Chapter 10
As she lay in her bed that night, Caroline thought of Elizabeth Bennet's face. She had looked insecure, false. She could tell Elizabeth was nothing more than a gold-seeking child, trying to increase her status in society.
But still, Caroline could not be so blatant as she had been in the past. No, she would have to embarrass Eliza Bennet more subtly. Finally, she would make Darcy see that fine eyes were of no importance. Caroline felt sure that Darcy could forget about Elizabeth. She had likely forced him into an engagement. Perhaps she had found a way to blackmail him. Mr. Darcy never changed his mind! She knew for a fact that only months before, he had despised Elizabeth Bennet. He would not be won by a country shrew. Nay! Mr. Darcy could be won only by an elegant, well-bred woman like herself. Caroline's only predicament was that Darcy himself seemed thrilled with the match and it was Elizabeth who looked as if she would rather be elsewhere. Caroline laughed. Why on earth would Elizabeth wish to be elsewhere if she had gained Darcy's affection? Upon realizing her thoughts, she quickly corrected herself. She could not answer such a question because Elizabeth Bennet had not won Mr. Darcy's affection.
Elizabeth POV
"Georgiana, I have to tell you because I know it will bring you as much joy as it brings myself and Elizabeth. I know I could have mailed you a letter to tell you of this, but I wanted to see your face when I told you." Mr. Darcy glanced at Elizabeth, smiling gently and squeezing her hand. She tried her best to smile back, managing something faintly resembling a grimace.
"We are engaged." Elizabeth sat up straighter and forced herself to smile genuinely at her new sister. She even leaned into her betrothed's touch. He beamed at her and turned to Georgiana. She looked between the two of them, allowing a slow smile to spread across her lovely features.
"Oh! I am so happy. I have always wished for a sister. Oh Elizabeth I know we shall be good friends." Elizabeth smiled, nodded and tried to think of a reason that her marriage was good. She could not.
"Stay right there Elizabeth. I will be back shortly." Darcy entered the drawing room, speaking to the occupants for a few moments. She tried to ignore what he said, instead focusing on the paintings on the wall and the designs of the marble floors.
"Elizabeth." She looked up. "Come in. They are all here." Elizabeth nodded, fear evident in her eyes. "Do not worry. I will be with you. It will be well." He walked toward her gently taking her hand. "You will be fine." She realized that her hand fit perfectly with in his. It felt odd thinking such a thing, but she could not help thinking it for a brief moment before it escaped her mind. She sighed, forcing every ounce of her courage to rise and fight. She looked up seeing the door open slightly and no Mr. Darcy. She stared at it in horror. He could not expect her to enter alone, could he? Her fears were quelled when she heard him return. "My dear, Are you not coming?" She nodded making her way to him. He held out his arm and led her into the room. Glancing around, she saw that all from the previous Netherfield party had returned. Caroline looked at her fiercely and...smugly. She could not understand it and so focused her attention on her betrothed's words.
"...next week!" Elizabeth smiled, hoping it was the proper time to express such a sentiment.
"Well is not that wonderful news!" Caroline approached her. She fought her instinctive urge to back away and felt Darcy squeeze her arm. She allowed her gaze to remain within his, silently begging to leave. He smiled.
"I wish that we had come earlier then we have, but as it is, I am afraid I will have to return Elizabeth to her family as promised. I daresay I will not join you upon my return. I apologize for delaying the news so long." As expected, Charles exclaimed, claiming there was no reason to quit the party so early and Caroline and Louisa expressed their wish that the pair would stay. However, the two could not wait a moment longer to return Elizabeth and so they left.
Jane POV
"Papa, when will Elizabeth be home? I had wanted to speak with her before we all went to bed."
"I know not Jane. Mr. Darcy will return her when he wishes as you well know."
"I feel so terrible for her. She quite despises Caroline Bingley."
"As she should. From what I have heard, that young lady is not to be trusted. Jane you would do well to trust Elizabeth's judgment on that woman. She is not as kind as she would have you believe. You do not know how easy you may be to trifle with. Do take care, my dear. Without Elizabeth to guide you, I fear you may be taken in!"
"Papa! That is cruel. I hope you do not think me so stupid."
"Jane you are too ready to trust. One should force others to earn trust. It is a remarkably simple task to lie to you Jane. You refuse to doubt or even tell a lie unless the situation absolutely requires it." Jane looked away, blushing.
"Well Jane? Why do you blush? Have you done something so terrible?" Jane nodded.
"I fear Lizzie will hate me. I thought perhaps if she thought he cared for her then she would relax in his presence. Be happier with her situation."
"My, my Jane. What have you done?"
"I sent Mr. Darcy the letter. I sent it as soon as Hill had put Lizzie to bed. I thought perhaps she would think he saw his mistake and return to see her. I did not think that he might mention it to her! I sent it express and he arrived that same night. I heard him enter and was quite relieved, but when Elizabeth came to me the next morning she was...desperate to be away from him. He is too open I am afraid. He does not know how to conceal it. Or perhaps he thought that her letter was a confession of her own affection toward him." Mr. Bennet sat silently, trying to find the proper reaction. At last, he chuckled.
"Well Jane, you have certainly found a most difficult way to get things settled have you not?" He laughed boisterously, with a tinge of hysteria. Jane stared openly at her father, unsure of how to resolve the problem she had created.
"Papa, what should I do? I have considered revealing it to Elizabeth, but she thinks it is our mother and she was so very angry." Jane paced; a weak attempt to help resolve the issue.
"I suppose we could simply allow the blame to fall to your mother. Do not you agree Jane?" Mr. Bennet glanced up at his daughter's stricken expression and laughed. "Alright, then do you wish to tell Mr. Darcy? I do not think telling Elizabeth will help her on at all. She will simply feel more isolated. I know that is not what she needs at a time like this. She is vulnerable and you ought to be there for her to rant to."
Darcy POV
Darcy handed Elizabeth into the carriage and climbed in after her.
"That went better than I thought it might. I feared that she would a have a rage, but she was quite civil. I had not expected her to be so kind toward you. You ought not to have stiffened that way though. It was rude." Elizabeth shot him a shocked look. "What? Why do you look so?"
"I was most certainly not the rude one. And that was most certainly not kindness. She was being catty. Mark my words: she will make things difficult for one or the other of us."
"That is completely ridiculous. I had not expected you to act this way toward her no matter how catty she may have been. I expect my wife to—What are you doing?" Elizabeth stood and switched to the opposite side of the carriage. She looked out the carriage window whilst Darcy stared at her in shock. "Why did you do that?"
"You may lecture me on your expectations for a wife after we have been married. As it is, I will not hear it." Darcy smiled. That was exactly like Elizabeth. "Regardless, I never want to be chastised for my behavior because I assure you, it was reasonable in the situation. Understood?"
"Well at least explain to me how your behavior was reasonable, if it was." Elizabeth snapped her head to him.
"If you could not tell that those remarks were malicious, then you have never truly known a woman. She does not like me and she never will."
"Well I know she was not fond of you, but she would not insult my fiancée in front of me. She is not so brave."
"Apparently she is and you are too blinded to see that it has happened!"
"Do not insult my intelligence Elizabeth." Elizabeth fell silent under Darcy's glare. "We have arrived at Longbourn, Elizabeth." He spoke after several silent moments. The carriage jolted to a stop. Elizabeth stepped out of the carriage without saying good-bye. She had entered her house within moments. Darcy sat, silent for several moments.
"Sir, would you like to start?" Darcy was about to reply when Miss Jane Bennet rushed out of the house.
"Mr. Darcy! Mr. Darcy may I speak to you for a moment?"
"One moment Rogers, I need to speak to Miss Bennet." He stepped out of the carriage. "What is it Miss Bennet?"
"Sir, I feel simply awful. I know you think that Elizabeth sent you that note, but I did. I thought perhaps if she could see that you loved her, that she would be more easy about the entire arrangement." Jane looked around, uncomfortable with her declaration.
"You sent it? I had thought that your mother might have sent it. I knew it could not have been Elizabeth when I saw her utter shock at my mention of a letter."
"No, it was not my mother. I must beg you not mention this to Elizabeth. I do not want her to know that I sent the letter. She would be quite angry with me and as she is leaving so soon, I would not want her to be unhappy with me. We know not when we will all be together again, you know. I know not when you will allow Elizabeth to invite us all to Pemberley." Darcy nodded, slightly hurt at Jane's words—surely leaving her home to live with him could not be so terrible.
Jane had sounded meek about Elizabeth's leaving. Darcy assumed that Elizabeth would be gleeful about escaping her family. He had only made the offer to travel to his home for Jane and perhaps Mr. Bennet. He had not thought that Elizabeth might actually invite her mother and younger sisters.
"I just wanted for Elizabeth to know you loved her and it seemed the only way."
"Elizabeth does not know?"
"I am afraid not. She does not have any idea why you want to marry her. She has repeatedly told me that she can bring you nothing in marriage but herself."
"That is all that I want from her in marriage!" Jane nodded and Darcy could hear Elizabeth calling for Jane from within the house.
"I apologize Mr. Darcy, I must go. Please do not tell her I spoke with you."
"Of course not. Miss Bennet. I thank you."
A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry I couldn't get this earlier. My family ended up in a hotel on christmas night because we had a HORRIBLE ice storm and had no power (hence the non update-ing). We still don't have cable *tear* anyway, thank you for being patient and I hope you like it! Because I do. I had to put a little drama in here because that last chapter was DULL, so I put anger and arguments and whatnot.
EMILY!!! Thank you for FINALLY reading and giving me all your mean comments, nice comments, and other general nonsense! I love you. (oh and happy LATE birthday.)
Cannot believe I neglected to tell you guys. Please go check out my poll. I think I know what I'm gonna do, but my reader's opinions matter!!!!
Hey guys, it is January 1, 2010 (weird huh?) Anyway, I have just edited this chapter (removed contractions, random quotation marks, and reworded things.) So you stragglers that are just getting around to it are getting the version that makes sense. I actually found a half finished sentence *shudder* Actually it was a half finished word! I just stopped right in the middle of a word! So, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my new & improved chapter. :)