Mr. Gardiner, taken by surprise, but mollified by this knowledge, said, “That does cast a somewhat different light on things. But you say that she refused you—this hardly seems consistent with her behavior today. Are you certain you did not misinterpret her meaning?”

“Sir, I believe her exact words were that I was the last man in the world she could ever be prevailed upon to marry.” Darcy felt a certain sense of bitter relief at finally unburdening himself of the words which haunted him constantly. “I defy any ability to misinterpret that.”

Mr. Gardiner was taken aback. He could hardly credit that Lizzy would say anything of the sort, but, observing the pain in Darcy’s eyes, he knew it to be true. He saw for a moment a very different Darcy, one who, underneath the image of the powerful scion of a wealthy family, was a young man who had received too much responsibility too soon, and who now found himself for the first time in the grips of a passion beyond his control. He softened considerably. “Well, young man, it would appear you have made a certain amount of progress since then, would it not?”

“There have been signs which might suggest warming of her regard toward me,” Darcy cautiously allowed.

Mr. Gardiner chuckled. “Well, my boy, if what I saw in there was merely a suggestion of warming of her regard, I wonder what it would take to convince you that she actually liked you!”

“Sir, I… I appreciate your concern, and again, I will accept whatever consequences you choose to place on my actions.”

“Well, Mr. Darcy, I will give this due consideration, but, while I cannot condone your behavior in any way, I am willing to accept that you did not intend to take advantage of Elizabeth. But it seems that I must consult with my niece at this point.”

“I strongly urge you to do so, sir, as Miss Bennet has something she must discuss with you that cannot be delayed.”

Mr. Gardiner, finding himself intrigued with this less controlled side of Mr. Darcy, suggested, “She seemed somewhat upset—perhaps in this case you should tell me this important news to spare her nerves.”

“I doubt that I am the best person to tell you,” Darcy demurred, but then, in response to a firm look from Mr. Gardiner, proceeded to unfold the details of the situation of the unfortunate Lydia, and the efforts being made to recover her. Mr. Gardiner’s shock and dismay were as great as was to be expected, and he agreed that their departure was called for as soon as the current situation could be resolved.

*   *   *

Elizabeth, in the meantime, was far more preoccupied with her concerns over Lydia than her aunt’s concerns over her improper behavior. “Aunt, I know that I should not have permitted it; it was a momentary weakness. Fortunately, we were not observed by anyone but you, and I see no reason to go any further with this when we have a true crisis to which we must respond!” she said with some vexation.

“Lizzy, my dear, you do not believe you were observed, but you have no way of knowing who might have passed by that window and looked in. Mr. Darcy is well known here, and his presence attracts a substantial amount of interest, and it is already known that you spent a significant amount of time closeted alone with him! I must take this seriously, even if you will not. Now, you tell me that you are not angry or upset with Mr. Darcy, and you clearly respond favorably to him in many ways, and it has been quite obvious to me since our arrival that he is very much taken with you. So I fail to see where the difficulty lies in taking the appropriate steps!”

Elizabeth closed her eyes and said slowly and very distinctly, “Because I am not yet ready to make a decision about him!”

“It seems to me that you already did make a decision, given what I saw, my dear,” Mrs. Gardiner replied gently.

“I confess that I have been giving the matter of Mr. Darcy a good deal of thought these last few days, and I am generally favorably inclined at present, but I can go no further than that while Lydia’s fate lies in question! Please, aunt, let this take its own course!”

“I do not know we have that option, Lizzy, especially under these circumstances, given that your family is already facing disgrace over Lydia’s behavior.”

Elizabeth turned sharply away and stared out the window. “And I have no desire to force that disgrace on Mr. Darcy, especially since it involves Mr. Wickham!”

A knock came at the door, and Mr. Gardiner entered. He observed Elizabeth’s flushed cheeks, and quietly requested that his wife join him for a short discussion.

Elizabeth paced the narrow confines of the room. How could she have allowed this situation to arise? Was she now to be faced by the prospect of a forced engagement? Even as she fought against the idea, a part of her wondered if it would not be the simplest way out of her larger dilemma with Mr. Darcy. She knew that she respected and esteemed him; she felt gratitude to him, not merely for having loved her, but for loving her still well enough, to forgive all the petulance and acrimony of her manners in rejecting him. When she had thought earlier that she had lost any chance of his favor, she had felt the deepest of distress. His smiles brought her pleasure, and his touch… she shivered as she remembered the feeling of his lips on hers, and how she had felt the shock of it run through her.

Yet how could she base her future on these things, when in truth they had had no more than half a dozen completely civil conversations in the entirety of their acquaintance? And then there was the question of Wickham, and all that it implied. No, she simply could not agree, even if her heart traitorously wanted her to accept.

Two doors away, Darcy was sprawled in a chair, his agitation clear in his drumming fingers, wondering frantically what Elizabeth was thinking. Was she having warm thoughts of him—could she in fact have changed her mind about marrying him—or was she furious with him for putting her in this position? Would she ever forgive him if she were forced to marry him? He felt like a prisoner awaiting his sentence, and he was almost relieved when Mr. Gardiner entered the room and sat across from him.

“Well, I have spoken with my wife, and had a few minutes of private discourse with my niece. Fortunately for you, Elizabeth concurs with your story in all its particulars with the exception of one item,”—here his eyes twinkled for a moment—“which is that while you claim this affair is entirely your responsibility, my niece claims in fact it was she who provoked you. But I am prepared to overlook this discrepancy. However, the thornier question of what to do remains. Although Lizzy admits to being quite favorably disposed toward you at present, it appears that you were correct in your assessment that she is not prepared to enter of her own free will into an engagement at this point.”

Darcy felt the sharp thrust of disappointment lance through him. So her warmth was only for the moment, and her feelings toward him had not changed.

Mr. Gardiner eyed him sympathetically. “If I, acting for her father, insist on it, she will not refuse to participate in an engagement, but I have some concerns about this idea. Lizzy has never been one to accept being coerced gracefully, and I fear that it would mean a very rocky start to any marriage between you. I would nonetheless insist on it, if it were not for the fact that both Mrs. Gardiner and I believe that in fact Lizzy is quite close to being ready to accept you, and perhaps it is even now only her distress over her sister that prevents us from resolving this to everyone’s satisfaction.

“Here, then,” he continued, “is my proposition: that, in the interest of your future marital harmony, we allow you a period of time to attempt to convince Elizabeth to accept you of her own accord, but if this meets no success in a few months, I will speak with her father regarding her participation. What do say you to this plan?”

The blistering pain of disappointment was still foremost in Darcy’s mind. “I accept,” he said shortly.

“Mr. Darcy,” Mr. Gardiner said with some compassion, “let me remind you that I would not have proposed this plan if I were not convinced in my own mind that Lizzy’s consent will be yours in a very short time. Perhaps we should consider ways to offer you the opportunity to court her—for example, if you will be in town, we could invite her to stay with us at Gracechurch Street.”

“As it happens, I have some plans for the next few weeks which may interfere with that, but are of concern to you, sir,” Darcy said, and proceeded to outline to Mr. Gardiner his plans for discovering Wickham and Lydia in London, which led to much vigorous discussion and planning.

*   *   *

During the hurry and confusion of the next hour, Elizabeth was fortunately kept distracted by the business entailed by their rapid departure. There were notes to be written to all their friends in Lambton, with false excuses for their sudden departure, packing to be completed, and accounts to be settled. Had she been at leisure to be idle, she would have been in an agony of uncertainty over what Mr. Darcy could be thinking of her. Her uncle had not been at all forthcoming about his discussion with him, and she could only imagine what a man of such pride would feel about the situation in which they had been caught. So she was glad to have employment to keep her thoughts at bay.

Darcy, meanwhile, awaited his opportunity to bid farewell to Elizabeth with some trepidation. He felt unsure of his reception at a time when he most needed reassurance of her affection. He tried to remind himself he had the assurance of Mr. Gardiner that Elizabeth would be prevailed upon to marry him even if he could not win her, but the taste of that possibility was bitter.

When Elizabeth finally entered, he wanted nothing so much as to fling himself on his knees before her and beg her to marry him. Her loveliness took his breath away.

“Sir, you wished to speak with me?” she said after a moment, her eyes downcast.

He cursed himself. Here was his opportunity to make amends, and all he could think of was what her lips had felt like under his. “Yes, Miss Bennet,” he said with a bow, “please accept my deepest apologies for my most inappropriate behavior earlier.”

She looked up, fearing to see displeasure in his eyes, but finding none. “Your apology is accepted, Mr. Darcy, although, as I told my aunt, I believe you may have had some provocation.” Was there just a hint of impudence in her voice? “I shall endeavor to remember in the future that your warnings should be taken with the utmost seriousness.”

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps it was not so hopeless after all. “I hope I have not caused you undue difficulty with your family.”

“Nothing that will not pass. I am trying to appreciate the novelty of being in trouble for misbehavior of this sort,” she said in an attempt at lightness. Then, seeing the concerned look on his face, she clarified, “Truly, my aunt was quite gentle with me. And I hope my uncle was not overly harsh with you?”

Darcy gave a slight, ironic smile. “There were a few rough moments, but we eventually came to an understanding of sorts. The subject arose of my proposal in Kent, which helped to establish my bona fides, but I apologize to you, as it was something you clearly preferred to keep private.”

“I… actually, it is probably just as well that they know, and I certainly would not want them to have… the wrong impression of you. The Gardiners’ good opinion is important to me,” she said, struggling for the right words.

“And your good opinion is important to me,” Darcy replied, gazing intently at Elizabeth. “I hope I have not harmed that today.”

“Sir, I…” Elizabeth stopped. Why could she not complete a thought in a coherent manner when he looked at her like that? “Please understand that this is not a situation I have found myself in before, but… you need have no regrets.”

Darcy’s eyes kindled, and Elizabeth forgot to breathe. Just then they heard Mr. Gardiner’s voice calling Elizabeth to the carriage. “It appears it is time for our adieus, Miss Bennet. Had we more time, there is much more I would wish to say. But, as it is”—he glanced out the door, and seeing no one there, he added softly—“be warned I made no promises to your uncle that it would never happen again.”

“I shall keep that in mind, sir,” said Elizabeth demurely. “However, as you know, I am not easy to intimidate.”

Darcy’s slow smile seemed to melt her bones. “I suppose that if you do not appear at the carriage very soon, they will probably come looking for you.”