She fell silent, helplessly watching his stoic figure, her heart hammering as she waited for him to respond.
Mr. Darcy’s face was black as a storm. “And you, Miss Elizabeth,” he said, his voice low, though not unkind. “Did you have no inkling of their intent when you encountered us yesterday? You knew well enough of our plans to tour Netherfield.”
Elizabeth’s cheeks burned. “I… I knew that it was your intent, yes. But I did not know, at the time, that Sir Thomas’s situation was so desperate as it has been since revealed to me. Nor did I know what manner of communication Mr. Bingley had with Sir Thomas’s agent.”
“But you knew about the house. You knew what was carried on here and chose to say nothing.”
She swallowed, and her gaze faltered. “I did not feel it was my place to interfere in what I thought might be a simple viewing of the estate. I had no way of knowing that Sir Thomas himself did not hope to speak with you.” She let out a shaky breath. “But once I learned of my sister’s… intent… and the fact that it was trulyshewho arranged this… deception… I could not rest until I spoke to you, in the hope that I might somehow make things right.”
Mr. Darcy said nothing for several leaden seconds, and his eyes were like molten coals, searing her conscience.Oh, dash it all!Elizabeth wanted to sink through the floorboards, to never hear the names Darcy or Bingley again, such was her shame. And Jane! Oh, the words she meant to have with her sister and her aunt…
At last, Mr. Darcy gave a slow nod. “Indeed, Miss Elizabeth, you are correct—this must be put right.”
She closed her eyes. “Sir, I am quite prepared to accept whatever censure you—”
“And what, Miss Elizabeth, do you think your apologies will accomplish? We are here, are we not? We have seen the truth of the matter for ourselves and cannot un-know what we have learned. Is that how you go about affairs in your family, Miss Elizabeth? Setting unwitting gentlemen into unbidden circumstances for your own pleasure? Or did you seek something else? Hoping some wealthy man falls into your trap?”
Her jaw worked in shame, but at his last words, her ire flashed, and she met his eyes. “I did no such thing! Nor did my sister, truly, for all her underhanded scheming. If you choose to believe that, then I shall withdraw both my apology and my presence, for I see that nothing could sway you from your opinion. I only wished, as I said, to set the matter right to the best of my ability.”
“I have agreed, if you remember, that itmustbe set right.”
She regarded him with a skeptical look. “Yet your resentment makes that improbable.”
Mr. Darcy’s rigid stance softened all at once, and he turned to pace the length of the rug, rubbing his jaw… but she could have sworn that his hand concealed a faint smile. “Though I cannot deny that I feel used in this affair, I must admit that I had already resolved to help Sir Thomas, regardless.”
Elizabeth blinked, her breath catching in surprise. “You… you had? But why?”
Darcy turned to face her, but his gaze remained unfocused, distant. “Because, Miss Bennet, Sir Thomas Ashford is no stranger to me. We have met before—in France, under very different circumstances. I owe him my life, as surely as Bingley does. And upon learning of his work here, I find that, regardless of what the world might think of it, he is engaged in a cause both noble and necessary.”
Elizabeth’s heart swelled with a mixture of relief and disbelief. “Then… you mean to support him?”
“‘Support him’… such a vague phrase, with so many meanings.”
She frowned and dared to step closer. “And which meaning do you choose?”
“So long as he continues in his charity, Sir Thomas shall not want for a penny.”
Her eyes rounded. “You… you would go so far?”
Such a confession—seemingly complete and total affirmation—ought to have produced an expression of satisfaction on the gentlemen’s face upon her acknowledgment. But Darcy’s features remained carefully neutral. Elizabeth watched the flickering of his gaze as he seemed to be thinking, weighing his words.
“You consider that ‘far,’ Miss Elizabeth?”
“Well, it is… it is a hundred miles more than any other has done.”
Mr. Darcy smiled faintly and huffed a short laugh as he turned to pace the room once more. “And who else should do it but I?”
Elizabeth swallowed, one hand tugging uncomfortably at the fingers of the other hand. Was this a test? “What of Mr. Bingley, sir? I should imagine that anything one of you undertakes would quite naturally affect the other.”
“Such understated phrases do you no credit, Miss Elizabeth.” He turned to glance at her again. “What you actually mean is that by me entering into a commitment to support Sir Thomas, I could be entirely alienating my business partner unless he is equally willing to suffer the consequences with me.”
She pursed her lips and arched her brows. “Well?”
That faint smile returned. “I think you underestimate Bingley’s impulsiveness, as well as his generous nature, if you could have any doubt of his answer.”
She let go a breath in relief. “Sir, that… that is wonderful! Why, that means…” She was trembling head to foot as the dear, familiar faces she had come to know from Netherfield tumbled through her mind. So many of them—most, if not all, driven here by circumstances not of their choosing—and now, they would be able to stay in their home, in the little “family” they had founded here, through Christmas and beyond. “Sir, that means more than you can possibly imagine.”
He drew in a long sigh. “No, I know precisely what it means. But I have come to realize that money alone will not suffice.” He hesitated, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “The censure of public opinion is as dangerous an enemy as any financial hardship. If his work is to continue… well, that must be addressed as well.”
