Page 76 of A Prudent Engagement

So did the colonel. “Did Miss Elizabeth send you to bring Bingley back to her sister?”

Darcy opened his mouth to deny that.

And then suddenly before his eyes he saw her again, telling him that she had imagined that he would be happy in their life together.

How had he made such a mistake?

“Darcy,” Bingley said softly. “What happened?”

“We ended our engagement,” Darcy replied.

Bingley gasped. “Why? What could have happened to cause that?”

Colonel Fitzwilliam’s eyes widened. “Did she send you off because she entered into a fury after she learned that you discouraged Bingley from pursuing Miss Bennet? I know that she is very fond of her sister.”

“No.”

“Then…” Colonel Fitzwilliam shrugged. “Did you discover an awful truth about Miss Elizabeth?”

“No! Jove, why would anyone think that about her when she behaved in the most virtuous manner? I despise gossip—that produced by soldiers more than any other sort.”

“Oh, certainly, I despise gossip as well. In my experience, old women with nothing else to do but gossip also profess to think very ill of the practice,” the colonel said amiably. “So, the whole matter relates to you having now learned about your long-standing inability to understand women. But perhaps then matters are not irretrievable. What happened?”

“I do not wish to tell you.”

“Do not be absurd.” His cousin grinned. “You certainly do—it is not gossip if you speak about your own troubles.”

Bingley cautiously leaned closer. “A trouble shared is a trouble halved. Tell the tale from the beginning.”

“No, do not ask him to do that,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said. “He will begin by talking about a gleam in old Mr. Darcy’s eye, and we shall never reach the interesting part—why did Miss Elizabeth end your engagement?”

In a mournful tone, Darcy replied, “Because she did not believe that I would be happy with her.”

Bingley and Colonel Fitzwilliam looked at each other.

Bingley shrugged, and then the colonel said, “Do you now see why I said you cannot trust his judgments on the opinions of women?”

It was absurd.

Darcy began laughing, though he scarcely could understand why.

The laughter was infectious, and his two companions joined in.

“A less mournful countenance,” the colonel said as the chuckles died away.

“He does look less dour,” Bingley agreed. “And why did Miss Elizabeth think it would be detrimental to your happiness if she married you?”

Darcy said, “I do not wish to give the details of our private conversations. The chief point is that I was informed that Miss Elizabeth had thought of me with dislike previously, and—”

“Ha!” Colonel Fitzwilliam exclaimed. “I was right!”

The mode in which Darcy looked at his cousin might charitably be described as unfriendly.

“It is not my fault,” the colonel replied. “I was attempting to improve matters.”

“By telling her,” Darcy replied with raised eyebrows, “that I had prevented her sister from making an advantageous match.”

“Now, now. Darcy certainly acted from the best of intentions,” Bingley said. “Even though I am becoming convinced that it was a mistake to substitute his judgment for my own—Jove, if Jane was in love with me! Good God, she must despise me now.”