Darcy first went to the parsonage, but Mrs. Collins's maid informed him that Elizabeth had left for a walk. Hoping Elizabeth would be there, he set off towards the grove they met in.

She was there.

Elizabeth stood in the sunlight smiling at the pretty purple blossoms of some wildflowers. Her bonnet was held in one hand, and the sun glinted off her dark hair. She wore it in a pretty chignon. Her dress was a light sprigged muslin, and for warmth she had a small red jacket.

Elizabeth heard Darcy approach, and she turned to look at him. There was something different in his eye. Her heart leapt. She felt an inkling of hope that maybe he'd gained his uncle's approval for a match between them. "You surprised me, I expected you to be closeted with your uncle and aunt for some hours discussing this terribly important family business."

Darcy studied her intently and took her hand.

"What is it? Am I to meet your uncle?"

"They demanded I marry Anne; Lady Catherine believes my situation now is acceptable."

Elizabeth's stomach seized. Her heart stopped and the whole world froze as she stared numbly into his eyes. She did not breathe.

Darcy saw her face go completely white and still. "Of course I said no — Elizabeth, I love you. I told him that I have already found the woman I shall marry, and —"

Darcy knelt. "Dearest, loveliest Elizabeth. Will you —"

"Your uncle — what did he say. Did he approve — or will he force you to sell your lands?"

Darcy grimaced, and he opened his mouth to reply.

Elizabeth spoke first, "He does not approve. Mr. Darcy, while I am conscious of the great honor you do me, I must —"

"It doesn't matter — one of my neighbors wishes to buy a large piece of land. I shall get a good price — we can be happy with a smaller estate. Beloved Elizabeth, will you—"

"No, no, no. I will not be selfish. Not again. You will do your duty — your estate: it is what matters most to you. What you have always loved most. I can't marry you." Elizabeth pulled her hand away from Darcy. "Fitzwilliam, you must marry Anne."

Darcy still knelt, his hands pleadingly reaching out towards Elizabeth. "I love you most. I shall not marry Anne; you know I shall not. It would stab my own heart. I cannot. It does not matter if you refuse me. My heart will always be yours."

Elizabeth began to cry. "Passion has overcome your reason and judgment. I will not be party to it — I will not. I know what happens when a marriage is established in a moment of passion. I see it daily with my parents. Right now you speak so, but… you'll despise what it cost you."

"I could never despise you."

"You would despise yourself. It would kill me to see. I can handle anything but that."

"I shall not. My soul cannot change. You love me. It is your happiness not just mine at stake."

"Do not say that —I do not need you to be happy. I will weep to see you marry Anne, but though I am a woman, and though my feelings are strong, I will not remain unhappy. I will remember you always, but I shall laugh and love again. What would make me unhappy forever is if I hurt you."

"You hurt me by this obstinacy. I would never be unhappy with you. I tell you again. I no longer care that I shall sell part of my estate. It is not a matter I shall regret. Elizabeth, loveliest Elizabeth, I beg you to listen. You are my choice. My only choice."

"You are not speaking as a rational being. You told me once you would not let passion control you. Be that man again. Do what you must."

"Elizabeth —"

"You hate that you have abandoned your duty — I am still a mistake. Can you honestly tell me that you feel no guilt for pursuing me? That you truly want to marry me?"

"I am incomplete without you."

Why couldn't he remember that he cared more about Pemberley than her? "I don't love you. Not anymore. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you."

Darcy stood and looked skeptically at her. "You must do better than that if you wish to drive me off. You are not a good liar."

Elizabeth sobbed. "I don't want to marry you — you know why — you are just like your father. You have no control over yourself. I cannot trust a man who will break every vow he made to himself. You'll be taken by another selfish passion, and then you will ruin everything and destroy your family. I will not marry a man like that."

The birds chirped in the wind rustled the leaves.

She couldn't look at him.

Oh, Lord. How had she said that? He'd defined his entire life as a struggle to be better than his father.

"Just… just marry Anne."

Elizabeth fled the grove, and Darcy did not call after her.

MDVMDVMDV

Despite visiting Rosings Park every other year for decades, Lord Matlock had never been inside the parsonage. It was a tidy house, with a pretty rose garden in the front that was well cared for. The parlor was snugly furnished with a white sofa and a pretty table in the center. There was a small clock above the mantelpiece.

The parson's wife, Mrs. Collins, was a sensibly dressed, though unattractive, woman of about thirty. She curtsied deferentially. "Your Lordship, this is a great honor. To what —"

"Do not be coy — where is Miss Bennet! Where is that scheming creature you took under your roof? Mrs. Collins, I am most severely disappointed in your choice of friends. Severely disappointed." To punctuate her disappointment Lady Catherine pounded her cane against the floor repeatedly.

Mrs. Collins kept an admirable control over her face and replied pleasantly, "I'm afraid Miss Bennet is out on a walk. She's been gone for well past an hour now and likely will return soon — usually she is not out so long as she already has been. Do you wish to sit while you wait? Is there any refreshment you might like?"

Lord Matlock smiled genially and settled onto the white sofa. "A cup of tea would be wonderful."

Cathy pounded her cane a few more times on the rug. Matlock winced. That definitely left a bald patch. This was why he preferred to meet his sister in her house. Poor Mrs. Collins.

"I shall not sit," Lady Catherine proclaimed. "You deserve no such compliment any longer. Not while you keep such a betrayer of friendship under your roof."

"Why, whatever did Lizzy do?"

"She has used her arts and allurements to seduce my nephew and draw him away from his duty towards Anne."

"Anne? But, you said Mr. Darcy was not worthy of your daughter?"

"He did not reveal his finances to me. His situation has improved far enough that I will allow the match to continue. And that adventuress you've invited under your roof plans to steal him from Anne."

Mrs. Collins face became stiff. "I assure you my friend has little concern in his fortune. There has been a … connection betwixt them of some months standing. Since Mr. Darcy visited his friend Mr. Bingley at Netherfield. The report in our neighborhood had been that he was on the edge of bankruptcy."

"Of some months standing?" Lady Catherine banged the floor again. "That does not excuse your friend. Darcy has been destined for my daughter since they were both in their cradles. Now what have you to say?"

Mrs. Collins paused with her mouth half open. At last she said, "Of course, madam. An arrangement made when they were in their cradles predates Miss Bennet's claim on Mr. Darcy." She curtsied to Lord Matlock, "I shall have the tea prepared for you immediately."

The two were silent after Mrs. Collins left the room. Matlock decided he liked Mrs. Collins. There certainly was a well-hidden sarcasm in her response. Cathy continued to stand, leaning with both hands on her cane.

Matlock tapped his hand against the armrest. Miss Bennet must have been met by Darcy on the way. Likely Darcy had already made her an offer. It would be a matter of greater difficulty to break up a positive engagement.

Cathy continued to scowl.

Matlock said, "Oh, sit down. Your bad knee will not like it if you stand there like a statue for more than ten minutes. You are already irritable enough."

"I will not compliment this house. Not while that vile, scheming, wanton adventuress lives under its roof."

Mrs. Collins returned with a tea set and, after frowning at her husband's patroness, set it on the table and poured Lord Matlock a cup. "How do you take it?"

"Just the tea, no sugar, no cream — thank you."

Matlock sipped the tea; it was well brewed and fragrant. Mrs. Collins stood awkwardly, obviously unsure what to do. She glanced between Matlock and Lady Catherine.

"Sit down, Mrs. Collins. It feels deuced awkward to be seated while two gentlewomen are standing. I am too old to stand about like a post because my sister is in an awful pet. Tell me about Miss Bennet. What sort of girl is she?"

Mrs. Collins did sit down, glancing cautiously at Lady Catherine who sniffed dismissively. "Well… I've known Lizzy for my entire life, and we have been particular friends since she was fifteen."

"No longer!" Lady Catherine stabbed the air with her cane. "I demand you cut off the relationship entirely."

"Madam, I will not. I know my husband owes you a great deal, and in every other matter I shall defer to your wishes, but not in this case."

Lady Catherine's face reddened, but before she replied, the front door to the house was opened and then the parlor. The young lady who entered could only be Darcy's Miss Bennet. Her shoulders slumped dejectedly, and she had red eyes. She'd been crying and hadn't wiped her wet cheeks.

What on earth had happened? Matlock knew Darcy too well to believe he had come to his senses. Even if they convinced Miss Bennet to refuse him, it would likely be at least a sixmonth before he could talk Darcy into marrying Anne.

When Darcy got an idea in his head, he was like a careening carriage. Nothing could stop him.

Miss Bennet's obvious unhappiness made Matlock feel a swell of goodwill and sympathy for her.

Cathy, of course, needed to shout. "Miss Bennet! You have seduced my nephew! What have you to say for yourself?"

Damn her. Was Cathy really so fat-witted that she could not see that the girl was near tears?

When Miss Bennet said nothing, Cathy repeated, "Have you nothing to say for yourself?"

"Nothing."

The flatness in Miss Bennet's voice pulled at Matlock's heart. He was not an unfeeling man.

"Cathy, that is quite enough. There is no need for you to shout at her."

"No! I'm not some foolish man to be taken in by a pretty face. I will have my say! I will not leave until I have been given satisfaction." Cathy turned to Miss Bennet with a superior sneer. "You are the most selfish and unfeeling girl I've ever had the misfortune to meet."

"How dare you insult me so!" The young lady's manner shifted in an instant. Till then she had stood with slumped shoulders and a depressed acceptance of every insult.

She thrust her nose into Cathy's face. Lady Catherine recoiled at the violence in Miss Bennet's manner.

"How dare you! I am not unfeeling! I swear I feel full better than you ever have. Don't you dare claim I care nothing for Mr. Darcy. You, you are the most selfish, vile, evil woman I have ever met. You hurt, hurt, hurt everyone around you. You have destroyed your daughter's life, by your vicious demands for her to follow your idiotic notions of good breeding! I swear, you have never had an unselfish thought for another human being in your life."

Matlock's eyes were wide as saucers. That was impressive — what a woman!

Miss Bennet turned to walk towards the door again. Cathy blocked her way to the exit with the cane. "You. You, you… I am not accustomed to being treated in such a manner, Miss Bennet. That was most uncivil. You shall apologize."

Uncivil? That was the best reply Cathy could find? She was certainly not used to being gainsaid.

"You deserve such treatment. I am not frightened of your rank and consequence. I have no need for your good opinion, and your ill opinion will harm me none. I've already lost what I cared to have most, and… and, nothing you can do will —"

Miss Bennet clapped her hand over her mouth and pinched herself as tears began to fall. She slowly pushed past Cathy's cane. So Darcy had told her they could not marry.

Poor girl, she was devastated.

Matlock wanted to do the pretty girl some service. He stood and called out to her, "Miss Bennet, I am terribly grieved that you have been hurt — I wish it did not need to be this way — but surely you must see it was for the best that Darcy ended your connection. If you really care for him, you should be pleased that he will marry so well."

"Is that what you think happened?" She turned her brilliant flaming eyes on him. There was something dangerous in her expression. "You think Darcy changed his mind? He did not. He asked me to marry him. I told him again and again we could not. I begged him to marry Anne, because it is what he must do to — to protect the estate he's always loved. I begged him, and then I said the most vile thing I could think of to hurt him, so that he might be free from the damned passion he feels towards me. Likely he hates me now. I do not know if he will marry that poor girl. I have done my best."

Matlock wanted to smack his forehead. Of course Darcy hadn't changed his mind about the girl. He had been as nitwitted as Cathy to imagine it.

Angry tears leaked from Miss Bennet's eyes, and she waved a finger in Matlock's face. "You. You care nothing for him either. Your nephew is the best, most honorable, most upright, strongest minded man in England. And despite bonds of affection and blood, you force him to marry against his will to satisfy your greed."

"I care greatly for Darcy — do not claim I don't! Calm yourself, Miss Bennet, you are distraught and speaking nonsense."

Her eyes blazed and they were very pretty. "I shall not calm. You will not frighten me — not though you are an earl. I care not a whit for your consequence or title. The goodness of a man's character matters most."

Matlock tried to speak, but Miss Bennet did not allow him, "Have you heard how your nephew speaks of you? Have you? Fitzwilliam looks up to you. He said you were like a second father to him. He told me how you taught him and helped him after his father's death. He loves you, not just as a blood relative, but as a dear friend and mentor. And you — you threatened to withdraw your support of him so that he would behave as you wished in such a private and important matter. How could you?"

She sneered through her tears. "I am ashamed for you. Ashamed. Your sister I can understand, as she lacks all human feeling, but from your nephew's report I had expected better of you. I am done with you both." She said to Lady Catherine, "You need not bother to throw me out of your lands. I shall be gone with the afternoon post."

Miss Bennet marched out of the room.

Matlock let his breath out with an explosive gust. Damn, what a woman! She was right. He never should have threatened Darcy. He also never should have compared him to his father. Matlock whistled and shook his head; he grinned widely.

Lady Catherine exploded, "I have never been treated in such a manner in my life — Mrs. Collins, you shall cut off all contact with that horrid, horrid girl. Do you understand me?"

"Now, Cathy, do not be ridiculous — no, be silent. For once be silent. Mrs. Collins, my apologies for the disruption of your day, and I am certain you wish to attend your friend. If my sister attempts to harm you or your husband in any way over this matter, please contact me, and I will make sure you do not suffer in any material sense."

Lady Catherine smashed her cane against the floor. "What are you about? That girl —"

"That girl shall soon be related to you. For if Darcy is blockheaded enough to give up such a woman, I'll make a play for her myself."

"What!"

The screech in Cathy's voice amused Matlock. "I do miss her still, but Emma has been dead these three years and Miss Bennet — what a woman." He smiled at his sister's horrified expression. "I've not been yelled at that way since Mother died — and her rebuke was fully deserved. Darcy is a lucky man, a lucky man. His life shall never be boring."

It was a pity Miss Bennet had no money, but Darcy would have been barely human if he let that consideration stop him. Matlock would have made the same choice as his nephew. There were things which mattered more than money and land. What a woman!

Lady Catherine sneered. "Men. You are all alike. Easily taken in by a pretty face and manner. To think that a girl of that sort may one day take the place which Lady Anne Fitzwilliam held! Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted? You cannot approve of her — you have no proper sense of your status; she showed the most severe disrespect."

Matlock laughed. His sister had very definite ideas about things. He grabbed Cathy by the arm and pulled her out of the parsonage, "It was not her pretty manner which took me in. Quite the opposite. When you are through with your anger, we ought to settle upon some new plan, one which actually can be carried through, for settling Anne. It is past time she married."