“I have no expectation that you might appreciate anything I say, Miss Bennet. I shall leave you now before this conversation takes a turn for the worse.” He took a few steps, then turned and suddenly said, with no time to mind his words, “If it is not too much trouble, perhaps you would be interested in reading this letter. If not, you may throw it in the fire.”
She took the letter with obvious surprise, staring at him as he turned again and walked away.
“Mr Darcy, what letter is this? What is it about?” she called after him.
He stopped. “Nothing more than an explanation of my actions that repelled and disgusted you so deeply. I believe it would be fair of you to find out the truth, if you are interested in it.”
“An explanation? Can you not tell me? If there is something to explain, and a truth to be discovered, should we not discuss it?”
“I dare say we have spoken enough for one day, Miss Bennet. Perhaps even for a whole lifetime.”
“Perhaps. But if there is something that needs to be said, why hide behind letters? Are you afraid to be confronted for whatever you have chosen to explain?”
“Are you afraid to read and discover how wrong you have been, Miss Bennet? And perhaps how unwise — I am tempted to say foolish — you were to trust a scoundrel like Wickham, whose main purpose is to deceive silly, naïve people?”
“Offending someone is the easiest way to justify injustice, Mr Darcy!”
“I second that, Miss Bennet, and it certainly applies to you.”
“You are being rude, sir!”
“You already called my manners ungentlemanlike — calling me rude adds little to your previous offences.”
“If I offended you, it might have been for good reason, Mr Darcy.”
“You offended me because you were charmed by Wickham into believing his lies. I certainly trusted your judgment too much. I never imagined you might be one of the women so easily enamoured by that scoundrel.”
“How dare you!” she replied, her voice now suffocated by apparent anger. “I am certainly not enamoured by anyone! Your actions against Mr Wickham are nothing compared to the pain and grief you caused my sister and probably your friend too, if Mr Bingley is half the man I believed him to be.”
“As I have already told you, I acted for my friend’s benefit. You will find the full explanation in the letter if you care to read it.”
“I shall read it. Not out of consideration for you but for my own peace of mind. I do wish to be fair and to read what you have to say. Whether I shall trust your words is another matter.”
“A wise woman would recognise the truth even if it went against her feelings. If you need further clarification, you may apply to your friend Colonel Fitzwilliam.”
“I would rather not involve the colonel in this private and unpleasant matter. I shall read the letter, and if I need further clarification, I expect to receive it from you. I shall be here tomorrow after breakfast.”
Her statement surprised and disconcerted him. Why would she want to meet him again? Was the torture they had already endured not enough for both of them?
“Be it as you wish, Miss Bennet. I shall be here tomorrow morning too.”
“I appreciate your generosity,” she said, and he wondered whether she was mocking him.
“I shall leave you now. It is completely inappropriate for us to be together alone in the middle of the night. If someone saw us, they would consider it a scandalous situation, and God forbid, we might be forced to marry. I am quite certain both of us loathe such a notion.”
She seemed stunned by his remark, and he departed in a hurry.
