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Her sigh was profound.

“I had seen farmhands returning from the fields at the end of a long day of planting or harvesting. I had seen the blacksmith, filthy and sweaty, at the end of a long day in front of the forge. And I had seen washerwomen after a long day of beating clothes at the riverbank. All of them being beyond tired and instead being deeply fatigued. I did not want to know, and I refuse to imagine, what these women had done to appear so exhausted. Some of them were bruised, both on their arms and their faces. And many of them were younger than me. It profoundly affected me. When I returned to Gracechurch Street I asked Uncle Gardiner if I could instruct Cook to prepare a cauldron of soup and some bread. He was reluctant at first but eventually agreed. It is delivered every Sunday morning by two footmen and the empty, and clean, cauldron is collected on a Monday.”

It was the Wednesday after Easter and Darcy was humbled by Elizabeth’s Christian spirit.

“Thank you for telling me. I do not think there is such a place anywhere close to Pemberley but it is not the establishment but rather the spirit. This is a moment when I know we will be very happy as a married couple. Your lack of judgement, willingness to help those scorned by others, a true Christian. In this aspect of our life I think I will learn from you.”

Elizabeth’s worries about Darcy’s reaction were all for naught.

“You asked me why I chose you. Can I ask you the same question?”

“I am not sure that either of us ‘chose’ the other but I understand the essence of the question. At the core, I think I stopped being angry at men. Being treated poorly by men, be they gentlemen or tradesmen, was a poison to my mind. I needed to step back from that. There is a degree of sophistry required with that exercise as the attitude is still out there, I am no longer exposed to it. That was a vital first step. And it was the same when I left Longbourn, and my father’s indolence, to return to London. After all these years I only respect gentlemen who in turn respect their inheritance, industry or good fortune. I have trained myself, and been trained, to be busy. I have no interest in shopping all day, eating and drinking to excess and being out until the small hours, indeed the large hours, of the morning.

“The next stage was actually participating in society. I enjoyed it much more than I anticipated. It was rare that I did not have at least one interesting partner at a ball, or an interesting dinner companion. But at the same time, I was adamant that no man would match up to my standards. And for the most part I was correct, it was only a matter of time before a gentleman disparaged either women generally or myself personally.

“Last night I tried to recall all our conversations, going all the way back to the brief moments at the breakfast table at Netherfield Park. I wondered if I was failing to remember any, but none came to mind. It fills me with perverse pride that most men do not see me as a good match. And it fills my heart with joy that you do see me in such a light. Which brings me to my final secret, probably the biggest one of all and known only to my uncle. I have not shared this with my family or Lady Maria.”

Darcy was mentally beaten down. He could not imagine any more shocks, after a morning of being shocked.

“I own one eighth of Gardiner Import/Export. It was granted to me by my uncle in gratitude for my work over the four years I lived at Gracechurch Street. We kept 200 crates of ‘blood brandy’ for personal use. While I do not drink the stuff, it is useful to have so as to present as gifts as I did yesterday. I still have 23 cases set aside for me in my uncle’s warehouse.”

Darcy was a prize fighter reeling on the ropes.

“When I spoke to Sir Edward on Sunday afternoon he was excited to tell me that his business is growing steadily and so is the profitability.”

She stopped and looked at Darcy.

“He expects my share to be over £3,000 this year.”

In the four percents this equated to a dowry of more than £75,000. Darcy was officially broken.

Chapter 29

It was early afternoon on the Wednesday and Lady Susan Fitzwilliam finally relaxed into a seat for the first time that week.

“You are weary.”

It was not a question but a statement of fact. She nodded at her friend.

“I was some combination of excited and nervous on Monday and I did not sleep well that night. Not that I was alone in that condition as my husband was equally anxious. The matches were only yesterday morning but they seem to be ancient history already. And then Catherine had to barge in and destroy a quiet family gathering.”

“She has been despatched back to Kent?”

“Yes. She even went without much of a fuss. Once you and Miss Bennet left David was as angry as I have ever seen him. He used intemperate words and made several threats. Fortunately, they were all in the heat of the moment but they had a salutary effect. You being a close relation to two Dukes had escaped her notice and even Catherine realised the problems they could cause the family. Well that and David threatening to disown her. He calmed down eventually but Catherine recognised that she had made a pig’s ear of the whole affair. And although not very Christian of me, I took great delight in mocking her, making sure she realised that it was her intervention that brought the two of them together. ‘If you had only remained in Kent Catherine, none of this would have happened.’ Like I said, not my most charitable hour but she has had it coming for many years.”

Lady Maria’s smile was wide and approving.

“How was Darcy?”

“Happy, sitting there with a dopey smile on his face. Andrew, Richard, even young Georgiana teased him and he just laughed at them.”

“Was Richard upset that his day was ruined? The Earl gave a handsome speech and Elizabeth had just gifted the brandy when Lady Catherine interrupted the proceedings.”

“I asked him at lunch today, once Catherine was on her way south, and he appeared sincere in waving my concerns away. The penultimate match with that Naval Captain had been gruelling. He was putting on a good face with us in the afternoon but he needed to rest. Once Catherine had been dealt with Andrew opened his gift and the two of them sat in his rooms and drank the whole bottle. It took three of the footmen to get him to his own rooms.”

She shook her head in an exasperated but motherly manner.

“It is the first time I have ever witnessed a proposal.”