Page 81 of Pride and Prejudice Resolutions

She held Georgiana's hands. "Listen to me. You are safe now. You have a brother who would move the heavens for you. You have the Colonel. You have your cousin Robert." She paused, then added, "And you have me. If you ever need to talk, or cry, or just sit with someone who is not a man, you have me. I am your friend, Georgiana. Always."

Georgiana squeezed her eyes shut, trying to prevent her tears from spilling over. "Thank you. I wanted you to know. Because Fitzwilliam thinks the world of you. And I wanted you to understand him."

"I think," Elizabeth said, her voice thick with emotion, "I am finally beginning to."

Georgiana drifted back to the group, wiping her eyes, leaving Elizabeth standing alone by an oak tree. Her mind was reeling. Wickham. Ramsgate. The summer.

It explained everything. Darcy's reserve. His suspicion of strangers. His hostility towards Wickham in Meryton.

"Miss Elizabeth?"

Mr Darcy was there. He had brushed the snow from his coat, but his cheeks were ruddy from the exertion. He seemed younger, freer. Then he saw her face.

"What is it?" he asked, his smile fading. "You look distressed."

"Georgiana spoke to me," Elizabeth said quietly.

He went very still. "About what?"

"About the summer. About Ramsgate."

He paled. He turned towards his sister, who was now helping Mrs Gardiner build a snowman. "She told you? Everything?"

"She told me about the man. She told me his name." Elizabeth's eyes searched his face with intensity. "Mr Darcy, it was Mr Wickham."

Darcy closed his eyes.

"He told me..." Elizabeth swallowed hard. "His story of woe was that you cheated him of his inheritance. He painted you as a monster, and I believed him. I am so sorry."

"You did not know," Mr Darcy said, opening his eyes. "He is a convincing liar. He deceived my father. He deceived my sister. It is no wonder he deceived you."

"But you," she pressed. "You knew he was spreading these lies, and you said nothing. You let the county think you were cruel."

"I could not expose him without exposing Georgiana," he shrugged. "Her reputation was my only concern. I would bear any insult to protect her."

Elizabeth felt a crack in her chest. This man. This proud, silent, difficult man. He had taken the blows to his character to save his sister from scandal.

"I am sorry, I must ask," Elizabeth continued. "You arrived in Hertfordshire only two months after it happened, is this correct?"

Mr Darcy averted his eyes, towards the frozen pond. "Yes. Miss Elizabeth, I was not in my right mind at the time. I was angry. I was suspicious of everyone. I looked at the world and saw only fortune hunters and deceit. When Bingley dragged me to that assembly... I did not want to be there. I did not want to know anyone."

He turned back to her. "And when he pointed you out, when he suggested I should dance, I had not even glanced at you before..."

"Before you called me 'tolerable'," she whispered.

He winced. "I said the first thing that came into my head to make him leave me alone. It was a lie, as I realised soon enough. It was the stupidest, most regretful lie of my life."

He took a step closer, invading her personal space, his eyes burning with intensity.

"You were never merely tolerable, Elizabeth. From the moment I set my eyes on you, I was lost. You were dangerous. You became vital."

He reached out, his hand hovering near her cheek, though he did not touch her.

"I regret that comment every day. And I wish to correct the record, here and now."

"Mr Darcy—"

"You are the handsomest woman of my acquaintance," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "You are the only woman I see. And if I was blind in Meryton, I assure you, I see you perfectly now."