SPEAKS--
ELIZABETH came into the garden of the Green Man the morning following
the aforementioned conversation, with determination in her heart, and
her formula on her lips.
She saw David sitting on a wooden bench near the stream. He had left
the parlour some ten minutes previously.
He was looking at the running water. Even at the distance he was from
her, Elizabeth was aware of a certain tenseness, a certain keyedness in
his attitude. He seemed waiting, expectant.
She went across the grass towards him, her step making no sound on the
soft turf. She was within a couple of yards from him before he saw her.
He got up from the bench.
“Mrs. Darcy,” he said in a queer hesitating voice, “if I can, I want to
talk to you.”
Elizabeth noticed that he did not say, “If I may.”