Page 41 of Undone

Darcy released a slow, measured breath, as though the assurance she had given him had lifted a burden he had carried all morning. He regarded her with quiet gratitude.

"I feared you would think I had merely offered another version of the same tale."

"No." She met his gaze steadily. "That conviction arose not only from everything I have learnt of you during these past weeks, but also from my aunt's letter."

"Your aunty Gardiner?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"Yes sir. I wrote to her earlier in our acquaintance, though her reply did not arrive until last Thursday. She remembered both your parents with the greatest affection. She described your father as one of the kindest gentlemen she had ever known and remembered you as a remarkably sweet-tempered boy. Those recollections would not suffer me to believe Mr. Wickham's suggestion that your father had secretly encouraged such conduct."

For the first time that morning, some of the strain left Darcy's features.

"You cannot know," he said softly, "what comfort you have given me."

They resumed their walk. Though the subject remained a painful one, the exchange had eased something between them. Elizabeth found herself increasingly disturbed by the deliberate nature of Mr. Wickham's attentions. He had not merelyhappened upon her and seized an opportunity to indulge an old resentment. He had questioned her, discovered what he believed to be her opinion of Mr. Darcy, and then fashioned his account to deepen a prejudice he had every reason to suppose already existed. Who, after all, was more likely to receive such a tale with ready credence than the lady whom Mr. Darcy had so publicly slighted at the Meryton assembly?

"I believe he intended me to repeat his account to others," she said at length, breaking the silence. "He spoke as though reluctant to disclose it, yet every expression of reluctance seemed calculated to invite another question. Had he truly desired not to besmirch you and your family, as he claimed, he need only have remained silent."

Darcy's mouth curved without amusement.

"I should not be surprised. During the past two years I have heard several versions of Wickham's falsehoods, each adapted to the company in which he found himself."

"Then he chose his audience very ill," Elizabeth replied. "Had he wished his tale to spread, he ought to have entrusted it to a greater gossip than myself."

Despite himself, Darcy laughed. The sound was brief, but genuine, and Elizabeth was glad to have drawn it from him.

"I am very glad he chose you," he said. "You possessed the discernment to receive his account with caution. I know now that he intends to blacken my character in Hertfordshire as he has elsewhere, though I confess I am less concerned for myself than for whatever mischief he may yet contrive."

"My sister Lydia appears much taken with him." Elizabeth's smile faded almost as soon as it had appeared. "If he repeats the same tale to her, I fear she will prove a far more satisfactory audience. You have not exerted yourself to become a favourite in Meryton, and Lydia is far less guarded in her speech than I."

Darcy's expression tightened.

"I shall have to take measures respecting Wickham. More importantly, I must urge you to be watchful of your sister. Whatever has brought him to Hertfordshire, I would not put any scheme beyond him."

"I shall keep a closer eye upon her," Elizabeth promised.

The conversation gradually turned to lighter subjects.

"There is something else I ought to tell you," Elizabeth said after a few moments.

Darcy looked towards her with the usual attention with which he listened.

"My absence from Oakham Mount was occasioned by my cousin, Mr. Collins."

"Your cousin?"

"Yes."

"Your father mentioned him to Bingley yesterday."

"He is newly arrived in Hertfordshire. He was one of the gentlemen in our party when you saw us on Saturday."

"I confess I was paying little attention to anything beyond seeing Wickham in your company."

Elizabeth could not suppress a smile. She had imagined he scarcely noticed her that afternoon, yet he had unwittingly admitted the contrary.

"And has your cousin proved an agreeable addition to your household?" he asked, interrupting her smile.