Page 161 of A Question of Character

“He would object to that description.”

“Then perhaps do not quote me.”

Lydia returned with a sampler in one hand and a tangled skein of green thread in the other. “Kitty has hidden it.”

“I have not!” Kitty cried.

“You did. Or Mary did, by accident, while moralizing near the basket.”

Mary looked up. “I do not moralize near baskets.”

“You moralize everywhere.”

Mr. Wickham rose to examine the sampler with proper solemnity, and Elizabeth resumed her work.

The room recovered its ordinary sounds: Lydia’s laughter, Kitty’s protests, Mary’s offended dignity, Wickham’s amused praise offered with restraint.

Elizabeth threaded her needle and failed twice before succeeding.

Mr. Wickham’s account had not absolved him of the past. It had, however, done something nearly as dangerous.

It had made him understandable.

And if Darcy would not consent to see him as a man capable of change, then Elizabeth feared the question before them was no longer just Mr. Wickham’s character.

It was Mr. Darcy’s too.

By the time Mr. Wickham took his leave, the mist had lifted enough to reveal the lane in pale sunlight.

Lydia watched him from the window, not with the wild exuberance Elizabeth had once associated with her youngest sister’s attachments, but with an expression far more troubling because it contained patience.

“He will do it,” Lydia said.

Elizabeth came to stand beside her. “Make a name for himself?”

“Yes.” Lydia’s hand rested on the sill. “And then everyone who whispered will be ashamed.”

“Some people are very slow to shame.”

“Then I shall remind them.”

“That may not assist his reputation.”

“It would assist my temper.”

Elizabeth nearly laughed. “A worthy cause, no doubt.”

Lydia moved from the window, her face still bright from feeling and indignation. “You believe him more now, do you not?”

“I believe he spoke honestly.”

“That is not the same thing.”

“No,” Elizabeth admitted. “It is not.”

Lydia studied her a moment, then said with sudden frankness, “Mr. Darcy will not like it.”

“No.”