Georgiana blinked at her.
Elizabeth buried her hands in her cat’s dashing fur. Mr. Darcy had infuriated her. “I do not approve of his attitudes towards our fair gender.”
“How can you not! Fitzwilliam is the best, kindest, and noblest gentleman in the world. He will do anything for me — I was ruined, and he did not throw me off, he allowed me and Anne to live with him, he has given up so much, and the shamefulness of our presence has kept him from marrying—”
“Him!Wishto marry?”
“—he is always so kind, so willing to spend time entertaining me, he always gives up his own pleasures for my sake…he is thebest.”
“He, like you, deeply dislikes oversized social gatherings, and he suffers the profoundest annoyance in the presence of too many women. He is convinced we are only desperate to catch a wealthy husband — this is not a matter of conjecture — he told me direct.”
“But—”
“You shall not succeed. You worship your brother, but he is a man, and he has shown his feet of clay to me. You shall not convince me he is angel, spirit, or Grecian hero.”
Georgiana sighed. “He is the best of men. You misjudge him.”
“He holds you in close affection, and he has supported and cared for you for many years —youraffection is natural. I freely admit he has virtues.”
“Then why do you dislike and argue with him?”
“My dear Georgiana — this is a misapprehension. That two persons argue with each other does not signify that they dislike each other.”
“But youdodislike Fitzwilliam.”
“I am undecided. There is much for a sensible woman to dislike.”
“Youwilllike him eventually, if you are undecided.”
Mr. Hume reached his soft paw up to bat Elizabeth’s face, bringing the scent of his clean-licked fur to her. She shrugged. Maybe Georgiana was right. Maybe she already liked Mr. Darcy, despite his deficiencies. A very handsome man.
“You will come to see how he is sweet and loving. The treatment society gives me has made him cynical.”
“I doubt very much heeverhad friendliness for women outside intimate circles. Your brother is a clever and well-read man, and he absorbed the foolishness male writers attribute to women. And a man who combines such a fine person with such a fine estate must have been pursued avidly by women since he has been in society. The genesis and genius of his distrust.”
“I was not able to control my passions.”
“A child without her guardian.Andyou detached yourself from Wickham before he gained your fortune.”
“I deserve no credit. You misunderstand. I learned Wickham’s character, and that I would be miserable with him, and that he loved nothing but my wealth. His mistake was only not to continue the charade until we had been tied by marriage.”
“Idoadmire you. And today you are no unguarded child. You are a woman, full of sense and sensibility.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your brother said you could never make a good choice for yourself, not because your past makes him mistrust you, but because you are a woman. He said directly I would be as incompetent as you had been if I formed a passionate attachment.”
“Fitzwilliam saidthat? About you?”
“He did. But I promise, I shall strive to see his better features — many virtues are in your brother. I demand in exchange thatyoulook in yourself and see the virtues and senseyoupossess. Learn to trust yourself in matters of importance.”
“I could never go against my brother’s wishes.”
“One dayyouwill wish to marry. And when that day comes,youmust choose your own happiness, not him.”
“I never will marry! Absurd to imagine.”
With a loud bustle the door to the drawing room was burst in, and the two children ran in, jumping up and down, made energetic by the treats stuffed into them. Mrs. Bennet and Jane followed them in.
