" I do not believe it one moment, Darcy, that you would believe a parson such as Mr. Collins disreputable but then go on to trust a complete stranger like Captain Carter," Richard walked the library, its growing collection confined to one wall. " What do we know of William Collins? He has not harmed his cousins, or why else would he still be residing in Longbourn? And our Aunt would hardly name him a parish parson,"
Darcy wanted to root him to the ground. " I saw the way he looked at the Miss Bennets, and it is my duty to see to their well being. I could enrich their dowries to make more tempting to more deserving men. And well away from Collins,"
" And Mr. Wade is here?" Richard Fitzwilliam had too well become acquainted with the associates of Mr. George Wickham, Mr. Wade being one of them. To his uncle's will however, the living at Kympton, as it became available last year passed onto Mr. Wickham. Since then, Mr. Wickham gave up his outwardly blackguard behavior in exchange for more discreet affairs. Mr. Wade continued to wreck the reputations of ladies everywhere. Mr. Darcy related the particulars of Mr. Wade's current position in the Regiment.
Under his breath, Richard wished he stayed behind instead of taking leave to visit his betrothed. " I am half tempted to speak with the man myself," Both men now imbibed port, although in less quantity as the doctors called it a poison and the church condemned it as sin. " And why aid the Bennets? What are they to you?"
Cursing his own stupidity for allowing his preference to be known to someone who would make sport of it, Fitzwilliam attempted to dampen his own sinful, treacherous thoughts. No, his cousin would never allow him to escape the room without answering. " I have – found myself drawn to Miss Elizabeth's Bennet, though she has no connections and only a 1,000 pounds on her mother's death," Even as he listed the main reasons why he should not choose her, knowing full well the scorn of society that would overcome any love they may share, Fitzwilliam felt he deserved his own regrets. Maybe his Elizabeth was a luxury more than a need, but he wanted to do something for himself after doing so much for everyone else.
Richard grinned. " You are in love, and not a lady of the ton could ensnare you. A simple country lady! Our Aunt will surely be amused if not enraged that you did not offer to Anne. Oh ho!"
Face palming, Fitzwilliam took a seat and closed his eyes. " Do you not have a betrothed to visit?" The mere thought of Lady Catherine yelling at him caused a migraine.
" I am and will. Do you seriously intend to offer to her?" Disbelief echoed in the jovial man's words even as his eyes discovered a hope lingering beneath the crushing responsibility of being a wealthy landowner.
" Eventually," Fitzwilliam said without hesitation. " First I wish to attend to Georgiana first. Pemberley requires my attentions, and naturally our visit to our aunt will demand my attentions,"
Several minutes passed between the two men, neither raising their gazes high enough to actually make meaningful eye contact.
Richard moved in close to Fitzwilliam, put his hand on his shoulder, and leaned in. " Then purchase a license, marry privately, and damned it be whatever our Aunt thinks,"
Now that was an idea. Darcy smirked, and then laughed. Oh the deviousness of it that not even his aunt would suspect him capable of it. The upstanding Fitzwilliam Darcy! Secretly married a no-body country lady! Ha! Not even the Ton would believe it on first telling. " I am not even certain she would say yes," He finally said, dampening Richard's mirth only temporarily.
" I am off to see my beloved Clara. And Darcy," He glanced toward the door and window before finishing his sentence again. " Go to her father after she says yes, not before,"
Not even the claws of Caroline could keep Richard at Netherfield. Finally alone in the library, he'd need not wait long before Miss Caroline entered. She offered him tea, if he were to join her in the drawing room. He refused, claiming a need to speak with Charles about their business in Meryton. Barely escaping Miss Bingley, he found himself on his horse and set off for Parson Brook.
Parson Brook handed Darcy the license after receiving a sworn statement from both Darcy and Mr. Bennet as to Elizabeth's non-existent impediment to lawful marriage. Mr. Collins was in the middle of lecturing Jane on the manners of speaking only when spoken to. As soon as he saw Mr. Darcy however, he assaulted the superior gentleman with a bow. " Sir, it is a pleasure to meet you finally. My fair cousins tell me you are to stay till Michaelmas. How unfortunate for Miss de Bourg,"
" Excuse me, Mr. Collins. Miss Jane, where is Miss Elizabeth?" He could not understand how Mr. Collins dared to lecture Jane – of all people – on and when to speak.
Jane curtsied. " In the garden, sir,"
" Excellent, excellent. I shall go to her," He walked around the house and to the garden through the arch now covered in dead vines. She sat on a bench intently reading two letters. Clearing his throat, he startled her.
She rose quickly. " Sir, I had not-"
" I wanted to wait till after the Netherfield ball –"
" Mr. Bingley did mention he'd throw one,"
" -but I found myself impatient. Miss Elizabeth, you must allow me to tell you how ardently I love and admire you. From your mother's rudeness and lack of regard for anyone but Miss Lydia to your father's lack of will to act on behalf of anyone to Miss Lydia chasing officers, I have only seen you and Jane a beacons of propriety. You do this family great justice. Furthermore, despite the inferiority of your connections and lack of dowry, you are one of the most formidable ladies I know – and I would be honored if you'd accept my hand in marriage,"
Jane gasped, Mr. Collin's unable to speak at all as they listened on the other side of the trees and shrubbery.
" I -I know now what to say, Mr. Darcy. Are you well? You look winded," She sat up straighter, losing all sense of amusement.
Mr. Collins froze. An offer of marriage? To his own cousin of no fortune?
" I am well, Miss Elizabeth," Fitzwilliam assured her.
She glanced down at her letters from Kitty and Mary. " You caught me reading, Mr. Darcy. I admit I am thoroughly surprised by your offer. Do my connections not frighten you?" She tried to find humor in his insults and compliments, haphazardly thrown it together that it sounded as if he never tried to woo a lady.
Mr. Darcy swallowed hard. " You are now connected to Mr. Markus and Mr. Rowley," Mr. Rowley did not matter in the grand scheme of politics, but Mr. Markus – bless Mr. Bennet for arranging the match between Mary and the elder judge – held sway that could be called considerable. " I have not yet met your Uncle Gardiner, but your Uncle Phillips is a respectable attorney. Your own cousin is a parson to my aunt,"
The reference of respect temporarily pulled Mr. Collins from his shock only to raise him into intolerable smugness.
" And you believe that I am formidable enough for what?" Elizabeth guarded her words carefully, very insulted yet not willing to relinquish the fledgling fondness she developed for Mr. Darcy's character. " The ton? Your Aunt? Or perhaps your uncle and aunt, the Earl and Lady?"
Looking her in the eye, Fitzwilliam wished he understand how she felt now so that he could best respond. " All," Darcy answered simply wishing he did not have to explain everything now.
Elizabeth caught her breath. " Might I speak of you, then, Mr. Darcy?"
" Of course,"
She smiled softly. " My father informs me, as for some reason or another," Her eyes wandered toward the window above her. " That you are a great, well respected man of Derbyshire and I see you look after Mr. Bingley prodigiously. I admire that. I admire your love for your sister, and how you are excessively polite to Miss Caroline Bingley. Not only has Miss Emmeline but also Charlotte Lucas noted your preference. I am honored, but I am of little consequence and small dowry. Is that what you wish to accept in comparison to what you offer me?"
Surely this was a test to him, he reasoned. She didn't directly say yes or no. If anything she answered his compliments with her own. One did not do that with an offer of marriage, unless they intended to accept. Was she accepting? " I would not offer if I did not love you," Surely for no reason would he offer to her with her lack of connections and no dowry given his position of wealth and rank.
She smiled. " Would you like me to tell Papa or shall I?"
Rushing forward, he dropped to one knee, kissed her gloved hand, and thanked the fortunes she said yes. " I will go to him,"
" Please call me Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy," She wished the fluttering of her heart ceased. Her own tongue betrayed her.
The same blush that colored her cheeks brightened Fitzwilliam's. " I insist you call me, Fitzwilliam," He returned in equal teasing. All awkwardness returned. " Are your sisters well?"
She laughed. How could she not with him still kneeling after offering to her, Inquiring after her family now, without rising from his bent knee, he definitely acted the fool. Like Mr. Bingley with Jane. She picked up the letters with her free hand. " Mary sends word they are traveling. Thus far it is all business but she is happy. Kitty complains of Marina and says that Mrs. Rowley treats her with great respect,"
Jane pulled Mr. Collins back toward the house.
" I am pleased to hear they are content," Fitzwilliam rose. Elizabeth urged him to speak with her father and they could converse afterwards. So it happened that Mr. Darcy and Mr. Collins entered Longbourn at the same time. Mr. Bennet pulled Darcy into the bookroom and Mr. Collins began to inform Mrs. Bennet that soon Her Ladyship would be at Longbourn, providing no other explanation.
Jane and Elizabeth talked little of anything else for the following days. Lydia fell into a depression again, and Mrs. Bennet entered a euphoria of having three daughters married. Longbourn knew of nothing else, and on the third day of the engagement, Mr. Darcy married Elizabeth Bennet in front of the very pleased Parson Brook.
Not long after, Lady Catherine de Bourg appeared at Longbourn demanding to speak to Mrs. Bennet. Upon finding the family entertaining officers, and Mr. Bingley attending to Jane, she nearly fainted from shock. " Where is Darcy? He is not at Pemberley-"
" Netherfield, Ma-am," Jane answered resolutely. " As Mr. Darcy is not leaving til Michaelmas and the ball tonight, Lizzy and he are preparing for their first appearance as husband and wife,"
Across from her at the table, Mr. Charles Bingley made to speak.
" The shades of Pemberley thus polluted!" Lady Catherine threw up her arms.
The insult slapped the inwardly proud Mrs. Bennet. " I believe that is rather harsh, Ma-am," Mrs. Bennet defended her least favorite and most well married daughter. " Lizzy has always been impertinent but hardly someone to be ashamed-"
The colors of red darkened on Lady Catherine's visage.
" -of. From Mr. Collin's descriptions, Mr. Darcy never offered to Anne, and because of this, you have no grounds-"
Mr. Bennet entered. " My love, do not give Her Ladyship an apology. Jane, offer her a seat before she faints. Where is Mr. Collins? Should I call for the smelling salts-"
" Enough," Lady Catherine declared, breathing heavily. Impeded by her own advanced age, the impertinence of Mrs. Bennet matched her determination to destroy the 'sham' marriage between Elizabeth Bennet and her nephew. Mr. Bingley, trapped in the room, could only watch the degradation of harmony. " I see that I am wasting my energy on such a resolute family of fools," She turned on her heel and made to leave.
Lydia crossed her arms over her chest. " I may not like Lizzy all that much, but she's my sister, and even I know you do not burst into someone's home and insult them," The stare she leveled on Lady Catherine would've caused lesser ladies to shrink away.
" And what do you plan to do, silly girl?" She tried to move around Lydia, and Lydia moved to block her. " I am the daughter of an Earl, the widow of a well respected gentleman, and what I make in a year could refurnish this house and make you wealthier than you are," Near equal in height, the ladies opposites of each other except in being outspoken and refusing to stand down, Mr. Bingley tried to determine if his infatuation with Jane really was worth it.
He started to see what Mr. Darcy pointed out to him after the many social interactions with the Bennets. Lydia Bennet was many things – foolish, rude, selfish, officer obsessed. Mr. Bennet failed to be a father and a husband. Even his Jane offered nothing beyond her pretty face, which he heartily admired.
Mr. Bingley stood and bowed to Lady Catherine. " Ma-am, I am Mr. Bingley-"
Her beady eyes rested on him. " I know who you are. You're not even a landowner,"
His sister's and Darcy's insistence he purchase an estate haunted him now. He could never marry Jane Bennet if he wished to be respectable to the likes of Lady Catherine de Bourg. Although she may be rude, much like his sister, she held a point – the Bennets did not aid his future.
Jane rose to her feet. " Lydia, move aside," She raised her voice, a hard edge erasing the formerly soft Jane. " Mr. Bingley, I believe you have a ball to prepare for," She squared her shoulders and motioned Lady Catherine out of the drawing room.
Lady Catherine's parting comment, " Pollution of Pemberley!" caused Jane to slam the door shut, startling everyone.
She flashed a brief, non-Jane smile. " All that wealth and no class," Mr. Bingley excused himself. Shaking her head, she took a seat again and ignored her father's proud clapping.
Break Break Break
Mr. Bingley discovered Darcy with Elizabeth and Miss Wilder talking of London, the ton, and Pemberley. " Darcy, you never told me your Aunt makes a habit of acting like Caroline with less restraint," He went on to explain exactly how Her Ladyship insulted the Bennets. " And to see Miss Jane slam the door-"
Emmeline laughed, as everyone almost forgot about her. " Anger, especially quiet, is always more vicious from the breast of a woman than a man,"
" A woman holds a grudge much longer than any man," Elizabeth agreed most humorously, still swallowing the details. " Did she really defend me? Mama and Lydia?"
" Yes, and it was strange too. For someone so young and guilty of – well, Miss Lydia did you the sisterly honor," Charles then turned to Emmeline and admired her newest project, a family line quilt Clara helped her design. It already pleased his eyes to gaze upon with the dark greens in contrast to the soft blues and purples and pinks.
Dissatisfied with what he heard, Darcy excused himself. " I must write to – no. We will leave for London tomorrow and be at Pemberley from there. I can not trust that Georgiana is well," He moved with purpose toward the bedchambers.
Miss Clara Wilder grabbed Elizabeth's hand. " I will try to visit after Richard and I marry in March. While I am still in Hertfordshire, I will look after Kitty. I know how difficult Marina can be," The more Clara talked, the more Elizabeth wished for privacy to address the shock of her mother and Lydia actually defending her.
Excusing herself, Elizabeth followed her husband.
Emmeline turned to her brother. " Are we all going to London?" I had hoped to stay till Michaelmas at least," Hertfordshire, in comparison to London, offered more forgiveness. No one criticized the fashion and everyone wished their neighbors well. Not so in London.
As the afternoon faded and evening set in, Netherfield transformed into a place of liveliness. The Bingleys greeted guests, and the Darcys and Colonel Fitzwilliam and Miss Wilder intermingled with the early arrivals. Of them, the Bennets embraced both Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam. Jane shied from Charles's attentions, choosing instead to guard Lydia from embarrassing herself as officers arrived amongst the invited families. By the time Kitty arrived on the arm of Silas, she ran to Clara and launched into an uninterrupted description of her new dresses and the pretty yellow redingote Silas purchased for her. Just as she revealed the jewelry to Clara, their mother joined Hannah Rowley to inquire how well Kitty did in her lessons.
Marina found herself drawing the attentions of Mr. Long and accepted him for the first set that evening. When he sought out Mr. Goulding, Charlotte Lucas appeared with her brother and sister as Lady Lucas appealed to Mrs. Darcy. Sir William remained with Mr. Bingley until almost everyone arrived and musicians added music to the hum of mass conversations.
" How does it feel to be the wife of the wealthiest man in this room?" Lady Lucas asked in a lowered whisper.
Elizabeth weighed her answer carefully. " When he offered, I did not know what to think. Why me? Why not the Boulangers? The Harringtons? Even Miss Long has a larger dowry. But when one's opinion is thoroughly sought after and respected, I can not say no. In my own way, I love him. His wealth does not matter,"
" I never considered you a romantic,"
" I'm not a romantic, but there are moments where I am grateful my cousin left Longbourn with Lady de Bourg. Mr. Darcy is ten times the man a Parson could ever be, and I admit Mr. Darcy suits me admirably. He makes the romance possible," Elizabeth smiled most sincerely now as she gazed out at the mass of people.
" How so?" Lady Lucas asked. Charlotte joined Kitty then to tell her good news that Mr. Goulding made an offer to her and they agreed upon an extended courtship. Overhearing all this helped Elizabeth better explain the multitude of emotions within her. As Elizabeth explained the sense of security, hope, and trust when made into one, it fostered the perfect conditions for romance. " Very much like the Rowleys then,"
Silas claimed his wife for the first dance. Elizabeth wished Mary were here to see Kitty happy. " Yes, although Kitty is always more welcomed to the ideal than I. As you well know, I only wished to marry for love because my father and mother only married for attraction. Even now he ignores her and she's telling the entire ball room how Mr. Bingley will marry Jane though he has not offered,"
Indeed Mrs. Bennet's talk could be heard, and even the pleasant Hannah Rowley visually sought an escape. Then Mrs. Bennet placed her hand on Mrs. Rowley's arm and whispered something even more offending – that Lydia may actually marry more favorably than any of her daughters if she were to continue to receive Mr. Wade's attentions.
Lady Lucas nodded. " Then Jane does not care for him at all?" Shock colored her light tone.
" Not a moment, Lady Lucas. She will only accept an offer because she feels an obligation to Mama," Elizabeth now wished she chose somewhere farther from her mother so that she may not be embarrassed by the conversation of an officer being placed above Fitzwilliam Darcy, Lodge Markus, and Silas Rowley.
The ladies turned their attention to more pleasing thoughts – such as Mr. Goulding and Charlotte marrying.