Hidden Passages

Elizabeth Bennet has always had an interest in unusual architecture and hidden passages. Her knowledge about the assembly Hall's unique architecture provides her with an opportunity to help Mr. Darcy. In return, his eyes are opened to Elizabeth's unique appeal.

Meryton Assembly Hall

Elizabeth Bennet's first impressions of Mr. Darcy were not all favorable. True, he was the handsomest man she had ever seen. He was tall, with broad shoulders, a trim waist, and a stronger build than was usual among the aristocracy. But his noble face was fixed in a stone mask that implied disdain for his surroundings and for the people in Meryton. Despite all of their foibles, she held her friends and neighbors dear. Elizabeth resolved then and there to dislike the man and think nothing more about him.

Intention did not match reality, however, because the tall, stern man drew her eye like a beacon. Wherever she was in the large assembly hall at the moment, she was keenly aware of where he was. And the man did move around quite a bit, speaking with nobody and stalking dark corners. It was all quite confusing, disconcerting, and irritating. Halfway through the evening she was even more determined to despise the man altogether. But then something happened that made a crack in her determined dislike.

Mr. Darcy danced with Miss Caroline Bingley and fate quite ironically placed that pair directly in front of Lizzy and her current partner, Jake Goulding. The dance was a quadrille, which meant that the couples frequently shifted partners temporarily. For the first few minutes Lizzy only saw the proud, haughty man she was determined to despise, but then his mask slipped for some reason and Lizzy saw an inner pain. Lizzy did not know how she knew, but she knew: This man had been hurt, possibly betrayed... and that fairly recently.

All of Elizabeth Bennet's determined dislike fell away in that instant... truthfully it was not in her nature to be so harsh to another person. She might laugh with her father at the foibles of others, but when she saw a need she did all she could to help.

There were no immediate, elemental changes. Mr. Darcy still wore his mask. He only danced with the two ladies from his own party, and only one dance each. And he continued to stalk around the outer perimeters of the ballroom. Now that Elizabeth was able to observe him with a less jaundiced eye, she noticed other details. He is constantly moving because he is trying to avoid someone! From that realization, it was not long before she identified the other person as Miss Bingley; she of ridiculous orange dress and feathered headscarf. That scowling, sneering lady also moved about the room... and always toward wherever Mr. Darcy happened to be at that particular moment in time.

Elizabeth was sitting out a set, having politely asked her prospective partner to direct his request instead toward a young lady who had sat out much of the evening. John Lucas was a dear friend, so he complied with her request and was now dancing a reel with Miss King. She smiled at the pair and then, once again unerringly, turned her head to locate Mr. Darcy. She had to turn carefully because she knew that he was close behind her now and only ten feet to her left. Her newfound understanding made her wish to speak with him, but that would be impossible since they had not been introduced.

She saw him grimace and noted the distant approach of not only Miss Bingley in all her orange finery, but also her brother, Mr. Bingley. Perhaps I can be of some assistance to him? Fortuitously, Charlotte stepped up to her. "Eliza, I'm surprised to see you sitting out a set. I thought that my brother had the honor?"

Elizabeth jutted her chin toward the person in question and his partner as they smiled through an energetic sequence of steps. "I took the liberty of pointing his attention to where it should be. Miss King has been looking longingly in his direction all night, after all." She noted the orange apparition drawing closer to her prey. Whispering, she said, "Go along with me on this please, Charlotte. I'll explain later."

Charlotte nodded and Elizabeth raised her voice slightly above normal, "You know, Charlotte, I've always loved hidden passages." She deliberately ignored her older friend's glance back behind Mr. Darcy. "Take this very assembly hall, for example. Right behind us, behind the heavy drapes, is one entrance to a hidden servant's passage that used to allow the servants to move about the structure invisibly. They could disappear from one side of the hall and reappearing at any one of several locations. Why, a person could move about freely and nobody looking for him... who didn't know about the passage of course... would ever understand how he kept evading him or her. You could circumnavigate the hall all night with ease if that was your desire."

Charlotte twisted her mouth in confusion, but played along, "Yes, that is true. It is a good thing, perhaps, that my father insisted on having all of the chairs, crates, and other sundry items removed as a fire-preventative when he became mayor. Now the entire corridor is clear. They even keep it dusted." She shot her friend a look and saw that Elizabeth's already lively eyes were sparkling with mischief. There was a rustle of drapery behind them and Charlotte began to turn, but Elizabeth squeezed her arm and gave her a barely perceptible head-shake.

Caroline Bingley was actually a very handsome woman, but the expression on her face was ugly as she stepped in front of the pair, looking about with irritated confusion. Her eyes fell on the two friends, narrowed, and moved away dismissively. With a sniff she glided away in a noxious cloud of overpowering and probably over-expensive perfume. Mr. Bingley stepped up next, looked around in confusion, nodded to the ladies, and walked away.

Once the woman was out of earshot, Elizabeth giggled and Charlotte looked at her demanding an explanation. "What, exactly, was all of that about, Eliza?"

Grinning, Elizabeth said, "I'm merely helping the poor, beleaguered fox to escape a vicious hunting dog." Charlotte looked around in momentary confusion until her friend nudged her and indicated with her head. Following Elizabeth's pointed gaze, Charlotte saw Mr. Darcy emerge from one of the other drapery-covered entrances to the service passage. She followed her friend's sparkling eyes again to witness Miss Bingley's vain search on the opposite side of the assembly hall.

Charlotte giggled, then laughed outright. "Eliza, you do know how to make life interesting."

From across the divide, Mr. Darcy's eye met and held Elizabeth's with a new look of interest.

-oOo-

Mr. Darcy looked across the expanse of the large assembly hall, over the bobbing heads of the dancers, at the finest pair of eyes he had ever seen.

He had noticed the lady several times throughout the evening. At first, he had dismissed her along with all of the others, being in no mood to be imposed upon by match-making mothers and their vapid, brainless daughters. When he first saw her, standing at the side of her vulgar mother, he had been quick to note her short stature and the lack of symmetry in her face.

No sooner had he convinced himself of these issues, however, then he found his eyes continued to find her wherever she was at any moment. He then noted her graceful movements while walking or dancing. Not long after that he became aware that he was finding great pleasure from admiring her light and pleasing figure. He heard her tinkling laugh many times in the intervening hours and was increasingly captivated by her genuine smiles. When he finally succumbed to the requirement to dance with his hostess, he deliberately placed himself and his partner behind the pretty creature and her partner. From this vantage, as they weaved the pattern of the quadrille, he soon found himself contemplating the pleasure of a pair of remarkably fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman.

Unfortunately, this pleasure was intersected with the memory of how his sister Georgiana's eyes had turned dull and lifeless with her continued self-loathing. Darcy somehow continued the dance without stumbling, but any temporary pleasure was lost in ever-present pain. There was a point in the dance, however, where the steps led him to temporarily partner Miss Elizabeth Bennet. In those brief moments he had the impression that she could somehow see into his soul... and that she understood. Do not be ridiculous, you fool.

Darcy was thankful when the dance ended and he could resume his solitude. The emotions of those few moments had completely drained him, leaving him just as spent and broken as he had been for the past two months. Miss Bingley, however, was as oblivious and uncaring of his inner turmoil as ever. She seemed determined to track him down and latch onto him, just as she had been maneuvering to do all night.

His evasions soon led him to stand in the shadows near Miss Elizabeth, a circumstance which both pleased and frustrated him. From that vantage he watched her direct a dance partner toward another young lady. It was clear that she was match-making, but she did in in such a graceful way that even Darcy couldn't disdain her actions.

But it was what she did next which drew his full interest. He had seen her head turn and knew that she was cognizant of his presence. He was also painfully aware that the oncoming threat of Caroline would soon push him away from the object of his immediate interest. Then Miss Elizabeth cleverly directed his attention to the passage behind the drapery. He was at first suspicious at first. It would be an easy thing to compromise him by trapping him for a private moment in the passage... but somehow he felt that he could trust her. This is not a woman who plays the ugly games of the Ton.

He took the passage and found it clear, well lit, and clean as promised. He emerged on the opposite end of the hall from his predatory hostess. His eyes were immediately drawn back to where his rescuer was still standing. His eyes met the fine, amused eyes of his savior across the distance of the hall. With silent communication his nod said, Thank you, Madam, to which her own eyes sparkled as she nodded, You are very welcome, Sir.

It was at that moment that he knew that he needed to become better acquainted with this vivacious person. First, however, he needed to account for the current location of Miss Caroline Bingley. He scanned the room until he saw orange. There! Miss Bingley was scowling disdainfully as she all but shoved locals out of her way in search of her prey. Darcy needed to draw her far away from his goal, so for the first time in the evening he moved to a more visible position and stood where he was easily seen.

He saw the instant that Caroline's countenance changed into a hungry hunter going in for the kill as she directed her steps toward him. Darcy waited until his stalker was temporarily hidden from view, as she made her way around the line of dancers, then he drifted back into the shadows and once again availed himself of the hidden passage.

In another few minutes he emerged from his original point-of-escape directly behind Miss Elizabeth and her friend. She seemed to have sensed his emergence, because she turned those lively eyes on him and nodded. Stepping forward, he said, "Miss Elizabeth, I apologize for not asking when we were first introduced, but do you have a set available to dance with me?" He smiled for the first time in the evening.

Elizabeth, surprised by the request and slightly faint from the power of his smile, couldn't quite hide her disappointment as she replied, "I am terribly sorry, Sir, but my card is quite full. I only took this set to rest and the next will begin at any moment. Of course, we have not actually been introduced, if you remember. You left before that could happen."

Darcy fought the tendency of his face to turn into a stone mask again, "Looking back now, I believe that you are correct... and I apologize. Miss Lucas, as we have been introduced, would you please do the honors?" Charlotte, amused, did as he requested and then stepped away.

Mr. Darcy returned his attention to Miss Elizabeth, "Perhaps, I might solicit your first set for the next time we are both at a dance together? I have observed your popularity and wish to secure my place on your card as early as possible."

This brought on a light and pleasing laugh and an even greater sparkle in those fine eyes, "An unusual request, Mr. Darcy, but I will accede if you will grant me a boon."

Startled at this, Darcy's first inclination was to suspect a trap, but he took a chance and asked, "And what would that boon be, fair lady?"

"You must dance with three local ladies." He looked prepared to balk, so she quickly added, "That will accomplish two things, Mr. Darcy. The first is that, by dancing with some of our local ladies, you will restore some of the reputation you lost for yourself and your party by your earlier, unintentional slighting of all and sundry..." She paused there and saw Mr. Darcy wince at her correction. She was actually shocked at her own audacity in correcting this aristocratic stranger, but something in her made her wish for her neighbors to think well of him.

He nodded finally. "And the second reason?"

Her eyes moved to the right subtly and she said, "The foxhound approaches, Mr. Darcy. The trumpet has sounded." She grinned and he was unable to hold back a replying smile. Nodding his head and deliberately not looking towards the approaching "foxhound," he then asked, "Do you have suggestions?"

Shortly thereafter Elizabeth was dancing a country dance with Obadiah Long while Darcy danced with Charlotte Lucas. He followed that dance by dancing with Mary Bennet. He completed his promise by dancing with Henrietta Goulding, and then exceeded his promise by dancing single dances with Alice Cooper and Letitia Jones.

Mrs. Bennet was astounded that the "proud, arrogant man" had danced with her Mary, but remained unforgiving since he had not danced even once with her beautiful Jane. She spoke on-and-on about this slight on the carriage ride home, completely missing the distant, slightly dreamy look on her second daughter's face.

In the Bingley carriage Caroline Bingley also waxed eloquent about the faults, foibles, and follies of the country nothings at the assembly. She allowed that Miss Bennet was a fine girl, but criticized her family vociferously... especially "that plain, uninteresting Mary." She had equally strong criticisms about each of the girls with whom Darcy had danced. Elizabeth Bennet, having been slighted by Mr. Darcy, escaped with only a single biting comment.

Neither Bingley nor Darcy paid her the least attention. Without discussing the matter with each other, both men had determined on a visit to Longbourn as soon as propriety allowed.

Lucas Lodge, two weeks later

Darcy never danced in small gatherings such as this, but as it was the first opportunity to do so with the young woman who had captured his interest, he threw away his reserve and claimed his promised dance. As Darcy danced with the delightful Miss Elizabeth Bennet, he asked, "Are there any hidden passages at Lucas Lodge I should know about?"

That earned him the tinkling laugh he was hoping for. She answered, "None here, I'm afraid, but if you are fond of books, you might find that the library at Netherfield offers more adventure and mystery than is revealed at first glance."

Darcy's smile widened, almost making his partner stumble, "You know Netherfield that well?"

"Years ago, the owners had a young daughter my own age who also loved to explore. We became the best of friends."

"And you found that discovery begins at home. Please tell me?"

Eyes shining, she answered, "Now what would be the fun in that? I would be cruel indeed to take away the joy of discovery! No, you must be like Hannibal and find your own route."

-oOo-

Darcy waited until the rest of the residents of were asleep before lifting his candle and beginning his own search. He had taken note of the ornate woodwork in the library when he first arrived, but then he was focused on the lack of adequate reading material. Now he paid more attention to the structure and woodwork.

Earlier he had paced out the library and the billiard room, so he knew that there was no empty space between those two. There was no way for him to pace out the servant's dining area, but he was certain that the passage lay between it and the library. That meant that he needed to focus on that wall.

He quickly discovered that the carved images on the eye-level woodwork depicted scenes from historical events. Remembering what Elizabeth... Miss Elizabeth said, he looked for a certain image... and there it was! Men in armor riding elephants elephants over a mountain. From there he only needed to find... and he found it! Pressing on the most ornate elephant, he felt the wood depress into the surrounding image. There was a click and a portion of the shelf the size of a door shifted outward just enough for him to find a carved groove. Using this, he pulled and the shelf groaned as it swung open. I will need to find some oil for the hinges if I wish to contain this secret.

Lifting his candle and taking a breath to still his excitement, Darcy stepped into the opening. In front of him was a corridor just wide enough for one person to walk along it. It was too narrow for a servant to carry a tray, so Darcy had to wonder at the purpose of the space. On one end the passage ended in a ladder leading up. The other had a hole and a ladder leading down. Darcy took the one leading up first and found another passage which seemed to parallel the hallway leading to the rooms in the family wing.

Miss Bingley, in her usual break in propriety, had placed Darcy originally in the room next to hers. He had his valet relocate him to a room further down, with Charles in-between. He had walked the route enough times to have a general sense of where his room was, so when he reached that area he stopped to search for a door into his room.

No effort had been made to conceal the fixture on the hidden side, so he found it easily. Pausing just a moment to reassure himself that he would not accidentally let himself into Miss Bingley's room, he worked the catch. As he suspected, the wardrobe in one corner of his room swung out with a creak. I will need to oil that as well. I will also need to disable the other fixtures while I am her so that Miss Bingley cannot use this method to force a compromise. Now I want to see where the lower passage leads.

A few minutes later, after traversing the upper passage slowly so as not to wake his sleeping hosts, he was back down in the corridor behind the library and ready to descend. This led down further than he expected until he began to be concerned. Then he found himself in a large stone room with a tunnel leading away from the house. A smuggler's hole! I wonder what the original owner had to conceal?

He found several children's items and a chipped tea set on a low table. It made him smile to imagine Elizabeth and her friend turning this dank room into their private play area. It fit his image of the young woman as a child. He turned his attention to the stone corridor with the curved ceiling. There were quite a few cobwebs, but he was having too much fun to care. It went on in a straight line for above one-hundred yards before finally beginning to slowly rise. The corridor ended with a door which responded very stiffly, but finally opened up into the neglected grotto in Netherfield's garden.

It was just past midnight, according to his pocket watch, so Darcy decided to end his adventures for the night and return to his room. Not wanting to alert any of the staff, he used the passage to make the trip and hoped that his valet would forgive him for the state of his clothing.

Oakham Mount, the following morning

Elizabeth could tell by the triumphant expression on Mr. Darcy's handsome face that he had found the secret passage. Her answering smile warmed the man's heart.

It was improper for the pair to meet like this alone and so far away from anyone else, but they had been "accidentally" meeting like this since he discovered her favorite place to walk to on the second day after the assembly. His cousin Richard, now a colonel serving in the Peninsular War, had once said, "As fastidious as you are, Darce, you will finally know that you have found the right woman when you are willing to skirt propriety just to have the chance to be near her."

"You found what you were looking for, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth asked, her fine eyes shining in the dawn light. Yes, I believe that I have. "Yes. I appreciate the clue about Hannibal. I also found where two little girls must have played out a few adventures of their own."

Elizabeth's eyes became sad, "Yes, Lady Beatrice and I had many adventures there until her father and mother died in a fire at a house party. She went to live with relatives somewhere far to the north. I received a few letters, then she was sent to school and she stopped writing."

Darcy's eyes had narrowed and then widened as she talked, "Lady Beatrice... was her father the Earl of _?"

Elizabeth grinned, "Yes! Netherfield Park was their home while the Earl attended Parliament. Beatie's mother hated living in London. Do you know her?"

"I do. The reason that she stopped writing was that she became sick for more than a year and had to be sent to a sanitarium," Darcy told her, then continued when he saw her shocked expression, "She recovered, Miss Elizabeth, and now resides with those relatives up north... my aunt and uncle, the Earl and Countess of Matlock. And your friend will be wed to my cousin, the Viscount, in the spring. Would you like to send her a letter?"

"Yes! Very much! Thank you! Thank you!" Without thinking, Elizabeth was hugging Mr. Darcy, then, horrified at her actions, she jumped back and began apologizing, her eyes cast down in shame.

Darcy had been momentarily shocked, then pleased, and now concerned. "Miss Elizabeth? Miss Elizabeth! Please!"

She ceased apologizing, but did not stop worrying her dress. Finally she looked up at Mr. Darcy's face. "Miss Elizabeth, I hope that your unplanned reaction means that you feel even a portion of what I feel for you. Would you allow me to court you?"

Elizabeth's shame and embarrassment turned into joy in an instant. Eyes bright, she happily answered, "Yes!" Then she composed herself and added, "I would be very pleased and honored to be courted by you, Mr. Darcy."

-oOo-

Elizabeth wrote to Lady Beatrice and both were overjoyed to reconnect. The Royal Post was made profitable that winter by the rapidity with which they wrote back and forth. Naturally, Elizabeth was invited to attend her friend's wedding in the spring. By then, of course, Lady Beatrice and her betrothed had visited Meryton to attend Elizabeth's own wedding to their cousin, Mr. Darcy. It was a double-wedding with Jane and Mr. Bingley, but that is another story.

As might be expected, Lady Catherine did show up before the wedding to interfere, but when she burst into Longbourn she found her brother, the Earl of Matlock and his entire family sitting down to dine with the Bennets... which made it a little difficult for her to argue her claims of a cradle betrothal.

Mrs. Bennet, oblivious to the harsh undercurrent in the room, rang for Hill to set another two places at the table. The earl ordered his sister to join them. And while Lady Catherine was engaged in a silent war with her brother, Anne de Bourgh was enjoying the chance to reconnect with her cousins and meet the Bennet daughters.

No unpleasant scenes ensued and Lady Catherine returned to Rosings Park without success. To add to her failure, Anne remained behind, having chosen to reside with the Matlocks at least until her cousins' marriage in the spring.

As a pleasant side-note Mr. Darcy purchase Netherfield Park from his cousin as a wedding present for his wife. Whenever the couple visited the area, they enjoyed being able to escape to their own home. The servants loved their new masters, but often wondered how the pair could disappear from one part of the house and then reappear in another, or even outside.

And all of that practice in avoiding Caroline Bingley came in handy when the couple wished to avoid Mrs. Bennet on her all-too-frequent visits. Out of kindness, they also shared their secret with Charles and Jane for the times that they used the house. Eventually Mrs. Bennet stopped visiting altogether, convinced that there was something evil about the place. "People just keep disappearing! I do not understand!"