Aside — A Most Distressing EncounterFrom Elizabeth Darcy to August Giniver, Lord Malkin Pemberley, Derbyshire, August 27 My Lord Malkin, I am writing on a matter of some urgency concerning your wife, and your own health. While I should prefer to have my husband reach out to your lordship, he is at the moment in London, and so it is left to me. I apologise for writing so without having first had the opportunity meet you in person. Unfortunately, I have had a most distressing encounter with Lady Malkin, which forces me to overstep the dictates of propriety. I regret to inform you that I came upon Lady Malkin in a state of great agitation, searching through the Pemberley woods for a set of poisonous mushrooms that she and I had been warned of some days ago by Mrs. Grouse, the midwife.

