"Thank you," murmured Elizabeth, turning her head and looking over her shoulder. Elizabeth and Darcy's eyes met and they both froze, not sure what do to next.
"Cousin Elizabeth!"
Elizabeth and Darcy tensed and whirled around to see the tall, heavy looking man crash through the underbrush and into the small clearing.
"Cousin Elizabeth!" Mr. Collins was, fortunately, too busy brushing the leaves off of his coat sleeves to see how close the two were, and they took the opportunity to put a decent amount of space between them. "My dear Charlotte told me you enjoy walking alone but I imagined you to be walking to and from Rosings Park. It is quite improper for a young lady of gentle birth to be walking alone through the woods. Especially with – with…" Mr. Collins trailed off as he noticed the angry look on Darcy's face.
"Not that I have any objection against you sir! I assure you, I have the highest regard for all of Lady Catherine's honored relations. But," he paused and delivered a deep bow, then lowered his voice "my young cousin does not always understand her place. If she has importuned you in any way I humbly beg your apology."
Darcy only became more furious as he saw echoes of his failed proposal in Mr. Collins's comments about Elizabeth and 'her place'. When he saw Mr. Collins reach out and grab Elizabeth's upper arm so hard she flinched, he stepped forward.
"Mr. Collins, release her at once!" he thundered, and Mr. Collins leapt back like a startled rabbit. Darcy walked towards him slowly and menacingly. "I will have you know that Miss Bennet was assisting me after I fell off of my horse." Darcy conveniently left off the fact that the sight of Elizabeth startled him off of his horse in the first place and watched Mr. Collins' eyes grow large. Pandering to the man's one true love, he added "I am greatly in her debt, and I shall inform my aunt of this fact." While Mr. Collins bowed in silent amazement, one part of Darcy's brain thought frantically for some way he could further benefit Elizabeth while the other marveled at the sight of a silent Mr. Collins.
Elizabeth hid a smile at the sight of her cousin so uncharacteristically quiet, even as she seethed at his comments about walking alone and discreetly massaged her arm. Her walks were the only thing keeping her sane, and Charlotte did not have servants enough to spare a footman whenever she desired to roam. How could she possibly survive through the rest of this visit? As she saw Mr. Collins start to open his mouth again, she intervened "Mr. Collins, I assure you there is nothing improper in my walks. My father has allowed them for several years as long I walk alone and keep to familiar ground. As you see, I only met Mr. Darcy long enough to give him a sling for his injured arm, and I would be glad to walk back to Charlotte with you."
Mr. Collins favored Elizabeth with a patronizing smile and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. "My dear Elizabeth. Your father, while an excellent man –"
"Mr. Collins!" Darcy burst out, knowing that an insult to Elizabeth's favorite parent was next. He suddenly knew what to say as if it was inspiration from above. He assumed his Master of Pemberley posture and mimicked the formal ostentatiousness of Mr. Collins' speech in his own booming voice. "It is customary for the houses of Darcy and de Bourgh to be generous to those who have served us. As thanks for Miss Bennet's act of service, I would like to bestow upon her the indissoluble right to walk alone on any Rosings land. It is a fitting gift since I would not have received her assistance otherwise."
While Mr. Collins' eyebrows disappeared under his front hair as he stammered his thanks, Elizabeth turned and looked at Darcy. She met his eyes and gazed into them for a second as if pondering something in them, and then smiled at him. It was a different smile than he had seen in the past – those smiles had mostly arisen from her joy at folly and absurdities. This was a gentle smile of appreciation, the first one he had ever received from her. It both hurt and warmed his heart to realize that guaranteeing her private walks was the first true act of kindness he had ever performed for Elizabeth. Then her smile turned into a grin and she rose (on tiptoe, to be even more absurd) to respond.
"My dear sir, I most humbly accept your gift. I shall treat the lands of de Bourgh as if they were my own, and guard them with my very life."
At the same moment it occurred to both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth to bow and curtsey, respectively, in the most pompous ways they could possibly imagine. Darcy bent far over one arm across his waist while flinging his other arm theatrically into the air. Elizabeth sank almost to the ground as if she were being presented at court, one palm against her chest while the other fluttered an imaginary fan. They straightened and looked at each other with barely repressed laughter, both amazed that Darcy was playacting in such a silly fashion. Mr. Collins looked back and forth between them unsure of what was happening. All he knew was that he could not reject a gift of Lady Catherine's nephew, as strange as the gift may be. Finally he stepped forward.
"Thank you Mr. Darcy! Your generosity is boundless, indeed it is. But I… I think I must escort my cousin back now. My wife has need of her."
"Of course Mr. Collins." Elizabeth smiled at him and gingerly took his arm. She turned back and gave Mr. Darcy one more gentle smile of thanks, and then walked away with her cousin.
Darcy stood there in the clearing for a few moments reliving the encounter in his head. The touch of her hand helping him up, the petticoat peeking through her dress, the bow and curtsey. When had he last thrown propriety to the winds and been free to be so silly! Not since he entered Cambridge, at least. Probably not since his mother died.
In that moment Darcy made up his mind. He would try again. He still didn't quite understand what had happened during his proposal, but he was not yet ready to give her up. Mentally planning how he could excuse his extended stay to Lady Catherine, he swung onto Bellerophon and rode back to the manor.
