“And you took it upon yourself to decide that she did not love him, because her behaviour was…too proper?”
“Good God, Richard, you wrong me.”
“That is not my intention.”
“Upon reflection, I think I encouraged Bingley away from Miss Bennet because I wanted to separate myself from Elizabeth.”
“All those months ago?”
“She drew me in from almost the first day I met her. I knew I could not pursue her….”
“And if Bingley married her sister, you would continue to be thrown in her way.”
“Yes.”
“You acted just to protect yourself from Miss Elizabeth, without regard for Bingley’s own happiness?”
Darcy was silent.
“And now Miss Elizabeth has punished you for it.”
“How can I change her mind?”
“You have not given up on her, then?”
“Until she marries another man, I shall not, I cannot, give up on her.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“I must explain myself to her.”
The colonel nodded. “That is sensible. How do you propose to do it?”
“I know not whether she would allow me to explain. I might write a letter.”
“Not exactly proper, but perhaps effective.”
“It would enable me to tell her the whole story without interruption.”
“Are you not afraid of what might happen to the letter after you give it to her? Do you trust her discretion that much?”
“I do trust her. She has taught me that she is a person of immense integrity and a strong sense of fairness. I do not fear her carelessness, cruelty, or indiscretion. My only fear…” He paused for a moment and then said softly, “My only fear is that I shall never be able to convince her to accept me.”
The colonel put his hand on Darcy’s shoulder. “There is no reason to dwell on that now. Know that I will do whatever is in my power to assist you. Despite your occasional misjudgements, you are the best man I know.”
Hines had an idea where MrDarcy had gone but would never discuss that with anyone. If the master returned a happy, betrothed man, Hines would be delighted.
He built up the fires against the evening chill, placed hot bricks into MrDarcy’s bed, asked for hot water to be brought up as soon as his master returned, and laid out MrDarcy’s nightshirt, robe, and slippers in the dressing room. Feeling that all was in order, he sat down in the dressing room with a book to await his master’s arrival.
In the corridor, Anne stood with her mother. Lady Catherine had sent MrsJenkinson to Hines under the guise of enquiringafter his master. When Hines said he did not know when Darcy would return, she asked him to let Darcy know that Lady Catherine wished him to wait upon her in the morning. She then retreated to the corridor to her mistress. “Hines is in the dressing room waiting for MrDarcy. All his preparations are made.”
Her Ladyship’s eyes glowed with anticipation. “Come, Anne, it is time to seize your destiny.” She opened the door to Darcy’s room (having had the hinges oiled earlier in the day), and Anne, with a queasy stomach, climbed into the large, curtained bed.
The hot bricks comforted her. Anne’s feet were always cold.
She propped herself up on several pillows and picked up a book from the bedside table. It was a novel titledSorrow and Regretby a woman author, Melissa Anne, whom she had never heard of.Darcy reads novels?But reading in bed always made her sleepy, so she put it down, not wanting to fall asleep and anger her mother by ruining the plan.
The ground floor was quiet and mostly dark. A footman sat sentry in the main hall and rose when Darcy and the colonel entered.
