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“You may read it for yourself if you wish,” said Elizabeth, handing Jane the letter.
Elizabeth waited impatiently, as her sister read the letter making, as she did, small explanations of surprise, or consternation.
“Poor Mr. Darcy,” Jane said finally, putting his letter down on the coverlet.
“Poor Mr. Darcy?” Elizabeth could not believe her ears. “That is your response after reading his letter, which concerns, in no small part, yourself?
“Yes,” said Jane. “It seems that we have judged Mr. Darcy more harshly than he deserves.”
“And you are not in any way annoyed by his actions concerning you and Mr. Bingley?”
“No, not really, Lizzy,” Jane replied. “It accords, at least generally, with what I suspected, and with what little Charles has told me.”
“You’re not bothered by it?”
“Well, Mr. Darcy was only looking out for his friend. He may have been wrong concerning my affections, but it was an honest mistake and not arrived at through any spite or malice on his part.”
“You are too good, Jane!” Elizabeth said exasperated. “I really cannot believe you sometimes.”
Jane smiled and laid her hand on Elizabeth’s arm. But then her expression changed to one of concern.
“And I do feel bad for Mr. Darcy,” she said. “You believed—and I believed this as well—Mr. Wickham’s representations about him, and I can tell, judging by the tone of the letter, that they must have been false.”
“On that,” Elizabeth said, “we are in agreement. I do not see any way around it.”
“And poor Mr. Wickham,” said Jane. “What a position to have found himself in.”
“Poor Mr. Wickham? On what grounds do you feel pity for him? Surely he is the author of his own misfortune?”
“He is our brother now, Lizzy,” Jane said. “And I do not believe him capable of behaving badly. He is, you must admit, a very agreeable gentleman, and seems to love Lydia a great deal.”
“But they cannot both be good,” said Elizabeth, nearly beside herself with frustration. “If Mr. Darcy is telling the truth, as I believe he is, then Mr. Wickham is very much in the wrong. You must choose one or the other to feel pity for, Jane. You cannot feel sorry for both.”
Jane sighed. “But I do, Lizzy. We are guilty of misjudging Mr. Darcy, and we must also feel kindly disposed towards our brother, who has suffered much whether through his own hand or not.”
“I give up,” said Elizabeth. “You’re too good for this world, Jane. It seems that one of the gentlemen has all of the appearance of goodness, whereas the other has all of its attributes. If we could combine them both into one, we should have a very agreeable gentleman indeed.”
“How does this change your feelings towards Mr. Darcy?” Jane asked. “It seems to me that the biggest mark against him in your eyes must now be removed.”
Elizabeth wondered how her feelings towards Mr. Darcy had changed. It seems that they went back and forth of their own accord swinging now in his favor, and then back again against him.
“I do not know that the biggest mark against him has been removed, Jane,” Elizabeth replied after a moment’s reflection. “For it seems to me that his interference between you and Mr. Bingley is a very hard thing to forgive.”
“You must not hold that against him, Lizzy,” said Jane. “Believe me when I tell you that I do not. That is all in the past. You must forgive Mr. Darcy for whatever role he played in my disappointment, which is passed anyway now as Charles and I are—I do not know whether to tell you this yet, Lizzy, for I can hardly believe it myself—very much in love.”
“Did he—”
“Yes,” Jane said shyly. “Charles has told me that he has been in love with me since my illness at Netherfield, and that his feelings towards me now are stronger than they have ever been.”
“And has he—”
“Yes,” said Jane. “And before you ask, I accepted his proposal. We are to be married in the new year.
“But you must not tell anybody yet, especially Mother. But not anyone, please, Lizzy, as Charles wishes us to announce it near the end of our visit here, rather than just now.”
“Because he has not yet told his sisters, and realizes that they will not be pleased with your engagement?”
“There is that, yes,” Jane said. “But I know that in time they will accept me. You will remember that Caroline and Louisa were very kind to me at Netherfield. We got along very well, and I’m sure we will get along well again. Indeed, we do even now. It’s just that Charles does not wish to announce our engagement just yet.”
