Elizabeth often came across Mr. Darcy while walking through the park.
She found it extremely annoying that he always seemed to appear in the one place where she expected to be alone.
The first time it happened, she casually told him that the path was one of her favorite places to walk. She hoped he would understand that she preferred to have it to herself.
But somehow, she met him there a second time.
Then it happened again.
Elizabeth began to wonder whether he was doing it on purpose.
Whenever they met, Darcy did not simply exchange a few polite words and leave. Instead, he often turned around and walked beside her.
He never talked very much, and Elizabeth made little effort to keep the conversation going.
During their third meeting, however, she noticed that Darcy began asking her several strange questions.
He asked whether she enjoyed staying at Hunsford.
He asked whether she liked walking alone.
He even asked whether she thought Mr. and Mrs. Collins were happy together.
When they talked about Rosings, Darcy also seemed to assume that Elizabeth might stay there if she ever returned to Kent.
Elizabeth could not help wondering what he meant.
Could he be thinking about Colonel Fitzwilliam?
If Darcy was hinting at a possible marriage, perhaps he meant that Colonel Fitzwilliam might become interested in her.
The thought made Elizabeth uncomfortable.
She was therefore relieved when they finally reached the gate near the Parsonage.
One day, Elizabeth was walking through the park while rereading Jane’s latest letter.
Several parts of the letter made it clear that Jane was still unhappy.
Elizabeth was so absorbed in it that she did not notice someone approaching.
When she looked up, she was surprised to see Colonel Fitzwilliam.
She quickly put the letter away and forced herself to smile.
“I did not know you ever walked this way.”
“I have been walking around the park, as I usually do this time of year. I planned to finish my walk by visiting the Parsonage.”
“Are you going much farther?”
“No. I was just about to turn back.”
She immediately turned around, and they continued toward the Parsonage together.
“Are you definitely leaving Kent on Saturday?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes, unless Darcy changes the plan again. I am completely under his direction. He arranges everything however he likes.”
“He certainly seems to enjoy having the freedom to do whatever he wants.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam smiled.
“He does like getting his own way. But don’t we all? Darcy simply has more power to do it because he is rich, while many people are not.”
“I speak from experience. As a younger son, I have had to learn to depend on others and to give up some things I might otherwise want.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Elizabeth said. “A younger son of an earl can hardly know much about poverty or dependence.”
She looked at him teasingly.
“When have you ever been unable to go somewhere because you could not afford it? Or unable to buy something simply because you wanted it?”
“These are rather personal questions.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam laughed.
“I suppose I cannot claim to have suffered many hardships of that kind. But money can still be a serious problem in more important matters.”
“For example?”
“A younger son cannot always marry the woman he wants.”
“Unless, of course, he chooses a wealthy woman,” Elizabeth replied. “I imagine that happens quite often.”
“We spend a great deal of money simply because of our position in society. That makes us dependent on wealth. Not many men in my situation can marry without considering a woman’s fortune.”
Elizabeth suddenly wondered whether he was speaking about her.
She felt herself blush.
Then she quickly recovered and smiled.
“And how much does a younger son of an earl usually cost?”
“I suppose you would not ask for more than fifty thousand pounds, unless your older brother looked dangerously unhealthy.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam laughed and answered her in the same playful spirit.
The subject soon ended.
After a short silence, Elizabeth spoke again.
“I suppose your cousin brought you to Kent mainly because he wanted someone available whenever he needed you.”
She smiled.
“I am surprised he does not marry simply to have someone permanently at his disposal.”
“Perhaps his sister is enough for him at present. Since he is responsible for her, he can probably make her do whatever he wants.”
“No,” Colonel Fitzwilliam replied. “That responsibility is shared with me. I am also one of Miss Darcy’s guardians.”
“Really?”
Elizabeth looked interested.
“And what sort of guardian are you? Does she cause you much trouble?”
She smiled.
“Girls her age can sometimes be difficult to manage. And if she has the same strong personality as Mr. Darcy, I imagine she likes getting her own way.”
As Elizabeth spoke, she noticed Colonel Fitzwilliam looking at her very seriously.
His immediate reaction made her think she had accidentally touched on something important.
She quickly changed her tone.
“Don’t worry. I have never heard anything bad about Miss Darcy. I am sure she is probably one of the easiest young women in the world to manage.”
“She is very popular with some ladies I know—Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley. I believe you know them.”
“I know them slightly.”
“Their brother is a pleasant gentleman. He is a close friend of Darcy’s.”
“Oh yes,” Elizabeth said dryly.
“Mr. Darcy is extremely kind to Mr. Bingley. He certainly takes very good care of him.”
“He does, actually,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said.
“I believe Darcy has helped Bingley in matters where he particularly needed advice. During our journey here, Darcy told me something that made me think Bingley owes him quite a lot.”
Then he paused.
“But I should not assume that Bingley was the man he meant. I was only guessing.”
“What exactly do you mean?”
“It is something Darcy would not want people to know about. If it reached the woman’s family, it could cause some embarrassment.”
“You can trust me. I will not tell anyone.”
“Remember, though, that I have no real proof that it was Bingley.”
He continued carefully.
“Darcy only told me that he had recently congratulated himself on saving a friend from the consequences of a very foolish marriage.”
“He never mentioned the friend’s name or gave me any details.”
“I only suspected it was Bingley because he seemed like the sort of young man who might make such a mistake, and because Darcy and Bingley had spent so much time together last summer.”
“Did Mr. Darcy explain why he interfered?”
“I understood that he had some very serious objections to the woman.”
Elizabeth’s expression changed.
“What did he do to separate them?”
“Darcy never told me exactly what he did,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said with a smile.
“He only told me what I have just told you.”
Elizabeth said nothing.
She continued walking, but her heart was filled with anger.
After watching her for a moment, Colonel Fitzwilliam asked,
“Why have you become so quiet?”
“I am thinking about what you just told me.”
Elizabeth spoke carefully.
“I cannot approve of your cousin’s behavior. Why did he think he had the right to decide what was best for his friend?”
“You think he interfered where he had no business interfering?”
“I certainly do.”
Elizabeth looked at him seriously.
“I don’t understand why Mr. Darcy believed he had the right to decide whether his friend’s feelings were sensible.”
“Why should he be the one to decide how his friend should find happiness?”
She paused.
“Still, we don’t know the whole story. It would be unfair to condemn him without knowing all the details.”
“I suppose it is possible that there was not much real affection between the two people.”
“That is a reasonable assumption,” Colonel Fitzwilliam replied.
“But it makes my cousin’s success in separating them much less impressive.”
He was clearly joking.
But Elizabeth thought his words described Darcy so perfectly that she did not trust herself to answer.
Instead, she changed the subject and talked about ordinary things until they reached the Parsonage.
As soon as Colonel Fitzwilliam left, Elizabeth went to her room.
At last, she could think about everything he had told her without anyone interrupting.
She was almost certain that Darcy had been talking about Jane and Bingley.
There could hardly be another couple in the world whose relationship Darcy had had so much power to influence.
Elizabeth had never doubted that Darcy had played a part in separating Jane and Bingley.
But she had always believed that Caroline Bingley had been the main person behind it.
Now she began to see things differently.
If Darcy had been responsible, then his pride and personal judgment had caused Jane an enormous amount of pain.
He had destroyed, at least for the time being, the happiness of one of the kindest and most loving people Elizabeth knew.
And Elizabeth had no idea how long the damage might last.
“There were some very strong objections against the lady.”
Those were Colonel Fitzwilliam’s exact words.
Elizabeth immediately guessed what those objections must have been.
Jane had an uncle who was a country lawyer.
Another uncle worked in business in London.
To Elizabeth, those connections were nothing to be ashamed of.
“What could anyone possibly object to in Jane herself?” she cried.
“She is beautiful, kind, intelligent, well educated, and charming.”
“There is nothing wrong with her.”
“And what could anyone object to in my father?”
Elizabeth continued.
“He certainly has his peculiarities, but he is intelligent enough that even Mr. Darcy should respect him.”
“And his character is respectable in ways that Darcy himself may never achieve.”
When Elizabeth thought about her mother, her confidence weakened slightly.
Mrs. Bennet was certainly not easy to defend.
But Elizabeth refused to believe that Darcy’s objections were mainly about her mother’s behavior.
She was convinced that his pride had been hurt by the low social position of Jane’s relatives.
Worse still, she began to suspect that Darcy had wanted to keep Bingley available for his own sister.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
Her emotions eventually brought on a severe headache.
By evening, she felt so unwell that she decided not to go with the Collinses to Rosings for tea.
She also did not want to see Mr. Darcy.
Mrs. Collins could see that Elizabeth was genuinely ill, so she did not pressure her to come.
She also tried to stop her husband from insisting.
But Mr. Collins was extremely worried.
He could not stop thinking about how displeased Lady Catherine might be when she learned that Elizabeth had stayed home.