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“What idea, Mrs Bennet?” her husband enquired.
“The idea of Mr Darcy being forced to marry Lizzy. I mean, that would answer all my prayers and would certainly solve all our problems forever!”
“Dear Lord, you truly have all completely lost your minds!” Elizabeth cried again, overwhelmed by rage and frustration. “Listen to me, Mama. If someone dared mention such a thing to Mr Darcy, you can be sure he would not only reject it — and rightfully so! — but he would be furious. He would leave Hertfordshire and probably take Mr Bingley with him. You would not see either of them again!” She paused a moment to catch her breath, then added, “And I can assure you that I would never agree to marry Mr Darcy because of outrageous gossip. Never! I should write to Aunt Gardiner and go to London immediately!”
“Lizzy dear, calm down,” Mr Bennet pleaded, grabbing her arm. “Do not fret. I have no intention of forcing Mr Darcy — or you — to do anything due to the preposterous folly of others.”
“Good. I am glad there is at least one sane person in the midst of all this!”
“But, Lizzy, you must think hard,” her mother hissed. “This is your only chance to marry into high society! Not to mention Mr Darcy is as handsome as he is rich and well connected. Yes, he is an unpleasant sort of man, but most men have plenty of faults. You will have pin money, servants, be accepted in the ton and so on! I never dared dream of anything like that for any of my girls!”
Elizabeth struggled to retain the last remnants of her composure.
“Never, Mother! Did you hear me? Never!”
With that, she rose and dashed out of the room and then the house, striding down the drive and onto the lane. She was trapped in the midst of a farce, and she feared there was no way out. How could she prevent her aunt’s absurd suggestion from reaching Mr Darcy? He would surely be appalled and angry at the same time. Being asked to marry a woman he disliked — maybe even despised — just because that particular woman had imposed upon him in the middle of the night, was nothing but a stupid and cruel joke.
“Miss Bennet?”
She startled, lost in her thoughts, glancing about to realise she had already walked far from the house. The very object of her reflections was there, sitting high up on his horse, staring at her.
“Are you well?” he asked, dismounting. She instantly took a step back.
“Yes, I am well, thank you… I am just preoccupied. Forgive me. I am in no disposition for conversation.”
“No, no, I apologise for disturbing your walk. I took a ride, and I am on my way back to Netherfield. Your father is expected to call on us.”
“Indeed…”
He had jumped back into the saddle and gathered up the reins when she asked without thinking, “Mr Darcy, I understand you know Mr Wickham, who recently joined the militia regiment stationed here.”
His face darkened immediately. “I do know him. Has he bothered you in any way?”
“No…I only spoke to him once, when we met in Meryton. But…he seems to be deliberately overstating the rumours…about…you know…”
“Ah, yes, the rumours… Is that what has upset you? Forgive my presumption, but I can see you are not…not your usual self.”
“I am upset. I cannot deny it. As ridiculous as it is, people keep talking about it… I am mostly bothered that my reckless actions exposed you to an uncomfortable situation. It is not fair for you to be at the centre of the rumours when you did nothing wrong. I have ever since wanted to apologise to you…”
He frowned again and, surprisingly, dismounted once more.
“Miss Bennet, I beg you not to distress yourself with such considerations. You have no reason to apologise as you have done nothing wrong either. It was just a coincidence, and people talk because they have nothing better to do. We should both pay them no heed.”
“I agree…but may I ask…was Mr Bingley told? I would not wish the rumours to affect him, too, since it happened in his house.”
“Yes, we discussed it last night. Bingley was troubled by how the gossip would distress you and your family, not himself. And quite honestly, that is my concern too.”
He paused, looking at her with a small furrow between his brows. From that short distance, she found herself strangely unsettled by his gaze.
“Miss Bennet, Bingley suggested he should host a party where I could publicly explain the situation and dismiss it. Would you like me to do that?”
A rush of panic shot through Elizabeth, and she put her hand to her chest to calm her racing heart. “Dear Lord, no! No, no! It would do no good. Papa has already spoken to Sir William, whose maid spread the rumour. He assured my father that nobody believes the report, yet this morning, my aunt Phillips brought more news about it. Ridiculous, I know… I still hope it will pass sooner rather than later.”
His stare grew more intense, and so did her nervousness.
“I shall do everything I can to settle things,” he finally replied. “As much as I dislike it, later today I shall have a meeting with Wickham. I am sure he was happy to fuel the gossip about me, but I shall not allow his schemes to affect you.”
“He told my sisters you were cruel and unfair to him…” she said quietly.
