A/N: I found a typo in this chapter that I have read at least 20 times before and did not see. Please leave a comment in the review if you see a typo, wrong pronoun, missing 's' or too many of them. Thanks! I am actually posting two chapters this time and see how it works. Here is Chapter 11. Chapter 12 is coming up.

Chapter 11: Mr. Darcy Getting Smitten

Two days later, Mr. Darcy came calling on Mr. Bennet at Longbourn. He was shown immediately into Mr. Bennet's study. After the usual pleasantries, Mr. Bennet walked Mr. Darcy into the library and led him to the seating around the Pennsylvania Fireplace. He said, "Mr. Darcy, I must disclose that I've had the pleasure of visiting your home and seen your library when I was in Derbyshire years ago. I am honoured to reciprocate just a fraction of the pleasure by showing you my own."

Mr. Darcy was understandably surprised, and said, "Mr. Bennet, I am gratified to know that you visited Pemberley. Were you acquainted with my father? Was that why you came to Pemberley?"

"Your father, Mr. George Darcy, and I were acquainted due to our shared passion for old and rare books. We corresponded quite regularly for a few years trading tips and sources on where to find a certain book or manuscript that was coveted by one or the other. We had met in person at Oxford once or twice. My father and I were in Derbyshire to arrange the affairs of my great uncle, Reverend John Bennet, after his demise. He was an ardent member of the Methodist movement and followed the Wesley brothers to Derbyshire until he broke away in his later years. Afterwards we went by your home and stayed a few days. Your father had lost your mother a year before but was still clearly mourning. I do believe that our visit cheered him some. But I think he lost his enthusiasm for rare books soon after that and our correspondence eventually stopped completely.

"My father never recovered from the loss of my mother. He lost interest in many things. I am not surprised that he stopped communicating with you. Outside of business correspondence, he hardly wrote to anybody, including me. Nothing could rouse him out of his funk. I am ashamed to say that I did not even know how to begin to try."

"I am certain that your father appreciated the effort. He could not hide his pride every time he mentioned you. There was another young man I had mistaken to be you because he acted like the heir when Mr. Darcy was not around. He turned out to be Mr. Darcy's godson and the son of his steward's. He tried mightily to cheer your father up, I must say, by ingratiating himself to your father, but without much success. The steward, Mr. Wickham, I believe, seemed an honest and decent man. I think his company offered some comfort to your father."

"Yes, Mr. Wickham the elder was a very respectable man. He served the Darcy family as steward with faithful competence until his death shortly before my own father's passing. I must have gone to visit my cousins in south Yorkshire when you visited if George Wickham was home at Pemberley. My father sent him to school and Cambridge with me at his own expense because of his esteem for old Mr. Wickham. I am afraid he had turned out to be a disappointment to my father."

"Ah… the Fitzwilliam side of your family. Your uncle the Earl is a very good man. His library is another that is the envy of the kingdom. I have heard that he has an excellent collection of paintings by Italian masters that he brought back from his grand tour. It would be a real treat to view those."

"Are you also a connoisseur of the arts then, Mr. Bennet?"

"I am not worthy to be called a connoisseur, but I admit to having a deep and abiding interest in the fine arts, especially paintings. Here at Longbourn we have a decent collection by Flemish masters my father and I inherited. They are not so well-known now, but it must be obvious to anyone with any degree of appreciation for the finer things and feelings in life that these are superb works of art, and will one day rise to the positions in the world to which they belong."

"Mr. Bennet, I feel more and more fortunate to have made your acquaintance. The fact that you knew my father and helped give him comfort at his lowest deserves my eternal gratitude. I am also eager to see your collection if you allow it. The setting, this magnificent room, is a fitting place to house your treasures."

Mr. Bennet looked at Mr. Darcy bemusedly for a moment but did not remark on his comment. He continued, "This room was built by my grandfather. When he was on the Continent, he heard some extraordinary music by a young Italian composer named Antonio Vivaldi who was quite well-known at the time. His set of four violin concerti called the 'Four Seasons' especially touched his heart. My grandfather wanted to build a room that would remind him of the piece. When you sit in the centre of this room by the Pennsylvania Fireplace, you could look out of the many windows and see the changing seasons outside in all their glory."

"Remarkable, Indeed! I am very proud of Pemberley, and felt privileged and humbled by a place nature has done so much. In this room, I have the same feeling of being in awe of the wonders of nature and yet surrounded by culture and history through the ages. Do you have the music of these extraordinary pieces by Vivaldi? I would very much like to have a look at them."

"Do you play the violin then?"

"I did enjoy playing very much, but cannot say that I have ever achieved any degree of proficiency with it. . In recent years, I have neglected the instrument because of the demands from managing the estate. Being in this library has inspired me to pick it up again."

"Very well, young man. I am gratified that I have played a part in encouraging you to resume such a worthwhile pursuit. I shall ask one of my daughters to copy the violin part for you. Perhaps someday we shall commission a performance of the 'Four Seasons' in this room."

From here the two gentlemen talked about other pursuits such as chess and bird-hunting for both, rare book restoration for Mr. Bennet, fencing and music for Mr. Darcy and so on. They had such an enjoyable time that Mr. Darcy stayed for tea with the family.

On his way back to Netherfield, Mr. Darcy reflected upon the afternoon spent with Mr. Bennet. He could not recall the last time he had such a fulfilling conversation with anyone. The tea with the Bennet family was also far more enjoyable than what he usually experienced with new acquaintances. It was prodigiously pleasanter than standing at the window staring out to avoid all those grasping young women and their mammas, or inane conversations with idle gentlemen. Because of his presence, the youngest two Bennet girls were not in company. The topics of conversation ranged from the wide use of the Pennsylvania Fireplaces due to the American influence from Mr. Bennet's brothers, to the music of Vivaldi, and arts and food from the Continent. Everyone in the room participated in the conversation. All had something sensible to say. On the topic of continental cuisines, Mr. Bennet gave the floor to his wife, who quite enthusiastically expounded on the regional flavours and how she incorporated them for her table at Longbourn. The buttery but crispy roll with not cream but a creamy cheese inside they had for tea, Mr. Darcy found out, was derived from the cannoli she tasted when she went to Italy with her future parents-in-law. Mr. Darcy could not help but notice how animated and spirited Mrs. Bennet looked while talking about something clearly dear to her heart. In fact, it reminded him of the young lady who had been very much on his mind constantly.

That afternoon he found a new favorite look on her when she placed a finger on her chin, thinking and then with the most luminous brightness in her eyes, suggested that a glass front added to the Pennsylvania Fireplace would quite dramatically transform the square box from a practical stove to be also aesthetically pleasing. Then her face got pensive in the next second but the passion in her eyes did not get even a little diminished, and said," I know it is not possible now, but someday, someone will discover how to make glass that will not crack in a stove."

Mr. Bennet looked indulgently at her and said, "Ever the visionary." While saying that, he stole a glance at the visitor's fixed stare on his fair daughter's face. The other two Miss Bennets appeared to be much more sedate by comparison. When Mr. Bennet asked Miss Elizabeth to see to the music properly copied, Darcy's heart skipped a beat at the prospect of having something written in her hand in his possession.

When he did get the music a week later, it had obviously been copied by four distinct hands. He felt an unmistakable pang of disappointment that he could not tell which one belonged to his lady, or even more distressingly, whether she took part in the copying at all!

After the first visit to Longbourn, Mr. Darcy would go close to Oakham Mount every morning with the hope of encountering Miss Elizabeth again. He was rewarded with her presence more often than not, even when the weather was drizzly or worse, blustery. He had found an excellent hiding place where he could hear her singing quite well. He suspected that Miss Elizabeth chose to practise singing on the hilltop because her full volume voice might wake up the whole house if she did it at home.

One morning, however, the singing stopped abruptly, and then a gunshot rang out from the summit. Mr. Darcy's heart stopped, and was already rushing out of his hiding place when he heard a squeal from the young lady and the excited barks of the hunter, and realized that Miss Elizabeth, on top of everything else, was an incredible sharp-shooter considering she got her quarry with just a small pistol that she hid in her pocket as he could not see her carrying a gun when she walked home with the dog carrying what appeared to be a pheasant. He thought then that if he ever decided to come out of hiding to greet her properly, he would make plenty of noise to alert her of his presence lest he met the same fate as the bird! This thought was immediately followed by another: meeting her at such an isolated place at such an early hour could never be proper, and he was not yet ready for an improper encounter.

Out of the songs that he heard from her voice practice, he especially loved the traditional English ballads that he had heard innumerable times before and yet coming from Miss Elizabeth's lips, they became fresh and transformed as if her soul had been intertwined with them. From these songs, he found out that she knew enough Latin, French, German and Italian to sing the lyrics with the most pleasant accents. In addition to all these languages, she was teaching herself Spanish. Every day he got more and more intrigued by this little country miss with big talents and unmatched beauty.

Chapter notes:

1. According to the Wikipedia entry, Vivaldi was not popular during the time of this story.

2. The Pennsylvania Fireplace is the modern-day woodstove. It was invented by Benjamin Franklin in Pennsylvania. It was and is much more energy efficient than the conventional fireplace. Mr. Gardiner highly recommended them!