Page 35 of Elizabeth Bennet Says Yes to Mr. Darcy

Shame marked Darcy's face.

“Miss Bingley acted on her own initiative, but she believed she was confirming what I had told her. I bear my share of that cruelty.”

Jane raised her eyes.

“Why did you believe me indifferent?”

“Because I observed you as a man accustomed to trusting visible demonstrations over temperaments unlike his own. You were calm. Bingley was not. I concluded his attachment exceeded yours.”

“Yet you are often calm yourself.”

A slight flush rose to his cheekbones.

I had to turn my head to hide a smile. Jane had just, with perfect gentleness, reminded him of the absurdity of his judgment.

“Yes,” he admitted. “I should have understood that a feeling can be deep without being displayed.”

“And my family?” she asked.

Darcy did not evade.

“I judged the conduct of some of your relations incompatible with my friend's happiness. I still believe some behavior at Netherfield was imprudent. I no longer believe it gave me the right to decide that Bingley should give you up.”

Jane nodded slowly.

“I cannot pretend that all this did not wound me. But you told Mr. Bingley the truth when you could have kept silent. You came to speak to me without knowing whether Lizzy will marry you. I forgive you.”

Darcy bowed his head deeply.

“I thank you.”

“On one condition.”

He looked up, surprised.

“Which is?”

“Do not protect Mr. Bingley from his own decisions anymore. He is gentle, but he is not incapable of choosing.”

An almost imperceptible smile crossed Darcy's lips.

“He gave me the same instruction with much less elegance.”

Jane smiled back.

The tension eased. I felt a new surge of pride in my sister. Her kindness hadn't stopped her from admitting she had suffered, or from setting a boundary. I had often mistaken her gentleness for an absence of anger. Darcy had made a similar mistake with graver consequences.

“Mr. Bingley will arrive soon,” she said. “I believe he would be pleased to find you here.”

“I hope I'm not imposing on your first weeks of engagement.”

“You could hardly impose more than Mama.”

This response, so unusual for Jane, made me laugh. Darcy looked surprised as well, then amused.

We left the small parlor. My mother was waiting for us in the hallway, pretending to look for her needlework.

“Is everything settled?” she asked.