Miss Bingley had angered me with her comments about Mr. Wickham but that was not all that was bothering me. I was disappointed at how little I had discovered from my conversation with Mr. Darcy and seeing him standing by himself off to one side, whilst everyone else was engaged in conversation or with the punch table, I could not help but take advantage of the situation.

"Mr Darcy," I said and was rewarded by the man himself coming out of his daydream and looking at me with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. He quickly righted himself and bowed to me as I curtsied. He seemed a little lost for words and I saw that if any conversation were to happen, I must begin it.

"Sir, I know that you must be confused by my coming over to you, particularly in view of the 'heated' discussion we had earlier but I feel that I need you to help me with my judgement," I began.

"On what should I be the judge?" He asked, his brow furrowing.

"Yourself, sir. I have heard things about you, some good and some terrible and even some vague references that should engage my sympathy but all this only serves to be confusing." I wondered how badly I was breaching propriety with this.

"So you would wish me to expose myself to you in order to satisfy your feelings?" his tone steady and disbelieving but there was something else there.

"As selfish as it may sound sir, yes." After saying this, I was compelled to look at the floor.

There was a moment when I thought that he would merely sneer and walk away or even scold me but, at length, he replied. "Well then begin. But I do not promise to answer all of your questions."

"It would be cruel of me to presume that you should." I took a deep breath and found my courage. "I shall start with the fact that Mr Bingley values you highly and as a good man his opinion must be worth something and I am sure that he would not like you so much had you some evils in your past."

"That is true but surely I could have concealed any evils from him," he interjected, smirking slightly.

"You are right sir but you bring me to my next point. Miss Bingley," at this the corners of his mouth turned down, "once told me that Mr Wickham had treated you in an infamous manner," his expression grew dark and my stomach clenched, "though she did not seem to be able to recall the particulars."

"And what does all of this lead to so far?" he inquired.

"That you are a good man, mistreated but in essence a good man," I stated.

"So, if I am so good, why are you confused?"

"I am confused sir because I have a source that would paint you evilly. Mr Wickham told me that the two of you grew up together."

"That is true but how should that make me a bad man Miss Bennet?" he asked, frowning.

"He told me that your father was good to him after his own had died and promised him a living nearby," I continued.

"Again that is true." His frown was deepening and his brow furrowing in confusion.

"He then said that you refused to give him the living when it became available," I proceeded slowly.

"He said WHAT?" he hissed.

"So you deny this then?"

"Deny it? Deny it!" - His voice rose and the knot in my stomach seemed to almost double. "He never took the living. When it became available, he declined any wish to go into the church; he then requested and received the sum of three thousand pounds. I doubt that this went very far with his need to spend and women. - Excuse me Miss Bennet, I should not speak of such things in front of you but it is true, he had a great love of enjoying the company of women."

"I wonder why he should lie to me," I felt my voice rise in pitch and attempted to calm it. "What good could poisoning me against you do? Especially as he was granted the money."

"It is an act of revenge Miss Bennet," he motioned towards two nearby seats and sat down beside me. His next words were spoken almost through his teeth, as though he did not want them to escape, "Miss Bingley was right about him treating me in a bad way. He tried to take my sister's money and I put a stop to it. "

"Your sister's money? But how?" In my next breath I realised that this was probably more than he should ever wish to tell me. "Mr Darcy forgive me, I have no right to ask; it is too impertinent."

"To be sure, I have every right to decline answering the question but I shall answer it anyway. He tried to persuade my sister to marry him."

My mind jumped to various conclusions in my confusion. "Surely that is not so very evil in itself? If he loved her I mean, though I know that his rank would have disappointed you."

"But it is evil. You have of course forgotten his habits with women, surely that would disgust you in a man."

"You are right Mr Darcy, it would and I wonder that I forgot it. But surely that was not your only objection?" My curiosity was continuing to get the better of me.

"Perhaps I should have been clearer. Would a man so deeply in love try to persuade a woman to elope with him? To marry him in secret? Not ask the permission of her guardian? Leave the moment the plan is discovered and not try to fight for his love?" Here he paused for it to all sink in, "I rather think not."

"An elopement? No wonder you hate him so much. I hate myself for believing him. I am glad though that I know the truth, I would hate to continue to misjudge you because of that man's words."

"Yes Miss Bennet I do hate him but do not treat yourself so fiercely, his manners and charms easily affect people. It is not a weakness in you but a strength in him." He smiled kindly and I returned the gesture.

"Mr Darcy you are too kind and I beg you for your forgiveness for every evil thought I have had towards you and everything even remotely cruel I have said to you, you have deserved none of it."

"You are already forgiven Miss Bennet and I should suppose that I never helped my own case with my manners towards you," he said sighing.

"No matter what your manners may be, you did not deserve mine."

"As we have made our peace, I wonder if you should feel at liberty to grant me with a truth yourself."

After my behaviour towards him and the hopeful look in his eyes, I felt that I could not refuse. Besides, I doubted that it could be anywhere near as personal as what I had asked of him.

"Of course Mr Darcy, please continue." My curiosity had risen again, after all, what could he wish to know that could be gained by asking me?

"My friend, Mr Bingley, is a friendly sort of chap and his manners engage the attention of many, though his wealth engages the attention of many more." Here he paused. "Miss Bennet I am going to be frank with you - why is it that your sister pays him so much attention? I see that she gains pleasure from his attentions but see little else."

"Are you worried for your friend's sake in his heart or do you dislike my sister sir?" I asked, unwilling to answer before knowing the truth behind his musings.

He seemed to think for half a second before saying, "I am worried for my friend."

I breathed a sigh of relief, for it would be a shame to go back to hating the man after such a recent and personal reconciliation. "Then I shall put you at ease. My sister rarely shows her feelings to me or anyone for that matter so I have had to learn to read her signals."

"Her signals?" he asked, baffled.

"Yes, her signals. All that means is that I know how she really feels, no matter how much her shyness tries to cover it up. I believe, no I know that she is in love with your friend, she's just so afraid of getting hurt or hurting someone else that she won't show it."

"Then, Miss Elizabeth, I am relieved to hear it." He treated me to another warm smile. "Mr Bingley and I shall travel to London within the next few days; he has business to conduct and I very much wish to see my sister but I shall make sure that Mr Bingley does not lengthen his stay anymore than necessary."

"On behalf of my sister, sir, I thank you," my face could not hold back my smile.

"Do not thank me for her, my motives are still selfish. I wish to bring my sister back to Netherfield with me and would hope that you would allow me to introduce her to you, as I am sure that you would make an excellent friend for her."

"I would be honoured to meet your sister, sir." Why the heat ran straight to my cheeks, I don't know, I guess being singled out by him positively was an unusual experience for me. I was aware that if we spent too much more time speaking privately it would cause a stir and most likely, gossip. "If you'll excuse me sir, I should return to my family."

"Of course." He bowed as a response to my curtsy and we parted as friends.

How much would be undone of our progress I was not sure but the spectacle my family were about to make could not go unnoticed by Mr. Darcy.