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Darcy walked slowly down the stairs into the main hall and handed the waiting butler three letters: one to his personal physician, one to his cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, and the last to his man of business. He had stayed up late the night before, contemplating the best way to pull the fangs of the miscreant George Wickham, and had decided that discussing the matter with his cousin was the first step. Colonel Fitzwilliam was joined with Darcy in the guardianship of Georgiana, and thus was one of the few people aware of what had occurred at Ramsgate.

After writing his letters, he had fallen asleep, only waking when the sun was already high in the sky. He felt groggy and out of sorts but pleased with his decision to move against Wickham before he could harm another woman.

He walked into the dining room in search of sustenance, but paused when he spied Miss Bingley who was clearly waiting for him.

“Mr. Darcy! Are you quite well, sir?”

“Yes, Miss Bingley,” he replied warily, “I am well indeed.”

“You rose so late!” the lady fluttered. “I was concerned that you had taken ill! But I have it now; you remained upstairs to avoid interacting with our uncouth neighbors. I do not blame you, sir.”

Darcy poured himself some coffee, “The Bennets are here then, Miss Bingley? I wonder that you are not with them since you are your brother’s hostess.”

Miss Bingley’s admittedly pretty face took on an unattractive scowl. “My brother is busy making sheep’s eyes at Miss Bennet in the drawing room with that tedious Miss Mary as chaperone, and Mr. Bennet and Miss Eliza are with Mr. Collins in the library. I trust you do not require that I be in the company of the rector after he called me a pig!”

“I see that still rankles, Miss Bingley,” Mr. Darcy replied gravely, selecting a scone and seating himself. “My offer to take Mr. Collins away still stands, of course. I would not wish for you to be distressed in your home.”

“No, of course not!” Miss Bingley replied immediately. “No, I merely choose not to be in Mr. Collins’s company if it is not necessary. I do not wish for you to leave, Mr. Darcy. You are quite one of the family.”

Darcy’s lips compressed at this but he merely nodded. “Thank you.”

He ate and drank quickly as Miss Bingley rattled on about her dislike of the neighborhood in general and the Bennets in particular, and then rose and bowed to her before striding rapidly out of the dining room and toward the library. Mr. Collins had also been awake late into the night; he did hope the clergyman was not foolishly exhausting himself.

“You might die at any time, Cousin Bennet,” Mr. Collins was saying as Darcy walked into the room. “Your carriage might crash, or your heart might fail. A sickness could sweep the neighborhood. We are all but a few moments from death, after all.”

Darcy halted in astonishment, both at the words and the scene. Miss Elizabeth was seated on a chair next to the couch and her father, Mr. Bennet, was on another chair next to the fire. Mr. Collins was lying on the couch with a towel across his face.

“Good morning, Mr. Darcy,” Mr. Bennet said, rising to his feet. Darcy was relieved to see that the man wore an expression of amusement. Darcy tried and failed to imagine Lady Catherine’s response if Collins laid out all the ways she could die suddenly.

“Mr. Bennet, Miss Elizabeth,” Darcy said with a slight bow. “Mr. Collins, are you well?”

“My head aches ferociously,” the man explained, not moving from his recumbent position. “As you know, I was awake late into the night reading about estate management.”

“Ought you not to return to your bed, sir?” Darcy inquired worriedly. He knew nothing of head injuries, but surely the patient required adequate rest.

Collins waved a languid hand, “I slept a few hours, Mr. Darcy, and am quite unable to sleep now. When I lie down with a wet towel on my forehead, the pain is minimal. Besides, I must learn from my cousin Bennet about the estate so that I can be a good master. He might die at any time after all.”

Miss Elizabeth, to Darcy’s relief, also seemed amused at this statement, “Well, Mr. Collins, given the truth of that, what would you like to know of first?”

Collins considered this for a minute, “Perhaps it would be helpful to learn of the problem tenants? Are there any?”

Mr. Bennet leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankles as he gestured for Darcy to take a seat across from Elizabeth.

“We are fortunate to have a group of excellent tenants with a few rare exceptions. I cannot think of anyone who is truly difficult.”

“I can,” Miss Elizabeth chimed in with a grimace. “Mr. Nott.”

Bennet heaved a great sigh, “Ah yes, you are quite right, Lizzy. Mr. Nott is definitely a problem tenant.”

“Why?” Darcy asked.

Miss Elizabeth huffed, “He looks the part of an excellent farmer, Mr. Darcy. He is tall and strong, and whenever he knows we are to visit, he is active around the house or farm. But he is a lazy man underneath it all, and his fields suffer.”

“ If any would not work, neither should he eat . 2 Thessalonians 3:10,” Mr. Collins proclaimed.

“If he were the only one suffering, I would agree with you, Mr. Collins,” Elizabeth replied with vigor. “Regrettably, he is married and has four small children. His wife is a good woman and does what she can, but she cannot force the man to work the fields appropriately if he refuses to do so. He is not an unpleasant man, Mr. Nott, but he is all too willing to depend on Longbourn benevolence because we will not let his wife and children starve.”

Darcy shook his head, “We have had similar struggles at Pemberley. No one wishes for the children to suffer, though some suffering is sadly inevitable when a father will not carry his proper load.”

“The man is entirely capable of working hard,” Mr. Bennet mused, “He is a vigorous and healthy individual; I have some tenants who are older and have physical challenges, and in those cases I can understand when the job is done less well. It is quite frustrating because as Elizabeth said, he puts on a good show to the outsider.”

“ The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart ,” Mr. Collins quoted.

Elizabeth gazed thoughtfully on the man, “That is from the Bible, is it not, Mr. Collins? What is the context?”

The clergyman made as if to sit up, groaned and lay back down. “I must remain supine. I hope you do not mind, Cousin Elizabeth, if I continue to speak while in a rather undignified position.”

“Not at all.”

“When the Lord ordered the prophet Samuel to anoint a new king of Israel to replace King Saul, Samuel was sent to Jesse of Bethlehem with the knowledge that one of Jesse’s sons would be king. Samuel immediately fixed upon Eliab, Jesse’s eldest son, as the man to be anointed because he was tall and handsome. But it was not Eliab or any of the next six brothers who were chosen, but the youngest, David, who was a shepherd. For all that David failed in many ways during his long life, he was a man after God’s own heart, and clung to the Lord until his death.”

Elizabeth shifted her gaze from Mr. Collins to Mr. Darcy who was, to her considerable surprise, staring back at her. She blushed slightly at his regard even as her mind whirled busily.

Had she not fallen into the trap of looking at the outward appearance where Mr. Wickham was concerned? He was handsome, with gentle speech and manners, but he truly lacked substance. His conversation was of flighty things; he was not a deep thinker, and he was not a hard worker. He had denigrated his godfather’s son even as he protested that he would not defame the elder Mr. Darcy’s memory.

Mr. Darcy, in turn, also found himself thinking hard. He had insisted to Bingley again and again that Jane Bennet did not love him. But what did he know? Miss Bennet showed by her actions and demeanor that she was a gracious and gentle woman. How could he pretend to understand what was going on in her heart?

Mr. Bennet regarded the young man and woman with amusement. He had noted that Mr. Darcy watched his daughter Elizabeth quite frequently. He also knew that Elizabeth had previously thought very poorly of the Master of Pemberley. Bennet had been indifferent to the man when they first met, but he was inclined to respect Darcy now; he was obviously a well-read man with great concern for his people and estate.

Mr. Collins, too, continued to be an incredible surprise with his insight, learning and desire to eventually be a good master at Longbourn. Bennet hoped it would be many years before he passed on, but it appeared he would leave his estate in good hands.