Page 122 of Twice Chosen

"Yes."

"Then remember both."

She did.

Pemberley itself demanded that Elizabeth learn when not to use knowledge. During the first winter a steward presented accounts she remembered would become problematic years later under a different tenant. Her instinct was to correct the issue immediately.

Darcy stopped her.

"Why?" she asked after the steward left.

"Because Mr. Hayes has not made that mistake."

"He will."

"He did."

Elizabeth went still.

Darcy continued, "In another life, under different pressures, with different weather and different prices. If we punish him now for something he has not done, what are we becoming?"

Elizabeth sank into a chair.

"I hate when you are right."

"No, you do not."

"I have spent two lives hating it."

Darcy smiled.

They chose instead to review the system rather than the man. New checks were added to the accounts. The future problem never appeared.

Elizabeth learned the same lesson with servants. She knew which maid had once eloped, which footman would eventually drink too much, which groom would become invaluable after a stable fire. She could not treat them according to memories of choices they had not made.

So she watched who they were now.

Some became the same people.

Some did not.

That, more than anything, convinced Elizabeth that time had not sent them back to repair a fixed story.

It had given them another story entirely.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Caroline Changes Direction

Caroline did not forgive Elizabeth immediately.

Nor Darcy.

That would have been absurd.

She remained cool through the wedding, polished afterward, and capable of complimenting Elizabeth's gowns in a manner that suggested the fabric had overcome serious disadvantages.

Elizabeth found this almost comforting.