"What are you saying?" demanded a suddenly alert Bingley.
"When we returned from Hertfordshire," said Darcy, "I told you that I thad not discerned any symptoms of peculiar regard in Miss Bennet and that I believed her sentiments were not engaged. I am here today to tell you that I was quite wrong. I have learned from Miss Elizabeth that her sister did indeed hold you in affection. I deeply regret my interference, Charles. I was utterly and completely mistaken, and should not have thought myself better placed to discern Miss Bennet's feelings than you, who had spent so much more time in her company."
He spent some time elaborating the extent of his regret, but Bingley had stopped listening the moment he heard that Jane Bennet had been attached to him after all. "But so much time has passed!" he cried in distress. "And I left without even taking my leave! She must think me the lowest sort of cad! Dear God!"
"There is still hope, Bingley. Elizabeth believes Miss Bennet would welcome your return to the neighbourhood, although you would of course have to apologise for the nature of your departure from the neighbourhood."
Bingley's eyes lit up in hope, and he said, "I must leave for Netherfield this afternoon. I shall send a note immediately to tell them to prepare the house, but even if it is not ready for visitors, I will not delay. At least I made sure Caroline sent Miss Bennet a letter when we left, so she was not completely abandoned without word of our departure."
Darcy coughed uncomfortably, admitting that there was yet more to tell. "I would not put too much reliance on your sister having sent a kindly note. You remember that she was more strongly opposed to the match than anyone else? I happen to know that Miss Bennet was staying in town this past spring, with Mr Gardiner in fact, and that she called on your sisters and they returned the visit. I understand they cut the acquaintance after that. Fool that I was, I thought it kinder not to tell you, when your sisters seemed determined to keep the news from you."
"You what?" exploded Bingley. "You knew she was in town and decided not to let me know? Who are you to decide what I need to know? Being wrong about Miss Bennet's feelings for me, I can forgive. You were right to advise me to caution, and you acted in the service of a friend, however ill-informed your advice might have been. I grieve for the lost time, and for the hurt that Miss Bennet must have experienced, but I cannot blame you for giving me your honest opinion. After all, you have always extolled honesty above all other virtues." The bitterness in Bingley's tone was clear. "But under what pretence of friendship could you lie to me? I remember like it was yesterday you sitting in the parlour at Netherfield, saying 'Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable'! You have always said that disguise of every sort was your abhorrence. By what imagined principle could you justify such deception to yourself? Had you no idea how heartbroken I have been? Are you made of ice, man? Do you think me an infant, that you need to shelter me from the truth? You lied to me, Darcy, and that I find hard to forgive."
"I did not precisely lie, Charles. I merely remained silent," Darcy muttered defensively.
"Don't give me that!" his friend cried. "You connived with my sisters to keep me in ignorance of information you knew would be of the greatest interest to me. It was a lie to carry on as though Miss Bennet had not come calling at my house. Had you no idea how heartbroken I have been? How much I have longed to see her? Are you made of ice, man? Do you think me an infant, that you need to shelter me from the truth?"
Mr Gardiner was pleased to see such evidence of Bingley's continued attachment to Jane, and of his willingness to stand up to his imposing friend. Darcy was less pleased to be hauled over the coals by an angry Bingley, but he acknowledged the justice of it. "You are correct, of course. I should never have interfered, not allowed your sisters to embroil me in their scheme. I am deeply ashamed of my actions, and can only hope that in time you might come to think of me as a friend again. You have my complete and unqualified apology.
"But I must tell you that I have some idea of what you have suffered. I know what it feels like to think you have lost the only woman you might ever love. By God's grace, I have been given a second chance, and so have you. If you still love her, then do not rest until you have discovered for yourself if Miss Bennet's heart is still yours. But do not trust your sisters in this: secure your lady first, and then tell them the news. That will be soon enough to find out if they can reconcile themselves to the match."
"I thank you for your advice, Darcy, but this time I will decide for myself how to act. I will return to Hertfordshire, and I will pursue Miss Bennet's affections, but how I deal with my sisters is a matter for me. I believe I know them best, and can manage my own family."
Darcy bowed his head in acknowledgement. "So be it," he said. "I will happily leave your family to you, and simply say that it would please me greatly if we were to become brothers."
This calmed Bingley's ire, as he contemplated the idea. "Then let us to it, man," he said, with a semblance of his former ebullience showing through.
He turned to Mr Gardiner and politely thanked him for lending his presence to the conversation. "I presume you are standing in for Mr Bennet," he added, unaware that, behind him, Darcy's eyes bulged at the remark.
Mr Gardiner kept better regulation of his features, and calmly replied, "Mr Bennet is even now at my house in Cheapside should you wish to consult him, but my advice is to make for Longbourn with all haste: when you have parted from a lady without taking your leave, there can be no reason for delay in returning to her side. There will be plenty of opportunity to speak to her father once you are sure she can forgive you your past conduct, sir, as Mr Bennet will return home within the week."
At this point Darcy begged use of the desk to pen a brief note of his engagement for the paper, and this was speedily written, sanded, sealed and dispatched with one of Bingley's men for immediate delivery, before the three men, each reconciled to the others' presence in their families in the future, returned to the parlour to find the ladies engaged in polite, if rather stilted, conversation about a ball Caroline Bingley had attended the month before.
Leading the gentlemen back into the parlour, Bingley cast one hard look at his sister before focussing his attention on Mr and Mrs Gardiner, falling into easy conversation about their recent holiday in Derbyshire.
Darcy crossed the room to stand beside Elizabeth's chair. He indulged in the great pleasure of resting a hand on her shoulder, while he asked, "Have you told Miss Bingley our good news, my dear?"
"I have, William," she answered. "In all the land, she was the first to know!" She raised her own hand to rest on his, and Miss Bingley managed to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at their open display of affection.
She seized the opportunity to extend her congratulations again, setting her personal mortification aside to indulge in later. She thought it advisable to retain the right of visiting at Pemberley and claiming the acquaintance of a family of the first circles, so she dropped all outward signs of resentment and paid the new couple every civility it was within her power to bestow. Elizabeth was not deceived into thinking that the lady forgave her for stealing such a great prize from out of her grasp, but she was magnanimous enough not to comment on Caroline's changed conduct towards her, and firmly reminded herself that if Bingley and Jane were reunited, there was every chance that Caroline Bingley would soon be her sister. So she bit her tongue and returned Miss Bingely's civilities in kind.
Darcy watched the interplay between Elizabeth and Miss Bingley with some relief. He was still uneasy about whether his relationship with Bingley could ever be what it was before. Much depended, he knew, on the reaction of Miss Bennet to his friend's return, but Miss Bingley could also play an important part in influencing her brother's attitudes. To know that she had decided on a reconciliation with Elizabeth rather than a campaign of resentment eased his mind considerably. He decided to give her some small compensation for her loss: "Soon we will be the talk of many parlours, I am afraid," he said, assuming a sombre mien. "The announcement will be in tomorrow's Times."
Miss Bingley perked up at this news. Perhaps some good could come of this after all. She might have failed to secure the hand of Mr Darcy, but she did have a very interesting on dit a full day before anyone else. She quickly sketched a plan for visiting as many acquaintances as possible during the afternoon. Unfortunately the polite hour for visiting was over, but she would find excuses. Having such advance knowledge of the engagement of Mr Darcy would prove her intimacy with the Darcy family, an intimacy she was determined to maintain and to benefit from.
With the minds of everyone in the room distracted by a desire to get on with other business, it was not long before the visit concluded, and each went their own way: Bingley reaffirmed his plan to return to Netherfield Park that very afternoon. Caroline begged off the journey, promising to join him in a few days, but saying she could not possibly be ready in time to accompany him today. Bingley was just as pleased to travel alone - being shut in a carriage with Caroline after learning of her part in deceiving him was not the way he wanted to prepare himself to meet Jane Bennet again. As soon as their guests were out the front door, Bingley began commanding his staff to organise his trunks and prepare the carriage. Caroline retired to her rooms to dress for a round of social calls.
Outside, the Gardiner's coach set off at a brisk pace. The older couple were eager to return to their children and business, while Elizabeth and Darcy could no longer delay the inevitable confrontation with Mr Bennet.
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