For some weeks, Colonel Fitzwilliam had thought himself in love with Mary Crawford, whom he had met in Norfolk whilst stationed there with the militia a year previous. Her vivacity and lack of reserve, particularly in her conversation, in which her own frank opinions and her sport with the feelings of others, would have been deemed serious defects of character, were not the whole combined with a loveliness of countenance and sweetness of manner that blurred any resemblance to impropriety. She had captivated him, and he had found himself in a very willing infatuation. Mary Crawford, in the rare moments when Colonel Fitzwilliam could secure her company alone, was sweetness itself; but in society, she had a tendency to a worldliness that seemed irreconcilable with sound principles. She was a puzzle, but a beautiful one, and Colonel Fitzwilliam felt certain that, if he could detach her from the fashionable set who so frequently surrounded her, and take her back to his quiet Derbyshire, she would make him very happy, and he her. In those moments spent apart from her friends, her tenderness toward him seemed entirely genuine, but those moments were infrequent and tormenting in their unpredictability.

Colonel Fitzwilliam had pursued the object of his affection for a number of weeks, but each offer was met with an ambiguous rejection. She would merely respond in a laughing manner and say, “if only I might,” but could never be prevailed upon to describe the circumstances that would yield a positive answer, or conversely, what was invariably producing a negative reply. At last, the modest Colonel concluded that Miss Crawford had appeared very agreeable by making himself the object of her particular attention, for whatever her reason—likely a dearth of more interesting aspirants; all of her good qualities had instantly succeeded into view. He had been delighted by her notice. He had been mistaken in her regard. He had been disappointed through his own folly. He returned to the peace of Pemberley and the indulgence of Georgiana’s company for a much-needed dose of sympathy, with pride intact, but an heart seemingly lost forever.