I'm not dead bitches. Coronavirus is a cunt, so is Boris Johnson. A-levels are kicking my ass but that's nothing new.
Anyways, enjoy. If there are grammar mistakes, tell me, but don't be a dick about it.
Dinner was a quiet affair. The Gardiner family and Bennet sisters shared little conversation, content with the silence between them.
In the Fitzwilliam household on the other hand... Well, quiet was not exactly the word that would best describe the situation. The family was dining at the Earl's home and those who were not permanent residents were planning on staying the night.
"Why can't you just accept that Allison would make a perfect mistress of Pemberley and leave the chit?"
"Because I cannot stand the site of her," Darcy sighed, waving his glass of wine for emphasis.
"Why do you always have to be so difficult? She is perfect. She's beautiful, she's rich, she's well liked. What is wrong with her exactly?"
"You chose her," her eldest brother interrupted, as he threw himself into the seat beside his cousin, stealing his wine in the process.
From the opposite side of the fireplace, the Countess called, "Boys," as if she could feel the conflict beginning before it even happened. She rolled her eyes as her husband chuckled beside her.
"I don't know what you would have to say about the situation Edward, you are the one who passed her over for that mouse you call a wife."
"Harriet has nothing to do with this and you know it. I married her because I love her."
"You married her because you pity her," Julia snarled, knowingly goading her brother into an argument. The atmosphere between the two siblings was at boiling point and the Viscount was just about ready to throw something at his sister, when a small voice emerged from the doorway.
"E-Edward?"
Breaking from his rage infused daze, Edward turned from his scowling sister towards the open door. Half hidden behind the door frame, was his wife with a white shawl wrapped around her shoulders. "I-I'm going up to bed," she stuttered, nervously darting her eyes between her husband and sister-in-law, sensing the tension.
"Oh, I'll be right there." Harriet nodded her head slightly before leaving the room.
Julia scoffed and turned back to her brother, "See, pathetic."
"I am not dealing with this tonight." Edward wiped his hand over his mouth tiredly, nodded to his cousin and father, before turning and pressing a kiss to his mother's cheek.
By the time he had left the room, Julia had turned on her cousin once again, her voice resonating through the hallway.
—
Harriet was already dressed for bed, and was sat on the window seat waiting for him by the time he entered their bedroom. "I heard what your sister said." She didn't turn from the window, her voice soft but not inaudible as it so often was when in public. "Is that really why she doesn't like me? Because you married me instead of her friend?"
"Well it isn't the only reason, but yes. She wanted Miss Taylor for a sister and I refused. And its not like Richard will take her either." He sat on the edge of the bed facing her, reaching for her hand. She turned to him, saw his hand and moved to join him on the bed.
"Did you ever think about marrying her?"
"My sister only brought it up after I met you." Silence fell between them as Harriet tried to figure out what to say next. Edward knew pushing her would only make her crawl further into her shell. She swung her legs up onto the bed and crawled under the covers, still silently thinking. Her husband followed her, watching nervously, worried about what was going on inside her head.
She did this sometimes. Got lost in her own head and needed Edward to drag her back out before she drowned in her own thoughts. Her own memories. That's why he was so adamant that they shared a bedroom, despite social norms. So he was there when she needed him to wake her from her nightmares.
They weren't the sort of nightmares that had you waking up screaming. They were the sort that kept you up at night and even in the morning, when you've already forgotten the details, their shadows still haunt the back of your mind. Edward being there helped Harriet, keeping her rooted to the present, instead of drifting back into her childhood.
It wasn't long until he heard his parents footsteps out in the hall, as they themselves retired for the night. He only assumed his sister and cousin had not chosen to remain downstairs to continue their argument.
Sometimes Edward wondered what had happened to his beloved little sister, or when she had become so different from the girl that had taken great pleasure in running into the backs of people's legs and watching them wobble. His confusion was only heightened by the great differences in his mother and his sister, who seemed to disagree on almost everything.
He was startled from his thoughts by his wife. "If you hadn't met me, would you have married her?"
"I doubt it. I I hadn't met you I probably would have married for money or power, but that doesn't mean I don't have standards." That sent Harriet into a fit of giggles which she muffled by burying her face in her husbands chest. "I love you Harriet," he said into her ear.
"I love you too, Edward," she replied, "even when you drag me to the theatre."
"You like the theatre."
She only hummed sleepily in response.
I know its shit but at least i'm writing something.
Wear a mask, don't cough on people, don't have one night stands. Just don't be a dick.