Page 25 of Undone

Only a few days earlier she had heard the history of Mr. Darcy from his own lips. She knew enough to distinguish idle gossip from truth, and enough besides to understand how little either lady truly knew of the gentleman whose affairs they discussed so carelessly over their tea.

Before long the conversation returned to Jane. Miss Bingley resumed her quiet enquiries with undiminished interest, while Elizabeth found herself once more almost forgotten.

By the time the visit drew to its close, she had reached a conclusion from which she could not easily retreat. Janehad not been invited to Netherfield merely for the pleasure of their company. She had been invited to be observed. Her own unexpected presence had interrupted whatever private assessment Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst had intended to make. Neither lady had spoken so plainly, yet Elizabeth required no confession. It was evident in every careful question addressed to Jane, and in every polite neglect directed toward herself.

As the carriage rolled away from Netherfield, Elizabeth found herself surprised that, of everything said that afternoon, it was Miss Bingley's remarks concerning Mr. Darcy that lingered longest in her thoughts.

~

4thNovember, 1811

Oakham Mount

Elizabeth did not see Mr. Darcy the following morning, it being Sunday. On Monday, however, she set out upon her customary walk and found him already waiting at Oakham Mount, much as she had expected.

Rather than continuing along the path as they generally did, he indicated a fallen log beneath the broad branches of an ancient oak. Though it afforded little warmth, it sheltered them from the worst of the wind, and they seated themselves there. For some minutes they spoke only of indifferent matters. Darcy mentioned that Bingley had told him of Jane and Elizabeth's visit to Netherfield on Saturday, and explained that he himself had not been present to receive them, having ridden out that morning with Bingley and Mr. Hurst to call upon Colonel Forster, whose acquaintance Bingley had lately formed and seemed eager to cultivate owing to the Colonel's connexion with the militia quartered at Meryton.

"Colonel Forster is known to my cousin Fitzwilliam," Darcy said. "They served together for several years, and as I had met him once or twice through my cousin, I thought it uncivil to refuse the invitation. So I accompanied Bingley and Mr. Hurst."

Elizabeth wondered why he should feel any necessity to account for his absence to her, yet before she could dwell upon it, the conversation drifted naturally to their usual subjects.

When these lesser topics had been exhausted, Elizabeth judged it only proper to relate what had passed at Netherfield in his absence. She repeated Miss Bingley's remarks, together with those of Mrs. Hurst, as faithfully as memory allowed, taking care neither to exaggerate their words nor to repeat them in a spirit of idle gossip.

Darcy remained silent for a few moments after she had finished. At length he drew a quiet breath, though his countenance betrayed no real surprise.

"I cannot say I fault Miss Bingley for thinking as she does, however much I might wish otherwise. I first perceived the alteration in her manner during my last visit to Town in August. Mrs. Hurst, however, has only lately adopted the same opinion."

"But why should either lady think so?" Elizabeth asked. "You have been Mr. Bingley's friend these many years. Why should they give greater credit to rumour than to the evidence of their own acquaintance?"

A smile, touched with genuine amusement, softened his features.

"We have not been friends so very long. Barely five years, in fact."

Elizabeth looked at him in astonishment. "Only five years? I had imagined you must have known one another since childhood."

"No." He shook his head. "Some years before my father's death, he determined to extend the family's interests beyond theestate and acquired investments in several commercial ventures. Knowing they would one day become my responsibility, I thought it prudent to understand the nature of those investments. It is not the usual concern of a gentleman in my situation, I readily admit, but I preferred knowledge to ignorance."

He paused briefly before continuing.

“My father's attorney in London knew Bingley, who possessed a practical knowledge of such investments that I lacked, and thought an introduction might prove mutually beneficial."

"And did it?"

"It did indeed." A quiet smile appeared. "Have you ever heard it said of two people that they took to one another immediately, yet could never afterwards explain why?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"It was very nearly so with us. Within a month I counted him among my closest friends, and I have never had cause to regret it. He possesses a generosity of temper I have rarely met in another man."

Elizabeth could not help smiling in return. There was something so unaffected in his account of their friendship that she found herself liking Mr. Bingley the more for having inspired such warmth in a man not naturally inclined to express it.

Yet one question remained unanswered.

"If Mr. Bingley's friendship has remained so constant," she said, "why have his sisters allowed themselves to be guided by these ill reports?"

A look of quiet understanding crossed Darcy's face, and a faint smile touched his lips.

"I believe Miss Bingley once persuaded herself she felt a particular admiration for me."