“I have known you all your life, and as good as you are at concealing your feelings from people in general, you cannot hide much from me. You certainly have a peculiar interest in this story. I feel that you put great effort into convincing Bingley that this miss would not ensure his happiness in marriage. You seem as if you deliberately separated them, and that is strange. Could it be that you also admire this Miss Bennet and do not wish to allow Bingley to have her?”
The colonel ended with a voice filled with gravity, but Darcy breathed with relief at his cousin’s wrong guess.
“Oh, this is plain stupid, Richard. I have not the slightest interest in Miss Jane Bennet. It makes me laugh that you assumed I did.”
He sipped from his glass. “However, I might have put too much effort into presenting Bingley with my opinion on this matter. But I did it only in his best interest and after a thorough examination of Miss Bennet’s behaviour towards him. Especially at the Netherfield ball, when her mother spoke loudly about Bingley marrying her daughter and finding husbands for the other four sisters.”
“There are five sisters with no dowry? Poor Mrs Bennet! I am almost sympathetic to her.” The colonel laughed. “You are quite unfair on the lady. There are many mothers with fewer daughters and far more money who are still obsessed with finding them husbands.”
“I am glad you are entertained, Richard.”
“I confess I am. And relieved that my guess was wrong. Let us hope Bingley will fall in love with another pretty face soon and will forget Miss Bennet. That would prove you were right, and I know how much you like to be.”
Although accustomed to his cousin’s teasing, this time Darcy felt uncomfortable. He had told only half the truth, and if he was honest with himself, he had to admit he might have become too involved in the matter. If he had been right, he had no cause to repent. However, if he had misjudged Bingley’s feelings or Miss Jane Bennet’s, he would have to live with guilt and remorse.
“Oh, there is something you should know, Darcy. When my mother related her encounter with the Miss Bennets to me, I was surprised and amused, and I told her what I knew about Miss Bennet and Bingley. What you had previously told me, of course.”
“I wished you had not done that, Richard,” Darcy replied with irritation. “It was a private conversation we shared, not public knowledge.”
“I am sorry if I overstepped. But you never told me the matter required secrecy, and when we first discussed it, it seemed of little importance. I would not have revealed it to a stranger, but I found it amusing to add to the coincidences mother kept speaking of.”
“I do not find the situation amusing in any way. I hope no reports reach Miss Bennet or Bingley and offend or hurt either of them.”
“I hope we can both trust in my mother’s privacy and wisdom.”
“I do not wish discussions of this kind in the presence of Georgiana. She is still rather sensitive when it comes to relationships.”
“I understand. I am sure my mother is capable of acting with the proper delicacy.”
“I am only worried about minor indiscretions on your mother’s part. What surprises me is that I have trusted you with many secrets throughout our lives and you have never betrayed my confidence. What came over you to gossip about Bingley and Miss Bennet with your mother? I cannot understand it.”
“I accept the blame, Darcy, and I shall remedy it.”
After the colonel left and he retired to his bed-chamber, things became even worse for Darcy. He recollected all the instances on which he had based his estimation of Miss Bennet’s feelings, including his conversations with Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst.
A sense of panic ruined his rest; he began wondering whether it was possible that his own interest in Miss Bennet had been his main reason, after all.
The other Miss Bennet, from whom he had tried to run away. Could he have insisted on taking Bingley away from Hertfordshire to avoid his marriage to Miss Jane Bennet because it would have placed Elizabeth Bennet in his close circle of friends? Could he have been so selfish as to toy with his friend’s happiness because of his cowardice?
