Read To Conquer Mr. Darcy for Free Online Page A

Miss Bingley always claimed to have a close friendship with Miss Darcy.”
    He gave her an amused glance. “Do you believe everything that Miss Bingley says?”
    “Implicitly,” she said, looking up at him artlessly. “Doesn’t everyone?”
    Darcy laughed, delighted that Elizabeth was teasing him again. “Perhaps you should ask Georgiana about that. If she is feeling brave enough, she just might tell you what she thinks of Miss Bingley.”
    “I shall be fascinated, I am sure.” He should laugh more often, she thought. It quite changes his demeanor, and makes him look quite handsome. “I will look forward to discovering what sort of student of human nature Miss Darcy is. I somehow suspect that there is more to her than meets the eye.”
    “When she is comfortable enough to speak freely, she has a great deal to say, and, although I admit to a certain bias, I believe she does have some good insights.”
    “When does she feel comfortable enough to speak freely?”
    “More rarely than I would like, I confess; she has a rather short list of people she trusts—Colonel Fitzwilliam, her companion, our housekeeper at Pemberley, who practically raised her after our mother died, and one or two others. It is something of a worry.”
    Elizabeth had not meant to open up a delicate topic, and sought a way to change the subject, not realizing that Darcy, who had great hopes for her help in understanding his sister, was actually quite anxious to speak with her about his concerns about Georgiana. She took the opportunity to ask him about the health of his aunt and his two cousins whom she had met in Kent, which she was able to expand into an exposition of his extended family, but her patience and her ideas were nearly over by the time they approached Longbourn. With some relief, she said, “Well, Mr. Darcy, I thank you for your company, but I think it might be best for me to continue on by myself, as I do not particularly care to make explanations of your presence to my parents.”
    “By all means, let us not disconcert your parents,” he said with a slight air of teasing.
    She curtsied. “I will bid you good day, then.”
    “Until we meet again, Miss Bennet,” he said. Catching her eyes with a serious look, he took her hand and raised it to his lips.
    Elizabeth felt the shock of his touch linger even after he had departed. What have I done? she asked herself as she walked down the lane to Longbourn.
    * * *
    Elizabeth’s impatience to acquaint Jane with the events of the day was great, and she related to her that night the chief of the scenes between Mr. Darcy and herself. Jane was less than astonished by these revelations, having already surmised that Darcy’s presence at Netherfield suggested a continued partiality to her sister.
    “I simply do not know how to handle his forwardness, Jane,” exclaimed Elizabeth. “No sooner had I said that I could offer no more than friendship than he as much as said that he wanted more! Jane, what must I do to convince him that I do not wish for his addresses? Must I be as rude and unfeeling as I was at Hunsford?”
    “He should, indeed, have respected your request, and not said so much as to make you uncomfortable with his intentions. But consider his disappointment, Lizzy. Are you not grieved for his unhappiness, which must be great indeed for him to venture to re-open your acquaintance? He must be very violently in love with you.”
    “Since you consider his disappointment so touchingly, dearest Jane, I shall consider myself free from the need to think of it at all, since I know that you will do it such ample justice! If you lament over him much longer, my heart will be as light as a feather.”
    “Oh, Lizzy, pray be serious. Does it truly mean nothing to you that he has altered his behavior so strikingly? That he has acknowledged his errors in the manner of his previous proposal? It is not every man who would be willing to do so much.”
    “I did the same in apologizing for my