Page 92 of The Secret Diary of Anne de Bourgh

“I know. That is why I am asking you to consider it with me.”

He leaned back in his chair.

I had another question, though I found this one rather embarrassing.

“Would my fortune be so much less desirable if it were money rather than land? Surely the price of Rosings would still be a very considerable marriage portion.”

“It would be a considerable fortune,” Darcy agreed. “The proceeds would remain held for your benefit. We should have to consider how they were placed, and what income they would provide.”

“Then I should still be able to afford a comfortable home?”

“Certainly, Anne.”

I could not help feeling that this ought to make the matter simpler than he appeared to think it.

“I am not asking to give it away,” I said. “I should still have the value of it, and we might choose a house which suited us both. There would be no reason to return to Rosings, because it would belong to somebody else.”

Darcy was quiet for a little while.

Richard asked what sort of house I imagined. It helped to have something pleasant to describe. I told them of the rooms I should use, and the garden, and how much I had liked the comfort of Longbourn.

Darcy asked several practical questions. I could not answer all of them, but I did not mind being asked. They concerned how I might have the home I wanted, rather than whether I ought to want it.

We also spoke of the people at Rosings. I should wish to know that anyone who purchased it would take proper care of the estate. Charlotte is there, and the tenants, and servants who have been in the house for years. Wanting to leave does not mean that I have ceased to care what becomes of them.

Darcy said that these were among the things we would have to consider.

“We will examine what a sale would involve,” he told me at last. “Richard and I must both be satisfied that the arrangements protect your interests.”

“And you will remember that not having to live there is one of my interests?”

His expression softened.

“Yes, Anne. I will remember.”

He has not agreed to sell. I did not truly expect that he would today, though I had hoped rather foolishly that explaining myself might prove sufficient.

But he has agreed to consider it, and Richard remained with him when I left, to discuss the matter further.

I went to find Elizabeth afterwards. She was resting in her private sitting-room, but opened her eyes when I came in.

“Well?” she asked.

“He has not said no.”

She smiled and held out her hand to me. “I told you he would hear you out, dear one. Come and tell me all.”

10 November

It has rained almost without ceasing today. At times it came down so heavily that I could scarcely distinguish the houses opposite through it.

I have enjoyed the afternoon very much.

Richard and I sat beside the drawing-room fire, with no expectation of going out and very little likelihood of anybody coming to disturb us. Luna had settled upon the arm of my chair, where she could enjoy the warmth and my company without troubling herself to move whenever I turned a page.

Richard asked what I was reading. When I told him that I had returned to Twelfth Night, he wished to know where I had reached, and presently took the book to read aloud.

I do not think Malvolio can ever have sounded more pleased with himself.