The party returned to Darcy House in the early morning hours. Lizzy was physically and mentally exhausted. Darcy had been solicitous but unusually silent, even for him.
Her beleaguered heart needed to escape the temptation of his words. If he continued to press her to marry him, how long could she deny herself the thing she wanted most in the world?
Unlike Caroline Bingley, she was not one to mistake proximity for affection. In a few weeks, he would realise he’d made a lucky escape.
She and Jane were planning to leave for Hertfordshire after breakfast. Lizzy couldn’t wait that long. Their trunks were mostly packed. They quickly fit in the last items. Quietly, to avoid waking the rest of the house, they waited for dawn.
Lizzy wrote Darcy a letter thanking him for his kindness and hospit
