Title: Dare to Refuse Such a Man
Rating: K+ (PG) – because I can't think of anything at this point which would constitute a higher rating. Should be sweet and clean.
Disclaimer: Though I write stories based on the novels and characters of Jane Austen, this work belongs to ME and no one else. Unless given express permission, no one besides myself has the right to distribute or profit from my intellectual property. All rights reserved.
Setting: Regency
PSA: I hope that you and yours are safe and healthy during the COVID-19 crisis. Take precautions for yourself and others and please don't hoard any goods that your family doesn't need; we're all in this together, even while we remain physically apart.
Summary: It had never occurred to Fitzwilliam Darcy that, once he had chosen a bride, her father might dare to refuse his consent. However, a woman worthy of being pleased is also worth fighting for. DE, Regency, clean romance.
"He is the kind of man, indeed, to whom I should never dare refuse anything which he condescended to ask."
Mr Bennet, Pride and Prejudice Volume III, Chapter 17
Volume II: Hertfordshire
Please note that the below chapter takes place almost immediately after the assembly scene from the prologue. If you have forgotten any of the details therein, I recommend that you go back to the very beginning to refresh your memory.
o0o
Chapter Seventeen
Saturday
October 19, 1811
just before 7 o'clock in the morning
Elizabeth kicked her feet free of her covers with an aggravated huff. There would be no more sleep for her, though admittedly she had not gotten much overnight in any case; today was filled with renewed hope.
He was here! William, – her dearest, sweetest, most loyal William – was in Hertfordshire and she meant to take advantage of the fact.
Through her window the rosy fingertips of dawn were just barely reaching over the horizon, but Elizabeth had been awake waiting for them for some time already and was elated that there was finally enough light to dress by. She wasted not a single moment in stoking her small fire to ward off the October chill – indeed, she barely felt anything save the warm glow of happy anticipation – and instead went directly to her wardrobe to select a walking gown.
The one she had favored over the summer when they were first introduced was out of the question as it was a short sleeved light muslin and, regardless, was destined for the scrap pile after being caught in the rain and muck so frequently in it during their rambles about Derbyshire. Mama had certainly suggested as much, prompting Elizabeth to hide it in the back of her closet where her mother would be unlikely to look for fear of losing her treasured memento. Being disallowed from explaining why she wished to keep it by her father, she would have no defense for keeping a ratty, unwearable gown that would be acceptable to her mother and so it was best that it remain out of sight and mind. Elizabeth stroked the puffed sleeve fondly for a second before redirecting her attention to a more appropriately warm frock made of a heavier material in a gold-toned yellow. She pulled it out and hastily donned the layers she would require for a walk out of doors.
Elizabeth had been considering her reunification with William during all of her waking and sleeping hours of the night and the sense of gloom which had been weighing her down since returning to Hertfordshire had lifted, replaced by the old attitude of positivity she had been known for prior to her summer travels. It had been nigh impossible for Elizabeth to enjoy the familiar comforts of home, though she had made the attempt to appear as normal as possible for the sake of keeping her burdens private from her mother and sisters, save for her wonderful, sympathetic Jane. Elizabeth had performed all of her former duties around the estate by rote, socialized with their neighbors with forced cheerfulness and grudgingly maintained as much civility as she could toward her father. Each and every interaction with others felt forced and difficult, but it had been slowly improving with all except Papa.
The only former habit she had not taken back up because she refused to was her penchant for whiling away companionable hours in Papa's book room. She now only entered that room to collect a ledger or book for perusal and then excused herself to attend them elsewhere in the house or garden; Papa was, of course, not fooled by any of her flimsy pretexts in absenting herself from his presence, but Elizabeth hardly cared how he felt about it. No one else, except perhaps Jane, her only confidante, had seemingly noticed the new chill between the Bennet patriarch and his favorite daughter, though it was certainly felt between the two of them.
Oh, but all of that strife from the past few weeks could be put aside and hope could be rekindled. Now that William was here, now that he had staked his claim before everyone she knew, all would be as it should and they could marry. Papa would not continue to deny them, surely, when to do so would be to invite censure into their lives? A romantic reunion between established lovers could easily be accepted as a sweet, if somewhat improper, anecdote. If those two lovers failed to announce an engagement soon after...well, it did not bear thinking of the consequences to not only Elizabeth herself but also her sisters.
When she recalled this in the midst of her excited preparations, Elizabeth was sobered for a moment. She had no doubt that William would propose to her with all haste – what man would travel hundreds of miles and spend so many weeks searching for a woman he did not intend to take as his wife? – but there was still the risk of stigma for her family. She had little doubt that her neighbors, who had known the Bennets and their many daughters since infancy, would be more forgiving than London society, but she did rather wish that William had not risked all their reputations.
Then again, Elizabeth could understand why he had felt desperate enough to do so. Papa's steadfast refusal to even entertain the idea of their match – Elizabeth scowled fiercely, as she often did, at the thought of her father's stubbornness – and his pains to separate them likely drove William to do what his honor usually demanded he should not and taint her reputation just enough to make her ineligible for other men. She could not be angry with him for doing this much because, if Elizabeth were completely honest with herself, she might have done the same had she thought of it, as selfish as the impulse would have been.
Elizabeth quickly twisted her hair into the most becoming style her preoccupied brain could think of – it would have to do for she needed to be free of the house before her father woke and tried to forbid her from leaving it – and then donned her pelisse and warm gloves. Outside, she could see the dome of the rising sun arching over the fields to the east and determined that it was light enough for her excursion. She did not necessarily expect to meet William out on her walk as they had not been given the opportunity to plot a rendezvous the night before, but Elizabeth hoped that, if she loitered along the boundary between Longbourn and Netherfield long enough, she might be lucky enough to spot him from afar and lure his attention to her presence.
Unless, of course, he was already out there waiting for her.
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When Elizabeth saw her William coming toward her through the tall grass, his black steed loitering in the background, there was none of the disbelieving hesitation of the night before; she lifted her skirts out of her way and broke into a run. He approached at a similarly enthusiastic pace and spread his arms wide in invitation for her to leap into them – an invitation she embraced as thoroughly as she did him.
"Elizabeth!" William crooned, his voice slightly muffled through the barrier of her bonnet as he wrapped his limbs around her and lifted her off her feet. She squealed in reciprocal glee as he spun them around in place, her gown and boots flying through the air as if she had become suddenly weightless.
After a few dizzying rotations, William stumbled to a halt and pulled back enough so that he could look at her face, his eyes hungrily devouring her features. With her toes still dangling several inches off the ground – William was even taller than her memory had projected him to be and his strength unwavering as he supported her weight – she gazed back at him with the same fervency that was shining from every line of his expression. Elizabeth had, in the past, frequently doubted the meaning behind William's intense stares and stony facade, but there was no question at this moment that he was as overcome to see her as she was to see him. No one could doubt it.
Impulsively, Elizabeth knocked the hat from William's head so that she could twine her fingers in the curls she had been dreaming of since that awkward rendezvous beneath the horse chestnut tree. She gripped them tightly and pulled his face into the hollow of her throat where she could feel him wheezing against her skin. "Oh, William! I thought I would never see you again!"
"I had feared the same, my love," he said and her heart responded by pounding with more rapidity. "I never stopped looking for you. Never. When I saw you last night..."
Elizabeth used the grasp she still held of William's hair to tilt his head back, conjoining and tangling their gazes together again. There was a sheen of moisture upon the surface of his cloudy gray eyes, the result of the tempest of feeling brewing within him, and she felt the sting of fresh tears tingle at the corners of her own. She laughed, full of nearly incredulous joy, and blinked rapidly as her vision began to blur.
Elizabeth wished that she could express with words how glad she was to see him again, exclaim over how miraculous their reunion was and tell him how very much she loved her dearest, most wonderful William, but her voice was clotted with all of these emotions and more. Instead, all she could do was press her ardent lips to his and so she did.
William responded with a grunt which might have been elation or surprise, although it was certainly possible that it was a mixture of both at once. Regardless, he clasped her tightly to himself and did nothing to dissuade her spontaneous offer of affection; quite to the contrary, William encouraged it by tipping his head to one side and melding them together in a more comfortable position. Elizabeth followed his lead and tilted in the other direction.
After some time – Elizabeth was not quite sure how long; it could have been a few minutes or even an hour, so involved was she in the moment – they broke apart, wheezing as if they had just run another playful footrace. Unwilling to part further, however, they rested their foreheads against one another's as they waited for their breathing to slow into a regular rhythm.
"Dearest...loveliest Elizabeth..."
Elizabeth felt William's endearments flutter against her face like the delicate touch of butterfly wings. To feel his breath, to hear his voice again was something out of one of her dreams of late. It was a surreal experience after so long suffering his absence. Her eyes still closed, she nuzzled her nose against his. "William, my dearest William..."
"I beg you," William's voice was strangled as if he, too, were choking on an uprising of powerful feeling. He swallowed, the motion audible to Elizabeth's ears at such close proximity, and said again, "I beg you, please relieve my suffering and consent to be my wife. I cannot let you go again."
"Yes!" was Elizabeth's immediate answer, sprung free from her lips before she had even thought to say it. "Yes! I will marry y – " The rest of whatever she was going to say was muffled by William's mouth as he availed himself of another kiss. Giddily, Elizabeth imagined that he was consuming her acceptance, taking it inside of him, so that he might be filled with her love. A silly, ridiculous notion one might see expressed in a saccharine, sentimental novel, but one she embraced in the moment.
Slowly, Elizabeth felt William's grip upon her waist loosen and her feet descend toward the ground, her body sliding against his on the way down. William's head bowed as she sank, his lips still clinging to hers, as if unwilling to let her move away from him. He needn't have worried; Elizabeth was no more inclined to leave him than he was to allow it and kept her fingers tangled deeply within his curls. At length, however, they were required to pry themselves apart lest they smother one another in their enthusiasm.
"I was on my way to Longbourn," confessed William at length once he had enough breath to do so, trailing tender kisses across the crest of her cheek, "to render my proposals. I see you have anticipated me."
Elizabeth laughed and slid her hands from his hair, down the back of his neck and allowed them to rest upon his shoulders where they remained. "I am, as ever, always where you least expect me to be, sir."
"I look forward to seeking out all of your hiding places in future," he quipped in return, straightening to his full height so that, even absent his hat, he was towering above her. The irrepressible grin upon his face made him seem a friendly, exceptionally handsome giant to Elizabeth. "Come, let us speak with your father."
Elizabeth stretched herself as tall as she could, using the balance of her hands upon William's shoulders to gain yet more leverage, and just barely managed to reach his lips for another kiss. He acquiesced to this distraction readily and drew her closer with the palms he had pressed against her lower back. Elizabeth again felt weightless as the burden of her previous melancholy lifted from her and dissipated into the atmosphere like smoke from an extinguished fire.
As the pair wandered, hand in hand, back in the direction of Longbourn some time later after yet more kisses and further endearments had been exchanged, William ventured an apology. "I am sorry to have caused such a scene at the assembly last evening. I have been looking for you these past weeks and, though I knew it a possibility for you to be in the area, I had not allowed myself to hope. When I saw you, I was immediately overcome and before I could summon my usual control..."
"You need not apologize. Truly," she added when William opened his mouth as if to press upon her more guilty admonitions of himself. "Though I would have wished for our reunion to be more...private, or at least less public, I can certainly understand what you were feeling at the time. I was experiencing the same, after all, and I practically threw myself into your arms once I had enough sense to move! And I cannot regret that your actions essentially require us to marry."
William halted and turned three quarters to face her, his expression solemn. "I hope you know that I would have asked you to marry me even apart from compromising you. Indeed, that was entirely unplanned – I had no notion that I was going to do so until, in a moment of panic, I determined that it might be simplest method to gain your father's acceptance. Indeed, had you stayed a day – a few hours, even – longer in Derbyshire, I would have tendered my offer in a more respectable way before now."
"As I told my father!" huffed Elizabeth, indignant. She resisted the rise of resentment against her father, not wishing it to mar her reunion with William, but the tide of anger, disappointment and confusion was too much to suppress. "He would not believe me. He said you were trifling with me and never meant to make me an offer at all."
William's jaw slackened, aghast. "I swear to you, I arrived at the parsonage that morning to propose to you forthwith, but – "
Elizabeth shushed him softly and placed the fingers of her free hand against his lips. She forced back the waves of bitterness so that she could reassure William in a more warm, affectionate tone. "I always knew that your attentions were honorable, I never doubted you for a moment. Even had my uncle not already informed me that you sought my hand in July, I knew that you were incapable of such immoral behavior. Had Papa not whisked me away from Derbyshire that morning, I would have happily said yes then and, in all likelihood, we would have been married by now. Do not feel that you need to convince me."
"Elizabeth," William murmured against the pads of her fingers before bestowing upon them a small kiss.
After they began walking again, their pace slow and leisurely, William posed another query to his beloved. His voice was tight and slightly tremulous from the strain. "I must ask before we meet with your father, are you – are you engaged to another?"
"I beg your pardon?" Elizabeth was too astounded to be properly offended by what William had asked her. "Why would you think so?"
William's expression contracted into a grimace and he looked away from her gaze, redirecting his own to where his boots were scuffing against the autumn-browned grass. "Your father left me a note before you left Derbyshire that said as much. He also threw it back in my face last night after you had left the assembly. Your uncle thought it improbable that you would be betrothed without his knowledge, but..."
"I assure you that I am not, and have never been, engaged to another man!" Elizabeth exclaimed, her voice rising with the level of her indignation. The nerve! She had not thought Papa capable of exercising such deceit, had considered it beneath him to lie about such a serious matter, but perhaps she should not be so deeply surprised that it was so. Her father's behavior of late had been most disconcerting; Elizabeth felt as if she no longer knew him or, perhaps, had never truly known him at all. It was no longer so inconceivable that Papa might utter an outright falsehood to further his selfish agenda – whatever it was. "The notion – I have no idea why my father would ever say such a thing, but it is simply not true! You are the only man I have ever agreed to marry, William, ever. I cannot even begin to imagine who my father might consider as my fiance!"
William's shoulders visibly relaxed as Elizabeth's vehement denial washed over him. "Good. I had not thought you capable of encouraging my attentions while promised to another man, but I will admit that I was...perturbed by the thought. And he has not spoken to you of a cradle betrothal since you have been home? No cousin or – or other gentleman your parents might favor?"
"Not that I am aware of. We are not a grand family with aspirations to keep our wealth and consequence within our ranks, Dearest. Until this recent episode of madness, I had been under the impression that, barring unsuitable gentlemen, I would be allowed my choice of husband. Papa's behavior in relation to our courtship has baffled me exceedingly. I cannot understand it." Elizabeth kicked viciously at a bit of debris in her way to vent the feelings of betrayal she was experiencing. Papa had done absolutely everything he could think of to part her from William, including conducting himself dishonorably by spouting lies.
"Speaking of your father," William adopted his grim mantle, the relief on his features hardening into something else more somber, "I was concerned for you last night considering how angry he was. Are you...well?"
Elizabeth was startled out of her acrimonious reflections and blinked at William, uncomprehending. She could feel her brow folding down as she pondered his possible implications. "How do you mean?"
"I saw how he...he grabbed you, and – "
"Oh!" Elizabeth's eyebrows snapped out of their furrow and rose precipitously upon her forehead as understanding dawned. "No, no, William, Papa is not violent! Truly, I have rarely even seen him angry before this. I am very well and have no injuries to resent on that score. He has not even yelled at me; he pouted to himself all the way back to Longbourn and then went directly to bed. No, he would never hurt anyone, least of all one of his daughters. Even Mama, who tries his patience something dreadful at times, has never received more than a scoff."
A rush of air escaped William and his features softened slightly from the cold, hard steel brought on by his suspicions. "I am relieved. Part of me wished to follow you last night to be sure, but I also feared making the situation worse than it already was and I would have had no right to remove you even in the event...well, I am glad he is not that kind of father. A gentleman should never strike a lady."
"Papa is a gentle soul," Elizabeth reassured him, firmness in her voice, as she squeezed his forearm gently. "Even if he is proving himself to be frustrating in this case. I still cannot understand...but it matters not. He cannot reject your suit now that you have spoiled me in front of all the neighborhood and we shall be married. I am sure he will reconcile himself to the match soon enough and my mother…" Elizabeth stopped suddenly, jerking them both to a standstill. She had nearly forgotten the mortification inherent in introducing William to Mama. Now that it occurred to her, her face flamed red and she continued, rather weakly, "Oh. I should warn you about Mama."
"Your mother?" William looked down at her with wary concern. "You do not believe that she will be opposed to my suit as well, do you?"
A sigh escaped Elizabeth and she did little to disguise it. She began walking again, a little more grudgingly, toward Longbourn; she could see the trimmed boundaries of the manor house lawn in the near distance now. "No, far from it – very far from it. It is just that...oh, I suppose I will just say it. My mother can be very...silly. And loud. And...and mortifying. I believe you saw something of her last night at the assembly?" She cringed as an image of Mama holding court amongst the matrons of the neighborhood rose up in her memory and could very nearly hear the echoes of her shrieks reverberating around inside her skull.
"Yes, I recall. She was very..." William trailed off, apparently incapable of conjuring up a polite adjective to describe her mother.
"Yes, she was," replied Elizabeth to the unspoken truth he could say.
William blushed a little and, shamefaced, hurried to alleviate the given offense. "It matters not one jot to me if she is a little..." Again, specific words failed him to describe Mama in a way which would not be insulting. Elizabeth, as much as she loved her mother, could not fault him; Fanny Bennet had many fine qualities, but few of them were apparent upon first impression.
"Do not strain yourself, William," Elizabeth soothed, a wry smile quirking at the corners of her mouth. "I know that Mama is a little much, but she means well. At least, I believe she does; sometimes it is difficult to tell. I only ask that you have patience with her and try not to be excessively offended when she inevitably says something she ought not. I could not bear it if you were chased away by both of my parents."
Though she had meant the last as something of a jest to lighten the mood, instead William's expression tightened into one of grim sincerity. "I love you, Elizabeth, and I will not have you taken from me again. Nothing can dissuade me from marrying you."
Elizabeth could not help herself and kissed him again, this time upon his cheek; they were now upon Longbourn property and circumspection was warranted. In a light, teasing voice, she replied, "I hope you will keep that in mind once we announce our engagement, sir."
Author's Note: Next up, some of the mystery begins to unravel. More drama ahead, but nothing to what was experienced during their separation. Swear it.
To those of you who have so sweetly and politely requested that I increase the frequency of my updating, I am most sincerely sorry that I cannot oblige you at this time. However, I am working hard to finish the last few chapters of "A Happy Accident" so that I might be able to focus solely on this story, which might (MIGHT) result in faster posting. I can't promise anything, of course, but that's my goal. For now, weekly updates and the ultimate conclusion date are still accurate projections. Wish me luck!
On that note, sorry for the delay in posting THIS chapter. However, as appeasement, I'm posting the new chapter for "A Happy Accident" a day early. Yay!
Hang in there, guys. Even if I can't speed up my chapters, I won't leave y'all in the lurch during the quarantine. We're all in this together, even if we're physically apart.
Next Update: April 10, 2020
Expected Completion Date: July 24, 2020
– MrsMarySmythe
