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Darcy cleared his throat. “There is much I need to say and many pardons I need to beg. If I say the wrong thing, I ask for your understanding before I begin. My cousin here,” he inclined his head towards Richard, “will attest that although I am very articulate when I write my thoughts on paper, there are times when I speak that I insert one of my hessians into my mouth.” Darcy was encouraged when he saw Miss Elizabeth’s lips quirk upward as she gave a ghost of a smile.

“Allow me to begin by addressing you, Miss Elizabeth. Although at the time, I did not see how my behaviour was seen through the eyes of others, I was not in a mood to be at the assembly for numerous reasons; however, there is no way for me to excuse the vile words which passed my lips when Bingley urged me to dance. Not asking anyone outside of my party to dance when I could see there were many more ladies than men was far beyond the norms of polite behaviour. That my words were factually inaccurate is neither here nor there. In fact, they were the opposite of reality.”

“What are you saying Mr Darcy?” Elizabeth did not want to misinterpret his words. Surely, he did not think she was pretty? That thought was nothing to the shock of Mr Darcy standing before her and asking her to pardon him for his insult. If she had thought of things that would never happen, Mr Darcy owning his own faults would have been the very first item on that list.

“What I mean, Miss Elizabeth, is that you are more than handsome enough to tempt me; in fact, you happen to be one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance.” Darcy was pleased to see that Miss Elizabeth’s cheeks pinked up significantly. “But it was not only that about which I was wrong. As was eloquently pointed out to me,” Darcy looked at Collins, “that as I am the guest of one leasing an estate in the area, how could I give consequence to one who had lived here the whole of her life?” He looked at Richard. “My cousin forcefully indicated to me, about three times, how rude I had been and how far I had strayed from the principles my late honoured parents taught me.”

While Mr Darcy spoke, Elizabeth remembered what Cousin Collins had said about the reason a man would stare at a woman. Did he have the right of it? And if so, did she want Mr Darcy to be attracted to her? Even if Lieutenant Wickham’s disclosure had been improper, that did not make it untrue.

“My next apology is to the Bennet family as a whole. My behaviour when we have been in company, beginning with the assembly, has not been that of a gentleman. I cannot undo the past damage I did to my reputation in the neighbourhood; however, I can behave as a man of gentle upbringing going forward. I intend to make my amends to all the residents of the area.

“Next, I must ask Miss Elizabeth’s, and to a certain extent, Miss Bennet’s, forgiveness for the way I seemed to ignore the atrocious way that Miss Bingley, and to a lesser extent, Mrs Hurst, behaved towards you at Netherfield Park. What makes this doubly hard is that it was my words that caused Miss Bingley to behave as she did.”

Elizabeth looked at Mr Darcy questioningly with an arched eyebrow.

Darcy explained what had occurred that night at Lucas Lodge and what he had said when Miss Bingley had come to importune him. “I am sorry that my thoughtless words caused her to attack you, Miss Elizabeth; however, the words are true.”

As much as she fought it, Elizabeth felt heat rise in her cheeks.

“Lizzy, I did not want to believe that the women I thought were my friends would act as you described,” Jane said as she tried to swallow a sob. “I have been so blind.”

“I did not hold anything against you, dearest. You always want to see the best in everyone,” Elizabeth said as she pulled her older sister into a warm hug. “I am sorry that you had to discover they are not the friends you thought they were. How will I face them at the ball on the morrow? That is, if we are invited to it.” She knew Mr Bingley had said they were invited, but Elizabeth did not know if Miss Bingley would allow it; after all, she had seen the way his younger sister imposed her will on her brother.

“Your whole family, including Collins is invited,” Fitzwilliam clapped his friend on the back. “The invitation will be delivered soon. The invitations were ready days ago, but the hostess made a choice not to send them out. Miss Bingley has been removed from society. It is up to my cousin to inform you about her removal if he chuses.”

“No! She did not attempt a compromise to force your hand, did she, Mr Darcy?” Elizabeth asked. She was horrified at the thought a woman would lower herself thusly.

“At first, Hurst, who is not a drunken sot, by the by…” Darcy began to say.

“I knew it!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I noticed that he never imbibed close to the amount that he wanted people to think he did. Also, several times I saw that he had his eyes cracked and was not in a drunken stupor.”

“You were more observant than those of us who have known him far longer,” Darcy complimented. “You realised what I was about to say about Hurst. As I was saying, he warned us that Miss Bingley was planning a compromise. We confronted her, and she attempted to jump into my arms right after I told her I would never offer for her, even with a compromise. Her ensuing actions convinced Bingley that she needs special care. He is waiting to hear if he may take her to London for evaluation. Mrs Hurst is the mistress of the estate now. She is vastly different now that she is out from under her sister’s influence.”

William Collins was impressed with how things had gone so far. It seemed that Mr Darcy had looked in the mirror, and he had not been happy with what he saw in his reflection. William had hoped the man would be willing to make some changes; however, he had not expected so much so soon. Mr Darcy must be deeply in love with Cousin Elizabeth to go this far to court her good opinion. The contentious subject of Mr Wickham was yet to be canvassed. It would be interesting to see if Cousin Elizabeth would be willing to revise her relative opinions of both men.

“As soon as we are complete here, I intend to make my apologies to your mother for the way I walked away from her at the assembly. However, first, we must speak of a subject that is most distasteful to me and my family, that of George Wickham. Mr Collins related what that miscreant told you at Mr and Mrs Phillips’ house the other night.”

Elizabeth almost snapped at Mr Darcy for using the disparaging words about Lieutenant Wickham, but she bit the inside of her cheek and held her peace.

“Before Mr Darcy addressed the subject of the lieutenant, you must know that I have not spoken to your parents about the danger Mr Wickham poses to your younger sisters. As he did when Sir William attempted to warn him, your father would think it a joke. Your mother would tell me I was trying to restrict her favourite’s fun. Writing to Colonel Fitzwilliam, and then with the Colonel and Mr Darcy deciding to act against the libertine, was an effective way of removing the danger of Mr Wickham; however, something still needs to be done about their fascination with, and the way they behave around, officers,” William Collins interjected. “I am taking other steps to protect them which will come to light soon enough.”

Much to their chagrin, none of the Bennet sisters could refute their cousin’s words regarding their parents or their younger sisters. The sisters turned their attention to Mr Darcy.

“I will not address the impropriety of his sharing what he told you after barely having met you. I know his memory is not as good as yours is, but your cousin did relate what he remembered of the overheard conversation. I believe the bones of it are that he was my father’s godson, that he was ill-used by me when I refused him a living left in my father’s will, that I hate him, that I am jealous of him, and that I vindictively blasted his prospects. Also, he claimed that my sister is proud and unpleasant. Does that accurately summarise what he told you?”

“It does,” Elizabeth replied tersely.

“There were only two things he told you that were absolutely true. My late father was his godfather, and I did refuse him the living when it was available,” Darcy stated plainly.

Hearing what Mr Darcy said, Elizabeth shot a triumphant look at Cousin Collins. She was disconcerted by the smile on his face.

“However, what he did not tell you is that the bequest was conditional…”

“Are you saying it was a bequest, not a recommendation?” Elizabeth asked as she remembered the way Mr Wickham had described the ambiguous language regarding the living when she had asked why he had not sought legal redress.

“It is in my father’s will. Therefore, it is a legal and binding bequest. As I said before, it was conditional,” Darcy confirmed. “As Mr Collins can tell you, before a living may be awarded, the recipient needs to have been ordained and taken holy orders. That, Miss Elizabeth, was the condition.” Darcy handed over a copy of his father’s will, opened to the relevant section.

Elizabeth read the passage aloud. “To my godson, George Lucas Wickham, I leave the sum of one thousand pounds and the Kympton living, when it becomes available, dependent upon said godson being ordained and taking his holy orders.” She looked at Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam. “He was never ordained, was he? And you gave him the money left him in your father’s will, did you not?” Elizabeth saw the nodded heads, that of her cousin’s as well. “What a silly girl I was. Wait, why did he try and claim something your father’s words excluded him from?”