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Considering this for a moment, Mr Gardiner continued. “Mr Darcy would you mind explaining to me the nature of your infirmity? I gather that your illness is no longer contagious, but the effects are of a permanent nature?”

“I am almost completely blind. I can perceive bright light, but nothing more. My doctor is of the opinion that I will never see again. Whether I will be a cripple for the rest of my life, I do not know. My doctor holds out some hope there. Indeed, after I first recovered, I could not even sit up in bed. I have made some progress since returning home. With the aid of leg braces, I can now push a chair around a room. But whether I will ever walk again or sit astride a horse again, I do not know.”

“Thank you, thank you! You have eased my mind considerably,” said Mr Gardiner, belying his words by pacing up and down in front of the fire.

After several moments he replied: “Mr Darcy, you have my deepest sympathies. I appreciate that your marriage to my niece could still be very advantageous. But she is a headstrong girl!”

Now it was Mr Darcy’s turn to be astonished.

“Not in a bad way!” added Mr Gardiner hastily, aware that his words hardly sounded complimentary to his niece’s suitor. “I meant she is a lady of strong principles! In short, I do not think I could convince her to do anything she had set her mind against. So, I must ask you, have you spoken to my niece of your love?”

Darcy had thought very carefully how he could navigate through the shoals of this question.

“Mr Gardiner, during my interactions with your niece at Netherfield I formed the impression that she was not indifferent to me. Perhaps I flatter myself too much. In view of the unfortunate rumours that have circulated about us in Meryton, which you apprised me of during your visit to my townhouse, I agree that it would be best for us to marry. I must admit I was a little skeptical at first about the existence of these rumours, but I have since sent my valet to Meryton to gauge the situation and was dismayed to discover that a certain enemy of mine, a Mr Wickham, has joined the militia there and exerted himself to blacken my name.”

Mr Gardiner had stopped very still to consider this new piece of information. “It is very interesting that you should say that, Mr Darcy. I know of this Lieutenant Wickham, who has been paying attention to the youngest of my nieces, a girl half his age. I cautioned her not two weeks ago about spending too much time talking with him in the street. However, when I ventured to my sister's house in Meryton for Sunday lunch, I discovered that the Lieutenant was the latest subject of gossip, having deserted his post during the week.”

Darcy’s reaction to this speech convinced Mr Gardiner that this information was news to him.

After a moment, Darcy said, “I cannot be surprised. Mr Wickham is one of the most unreliable men I know. Perhaps I erred in describing him as an enemy. He is, in fact, my father’s only godson. Unfortunately, his character is not good and because of his connection to my family, he has been a constant drain on my purse and my patience. I would not be surprised if he has merely gone off to escape his creditors.”

“I have no knowledge of that,” replied Mr Gardiner. “The colonel of his regiment says he disappeared without leave once before but returned after two days with some excuse. If he has gone off for good, I cannot be sorry.”

Darcy then went on to disclose Mr Wickham’s allegations against himself and Bingley.

Dismayed by the extremely base nature of these rumours—of the worst kind—and the fact that they also concerned his eldest niece, Mr Gardiner took a couple of more agitated turns about the room before continuing: “I agree it would be best for you to marry my niece, particularly now I have discovered that Elizabeth was working for you for over a week. Given the previous rumours, the impropriety of that, should it ever become public knowledge, is enormous.”

“Please know that I was initially unaware of Miss Elizabeth’s presence in my household. I suppose you must think that I have rocks in my head, since she came to me under the name of Gardiner, but I had completely forgotten your name until your letter was discovered in the backlog of my correspondence.”

Now Darcy came to the really difficult part, not knowing what Elizabeth had related to her uncle about her reasons for fleeing his townhouse. “I belatedly became aware of Miss Gardiner’s true identity when she lost her cameo in my house—a cameo I had seen at the Netherfield ball. I am not sure if you know of what I speak. It is quite a distinctive one depicting an owl.”

“Know of it? Of course, I know of it! I gave it to her after we went to a Royal Society meeting! It is Athena’s owl!”

“Miss Elizabeth attended a Royal Society meeting?” said Darcy, whose execrable memory for names was more than compensated for by an astounding visual memory. “I remember seeing you there once with a young fellow, a boy with the most amazing sideburns! Wait... that was Elizabeth!”

Now it was Mr Gardiner’s turn to be embarrassed.

“If you read the rules very carefully, you will see that ladies are not excluded from society meetings,” he said defensively. “They just very rarely go. When they do go, there is always a group that grumbles about their presence, saying they are distracting attention from the business at hand. Plus, the ladies I have seen attending have always been married ladies accompanying their husbands. I just thought it would be best if Elizabeth went in disguise,” said Mr Gardiner lamely, thinking it very likely that he had given Mr Darcy a disgust of his potential bride.

Unexpectedly, Darcy burst out laughing. “She is such a bluestocking! I know she is just the one for me! You cannot imagine of how much use Miss Elizabeth has been in the short time she worked for me. She arranged for the construction of a model of the townhouses I am building so that I might better keep track of their progress. She purchased some wax tablets so that I might read what I had written. She has even begun to learn mathematical notation so that she might read my books to me!”

Mr Gardiner who had been rather proud of their exploits at the time could not help adding a little chuckle. “Yes,” he managed before sobering again. “She is an estimable girl—I mean lady—but we divert a little from the crux of the matter. Have you told Elizabeth of your feelings, and if so, what was her reaction?”

Darcy’s heart contracted, for they had reached the most difficult part. He was ‘the last man in the world’ she would marry.

His silence and troubled look allowed Mr Gardiner to correctly assume that Mr Darcy had proposed and been rejected.

“Mr Gardiner,” offered Darcy. “I am afraid I made a very unflattering proposal.”

“You did not ask her to be your mistress, did you?” asked Mr Gardiner in alarm.

“No, no! Nothing like that! But I am afraid I was very angry because I had discovered Elizabeth’s imposture through the agency of the cameo, and I regret to say, I had mistakenly ascribed her appearance at my house as a stratagem on her mother’s part.”

“Oh, no, no!” said Mr Gardiner scornfully; “Elizabeth would never participate in any scheme of the kind.”

“Of course not. She is a noble creature, and I should have realised that! In short, my proposal was neither kind nor polite and I regretted it from the moment I discovered she had quit the house. I have since discovered that her father died on the night of the Netherfield ball. I sincerely regret the distress I have caused her in accusing her of artifice.”

“Ah, yes! My letter!”