New Understandings and a Good Game of Chess

Disclaimer: I am not Jane Austen.

A quiet afternoon with little to do presented the perfect opportunity to sit in a comfortable chair by the fire and read a good book. Fitzwilliam Darcy, of Pemberley in Derbyshire, had just such a plan in mind when he entered the library at Netherfield on a chilly Thursday afternoon. He had not expected that he would find Elizabeth Bennet studying an ornate chess set by the window. Miss Bennet had clearly not expected his arrival as she started at his entrance and raising a slender hand to her chest offered him a tight smile and a curtsey.

"I apologise for startling you madam."

"That is quite alright Mr Darcy." Elizabeth murmured before turning back to her inspection of the pieces.

"Do you play?" He had intended to sit quietly by the fire with his book and not engage her in conversation, but the sight of her beautiful eyes focused on a stone carved bishop awash with the wintry light had set his heart pounding and loosened his tongue.

"I do." A dark eyebrow raised, and she looked at him with such a mixture of challenge, pride and mischief that he found himself abandoning his book before he could even glance at it and stepping towards her and the chess set. "My father taught all of us to play." She smiled impertinently and threw him a second challenging look. "I suspect such information will shock you for it is not a pursuit normally taught to young ladies."

"Not at all, I taught my sister as soon as she could understand the rules." This appeared to surprise her, and he took the opportunity to add, "She has become quite proficient and I suspect it will not be long before she can best me in a game." At this Elizabeth's smile widened and she held out two fists, without stopping to consider if this was a good idea or not he tapped the back of her right hand and she opened it to reveal a black pawn.

"I shall make the first move then Mr Darcy and I promise not to go easy on you, my father taught me well and he is himself excellent at the game."

Sitting opposite her he watched as she delicately moved a pawn and waited for him to make his move. "Your father taught you all to play, do you all play well?"

"Alas no, Jane can play but her nature makes it hard for her to compete properly, she dislikes any game that involves winners and losers. She will deliberately lose so as not to upset anyone. Mary and Kitty are both good at the game though Mary prefers her studies and the pianoforte to chess and I suspect like your own sister it will not be long before Kitty can best me."

"Really?" His disbelief must have been evident on his face as she raised her chin and glared at him.

"There is a great deal more to Kitty than appears at first glance. I will not lie and say she is always the picture of propriety but with time will come steadiness of character and she is a dear sweet girl who is eager to learn even if she is often led astray by Lydia."

"I apologise, I know little of Miss Kitty's character, I am little around girls with the exception of my own sister and though she is everything a lady of her age ought to be I confess she is prone to giggling and mischief when accompanied by girls her own age." At this her gaze softened and she nodded in acceptance of his apology.

"Tell me Mr Darcy, if Lydia were your sister what would you do? She is not a bad girl at heart, just spoiled and too used to getting her own way, she dislikes the overly confining rules of society and I fear for her."

"Miss Lydia is fifteen is she not?"

"Yes."

"May I ask why she is allowed out in society at such a young age?"

At this question Elizabeth paused in placing a knight and stared at him with a look of frank evaluation, uncomfortable with what she might see in his eyes he looked away and pretended to study the chess board. What she saw in her evaluation must have satisfied her that he was not looking to find fault and finally she said with a soft sigh, "We all came out at sixteen, when Kitty came out Lydia was furious that she was to be the only one still in the nursery, I'm ashamed to say she made such a fuss that Mama pushed for her to be allowed out at fourteen. Papa agreed to maintain the peace in the household. She is too young to seriously consider marriage and I hope that giving her some experience moving in adult society will calm her."

"I understand in the country sixteen is a normal age for a young lady to begin attending assemblies and balls, I'm afraid to say in London her age would only meet her with ridicule."

"I ask again then Mr Darcy, what would you do?"

"She needs a governess to teach her how to behave in society, someone who will punish her poor behaviour and praise her when she behaves, she feels she can ignore yourself and Miss Bennet when you try to correct her, and you are powerless with regards to discipline. A governess given permission to discipline as needed will have the upper hand and she cannot ignore them for very long." Elizabeth placed her knight and smiled sadly, "I apologise if this conversation has upset you Miss Elizabeth, it was not my intention to criticise your parents in any way. As I said, the rules of a country society are different from those expected in London, children are given more freedom and your parents have done the best they could under what can be difficult circumstances."

"Please Mr Darcy, I asked. I am loath to share my troubles with someone so little connected to my family, I apologise for burdening you with them."

"Do not trouble yourself further madam, when my father passed away I was but one and twenty and tasked with the job of raising my sister and stepping into the role of master of Pemberley. I am not adept at making friends with the exception of Bingley who is almost a brother to me and my cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam who were both able to see past my shyness. I admit that I had no idea how to raise a girl and wished I had a friend to turn to for advice." Here he paused and offered her a tentative smile.

"I would hope that though we are little known to each other you might consider me a friend and I hope that the next time I ask you to dance you accept."

"Even though I am only tolerable?" Elizabeth's eyes widened with embarrassment as she spoke, and he stared at her blankly for a moment before the words filtered through his brain. Then it was his own turn to look horrified and he felt his cheeks burn with shame.

"I am to understand you heard me?"

"Yes." The stiffness returned, and he cursed himself again.

"Please let me explain myself, though I would understand if you wished to never speak to me again." He offered a pleading look and silently prayed she would remain to listen.

"Go on." Her curiosity was evident, and he ran a hand through his hair, something his valet would scold him for later.

"I am ashamed of those words and if I could go back in time and stop myself from uttering what can only be considered the worst of untruths I would do so. When I agreed to aid Bingley in his search of an estate I did not expect that the timing would coincide with a matter so personal and so abhorrent that even now I cannot think of it without the deepest anger and sadness. Please understand that this personal matter is something I cannot discuss with you for it involves someone dear to me and her reputation would be ruined if word got out."

"I understand Mr Darcy, I would do anything to protect my family and those I love." He looked up at her sharply and saw a look of sympathy and understanding, whether she knew he was protecting his sister he did not know but he suspected she had guessed some of the dreadful truth.

"Bless you Miss Elizabeth, you are kindness itself. As I was saying when I arrived in Hertfordshire to aid Bingley my mind was agitated and as you know I am not a man who is easy in society, I did not want to attend the assembly and I should have begged off, but Bingley asked me to attend and I found I could not deny him.

"Matters were made all the worse when within a few minutes of my arriving I heard my name and my yearly income bandied around amongst the match making mama's and I began to feel I suddenly understood how a fox must feel when being tracked by a hound. When Bingley cornered me and told me to dance with you I confess I did look and was not in a mood to be pleased with what I saw, I beg you believe me the goddess Aphrodite could have stood before me and I would have found her merely tolerable. It has been some weeks since I have found you to be one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance."

At this Elizabeth blushed with such intensity that he feared for her health and offered to call for a glass of wine to be brought to her.

"Mr Darcy I will confess that I am shocked by your admission, I had not believed you looked to me with anything but disdain and this has very much altered my knowledge of your character. I thought you to be proud and above the company you find yourself in, I had not considered that you are merely shy."

"It is not an admission a man likes to make." Darcy said stiffly and Elizabeth smiled at him kindly.

"My sisters Jane and Mary are also uncommonly shy in company, Mary becomes pompous and Jane aloof and if you were to talk to them you might think them cold but they feel as strongly as any other being. It is only in knowing them will you find that Jane is passionate about poetry and flowers and Mary loves history almost as much as I do and can discuss it with a zeal usually only heard in Oxford and Cambridge." Here she stopped and massaged her temples. "I usually pride myself on my ability to read a character and here I find I did not know you at all."

"Perhaps…perhaps we might begin again. How do you do, I am Fitzwilliam Darcy of Derbyshire."

"Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Hertfordshire, tis a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Her eyes were twinkling as she held out a hand which he took in his own, compared to his own rough hand hers was delicate, soft and as pale as the moon. Withdrawing her hand she moved a chess piece and smiled brightly "and I do believe that is check-mate."

Startled he looked down at the board and then up at her beaming face, it was at that moment that Fitzwilliam Darcy knew he had lost more than just a game of chess.

A/N: This is the first thing I have written in years, I was horribly blocked and would spend hours staring at a blank screen. The conversation over a chess board is not new and original but it popped into my head and I couldn't resist, whether Lizzy would reveal so much to a man she dislikes is doubtful but perhaps this is a case of Lizzy letting her barriers down in response to Darcy lowering his own.