Elizabeth smiled faintly, closing the door behind her. “It was… enlightening.”
Mr. Bennet gestured toward the chair opposite him. “Come, sit. I have missed our conversations, and I suspect you have something to say.”
Elizabeth hesitated before sitting, folding her hands tightly in her lap. “Papa,” she began, “I returned because I needed to know the truth.”
“About what, my dear?” he asked, though his tone suggested he already had some inkling.
“About Mr. Darcy,” she began hesitantly, her hands fidgeting with the folds of her skirt.
Mr. Bennet raised an eyebrow, though his expression remained mild. “Ah, the man who so recently turned our neighborhood into a flurry of lace and ribbons. You know how I love lace and ribbons. Go on.”
Elizabeth drew in a breath, then let it out slowly. “I thought I understood him. I thought I saw his character clearly, and… I admired it.”
“That sounds like the beginning of a glowing recommendation. But I suspect you are about to temper it with a sharp critique.”
She shook her head, frowning. “No, it isn’t that. I—” She paused, pressing her lips together before continuing. “I allowed myself to be swayed by hearsay. By gossip I should have known better than to trust.”
Mr. Bennet tilted his head, watching her closely. “Hearsay, is it? From a reliable source, I presume?”
Elizabeth gave a soft, humorless laugh. “I thought so at the time. Colonel Fitzwilliam is his cousin, after all.”
“Ah, cousins,” he mused, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Always the keepers of our deepest truths—or so they claim.”
She couldn’t help but smile faintly at his tone, but quickly sobered. “I was too quick to believe the worst of him. His cousin spoke of ambition, of plans that seemed so… calculated. And I let myself think it meant Mr. Darcy was using everyone at Netherfield as pawns.”
“But since you are here, should I assume that opinion has changed?”
Elizabeth hesitated. “New information, I suppose, and… Oh, no, that will not do. The more I thought on it, the more I decided what I had believed did not align with the man I had come to know. The man who has shown care and respect—to Sir Thomas, to the people under his roof. To my family. To me.”
He nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful. “And what does this realization mean to you, Lizzy?”
She looked down at her hands, then back up at her father, her voice trembling slightly. “It means I was wrong, Papa. It means I judged him unfairly based on hearsay. And now… I don’t know if I have ruined everything.”
He snorted. “Ruined everything, you say? Come, Lizzy, I had persuaded myself that you were the least silly of all my girls. Do not go and prove me wrong with some histrionic exaggeration.”
“But I have! I as good as spat on his shoes, Papa. What man would be fool enough to let me near him again?”
Her father waved dismissively. “I daresay, Lizzy, you know little enough about men if you think that. I never saw a man so heartbroken that he would not burn up the soles of his boots running back to the object of his affection if she but smiled at him once more.”
She dashed a tear from her cheek. “I think you overestimate—”
“I overestimate nothing.” Her father gave her a wry look and crossed his arms. “The man has had stars in his eyes since the first time I ever saw him—odd, though. He only looked that way when you were in the room.”
Elizabeth looked up, her breath catching slightly. “Are you… sure of that, Papa?”
He rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Lizzy, how do you feel abouthim?”
She gulped. Could she say it out loud? “I think… I think he might be the best man I have ever known. But I need to be sure.”
He raised a single brow.
“Indeed, it is true, Papa. That is why I came back in such a hurry. I had to see for myself if it is true.”
Mr. Bennet studied her for a long moment. “Well, Lizzy, I cannot say I am surprised. You have always had an inconvenient fondness for discovering the truth, even when it disrupts your peace.”
She laughed softly, a tear slipping down her cheek. “Do you think I am wrong, Papa?”
He shook his head. “No, my dear. But whether you are right or not, I think you will never forgive yourself if you do not find out.”
