Page 51 of The Crown’s Gift

Pain entered his face before pride covered it. "It matters to me."

"Then know this: I might have respected the man you were becoming. But tonight you offered me the same judgment dressed as love."

He recoiled as if struck.

For several seconds neither moved.

When Darcy spoke, every word was controlled. "You have said enough. I comprehend your feelings and have only to be ashamed that mine were expressed in a manner which caused offense. Forgive me for taking so much of your time."

He bowed.

At the door he stopped but did not turn. "My care for my sister is not a disguise. Whatever else you believe of me, do not doubt that."

"I do not."

His shoulders lowered by a fraction. Then he left.

Elizabeth remained standing until the outer door closed.

The room seemed too small for the force of what had occurred. She sat, rose again, and crossed to the window. Darcy walked rapidly toward Rosings without hat or greatcoat, though rain had begun.

She expected triumph. She had defended Jane, challenged arrogance, and refused to be purchased by wealth.

Instead her hands shook.

He had loved her.

Not admired. Not intended to flirt. Loved, with enough force to disturb every expectation of his life. The offer had been insulting, but the feeling had not seemed false.

Elizabeth pressed her palm against the cold glass.

Charlotte returned to find her before the dead fire.

"Lizzy?"

Elizabeth looked up. The compassion in Charlotte's face broke the last of her composure.

"Mr Darcy proposed."

Maria gasped. Charlotte sent her upstairs with a look.

"And you refused him."

"How do you know?"

"Because if you had accepted, you would not look bereaved."

Elizabeth laughed once, painfully. "He spoke of overcoming us. Papa's new title. Mama. The entail. He separated Jane and Bingley. He still commands rather than explains."

"Then you were right to refuse."

"Yes."

Charlotte sat beside her. "Being right does not prevent grief."

Elizabeth covered her face.

At Rosings, Darcy entered through the side door drenched and found Colonel Fitzwilliam in the billiard room.