Elizabeth had decided that Mr. Darcy would bring his sister to see her the day after she arrived at Pemberley. So she made sure she would stay near the inn all morning.
But she was wrong.
The very next morning, while Elizabeth, Jane, and the Gardiners were walking around Lambton with some new friends, Darcy and his sister arrived at the inn.
They had just returned and were preparing to change clothes before having dinner with the same family when the sound of a carriage caught their attention.
Elizabeth looked out the window and immediately recognized Darcy’s family carriage.
She knew exactly what it meant.
Her uncle and aunt were surprised when she told them who was coming.
“Mr. Darcy is here,” Elizabeth said. “And I believe he has brought his sister to see us.”
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner looked at each other in astonishment.
They had noticed Darcy’s unusual attention toward Elizabeth the day before. Now, seeing how nervous Elizabeth was, they began to wonder if there was something more between them.
Until this moment, they had never thought of such a possibility.
But now they could think of no other reason why a man like Darcy would be making so much effort to see their niece.
Elizabeth’s nervousness grew with every passing moment.
She was surprised by how unsettled she felt.
Part of her worry was that Darcy might have spoken too highly of her to his sister. She suddenly felt desperate to make a good impression, and that only made her fear that she would fail completely.
She moved away from the window, afraid Darcy might see her standing there.
Then she began walking around the room, trying to calm herself.
Her uncle and aunt kept giving her curious looks.
That only made her more nervous.
A moment later, Darcy and his sister entered.
The introduction was finally made.
To Elizabeth’s great surprise, Miss Darcy seemed almost as nervous as she was.
Elizabeth had heard in Lambton that Miss Darcy was extremely proud.
But after only a few minutes, she realized that this was not pride.
The young woman was simply extremely shy.
Elizabeth could barely get more than a one-word answer from her.
Miss Darcy was tall and slightly larger than Elizabeth.
Although she was only a little over sixteen, she already looked like a young woman. She was graceful and elegant, though not as strikingly handsome as her brother.
There was intelligence and kindness in her face.
Her manners were quiet, gentle, and completely without arrogance.
Elizabeth had expected Darcy’s sister to be just as confident and intimidating as he was.
Instead, she found herself relieved by how different Georgiana was.
They had been together only a short time when Darcy said,
“Mr. Bingley will be coming to see you as well.”
Elizabeth barely had time to hide her surprise.
Then she heard quick footsteps on the stairs.
A moment later, Bingley entered the room.
All of Elizabeth’s old anger toward him had disappeared long ago.
Even if some of it had remained, it would probably have vanished the moment she saw his warm and friendly smile.
“I’m very glad to see you again, Miss Bennet,” he said.
He asked politely about her family.
His manner was just as cheerful and natural as she remembered.
The Gardiners were almost as interested in meeting Bingley as Elizabeth was.
They had wanted to meet him for a long time.
Now all three visitors together gave them plenty to observe.
They had already begun to suspect that Darcy cared deeply for Elizabeth.
So they watched Darcy and Elizabeth carefully.
They were not completely sure what Elizabeth felt.
But there was no doubt that Darcy admired her very much.
Elizabeth, meanwhile, had plenty to think about.
She wanted to understand what each of her visitors was feeling.
She also had to control her own emotions while trying to make everyone comfortable.
Fortunately, she did not have much trouble making a good impression.
Bingley was already happy to see her.
Georgiana was eager to know her.
And Darcy clearly wanted everything about the visit to go well.
Seeing Bingley naturally made Elizabeth think of Jane.
She desperately wanted to know whether Jane was still on his mind.
At times, she thought Bingley was quieter than he used to be.
Once or twice, when he looked at her, she imagined that he might be trying to find some resemblance between her and Jane.
Perhaps she was imagining it.
But she could not help noticing how Bingley behaved toward Georgiana.
His sisters had once hoped that he would marry Miss Darcy instead of Jane.
Yet there was no sign of any special affection between them.
They did not seem particularly interested in each other at all.
Elizabeth soon felt certain that Bingley had no romantic feelings for Georgiana.
Then she noticed several small things that gave her hope.
Bingley seemed to remember Jane.
Perhaps he wanted to ask about her but did not quite know how.
At one point, when the others were talking, he said quietly,
“It has been such a long time since I last saw you.”
Elizabeth smiled.
“It has been more than eight months,” he continued. “We have not seen each other since November 26, when we were all dancing together at Netherfield.”
Elizabeth was pleased that he remembered the exact date.
Later, when no one else was paying attention, Bingley asked,
“Are all your sisters at Longbourn?”
It was an ordinary question.
But the way he asked it gave Elizabeth the feeling that Jane was very much on his mind.
Elizabeth was not often brave enough to look directly at Darcy.
But whenever she happened to glance at him, she saw something very different from the man she had known before.
He seemed relaxed and genuinely pleasant.
There was no sign of the cold pride or arrogance she had once expected from him.
The change she had noticed the previous day was still there.
He was being kind not only to Elizabeth, but also to the Gardiners.
These were people he had once considered beneath his attention.
Elizabeth remembered how differently he had behaved at Hunsford.
The contrast was so great that she could hardly believe it.
Even at Netherfield, among his friends, and at Rosings, among his relatives, she had never seen Darcy so willing to please others.
And now he was making an effort with people whose friendship could give him no social advantage.
In fact, his sisters at Netherfield and the ladies at Rosings would probably laugh at him for doing so.
Elizabeth found it astonishing.
The visitors stayed for more than half an hour.
When they were finally ready to leave, Darcy turned to his sister.
“Would you like to invite Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and Miss Bennet to dinner at Pemberley?”
Georgiana looked nervous, clearly unused to making invitations.
But she gathered her courage.
“We would be very happy if you would join us for dinner at Pemberley before you leave Derbyshire.”
Mrs. Gardiner immediately looked toward Elizabeth.
She wanted to know whether Elizabeth wished to accept.
Elizabeth quickly turned her head away.
Mrs. Gardiner assumed that Elizabeth was embarrassed rather than unwilling.
Mr. Gardiner, who enjoyed meeting new people, was clearly happy to accept.
So Mrs. Gardiner said,
“We would be delighted to come.”
They agreed on the day after the next.
Bingley looked genuinely pleased.
“I’m very glad we’ll see you again,” he told Elizabeth. “I still have so much to ask you about our friends in Hertfordshire.”
Elizabeth immediately thought of Jane.
She hoped that Bingley wanted to hear about her sister.
When Darcy, Georgiana, and Bingley finally left, Elizabeth was eager to be alone.
She did not want her uncle and aunt asking questions about Darcy.
She stayed just long enough to hear them say how much they liked Bingley.
Then she hurried away to change her clothes.
But Elizabeth had nothing to fear.
The Gardiners had no intention of forcing her to explain anything.
They had already understood enough.
Elizabeth clearly knew Darcy much better than they had realized.
And it was equally clear that Darcy was deeply in love with her.
They found the situation fascinating, but they did not think it was their place to question her.
Their opinion of Darcy had also changed.
After meeting him and hearing Mrs. Reynolds speak so highly of him, they could no longer think of him as the man they had heard about in Hertfordshire.
If they had judged Darcy only by their own impressions and by the housekeeper’s account, they would hardly have recognized him.
Mrs. Reynolds had known Darcy since he was four years old.
Her own respectable manner made her testimony difficult to dismiss.
And what the Gardiners had heard from other people in Lambton did not contradict her.
The only serious criticism anyone seemed to make was that Darcy was proud.
Perhaps he was.
But people in a small town were likely to call a wealthy family proud if that family did not mix much with them.
Everyone also admitted that Darcy was generous.
He had helped many poor people in the area.
As for Wickham, the Gardiners soon learned that he was not respected in Derbyshire.
They did not know the full story of what had happened between him and Darcy.
But everyone knew that Wickham had left behind many unpaid debts when he left the county.
Darcy had later paid those debts himself.
That evening, Elizabeth thought about Pemberley even more than she had the night before.
She spent hours trying to understand her feelings toward Darcy.
She knew one thing for certain.
She did not hate him.
That feeling had disappeared long ago.
In fact, she was almost ashamed that she had once disliked him so strongly.
The more she learned about Darcy’s character, the more she respected him.
At first, she had resisted that respect.
Now she could no longer deny it.
And after everything she had seen and heard during the past two days, her respect had begun to grow into something warmer.
But there was another feeling that affected her even more.
Gratitude.
She was grateful that Darcy had once loved her.
More importantly, she was grateful that he seemed to love her still.
He had every reason to avoid her after the harsh way she had rejected his proposal.
She had accused him of terrible things.
Yet instead of treating her as an enemy, he had gone out of his way to remain friendly.
He had been kind to her family.
He had tried to win the good opinion of her aunt and uncle.
And he had asked Elizabeth to meet his beloved sister.
For a man as proud as Darcy, such behavior meant something.
Elizabeth could only explain it by love.
And strangely enough, that thought did not make her uncomfortable.
She respected him.
She admired him.
She was grateful to him.
She cared about his happiness.
The only question she could not answer was how much she wanted that happiness to depend on her.
She wondered whether she still had the power to make Darcy love her again.
And she wondered whether she should use that power.
That evening, Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner had agreed that Georgiana’s visit was such a thoughtful gesture that they should return the courtesy.
They decided to visit Pemberley the next morning.
Elizabeth was pleased with the plan.
But when she asked herself why she was so pleased, she could not find a clear answer.
The next morning, they finished breakfast.
Mr. Gardiner soon left the inn.
His fishing trip with several gentlemen at Pemberley had been arranged the day before, and he was expected there around noon.
Elizabeth watched him leave and wondered what the rest of the day might bring.