Page 3 of The Sole Love

Still somewhat absent, Elizabeth shook her head forcibly. “No, dear aunt, nothing can mend the situation.” She paused before continuing, quite determined. “Mr Darcy unexpectedly asked me to be his wife.”

Astounded by the revelation, Mrs Gardiner regained her composure and even smiled a little, though she quickly hid it. Of all the things she had feared, a proposal from Mr Darcy was certainly not one of them. Far from being a tragedy, such an offer could only be considered an honour.

“I see you are as surprised as I was!” Elizabeth continued, for the astonishment on Mrs Gardiner’s face was unmistakable.

Indeed she was, because she knew quite well who Mr Darcy was. First, there were the reports she had received throughout the previous autumn from her nieces and Mrs Bennet: a wealthy gentleman, rather arrogant, the friend of Mr Bingley, who had not been particularly well liked at the Meryton assembly or at Longbourn, and the very gentleman Elizabeth had just met again in Kent while visiting her best friend, Charlotte.

But those letters were not her only source of information. Mrs Gardiner had lived in Derbyshire until she was twenty, in a little town not far from Mr Darcy’s magnificent estate, Pemberley. She remembered his family well, their flawless reputation and their considerable influence in the county, and a marriage proposal from such a man was a blessing. That was true not only for Elizabeth but also for her family, as Longbourn was entailed, limiting the inheritance to a male heir, in their case her cousin Mr Collins, who had married Charlotte Lucas only a few months earlier.

“And—?” Mrs Gardiner pressed her niece to speak, as she again seemed lost in thought.

“And I refused him.”

The astonishment on her aunt’s countenance was rapidly replaced by regret and a hint of anger.

“Yes, you are right to scold me,” Elizabeth agreed, though Mrs Gardiner had not offered a single word of reproach.

“No, my dear, I shall not scold you. You are too sad for that, and I do not know the whole story. Now, tell me everything from the beginning.”

“You already know much of it. The real beginning was some time ago, last autumn,” Elizabeth said, uncertain whether they had time to begin the story in the distant past.

“We have all the time in the world. Jane usually writes letters only for the solitude it affords.”

Elizabeth nodded, a little calmer, and continued. “You know that I first met him in Meryton at the assembly ball, when Jane also met Mr Bingley and—”

“Forget Mr Bingley. Let us talk only about Mr Darcy. I know what you and the other ladies wrote to me or told me, general information, but not what you felt when you met him.”

“I disliked him,” replied Elizabeth so candidly that Mrs Gardiner hid another smile. Only Elizabeth could be so forthright, but she said nothing, waiting for the story to continue.

“Well…from the first moment we met, he seemed haughty and pretentious. He clearly expressed on more than one occasion his disdain for our society, our manners, and even our appearance.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Mrs Gardiner, remembering, and this time she smiled openly. “That famous line that you were not handsome enough to tempt him.”

“Exactly. He was so impolite as to express this opinion, certain that I would hear him…what kind of man does that?” Elizabeth cried, somewhat offended by her aunt’s smile as well.

“A man who likes a lady but refuses to acknowledge it even to his own heart. It is his mind speaking in an attempt to keep him safe.”

“What are you saying?” Elizabeth asked, looking at her aunt in puzzlement, yet ready to hear her explanation, for she had great confidence in Mrs Gardiner’s experience of life.

“I am saying that men are much simpler than we are. While we search for sophisticated interpretations of their gestures, they are often almost childishly simple.”

“Perhaps, but it seemed so annoying, even offensive, at the time, and I—”

“And you, my dear, are an intelligent and perceptive young woman who had rarely met his kind of gentleman, arrogant and proud, and apparently unwilling to appreciate you.”

Unfortunately, her aunt was right, so she nodded again. “You are so right. And besides, I am proud and reckless, and I tend to answer before reflecting on my words.”

That was an accurate observation. More than once, Mrs Gardiner had tried to persuade Elizabeth to be less impulsive and to express her thoughts and feelings with greater care and consideration.

“During those months, we met on several occasions, and each time there was a kind of struggle between us. I assumed he disapproved of my behaviour, as a lady is supposed to be almost silent and only nod in polite society.”

Mrs Gardiner nodded, looking at her with great affection. Elizabeth was exceptional, but she had her faults. She could easily imagine how those meetings had proceeded.

“I had the impression that he was similar to Mr Bingley’s sisters in all aspects of life, and I must confess, the two ladies are not my kind of women. They did not like us and let their feelings show at every step.”

“That is how you suppose he felt, but what about you?”

Elizabeth hesitated, mostly because the answer was still unclear.