Notes: There are still a few chapters left until Darcy and Elizabeth meet again.

PPP

A few days after his meeting with Margareth, Darcy was looking thoughtfully out of his office window, wondering what he should do. Margareth's sad story was latent in his memory.

Until that moment, he had never thought about the possibility that Lady Maria had been forced to marry him by her father. Nor had he considered the possibility that Elizabeth might be in a precarious situation, although Charlotte Collins had assured him that she had at least £3,000. Unfortunately, Richard was not in London, but as soon as he saw him he was going to ask him about Colonel Barton.

Three days later, to his surprise, his housekeeper told him that a woman named Margareth Smith wanted to see him. He ushered her into his office, and without preamble, Margareth said, "Mr. Darcy, I imagine you are surprised that I dared to come here, but I have a proposition for you. "

Darcy nodded and Margareth continued talking, "I need £10 to pay the annual lease on my house, and after much thought, I came to the conclusion that I would like to be your mistress in exchange for you paying my bills, my daughter's treatment and an extra £100 a year for my daughter's dowry."

Darcy looked at her in surprise, and after hesitating, replied, "Margareth, I am willing to give you the £10 you need, but I do not want anything in return."

"Mr. Darcy, I do not want to accept money for nothing, and I am sure we would both benefit greatly from this arrangement."

"Margareth, to be honest, you are a beautiful woman, and you are an excellent lover." He took a deep breath. "I want to help you and like I told you I will give you £10, but I am not looking for a mistress."

"Mr. Darcy, if you consider me beautiful and an excellent lover, I don't understand why you do not want to be intimate with me again. You are not married and I thought you enjoyed our encounter as much as I did."

Darcy nodded; he was not going to deny her that it had been a pleasant experience and he had even felt a greater connection with her than with Lady Maria, "As I told you, you are an excellent lover and I enjoyed our night together, but I am not looking for a mistress."

She looked into his eyes, "Mr. Darcy, of the four men I have been intimate with - apart from my husband - you are the only one who treated me with respect. Also, I find you a very attractive man and I know you will treat me well, and I will be able to save money for my daughter." She paused, "We can try for a month, and if you are not happy with me, I promise I will never bother you again."

Darcy hesitated, "I don't know..."

They talked for a few more minutes as Darcy had a meeting with his solicitor. When she was leaving, he promised that he would think about it and in three days he would give her an answer.

PPP

That afternoon he was going to see her, and he still had no response to her proposal. If he did not accept, surely at some point she would return to Madame Dupree's establishment, and he knew some gentlemen did not treat courtesans well and her chances of marriage would be slim. But on the other hand, if he accepted her proposal, he felt that he was taking advantage since she was in a vulnerable situation. Neither of the two options seemed acceptable to him, there was a third option to offer him, but he did not know if it would work since it did not depend on him.

At times he felt lonely and wanted female company, but he was not going to remarry out of interest, and the sad thing was that the only woman he had loved in his 31 years was the only one who flatly rejected him. Since Darcy was a discreet man, he dressed in an old suit and asked his driver to drop him off five blocks from Margareth's modest house and to return in an hour.

Margareth was dressed in a neat, slightly low-cut gown, but it was clearly old. She was nervous and anxious, and he was not comfortable with the situation either. After talking for a few minutes of small talk, Margareth went straight to the point of the meeting,

"Mr. Darcy, have you thought about my proposal?"

"Yes, but before I give you a definitive answer, I would like to know what your plans are if I accept, and what you would do if I do not accept."

With conviction, she replied, "If you do not accept, I will return to Madame Dupree's establishment to be able to continue paying for my daughter's treatment. Although with the money you gave me, I paid the debts and a year's lease I want to save money, since I am aware I am 26 years old, and as the years go by my chances of getting a patron are getting slimmer. I know it is a risk I am taking if I return to the establishment, since some men are violent, and they do not treat women like me well." She took a deep breath, "If you accept my proposal, I will do everything I can so that you never regret it and I will be able to save money for my future and that of my daughter." She looked him in the eye, "I know, you have doubts and perhaps you think you are taking advantage of my situation..., but I am making you this proposal, and I am the one who will benefit the most from this arrangement."

They looked into each other's eyes in silence and finally, Darcy replied, "You are right, I do not feel comfortable with your proposal." He took a deep breath, "I have been thinking of other solutions, and the only one that came to my mind is that I have two tenants who are widowed, and have small children. They both want to remarry, they are honest men, and I am sure either of them would treat you with respect."

Margareth looked at him surprised, and for several seconds she did not know what to say. Finally, she lifted her dress and straddled Darcy and seductively said, "I would rather be your mistress, since that way I would have more independence and I also feel very attracted to you." She began to kiss him and with a great effort Darcy told her, "Margareth, stop. I would rather you be the wife of an honest man than be my mistress."

"Let me at least pay you for the 10 pounds you gave me and if after being intimate with me you still think you do not want to be my lover, I will give up completely."

With effort, Darcy shooked his head, "No, Margareth; you and your daughter deserve better."

Resigned, Margareth nodded, "All right I am not going to insist anymore, but how am I going to meet your tenants?"

"You probably know at least one of them, it is Mr. Carter, and the other one is Mr. Jenkins"

Margareth nodded, she knew Mr. Carter's sister, and she knew Mr. Carter was a good man. When his father died, he was only nineteen and he took care of the farm and his sister. He was a few years older than her, and he was a tall, serious, and intelligent man.

"I know Mr. Carter, and I know he is a good man. I do not remember Mr. Jenkins."

"He is also a good man; I will talk to Mr. Carter first and if he does not agree, I will talk to Mr. Jenkins… If one of them agrees, I will make arrangements for you and your daughter to travel to Lambton." He took a deep breath, "If none of them agree, I will send you a note."

Margareth nodded, though she did not hold out much hope that one of these men would want to marry her. She knew her reputation around Lambton was not the best since she had eloped with a soldier and lived with him for several months without marrying. Furthermore, her daughter was born a few weeks after they got married.