The day before her family was to host a dinner at Longbourn, Elizabeth Bennet sat upon her bed trying to determine Mr. Darcy's true feelings for her. A plethora of thoughts ran wildly about her head, as she remembered his attentions to her upon their accidental meeting at his estate which filled her with hope , but as she recalled his more formal manner when she had told him of Lydia's plight in the Inn at Lambton the hope was replaced with doubt. Her aunt's letter detailing his part in the dealings of Lydia's and Mr. Wickam's elopement once again brought solace to her emotions , while Mr. Darcy's rigid demeanor during his last visit to her home with Mr. Bingley served only to increase her uncertainty of his regard. As her insecurity of his affections increased, she decided to take the letter that he had written to her from it's special hiding place in her room, and take long walk on the path between Longbourn and Meryton knowing that her mind was always clearer when she was outside away from the staleness of the indoors.
Some minutes later Elizabeth had made it to her favorite spot, a small clearing only slightly off the path to town, and as she was about to situate herself upon a large rock when she was temporarily diverted by sudden barking of a dog nearby. Startled she lost her grip on the letter just as a sudden gust of autumn wind blew forcefully in her direction taking the letter along with it. Unfortunately, she was unable to retrieve the letter, as the wind had blown it up into the branches of a tree some twenty feet over her head. For some moments she merely stared at the thing high above in horror and disbelief, knowing that it would be impossible for her to simply leave it there. It's discovery would cause a great scandal regarding the nature of her acquaintance with Mr. Darcy, not to mention the damage that it would do to Miss Darcy's reputation. She would have to think of a way to get the thing down, for something had to be done.
After many unsuccessful attempts to extract the letter from it's perch in a ladylike fashion, Elizabeth accepted that she would have to resort to wild behavior, as the only way to retrieve the letter would be to climb the tree, something she had not done since childhood and never as high as a full twenty feet. Full of apprehension she took a long deep breath and began to scale the great oak , as she mumbled soothing words of encouragement to herself.
As she finally made her way to the limb from which the letter now dangled she spread her arm out to grasp it , but soon realized that it was out of her reach. She would have to stretch the entire length of her body across the branch to procure the object that she required. Her body trembled with fear as she crawled further and further away from the trunk of the tree for she realized was a full twenty five to thirty feet above the ground, instead of the mere twenty that she had originally estimated. Willing herself to stay completely focused on her task she finally felt the tips of her fingers reach their goal, but hearing her name automatically looked down causing her to knock the letter onto the head of the person below.