When Darcy decides to propose to Elizabeth, the sequence of events is modified by the appearance of Col. Fitzwilliam at the Parsonage. He has followed Darcy after he left Rosings, and he arrives just outside the house in time to hear angry voices through the window. After hearing Elizabeth tell Darcy that she could never have accepted the man who had ruined the hope of happiness for her sister, he enters unannounced and opened the door to the front room just in time to hear Elizabeth charge Darcy with being the cause of Wickham’s misfortunes. Col. Fitzwilliam cannot stop himself from intervening over this misunderstanding, and the rest of the disastrous proposal never takes place. Even though Darcy and Elizabeth flee from the room, Col. Fitzwilliam discovers that Elizabeth will be staying in London, and he is determined that this error regarding Wickham cannot be allowed to stand.
