Georgiana recollected the Colonel’s last letters, and was determined to shew no outward signs of the distress that had occupied her mind and oppressed her spirits since the arrival of the first letters, introducing his tentative praises of Miss Crawford. The succession of others that followed had been filled with little else than his admiration. Her feelings could not properly be called jealousy, as Georgiana so underrated her own merits as to believe Colonel Fitzwilliam entitled to such perfection as he had described in Miss Crawford; no—it was impossible that she neglect her duty to him as a friend and near relation, to do other than approve his choice and rejoice in his happiness. The acknowledgement of a duty does not always produce sufficient resolution for its immediate execution, however. Georgiana steadied herself for the anticipated recitation of that lady’s virtues. Upon her mentioning Miss Crawford, she saw a shadow cross her cousin’s face, and abruptly began upon the alternative topic of having accompanied Lady Sarah on a recent trip to London.

It waited for next morning for Colonel Fitzwilliam to seek Georgiana and indulge himself in some relief of those feelings of wounded pride and unanswered affection. Depending upon Georgiana’s natural tenderness and her reliable interest in his concerns, he was entirely insensible that the result of their long-established habits of companionship and confidence had produced any change in Georgiana’s feelings, other than that she now appeared happier and more animated. Her spirits noticeably improved, as she resumed her usual employments in his company; and the peace of mind they procured led invariably to the natural, quiet elevation of her spirits. Her cousin would have been astonished to understand the true cause of the alteration in Georgiana’s demeanour, and how intimately he was concerned in the change; he had not intended to impose upon Georgiana’s feelings, merely to relieve his own. Other than the small circle at Pemberley, there were few who knew of Colonel Fitzwilliam’s disappointment. News of his flirtation with Miss Crawford had not travelled beyond the confines of the neighbourhood in which they occurred; as a consequence, his misery—whilst possibly durable, or at least as constant as may be supposed for an active man at his time of life—was not increased by the circumstance of its being more generally known.