Chapter 27
“I believe there is little point in hiding behind words any longer,” the colonel said to Mrs Cooper on the morning of the ball.
They found themselves alone in the rose garden, though not by chance. They had arranged the meeting in a manner both subtle and obvious when, at dinner the previous evening, the colonel had looked at her and remarked that the roses were at their finest before breakfast.
There was plain pleasure between them, though both still concealed themselves behind the story of Elizabeth and Darcy. Whatever they said was ostensibly about the latter pair.
Mrs Cooper inclined her head slightly in agreement.
“I believe this is the first truly happy development in their lives since Mr Bennet’s death.”
“And the fact that her sister will live at Longbourn is already a great relief.”
“Yes. Elizabeth explained it to me. It is not so much the prospect of returning there themselves. Rather, one anxiety has been removed. Four young women remain, and that alone is a comfort. Then there is the thought that their beloved home will not, at least for a time, be occupied by a stranger such as Mr Collins.”
“I am glad for her,” he said.
Mrs Cooper regarded him rather intently, for his countenance did not express gladness.
“Do not misunderstand me,” he added quickly. “I am genuinely pleased. It is only that it seems to me a moment has been lost…”
“I know what you mean. I do not think Elizabeth would have accepted a proposal now, regardless. It would have seemed too much like a solution to a crisis for someone as proud as she is.”
“Yes, Darcy thought much the same. Yet I hoped that a beautiful proposal, one concerned only with his love for her, might have altered her feelings, or deepened them. Miss Elizabeth feels at least admiration for him, if not affection. Such a proposal might have been a revelation.”
“Unfortunately, it might also have led to a second refusal. I believe he is afraid.”
“Without doubt,” the colonel admitted.
Darcy feared another refusal, and perhaps, being more thoughtful than the colonel, had recognised that this was not the moment for Elizabeth to understand her own feelings.
“I understand all that,” he continued, “but if Miss Elizabeth is eventually to marry a man she does not yet love, merely from devotion to her family, would it not be a pity if that man were not Darcy?”
He broke off at once, and Mrs Cooper noticed his hesitation.
“In fact…I shall tell you something in confidence. When he first proposed to her, he never once asked about her feelings. It was as though they did not matter. Now he wishes her to love him.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Mrs Cooper. “I believe he is right to wish for that. It seems to me that he has grown greatly as a man.”
The colonel plucked a magnificent red rose, scarcely opened, and offered it to her. Mrs Cooper accepted it with such a radiant smile that he made an elaborate bow to conceal his emotion.
“We all desire love,” said the colonel, “but life does not always grant us such a gift.”
Mrs Cooper looked at him openly. Elizabeth had told her his story as the second son of an earl, destined never to inherit the family fortune.
“I married a man chosen by my family, yet I have no regrets. We were raised very differently from Miss Elizabeth and her sisters. We were never told that love might be the foundation of marriage, nor that we possessed the freedom to choose our husbands. Indeed, we scarcely considered such things beyond the dreams of adolescence inspired by the novels we read.”
“And what do you think now?” asked the colonel rather directly, feeling that their friendship had deepened.
“To speak honestly, it was my conversations with Elizabeth that first made me question it all. I have a daughter, and I intend to raise her as Elizabeth was raised.”
“I have two children,” she continued, looking at him.
“I should very much like to meet them,” said the colonel.
Their conversation ended there, for they were summoned to breakfast.
∞∞∞
“You have been walking with the colonel,” said Elizabeth with a knowing smile.
She had seen them approaching the steps from the terrace and had waited for them there.
“The colonel and I would both like your relationship with Mr Darcy to continue and develop.”
Elizabeth laughed as she took her arm.
“My dear Agnes, you would do better to think of yourself. I see you have acquired a rose.”
She pointed to the flower Mrs Cooper had placed at her corsage.
“And what makes you so certain that I did not pick it myself?”
Elizabeth laughed again.
“A beautiful woman is not expected to pick her own red rose. And I am glad that at last you have discovered subjects other than Mr Darcy and myself.”
“Not today, I fear. But who knows…perhaps we shall.”