will not object.”

“No. He has spent too long concealing his happiness to begin now.” She looked at him. “Jane hoped he came to propose.”

“And he did.”

“That answer sounds almost grudging.”

“His happiness gives me no excuse for delay.”

Elizabeth’s amusement faded, though she did not turn away. Sarah left the sheep and trotted toward them, then stopped several yards off to investigate a patch of grass.

Darcy rested one hand on the stile. “May I walk with you?”

“Yes.”

They crossed into the field. Sarah moved ahead, ranging between the hedge and the narrow path that led toward the stream. For a time, Darcy heard only the grass beneath their steps and Sarah moving ahead of them.

“I owe you an apology that I should have made a long time ago,” he said.

Elizabeth looked forward. “You apologized for the assembly.”

“I apologized for the words. I did not admit the full extent of my fault.”

She waited.

“The morning before the assembly, I saw you with Sarah and the sheep near Netherfield. You directed them with such ease that I assumed you belonged to a tenant family or worked upon the estate. I assumed without asking who you were, then carried it into the assembly after Bingley introduced your family.”

Elizabeth stopped. “You knew who I was by then.”

“Yes.”

“And still spoke as you did.”

“Yes.” Darcy faced her. “I misjudged you, then defended my pride instead of correcting the mistake. I am sorry.”

Sarah returned, nose dark with earth, and circled them before moving on. Elizabeth watched her for a moment.

“You gave me reason to dislike you, but I held to that dislike after I should have questioned it. I am sorry too.”