Page 29 of Twice Chosen

"Good night, Bingley."

Bingley followed as Darcy began down the corridor. "Have you proposed already?"

Darcy stopped so abruptly that Bingley nearly walked into him.

The question stabbed unexpectedly. Hunsford returned in a rush: Elizabeth's furious face, his own monstrous arrogance, the letter he wrote in anger, the sick humiliation of understanding that a woman he loved had thought him the last man she could ever marry.

He had spent decades grateful for that refusal. Without it, he might never have deserved her.

"No," he said.

Bingley's amusement vanished. "Was that the wrong joke?"

Darcy looked at his friend. "No."

Then, because age had taught him something about saying what mattered before it was too late, he added, "I am glad you like her."

Bingley's face softened. "Good."

Darcy continued toward his room.

Behind him Bingley muttered, "Still strange."

Darcy smiled despite himself.

One of the strangest consequences of Darcy's altered behavior was that Elizabeth's family noticed him for reasons unrelated to his fortune. Mary thought him well read. Kitty thought he had a good eye for landscapes after he praised one of her sketches. Lydia thought him much less dull once he answered one of her impertinent questions about horses instead of pretending not to hear it.

Mrs. Bennet remained chiefly interested in ten thousand a year.

At dinner one evening she said, "Mr. Darcy, I understand Pemberley has a very fine park."

"It does."

"How large?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes.

Darcy answered calmly, giving a rough figure.

Mrs. Bennet nearly glowed. "And many servants, I suppose."

"Enough."

Mr. Bennet looked toward Elizabeth, plainly waiting for the old shared amusement.

Elizabeth did not give it.

Instead she asked Darcy about tenant farms in Derbyshire. He answered. Mr. Bennet listened. The conversation moved on.

Later her father caught Elizabeth in the hall. "You spared your mother."

Elizabeth frowned. "From what?"

"Your amusement."

She looked at him.

Mr. Bennet's expression was light, but his eyes were not.