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“If you would like a more comprehensive tour of the grounds, I would be happy to oblige. Please wait here while I change and speak to my steward to ensure nothing requires my attention at once. Assuming there is not, we may set out and complete our tour before my guests arrive.” Darcy grinned and added: “There is no one better positioned than me to show you the most beautiful sights you can see on the estate.”

“That is a generous offer, indeed,” said Mr. Gardiner.

The man turned to his wife and niece, and seeing no objection—though Miss Bennet regarded him with an expression akin to wonder—he nodded his acceptance. “If it is not too much trouble, we would be happy to accept.”

“Excellent. Please excuse me, for I shall return the moment I can.”

With a bow, Darcy took himself away, leading the horse to a footman who was waiting nearby, entrusting the animal to his care.

Then, with one glance back at Miss Bennet, who he noted was watching him, Darcy entered the house and asked Mrs. Reynolds to send Granger to him posthaste.

As he hurried to his room, already pulling his coat from his shoulders, Darcy reflected on the excellent fortune that had led him to ride ahead of the party, allowing him to greet Miss Bennet and her family.

Had he remained with them, the Gardiners would have returned to Lambton before he arrived, leaving it little likely he would have learned of Miss Bennet’s coming at all.

Every hint of his previous indecision was now absent in favor of his new determination to learn all he could about her.

All the effort he had put into forgetting her after leaving Hertfordshire had all been for naught—that experience taught Darcy that it was nonsensical to deny himself this pleasure.

If he could persuade her, Darcy meant to provoke her good opinion and ensure she remained a part of his life forever.

“WELL, LIZZY. THIS IS a fine to do. If I were not assured of your honesty, I might wonder at your account of Mr. Darcy, who is not at all what you portrayed.”

“That is true,” said Mr. Gardiner, smiling at his wife. “How do you account for this contradiction?”

Elizabeth, who had watched Mr. Darcy until he disappeared into the house, shook her head.

“In truth, I cannot account for it myself. Though I would not wish to say too much when the gentleman has been so civil to us, I did not misrepresent Mr. Darcy’s behavior in the autumn.

The man who greeted us today does not resemble that man at all. ”

“Then how do you account for this contrast?”

After a little thought, Elizabeth said: “Mr. Bingley commented once about Mr. Darcy’s comfort when in his own home. Perhaps his return to Pemberley and his ease when here allows him to assume a more receptive demeanor.”

The way her relations regarded her, Elizabeth was certain they suspected she was not telling them all.

Despite their intuition, however, Elizabeth had no need to dissemble.

Mr. Darcy was what he was, and before meeting him that day, Elizabeth had never had a reason to question her perception.

For a time after the Bingley party’s departure, she had thought him complicit in Mr. Bingley’s failure to return to Hertfordshire, but with Jane’s disinclination to follow Mr. Bingley to London and her subsequent happy conclusion with Richard, she had not thought it necessary to consider the matter at all.

Were Elizabeth to define her feelings for the gentleman before coming to Pemberley that day, she could not say she would have viewed him with anything less than indifference.

“Can you speak to some examples of how he behaved in Meryton?”

Elizabeth knew from her aunt’s curiosity that she was not questioning Elizabeth’s perception. “I know you are aware of his slight upon our first meeting,” said Elizabeth.

“Ah, yes,” said Mr. Gardiner. “No lady likes a gentleman to refer to her as ‘tolerable but not handsome.’”

“No, I cannot suppose they do,” replied Elizabeth, though with a hint of irony. “There are several other instances that come readily to mind, such as how he sat by Mrs. Long for some time without saying a word, or his general incivility among my neighbors.”

For a moment, Elizabeth thought of speaking about Mr. Wickham, but she did not need to do so, for her aunt referenced the officer herself.

“What of the business with Mr. Wickham? The warmth with which you spoke of the man at Christmas now seems absent, and the housekeeper had little good to say of him.”

“Of Mr. Wickham, I know little, as I said to Mrs. Reynolds.” Elizabeth shook her head, intending to show her relations how little the mention of him affected her.

“As I recall, I can date Mr. Wickham’s interest in Mary King from the night of the Christmas party at Lucas Lodge.

From that point on, I had little attention to spare and spoke to him but rarely. ”

“Are those the words of a jilted lover?” Mr. Gardiner’s question, though asked with an air of teasing, contained a hint of seriousness underneath that Elizabeth could not ignore.

“Not at all, Uncle,” said she. “While I will own that I thought well of Mr. Wickham then, my interest in him was never so developed as to resent his attention to another. When it happened, I had known Mr. Wickham for a month. After Mr. Darcy left Meryton, Mr. Wickham seemed to find the company of other ladies agreeable.” Elizabeth shrugged.

“Were I enamored with him, I might have seethed with resentment, but the acquaintance was slight enough that I thought little of his defection.”

“Did not Mr. Wickham’s information predispose you against Mr. Darcy?”

With a shrug, Elizabeth thought back on those days.

“I will not claim it did not affect my perception of him, but my poor impression of Mr. Darcy was already well established by the time Mr. Wickham arrived. If Jane were still in a state of pining after Mr. Bingley, I can imagine I might dislike him. As Jane is happy, I do not need to disapprove of Mr. Darcy.”

“There is no reason, I suppose, to question Mr. Darcy about Mr. Wickham,” said Aunt Gardiner after considering it for a moment. “Mr. Wickham is no longer in Meryton, and you have no further contact with him.”

“There is not,” agreed Elizabeth. “Whatever the truth of his charges, they do not affect me—I have not considered them for some time after all.”

“Then you are disposed to return Mr. Darcy’s civility?”

Elizabeth smiled at her relations. “To resent Mr. Darcy is nonsensical, as I have said. Jane is happy, and I have no evidence about Mr. Darcy’s complicity in the business; even if I were inclined to learn more of it, there seems to be little purpose.”

“That is well, then,” said Uncle Gardiner, “for I liked the man very well. I cannot suppose that he suggests he show his property to every visitor who tours his house.”

Elizabeth laughed. “No, I cannot suppose it. Then again, I cannot suppose he is acquainted with every visitor either.”

Mr. Gardiner appeared satisfied, and he approached the lake, appearing interested in its depths, as he stood at the edge looking into the water.

As Elizabeth knew he favored fishing as a leisurely pursuit—though he rarely had the chance, living in London as he did—she imagined him using the opportunity to question Mr. Darcy on the subject when the opportunity arose.

Unlike her husband, however, Mrs. Gardiner had not finished speaking with Elizabeth.

“Tell me, Lizzy,” said she in a low voice designed to avoid her husband’s notice, “do you recall anything else of Mr. Darcy that would explain his present behavior?”

Though she thought it was a strange question, Elizabeth essayed to respond as best she could. “Nothing other than what I have already said. I have heard that he is more genial when he is in a place and with people with whom he feels more comfortable. Other than that, I can say nothing.”

Mrs. Gardiner regarded her, assessing if Elizabeth was any judge. “Was there no... symptom of regard on his part? Perhaps in a look or some understated action one might not take for such on first glance?”

“Aunt, I am uncertain of your meaning,” said Elizabeth.

“To own the truth, I hardly know what I wish to hear,” replied her aunt.

“It seems to me there is something more to Mr. Darcy’s sudden civility than returning to his home, but I cannot say what it is.

Can you not think of anything out of the ordinary, something you or one of your family or friends witnessed? ”

“Nothing comes to mind.”

To Elizabeth’s eyes, her aunt appeared more than a little skeptical.

“Then I must be more explicit, Lizzy. Given such reports as you have offered, the only thing I can think of that would provoke a man to put his best foot forward when he has been barely civil before is hidden admiration. If Lydia, for example, appeared before him, I cannot imagine he would be quite so eager to tour the park with her.”

“Nor would I suppose it,” said Elizabeth, not liking the direction of her aunt’s thoughts. “If Mr. Darcy did not see Lydia as a silly little flirt, it would surprise me to hear of it.”

“Then why has he offered you this civility?”

“If you suggest that Mr. Darcy admires me, remember that I was ‘not handsome enough to tempt him.’”

It was an excellent point to Elizabeth’s thinking, even more so because she had witnessed the gentleman’s behavior toward her, which had been argumentative and showed little admiration. Mrs. Gardiner did not see it that way, as proven by her next assertion.

“Lizzy, I was not there, and I cannot comment on the circumstances that led to his behavior. What I can say is that I can see nothing in his behavior now that suggests he tolerates you. On the contrary, he appeared no less than warm when he saw you. Unless I was mistaken, after he recovered from the shock of seeing you, your presence was welcome, indeed.”

“To that, I can add my testimony,” said Uncle Gardiner, proving he was not ignorant of their discussion. “The man is reticent to be certain, but he appeared most appreciative when he looked at you.”

“If you will pardon me,” said Elizabeth, “I believe you are both seeing that which is not there.”

“Perhaps we are,” confessed Mrs. Gardiner, “but I suspect we may be closer to the mark than you believe. Think, Lizzy—was there nothing that suggested he might have repented of his early estimation of you?”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to refute the very notion, but a sudden memory came to her, and she considered it. Her perceptive relations did not miss this, their looks demanding she further explain. Though she did not wish to capitulate, Elizabeth sighed.

“Charlotte commented not long after Mr. Darcy came to the neighborhood that he looked at me often. I acknowledged it, but I am certain that he was only looking at me to list my imperfections.”

“I am astonished to hear you say it, Lizzy,” said Mr. Gardiner, fixing her with amused disbelief, “for I would have expected to hear such nonsense from your youngest sisters. You are too sensible to suspect such silliness.”

“What do you mean?”

Mr. Gardiner assumed a patient expression, as if he were speaking to one of his children.

“Do you suppose I regarded any woman I found ill-favored to excess before I married your aunt? What man would do so? Would you watch a man you thought intolerable? By this estimation, I must suppose Mr. Collins was justified in offering for you, considering how often you stared at him.”

“When you put it that way,” muttered Elizabeth, “I suppose it makes sense.”

“Of course, it does,” replied Aunt Gardiner.

With affection, Mrs. Gardiner put an arm around her shoulders.

“Do not take our teasing to heart, Lizzy, for neither my husband nor I can say anything about the state of Mr. Darcy’s feelings.

As irrational as it might appear, however, I urge you to remain open to the possibility of Mr. Darcy’s interest. You are too sensible to hope without reason, and I cannot suppose you look on the gentleman with longing sufficient to induce disappointment if he does not prove himself. ”

“With that, you are correct,” managed Elizabeth.

“Then do not prejudice yourself against him,” said Aunt Gardiner.

“I shall do my best.”

To Elizabeth’s relief, her aunt and uncle did not scruple to continue to speak on the subject.

There was nothing to discuss at the moment, for they had only a few moments in the gentleman’s company to understand him.

While they might harbor certain suspicions about him, they could know nothing more than he revealed.

As they wandered about waiting for Mr. Darcy to reappear, Elizabeth considered the gentleman in the context of what she had discussed with her family.

The notion that Mr. Darcy might admire her was no less than preposterous, and Elizabeth would not acknowledge otherwise until the gentleman gave her a clear sign.

Whether such a sign would come that day or in the ensuing days, she did not know, though he had inquired after their coming itinerary.

Even if he did display his regard clearly, Elizabeth did not know how it could come to anything.

Mr. Darcy was not Mr. Collins. He would not make imaginary love to her sufficient to propose within a few days, and as Elizabeth was to leave with her relations to the lakes, she did not suppose he had enough time to make his intentions clear.

The gentleman was wealthy enough to visit Meryton whenever he put his mind to it, and there was the matter of Mr. Bingley, who still held the lease on Netherfield.

When that gentleman learned of Jane’s unavailability, he might reconsider returning to the place, even if seeing Elizabeth conceived in him a desire to do so.

Mr. Darcy might obtain permission to stay there for a time, but he knew her family; Elizabeth could not suppose he wished to conduct a courtship under her mother’s nose.

It was fortunate that the gentleman appeared before Elizabeth had long to consider such subjects, for she could imagine making herself cross at him.

Appear he did, and as he approached her, Elizabeth saw something of her aunt and uncle’s assertions.

As Elizabeth girded herself to meet him, she resolved to watch and wait, trying to determine what he was about.