While Bingley was speaking, Darcy's thoughts were in turmoil. He knew very well that Bingley had been depressed ever since they had left Hertfordshire at the end of last November. He also remembered very well Elizabeth's accusation that he had separated Bingley from her sister and that Jane actually had loved him. With this statement, he knew that he had to do something to right the wrong he had perpetrated on his good friend. His worry now was that so many months had passed since they left that Jane's regard might have been lost. However, he thought that if she no longer cared for Bingley, this would show that her regard for him had not been strong. On the other hand, if her feelings for him were still as they had been, that would show that she had, in fact, loved him very deeply. His guilty conscience at what he might have interrupted made him want to go with Bingley, if only to support him.

However, no matter how much he wanted to support his friend and right his wrong, he had no idea how Elizabeth felt towards him now. Her rejection of his proposal had been so bitter and definite that it still hurt him very much to think of her; but, no matter how hard he tried to forget her, he knew he still loved her and wanted nothing more than for her to come to love him. He hoped that his letter detailing Wickham's lies and his attempts to justify his interference with Bingley and Jane may have helped reduce her hatred towards him, but he did not know if she had even read the letter or had simply thrown it away unread. He wanted to see her again, but he knew that a second rejection would devastate him even more than her first.

Oh, how he longed to see her again! To see her fine eyes and incredible smile; to dream that she might smile at him. Did he dare? He knew that if it would make a difference, he would humble himself before her and beg for her forgiveness. But what if she scorned him; laughed at him? Could he endure this? How could he live knowing she still hated him? While one part of him had these dreadful thoughts, another part thought how intelligent she was; how her sense of justice would not allow her just to ignore his letter that she must have known was written in an attempt to explain the actions she had so bitterly accused him of. Would she be more receptive of his attentions? Did he have a chance to win her regard? He had to know. In this, he knew he was just like Bingley; he could not leave it not knowing or he might regret it for the rest of his life.

"Yes, I will go with you. Bingley, I have come to realize that I may have made a mistake in my assessment of Miss Bennet's regard for you. She is so quiet and unassuming, that it is hard to know what she is thinking or feeling. I now believe that she was developing strong feelings for you."

"What do you mean that you now realize you may have made a mistake? What made you change your mind? You have not seen her since last November, have you?"

"No, but I met Miss Elizabeth when I was in Kent visiting my aunt at Easter. She was there visiting her friend Miss Charlotte Lucas, who married Collins, the Bennet's cousin. Miss Elizabeth was quite upset with me because her sister missed you. This is the first chance I have had to tell you. I believe you should go back to Hertfordshire to see if she will accept your attentions.

"I agree that when you go back, you should not approach Miss Bennet directly; that would be too embarrassing for both of you. Whenever you are in her company, just talk to her; watch her reaction to you; try to determine if you see any sign that she may still have feelings for you. I suggest that if you believe you have a chance with her, ask her outright if she would accept a courtship with you. That will give her a chance to say yes or no. If her answer is yes, then good luck to you. If no, then I will be very sorry, but at least you will know. If you approach her properly, I believe she will accept your attentions if she still has feelings for you."

Bingley was thrilled at this response from his friend; he practically bounced on his seat, but he did not want to wake Hurst. Now he had to decide how to tell his sisters that he did not want them to go with him to Hertfordshire, but he hoped that his excuse that they were going only for the shooting would be sufficient. Then, of course, he had to refuse any suggestion that Hurst go with them. Not only did he find the company of his brother-in-law to be boring, but he did not want to give his sisters any excuse to join him at Netherfield. He also was not sure how to tell Darcy that Georgiana wanted to go with them. He definitely would not tell Darcy that this whole idea was hers to begin with. He hoped she would find a way to convince Darcy to agree to let her accompany them.

The next morning at breakfast, when Georgiana went down, she again found that her brother and Bingley were already there and they were again talking about riding out to another part of the estate. Georgiana said, "Fitzwilliam, I really enjoyed riding with you yesterday. Do you mind if I join you again today?"

Darcy answered, "Are you sure? Would you rather not stay here to keep Bingley's sisters company?"

Georgiana hoped he was teasing her. "I have missed riding and would really like to go out with you. I believe the ladies will find things to do here; they might even keep Mr. Hurst awake. What part of the estate are you going to today?"

"Now, Georgie, we must never talk about any of our guests like that. Poor Mr. Hurst is Bingley's brother-in-law, so we must not make him feel bad about his relatives. I want to go to the north farms today, and yes, you are very welcome to come with us."

When they were riding out, Bingley asked Darcy about their trip to Hertfordshire. Georgiana played innocent and asked what they were planning to do, so Darcy had to tell her. "Oh!" she said, "I would love to see Hertfordshire. I have never been there and from what you said, it is pretty country. Who all is going for the shooting? Will it be a large party?"

"No, just Bingley and me. We expect to invite some of the local gentlemen to join us and will likely be invited to shoot on some other estates as well. I would not be surprised if we will be invited to dine with some of the families there. The local gentry was quite hospitable when we were there last year."

"Were you planning to leave me here? I would much rather go with you. Of course, I would not go shooting, but I will be able to entertain myself if Netherfield has a piano.

"Mr. Bingley, is there a piano there? Do you have a horse that I could use, and a side saddle?

"Fitzwilliam, if I go, I could act as the hostess if you want to invite anyone over for dinner. That would be good practice for me if they are just small dinners. Or were you planning to invite a lady to go with you?" She added this last question just to get a reaction from her brother.

"Of course not! Georgie, please; we certainly do not have any wicked plans, just shooting, and perhaps meeting some of the local people we met before. Would you really like to go? Bingley, would you mind if Georgie came with us? I do not want to leave her here alone."

"No, I do not mind. Darcy, I hate to say this, but usually Miss Georgiana is better company than you. She never gets grouchy like someone I know. However, if we take her with us, we had better not let Caroline know or she might want to come as well. For some reason, I have a feeling that you would not want her to come with us. Or would you?"

"Did you two plan on ganging up on me today? Are you two plotting to keep on doing this for the whole trip? Bingley, you are a bad influence on my innocent sister. She never teased me like this before." Darcy was not really upset; he rather enjoyed the fact that his sister might be losing her shyness.

They all enjoyed their ride and settled on the timing of their visit to Hertfordshire. They all knew that Bingley had the worst task: he had to tell his sisters that he would not be continuing with them on their planned trip to their northern relatives and that none of them were invited to accompany them to Hertfordshire. As they planned to leave for Netherfield quite soon, he also had to tell them that they had to cut their visit to Pemberley shorter than they had planned. It was also up to him not to tell them that Georgiana would be going with them, for fear that Caroline might insist on going with her. Bingley's easiest task was to write to the Netherfield housekeeper telling her to get three rooms ready and to reopen the house for them.

While Bingley had always deferred to his sisters' demands and expectations, especially when they were united against him, this time he kept thinking about Miss Bennet when he told them of his revised plans. Just thinking about meeting with her gave him enough backbone to refuse to give in to their demands. The person most upset with his announcement was Caroline, as she so desperately wanted to be with Darcy for as long as needed until he finally came to realize that she would be the perfect Mistress of Pemberley. The fact that he showed not the slightest interest in her did not deter her efforts in trying to convince him to notice her. However, Bingley refused to change his mind and she finally had to concede defeat.

The Hursts and Caroline left the day before the Darcys and Bingley. The trip to Netherfield was long, but Darcy's largest traveling carriage was comfortable. A second carriage was used to bring Georgiana's maid, the two valets, and the luggage, which included Darcy's favourite guns. As Bingley's letter to his Netherfield housekeeper told her they planned to shoot on the estate, they expected that his gamekeeper would have everything ready for them. They made good time as the weather was favourable, spending just one night on the road.