A/N: Hey gang. Believe it or not, today marks two years since I saved the first version of this file, with four chapters much as they still stand. I started it on the same trip where I wrote The Wedding Afternoon. As you can see, it's been in the hopper for a while. Back then, I had the full concept in my mind right until the end, including the first words for ODC after the whole ordeal, but what you're getting now is very different, though the theme is in essentials the same.

I was pretty blasé about the timeline, but I finally went back and made one so the dates would work out. I did not (and never promise to) tell the story strictly in sequence, but it's mostly sequential if you don't nitpick too much.

The proposal happened on April 9, and Sudbury happened about 5 weeks later, on May 14. Darcy went to Longbourn on April 23, so I'm going backwards a bit here. This chapter is a little over 2 weeks since the proposal, but you can deal with it. Don't sweat it. Just trust me it will all work out.

We're sort of in the home stretch. I'm expecting maybe 30ish chapters, done before the New Year.

Wade

≈ The acorn does not fall very far from the tree Fitzwilliam, but you should also keep in mind that a tree can have a pleasant apple orchard on one side and a steep ravine or river on the other; topsoil on one side and rock on the other. You can usually see the echoes of both parents in the child, no matter how wildly divergent siblings may appear to be, but as with everything, try not to read too much into it. A lot depends on which ground the acorn falls on, and how it is nourished after being planted. ≈

Darcy looked around Mr. Bennet's bookroom, and strongly suspected he was staring at the education that had enchanted him with a Meryton Miss. He was lost in reflections about a particularly intense 'discussion' he had with Miss Elizabeth at Netherfield about literature. During the more heated part of the discussion, (which Bingley asserted was more like an argument than a debate), Darcy had for the first time really begun to appreciate the finer qualities of his antagonist. For the first time, he admitted that she was a worthier opponent than anyone else he knew, man or woman. He would never admit it to anybody else, but she had bested him in the end.

For a certain, he had long abandoned his initial hare‑brained idea that she was not handsome enough to tempt him. Oooohhhh Nooooo… by the time she showed up at Netherfield with all the features that Miss Bingley disdained but he found enchanting, her handsomeness was not in question at all. At that point, he quite agreed with Bingley, and for a moment indulged in remembering the smiling and happy man he had been before Darcy convinced him to abandon Jane Bennet.

≈ Your picture may be very exact, Louisa, but this was all lost upon me. I thought Miss Elizabeth Bennet looked remarkably well when she came into the room this morning. Her dirty petticoat quite escaped my notice. ≈

No, her handsomeness was not in question. After a few days of watching her toy with Caroline Bingley, (and to be honest, probably with himself too), her wit, her politeness, her social graces were also not in question.

That day in the drawing room though, when he had the temerity to contradict a deeply held opinion about literature, the knives had come out. At the end of it, he did not know if Miss Bennet wanted to kill him or keep him for further study, but she was certainly a force to be reckoned with. That was the day when he began to suspect he might be in well over his head.

"Pick your poison, Mr. Darcy. Port? Sherry? Brandy?"

Darcy startled himself from his introspection, looked at Miss Elizabeth's father, and could see what he suspected was a twinkle in his eye that looked all too familiar. Here, obviously was the tree.

"Brandy, if you please, Sir. It has been…"

Mr. Bennet laughed, and said, "Mr. Darcy, you appeared without notice at my front door after five months, with two ladies and a maid in tow, one of whom is my usually quite pliable daughter but orders you about like a manservant, and one of whom is a maid who treats you like a big brother. Yes, Sir – I would say that Brandy is absolutely called for."

Darcy nodded in agreement, and the gentlemen deferred whatever battle they were to engage in long enough to both be polite and gird their loins.

For a few minutes, Darcy looked at the titles that he had read at one time or another and was somewhat dismayed that it turned out to be a small part of the collection while he sipped his brandy. Whatever faults Mr. Bennet might have, lack of scholarship was not among them.

Finally, he said, "I imagine, Sir, that you would like an answer to your question."

Bennet sipped his brandy and looked at the young man over his glass trying to get a handle on him. Based on their interactions so far, he had to assume that the man was a twin, and the man from the previous autumn was the evil one. This man had somehow lost the rough edge that had grated so thoroughly against the Meryton populace in general, and Elizabeth in particular.

"Eventually, I would. Before we get into specifics though, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course. I am at your disposal, Sir."

"Am I going to be unhappy when you are done speaking?"

"Almost certainly, Sir."

"How unhappy?"

"Very."

"Am I going to be unhappy six months or a year from now?"

"I should hope not, Sir… and I shall do everything in my power to prevent that."

"Is there any action that you or I should take immediately that could mitigate any of this?"

"None, Sir. If I knew what to do, I would be doing it."

"Do you believe my Lizzy to be in any immediate danger?"

"No, Sir. What little I have heard suggests quite the opposite."

Mr. Bennet nodded, sipped a bit more brandy, and said, "I am a procrastinator of the worst order, Mr. Darcy, and you look a bit nervous. Shall we continue our discussion over the chessboard?"

"It will be my pleasure, Mr. Bennet."

"Unless you are very good, Mr. Darcy, that statement may prove to be in error."

Two hours later, Darcy had lost most definitively on the chessboard, but the entire story had been told from the ignominious beginning to the mortifying proposal, Elizabeth's subsequent flight, and his entire interaction with the horsewomen. He thought he might be evenly matched with Mr. Bennet on a normal day, and looked forward to a rematch.

Bennet picked up a tobacco pouch laying near the chessboard, tamped his pipe, got a brand from the fire and lit it, while thinking furiously.

"That is quite a story, Mr. Darcy. Funny, I would not have pegged Jane to be the one to bring you to heel."

"She did not do it alone, Sir, but she very well could have. There is more strength in her than meets the eye."

Bennet went over to his desk and retrieved a letter.

"What do you think of this, Mr. Darcy? It seems Lizzy can lie with the best of them, without actually being unfactual."

Darcy examined the letter, and said, "Yes, Sir. A red herring if I ever saw one. The way she specified her location she could be anywhere from Bedfordshire to Scotland. Her hosts could be anything from a shop owner to a shipping line owner."

Bennet laughed, and said, "And look at the atrocious writing on the direction… and the fact that she obviously had this 'Margaret' write it just to put me off the scent."

Darcy continued, "My theory, which my cousins agree with is that she is running out the calendar. With two awful proposals in less than four months, she wants to get on the other side of her age of majority. I admire her very much for her courage, and only repine that I made it necessary. It was very clever."

"So, is she almost as clever as you are, Sir?"

"Reverse the question and you will be on the right track, Sir."

Bennet chuckled, and said, "She will certainly keep you on your toes, Son."

"Yes, IF I can ever find her, and IF she will give me another chance. I have not earned it, but I shall ask it all the same."

He looked at his lap in shame, and added, "I can do better. Much better!"

Bennet relit his pipe, thought a few more minutes, and said, "Tell me, Mr. Darcy. All that falderol about her acceptance in your society… is it a valid concern? I will not see my Lizzy put upon by the jackals in London."

Darcy gave a grim chuckle, and said, "That is the stupidest part of the whole thing, Mr. Bennet. If I take her into society for a month, society will happily toss me aside and keep her."

Bennet chuckled, and said, "Well said, Sir. She needs a man like you. And you need a woman like her."

"Not a woman like her, Sir. I need HER!"

Bennet chuckled, "Well said, Sir. Well said. I tell you what. I will make you a bargain."

Darcy was not so certain he wanted to enter a bargain with unknown conditions, but if he was proposing this gentleman as a father‑in‑law for the rest of his life, he thought it would behoove him to trust the man.

"Yes, Sir."

"Lizzy will make her own decision, in her own time. She told you that I stood by her when my idiot cousin proposed?"

"She did not, but Ja… er, Miss Bennet told me."

Bennet chuckled at the near miss, and said, "What Jane does not know is that I really had no choice in the matter. Had I not stopped the match, she would have walked out that side door right over there, and I would not have seen hide nor hair of her until her age of majority. Nobody makes her do anything she does not want to do. Her mother thinks she could wear her down, but she would have better luck stopping the tide. Stubborn girl, my Lizzy. "

Darcy laughed, and said, "Is that a benefit or drawback, Mr. Bennet."

"Like most things in life, it is, neither or both. It all depends on the context."

Darcy nodded, and Mr. Bennet continued.

"I will tell you this, Son. If you find her, try to remember you need balance. Apologize for whatever offenses you have committed, but do not grovel. She despises weakness more than bad manners. Offer rational explanations about your thinking, before and after the proposal. Paint a picture of what your marriage would be like. Show here that you respect had and you need her. Let her ask as many questions as she wants and give her honest answers. Do not delude yourself that you can fool her."

"That is exceptional advice, Sir. I shall follow it to the best of my abilities."

Bennet nodded, and said, "Like as not, the way these things work out, you will meet her somewhere away from here. My position is that my daughter's fate, any of my daughters once they are of marriageable age, should be by their own choice. If Lizzy accepts you, then you have both my permission and my blessing; though neither are strictly required."

"I thank you, Sir."

Bennet chuckled, "Enough of that. May I presume that Jane brought you here to repair your reputation?"

"You guessed that?"

"I state the obvious, Mr. Darcy."

"Yes, Sir. Also, there is another matter of some urgency I need to address. There is a man in town who likes to prey on young ladies and run up debts he cannot pay. To my shame, I knew he was here before I left in November and did nothing. It is time I dealt with him once and for all."

"Why did you do nothing?"

"He holds… certain leverage, Sir."

"And you still propose to proceed?"

"Yes, Sir. My courtship of Miss Elizabeth, should it ever be known, would paint quite a target on your other daughters. I will of course protect all of them as my sisters should Elizabeth accept my suit, but it would be best to have the obstacle removed in the first place."

"How do you propose to do that?"

Darcy blew out a deep breath, and said, "I have given Mr. Wickham chance after chance after chance, and now I find that others always pay for my negligence. I will give him a choice. He is for the Navy and never to return to England on pain of death, or I have enough vowels to send him to debtor's prison for the rest of his short‑miserable life. As for the leverage, I will inform him that one wrong word will cause me to tell my cousin where he is, which would almost certainly end up in his death. I believe he will see the benefits of service to King and Crown."

Bennets eyebrows were practically to his hairline, and he said, "Well, if that needs doing, you had best get to it. By now, he knows you are here. Shall we ride out and get the deed done?"

"You will help?"

"Of course!"

"I shall also need you to get an accurate accounting of any debts he has run up with local merchants. I will pay them, but I would rather not be cheated, and the temptation will be great."

Bennet nodded, and said, "Let us get to it, then."

Both men got up and headed for the door. As they were putting on their outerwear, Bennet casually mentioned, "Oh, by the way. There is an assembly in about a fortnight. We should buy tickets for your party while we are at it."