Page 96 of The Engagement at Longbourn

"For frightening you."

"You cannot apologize for an accident."

"Your mother has ordered me never to repeat it."

Elizabeth laughed against his coat.

"She has."

Darcy touched her cheek.

"The scar will fade some. Morrison says not entirely."

Elizabeth looked at him.

"Good."

His brows rose.

"Good?"

"I do not want you hurt. But if the scar remains, perhaps it will remind you not to take shortcuts merely to avoid Miss Bingley."

Darcy stared.

Then he laughed. The sound broke the last of her tears.

"That," he said, "is the lesson you have chosen?"

"Among several."

"And the others?"

Elizabeth smiled.

"Foxes are dangerous."

"Obviously."

"Farm wagons are uncomfortable."

"Extremely."

"And proposals should be made while conscious."

Darcy's hand slid gently to the back of her neck.

"That one I shall never need again."

Her smile softened.

"No," she said. "You shall not."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Mrs. Reynolds Writes from Pemberley

The letter from Pemberley arrived on a morning when Elizabeth had nearly forgotten that the place existed outside Darcy's stories.