Page 80 of Pride and Prejudice Resolutions

"You seem very sure."

"I am sure because I have finally realised that living my life to please others is a recipe for misery. I spent years trying to be the perfect Darcy, the perfect nephew, the perfect master. And it made me arrogant, proud, closed-off, and lonely."

He reached out and took her gloved hand. They were in a public park, but he did not seem to care. "I am done, Elizabeth. Let her come. Let her shout. Let her threaten to disown me. It changes nothing."

"And what..." Elizabeth's voice trembled at the sound of her Christian name on his mouth. "What is it that you are protecting so fiercely? What is it that changes nothing?"

"My hope," he said simply. "My hope that one day, when I have proven myself worthy, I might have a future that is of my own choosing. There is no engagement to Anne. There never will be. That is what I wanted you to know."

He was not proposing. He was making a declaration of freedom. He was clearing the path, she realised. She squeezed his hand. "Thank you for telling me. And for standing your ground."

"I would stand against the world for this," he whispered.

A shriek of laughter interrupted them. Henry had thrown a snowball that had gone wide and hit Lord Keathley squarely in the back of his expensive coat.

"Oh, it is war!" he roared, scooping up a handful of snow. "Defend yourselves!"

The park dissolved into chaos. The Viscount and Jane against the children. Mrs Gardiner laughing as she dodged crossfire. Even Mr Darcy, after a momentary hesitation, joined in, constructing a snow fort for Ruth with the seriousness of an engineer.

Elizabeth stood back, watching the scene with a smile, until she felt a presence beside her.

It was Miss Darcy. The girl was flushed from the cold and the excitement, but there was a shadow in her eyes. She was not playing. She was watching her brother laugh as he tossed snow at Henry.

"He looks happy," she said with a small smile.

"He does," Elizabeth agreed. "It is a good look on him."

"I have not seen him like this since... since before the summer." Miss Darcy picked at the fringe of her muff. "Miss Elizabeth, may I tell you something? Something only a few of my relatives know?"

Elizabeth turned, sensing the gravity of the moment. "Of course, Miss Darcy. Anything."

"Can you please call me Georgiana? It would make it easier."

"Of course, Georgiana, gladly. And I am Elizabeth to you, or Lizzy as my sisters call me. Tell me what troubles you."

"Elizabeth, you must think us strange. The way Fitzwilliam is so protective. The way he panicked when he thought he might lose control." She took a shaky breath. "It is all my fault."

"I am sure that is not true."

"It is. Last summer, at Ramsgate. I was very foolish. I was lonely, and I wanted to believe that someone loved me. I listened to a man. A man I had known since childhood. He told me he loved me. He persuaded me to... to go away with him."

Elizabeth's heart stopped. She knew. Instantly, she knew.

"An elopement?" she whispered.

"Yes. I was fifteen. I did not understand. I thought it was romantic." Georgiana's eyes filled with tears. "But Fitzwilliam came. He arrived unexpectedly. And I was so confused, I confessed everything to him. He saved me. He stopped it. He saved me from ruin." She looked down at her gloved hands, ashamed. "Mr Wickham did not love me. He was only after my dowry."

What?Elizabeth felt a chill that went deeper than the snow.Wickham?The charming officer in Meryton. The man who had told her such a sob story about Mr Darcy's cruelty. The man she had—heaven help her—flirted with.

She felt a wave of nausea. Mr Darcy had not just been jealous or cruel. He had been protecting this girl. He had been dealing with the man who tried to ruin his sister, and then he had come to Hertfordshire and found that same man spreading lies about him.

And she had believed every word. She forced her face to remain calm. She could not tell Georgiana that she knew him. Not now. It would shatter the girl to pieces.

"Oh, Georgiana," Elizabeth said, reaching out to take the girl's hands. "You were a child. You were taken advantage of by a predator. That is not your fault. That is his sin, not yours."

"But Fitzwilliam blames himself. He thinks he failed me, failed to be a good guardian. That is why he is so severe and absolute with himself."

"He loves you," Elizabeth said fiercely. "That is all I see. A brother who loves you."