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To that, I had not the slightest hint of an idea how to respond.

Duty

Darcy

I thought that, after that expression, even Elizabeth’s poultry should have improved their opinion of me. Of course, she looked completely lost and confused, as if she had just learnt her dog spoke perfect Latin, except for declensions. She was obviously deep in thought, but after a few moments, she shook it off as if she had made her decision, or decided to defer the matter to another time. She took the basket and put it back under the shed where the grain was stored, and brushed off her dress and apron, even though they were both spotless already, and started towards the parsonage.

“Would you care to step into the parsonage for your traditional afternoon tea?”

She seemed in a funny mood, since I had never taken afternoon tea in the parsonage even once, but I agreed to the scheme, exactly the same as I would have agreed to just about any plan she might suggest.

“Yes, I would be most happy to, Elizabeth.”

I followed her to the kitchen, and we set about getting the kettle, cups, tea, and all the other accoutrements of her tea service set on a tray, which I carried up to the parlour. As before, I found comfort in sharing a simple task, particularly since this sort of thing was almost always left to servants in my normal life, and I suspected it was the same for Elizabeth previously. A few moments were spent organising the tea things strategically around the table, then a few more with Elizabeth preparing the tea, then pouring it for both of us following the exact protocol as expected. After that, we finally settled down to our tea and mostly dispensed with idle pleasantries for a few minutes with tea and biscuits. I thought to compliment the refreshments but suspected she would take it as empty praise.

I started with a bit of a difficult question—well, forget that—I opened with a real barn breaker. I was never any good with small talk in general, and with Elizabeth, I seemed to have lost the ability to even pretend to try.

“Since you intend to go through with this plan of yours, I heard you assert to your father that you know exactly how it is all… er… done. Should I take you at your word, or were you blustering?”

“You appear to favour the ‘take no prisoners’ school of conversation. Is this truly how you talk in the first circles?”

I could not tell if she was teasing, offended, or genuinely curious; so I set out to answer as best I could.

“This particular type of question and answer, to the best of my knowledge, only happens either among your poultry or at your table; and so far, only when the two of us are alone. This is a very distinct conversational style we have developed. I only speak this way with you. Not even my closest cousin or sister is treated thus.”

“Admittedly, we have developed a level of candour that would be surprising even among close friends, let alone among… among—”

She seemed lost in thought for a moment before continuing.

She sat up straight in her chair, stared at me with a look that would have been alarming had I not known her better. “How have you become my confidant? I started telling you shocking things simply to drive you from the property, and eventually found there was nothing shocking enough to accomplish that; at least there has not been thus far. Why are you so stubborn? Why do I accept it? I could probably say something that would send you away forever if I truly wanted to. I can have a razor-sharp tongue when I choose to. Why have I demurred?”

She blew out another breath but looked to suggest I wait.

“What exactly are we, Mr Darcy? We are not really friends? At the moment, I cannot even pretend to either know you or like you very much. In the beginning, you were the man I disliked the most in the world: an arrogant, rich, ill-mannered cretin that I could barely stand; but you were not the least bit significant to me. Then you became a man I entirely forgot for months and months, and probably would have never thought of again in my life had you not been the nephew of my patroness. That was followed by your stint as an ungentlemanly eavesdropper who feels an irresistible need to poke his nose into my personal business. You have been all those things, and yet you seem to have lately become my most trusted confidant. At this moment, you are the only person in the world who has heard the entire unvarnished Elizabeth Collins née Bennet story, in all its gruesome details.”

The questions sounded mostly rhetorical, so I doubted she wanted answers or even discussion. They sounded much more like her thinking aloud, trying to work the puzzle out for herself.

At length, I responded, “Perhaps I have not done enough to earn your approbation, but I have done enough to earn your trust. Perhaps you just needed to unburden yourself to somebody. The traditional confidants—parents, neighbours, relatives, clergy—were not available to you. Perhaps I was the only reasonably trustworthy confidant at hand: the best of a bad lot.”

She thought about that for a moment. “I imagine that explanation makes sense, though you could just as well say it is hard to find a person I know at all who has less connection to me; but I suppose that is not very generous. I must say I have learnt something surprising. I will miss this level of candour when you go.”

The matter-of-fact way she blithely assumed I would leave bothered me, so without overly thinking upon it, I said, “I am going nowhere, Elizabeth!”

She looked at me sternly, almost top to bottom, as if evaluating livestock, or searching for the meaning of my thoughts. This only took a second or two.

“Oh! You shall leave because you must! It is inevitable and truly must be done sooner rather than later. I know it! You know it! Anyone who thinks about it for more than a moment knows it. Your aunt and Miss de Bourgh would certainly concur. It is inevitable that it must and will happen soon. I was simply ruminating on how things will be different after your departure.”

Perhaps not her most diligent or brightest student, I said, “What do you mean I must leave? I am master of Pemberley! I will not ignore my duties to my estate, but otherwise I go where I choose!”

Here I was having yet another bout of abominable pride, which I now looked at more judiciously than I had before. How arrogant that sounded, and yet I was not to be moved on that particular subject, so it was at least accurate.

Elizabeth looked at me as if that were the exact answer she expected. “Do I truly have to explain it to you? It all seems so obvious that it should not even need to be spoken of.”

I just shrugged, a mannerism my aunt would despise. “Perhaps you need to be more explicit, because I have no idea what you are talking about.”

She looked at me carefully. “You may find my answer offensive or insulting. Do you still wish it?”

I chuckled. “I believe I have proven my resilience. Do your worst!”