Page 48 of A Question of Character

“I did.”

“I hope I have disappointed you.”

“Entirely.”

“My father would have been displeased had I done otherwise.”

Elizabeth waited.

He continued after a moment.

“Mr. Bingley’s fortune was made in trade.”

She shook her head. “I did not know that.”

“His father intended to purchase an estate but died before accomplishing it. Bingley hopes to do so one day.”

“That explains a great deal.”

“What does it explain?”

“You esteem him.”

“I do.”

“Without reservation?”

Darcy looked into his cup.

“With fewer reservations than I ought to possess.”

Elizabeth watched him carefully.

“You are thinking of your childhood friend again.”

He inclined his head once.

“How a man is raised,” he said, “does not always determine how he behaves.”

“No.”

“One gentleman born to every advantage may squander every principle. Another may acquire both fortune and consequence honestly and prove worthy of each.”

“I believe my father would agree with you.”

“I suspect your father is a sensible man.”

“He is. Though he would be amused to discover you have praised him without meeting him.”

“I hope one day to remedy that omission.”

The words escaped him so naturally that neither of them spoke for several seconds.

Mrs. Gardiner looked toward the clock.

“I had promised Mrs. Philips an answer before supper,” she said, rising once more. “Elizabeth, would you excuse me?”

Elizabeth suspected there was no answer required before supper.