Page 30 of He Insulted My Entire Family Before Proposing

She could answer. She had answers enough to fill the room. But before she moved, Darcy turned from Bingley.

He had heard.

The old Darcy would have gone cold. The new one went still.

"Miss Bingley," he said, crossing to them, "you are mistaken."

Caroline's fan fluttered. "Am I?"

"Very. You are repeating an error I helped teach."

The ladies beside Caroline became intensely interested in their gloves.

Caroline laughed. "You are determined to be gallant."

"No. Accurate."

Elizabeth's breath caught.

Darcy continued, his voice calm and carrying just enough. "I have been guilty in the past of judging worth by connection and manner too quickly. I trusted my own opinion of a family's connections more than I trusted the conduct before me, and I encouraged a friend to rely on my judgment where I had no right to be certain. I spoke and thought with arrogance. Miss Elizabeth's family is not a defect to be overcome, and anyone who repeats that idea in my hearing will be corrected."

There was no dramatic gasp. Real rooms seldom provided theatrical assistance when most required. But the nearby conversations thinned. Heads turned. Caroline's face hardened under the powder.

"How changed you are," she said.

"I hope so."

It was the simplest answer. It left Caroline with no graceful answer.

Elizabeth looked away because the room had blurred.

Jane, who had heard enough to understand and possessed the mercy not to mention it, touched Elizabeth's arm. "Lizzy, shall we walk?"

"In a moment."

Darcy came to her then. "Miss Elizabeth."

"Mr. Darcy."

"May I have the next dance?"

The question was public, ordinary, and therefore enormous.

Elizabeth placed her hand in his. "Yes."

They joined the set. Around them, the assembly adjusted itself to the spectacle of Mr. Darcy dancing with Miss Elizabeth Bennet while looking as if the honor were entirely his. Elizabeth discovered that a public room could heal nothing completely and still return something stolen.

Halfway through the dance, he said, "I did not arrange that."

"I know. Miss Bingley is too sincere in her malice to be managed."

"I am sorry."

"You corrected her."

"Too late."

"Yes."