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Elizabeth laughed. “There is no way to satisfy curiosity without asking,” she said. “I admit that I had found him proud, and not particularly concerned with whether other people discovered that quality in him. I am not certain that I was wrong in that impression, but I think perhaps I did not entirely realise the depth of…that is, I did not account for the fact that there might be something worth being proud of. It is a different thing entirely to be proud of nothing in particular than to take pride in having maintained a home that is beautiful and cultured, and a family that sees one in the light that Miss Darcy sees her brother. I am not sure I understood that distinction before.”

The gentleman was quiet for a moment, while Elizabeth had a silent argument with herself as to the wisdom of so frank a speech. She really had been ridiculously forthright regarding her host, and to a gentleman who was such a stranger she did not even know his name. It was too late to take it back, though, and so she simply smiled pleasantly.

“That is,” he said finally, “a remarkably…exact observation.” His tone was considerably warmer than it had been before, which was rather puzzling.

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said, though far from certain it was a compliment.

“You said that you had formed a fixed impression of Mr Darcy,” the gentleman continued. “Did you form that impression quickly, or over time?”

“It was formed rather quickly,” Elizabeth admitted. “Virtually immediately, I must confess. I am afraid that I have a tendency towards such quick impressions. I find people endlessly interesting, and in my rush to understand interesting things, I sometimes form my conclusions about them with insufficient information.” She looked at the gentleman, aware again of having been rather more candid than she perhaps should have been. “Though I believe I am improving.”

“Are you?” he asked, the faint dryness in his voice making her wonder if she had walked into something.

“I am endeavouring to,” she amended, with as much dignity as she could muster.

“You are very much as I expected,” he said, which was strange enough that she looked at him sharply. At that moment, however, the path turned back toward the house, which had come into view after being behind them for some time. “I believe we have arrived — and it appears we are expected.”

Elizabeth looked to see that Mr Darcy was coming down the steps to meet him and, surprisingly, his face was set in a broad smile.

“Welcome,” he said, reaching out to greet the older man with a warmth that seemed deeper than it would on men who found such displays easier. “I did not know that you had arrived. I am sorry I did not greet you earlier.”

“I arrived perhaps half an hour ago,” Elizabeth’s erstwhile companion said, clapping Mr Darcy on the back. “But never fear, Darcy. I am quite glad that you did not. For I found you had acquired some charming company, and was able to avail myself of her attention uninterrupted.”

Mr Darcy looked at him for a moment, then looked at her, seeming a little at a loss, and said, “I’m glad that you were able to make Miss Elizabeth’s acquaintance.”

“I’m afraid that this gentleman still has the advantage of me,” Elizabeth said with a smile that made no attempt to hide her curiosity. “We have been talking this quarter hour and more, but I am still unsure to whom I’ve been speaking.”

“In that case, I am glad that I am able to introduce you myself,” Mr Darcy said, though he looked a bit askance at the other man. “Miss Bennet, please make the acquaintance of my uncle, Henry Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Matlock.”

There was a brief silence, in which Elizabeth reviewed the remarks she had made in the course of her walk and felt the colour rise in her face. “I am afraid that I have been telling your lordship my thoughts exactly as I have thought them,” she said, “which I might not have done were I aware to whom I was speaking.”

“Well then, I am quite glad that I was impolite enough to not introduce myself correctly,” the earl said, “for I found our conversation as informative as it was charming, and I would not want it to have been any less of either. I much prefer conversation of that type to the alternative, where people tell me the things that they think they should say, which leaves me in the unfortunate position of not hearing the things I very much want to hear. I enjoyed our walk very much,” the earl said, glancing at his nephew as he said it. There was a brief silence, and then he smiled. “I have brought your cousin along,” he said. “Have you seen Richard yet?”

“I have,” Mr Darcy said. “He is in the drawing room with Georgiana. She was delighted to see him.”

“Good,” he said. He inclined his head with an enigmatic smile at Elizabeth. “Miss Bennet.” And then he was gone, up the steps and through the door, as though he had not led Elizabeth through one of the more extraordinary conversations she’d had.

She stood looking after him for a moment. “I have been talking to an earl,” she said, rather more to herself than to Mr Darcy, “for the better part of a half hour, and I said any number of things I would not have said to him had I known who he is.”

“That is why he often does not tell people who he is,” Mr Darcy said with a smile. “What things did you tell him?” he asked curiously, his look growing sharper when Elizabeth blushed again.

“Any number of things,” she said vaguely. “The most true of which is likely when I confessed that I have a tendency to reach conclusions before I have enough evidence to support them. And then I said I was improving at that! Oh, dear,” she sighed. “I suppose I must continue to work on improving myself in that area.”

There was another silence. “Is that all you said to him? It does not seem overly imprudent to me.”

“I told him I thought you were proud,” Elizabeth blurted out.

A brief look that might have been hurt flashed across Mr Darcy’s face. “I see,” he said rather stiffly. “Did he agree?”

“Only when I said that I have found here at Pemberley that you have a great deal to be proud of, which is different from just being proud for pride’s sake,” Elizabeth said, realising that she was not improving the situation any. “He agreed that was correct.” She looked away, hoping to control her expression, and when she looked back, she saw that his mouth had taken on that slight curve that indicated that he was amused or pleased, and that it was rather more disarming up close than from across a room.

“Well, I think that is a quite exact distinction,” he said. “And I believe I owe you some thanks for it.”

“Those were your uncle’s words, precisely,” Elizabeth said, shaking her head. “Except for the thanks. He did not thank me.”

Mr Darcy’s smile grew slightly. “I imagine he wouldn’t,” he agreed politely, and Elizabeth reddened at the slight note of amusement in his voice.

“Well. I suppose your uncle is…not at all what I would have expected, though perhaps exactly what I ought to have expected.”