Page 29 of The Cherry Trees of Rosings
Maria and the Collinses were quite behind them. Colonel Fitzwilliam glanced over his shoulder, and then fixed a shrewd look on her. “Very well, Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth sighed when they slowed down. But it did not appear as if the Colonel would broach the subject of Mr. Darcy anytime soon.
So she did.
“I believe there is something we must discuss.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam nodded, keeping his eyes fixed ahead.
“I shall not beat around the bush, Miss Bennet,” he said. “You claimed in your letter that you can see the spirit of my cousin Darcy?”
Skepticism was clear on his face when his eyes finally met hers. Elizabeth pursed her lips.
“I do not know if I would put it that way. But, yes, that is the essence of it,” she said. “Mr. Darcy’s apparition has been communicating with me for a little more than two weeks.”
Her free hand strayed to where her reticule usually hung on her other arm. But there was nothing there that day. She had left it behind in the parsonage. Elizabeth dropped her hand to her side.
“We are uncertain if he… is truly departed… or if it is some anomaly heretofore unknown.”
She looked at Colonel Fitzwilliam expectantly, hoping for an answer to the last. A singular “hmm” was the only response she received.
They continued to walk down the main thoroughfare, lined with poplar trees on either side.
“Is this apparition here with us right now?” Colonel Fitzwilliam asked eventually.
Elizabeth looked about her. Only the sight of sunlit trees and greens greeted her. “I am afraid not. But Mr. Darcy usually appears in the morning around this time, or sometimes in the late afternoon.”
Her eyes strayed to the path in the distance that curved towards the avenue with the cherry trees. “He may yet appear.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam “hmmm-ed” once more and checked his pocketwatch. “It will be nine soon.”
They continued to walk in silence for some more moments. Elizabeth frowned. The day was beginning to get warm and she was beginning to get exasperated at what appeared to be total disinterest on the Colonel’s part to pursue the matter further. She decided to hurry things along.
“Sir, I know all this must appear quite mad but I assure you I have only a slight acquaintance with Mr. Darcy,” she said, looking at him insistently. “If you have read the letter I sent you, you must know what it contained. I was not privy to any of the matters Mr. Darcy wished me to write until he dictated them to me. He only wishes to have his words conveyed to his sister. Though, I must admit, Miss Darcy’s letter is not ready yet.”
Another “hmmm”.
Elizabeth tried to rein in her impatience.
“Is that not why you came to the parsonage?”
Colonel Fitzwilliam’s eyes glinted like steel as they settled on hers. “I came to take my measure of you.”
Elizabeth was taken aback for a moment. And then she glared at him.
“And what conclusion have you arrived at?”
“That is yet to be seen,” he said, sarcasm rife in his words.
“I was not born yesterday, Miss Bennet,” he continued. “I believe we both know your true object behind sending me that letter. What I wish to know is how you got Darcy to tell you about Miss Georgiana Darcy. As Mr. Collins very helpfully let me know earlier, you were acquainted with my cousin earlier last year. I never believed the man’s tongue could be loosened against his will. Hmm?”
Elizabeth stopped walking abruptly, face burning with indignation. She removed her hand from the Colonel’s arm. She knew what he had implied.
“Sir, if the circumstances were not so strange, I would be gravely offended by such aspersions on my character!”
The man snorted. “So you say, Miss Bennet.”
“Yes, it is indeed what I say!” She clutched at her skirts to stop her hands from trembling. “Because it is true.”
