A/N: The plotting begins!
Elizabeth's outburst caused the entire family to stop what they were doing and gaze upon her in confusion. Before they could speak Elizabeth began to sputter incoherently, "That horrible, how dare, how could he, what will, oh my, what shall," she could not produce a full sentence.
"Elizabeth, my dear, what has happened? What news could have affected you so? Did someone pass on?" Mrs. Gardiner asked anxiously.
"My future, my future is now dead and buried!" Elizabeth cried out.
"My dear, please calm yourself. Explain to me what has happened." Mrs. Gardiner replied.
"Please Aunt, not now. I need some time to myself. Oh, that I was in Longbourn and I could run!" she exclaimed as she dropped the newspaper and hurried outside to the small garden behind the Gardiner's home.
Mrs. Gardiner snatched up the newspaper and gasped. "It seems that our Elizabeth is now officially engaged to Mr. Darcy of Pemberley according to the London Times."
"Elizabeth, engaged to Mr. Darcy, impossible! She does not even like the man. How could this have happened without our knowledge?" Jane lamented.
"Jane, it is not a complete surprise to your aunt and myself. Trouble has been brewing for the past week. Mr. Darcy informed me of the match himself when he transported Elizabeth to town. Your sister is unequivocally opposed to the union. I have written to your father. This announcement, however, is an unforeseen complication. I would guess that Mr. Darcy was ensuring that your sister could not renege on their agreement." Mr. Gardiner offered.
"She did not mention a word to me. We always share all of our deepest concerns. I don't understand." Jane replied.
"I believe she did not want to upset you considering your recent ill health. I will tell you all. Margaret, can you please check on Elizabeth while I speak with Jane." Mr. Gardiner said.
"Of course, my dear. I did not expect this situation to come to a head so soon and evidently neither did Elizabeth." Mrs. Gardiner said as she headed out to the garden.
Mrs. Gardiner surveyed the garden but did not see her niece until she happened to look up. Elizabeth was ensconced in an old oak tree in the middle of the garden. She had climbed up to a very high branch.
"Elizabeth, come down at once! You will fall!" her aunt ordered.
"No," Elizabeth cried out. "I am determined never to come down!"
Her aunt tried speaking to her soothingly but nothing she said would make Elizabeth come down from her perch. After twenty minutes or so she gave up and sat down on a bench waiting for her niece to regain her sensibility.
"So, you have found yourself a new home my dear?" A sardonic voice called from the back steps of the house.
"Papa!" Elizabeth called out. "Thank goodness you are here! You have no idea what has happened. That man, that horrible man used your name. He made a public announcement, he, he, he."
"Unfortunately, my dear, I do have an idea of why you are so distressed. Please come down from that tree. In your current state, I fear you will fall and do yourself harm." Mr. Bennet insisted.
"No, I am not coming down. If he insists on a wedding it will have to take place while I am in this tree." Elizabeth replied petulantly.
"Elizabeth if you don't come down I will have to climb up. At my age that is not a wise decision. Imagine your mother's vapors if I took a fall." Mr. Bennet said with a chuckle.
Elizabeth glared at her father and aunt but slowly climbed down the tree against her better judgment.
"Margaret, will you please allow me some time alone with Elizabeth?" Mr. Bennet politely asked his sister in law.
"Of course, I shall be in the parlor if you need my assistance." Mrs. Gardiner answered.
Mr. Bennet led his daughter to a small bench in the garden and took her hand. "My dearest child. I know what distresses you. Your uncle showed me the announcement when I arrived. I am so sorry my dear. I know this is not what you wished for in your future life." He said consolingly.
Elizabeth embraced her father tightly and began to sob both from fury and sadness. When her sobs subsided, she began to rant. "Father, there must be some legal redress. He announced his engagement to a woman not of legal age without her father's consent. You must retain an attorney at once. Mr. Darcy will finally be put in his place. You cannot allow him to get away with this!"
"Elizabeth, stop!" Her father commanded using his newly found stern demeanor. Unluckily for Mr. Bennet, it did not stop her in her tracks as it did her siblings earlier in the week. She continued to ramble on about lawsuits and detestable men.
"Elizabeth please, listen to me. Mr. Darcy did not have my permission to post a public announcement but he did have my consent regarding your engagement" Mr. Bennet stated waiting for his daughter's outburst.
"He what? How, how, how could you agree to such a thing, especially without speaking to me first? You know of my dislike for the man. You saw how he treated everyone in Hertfordshire. I am all astonishment!" Elizabeth shouted at her father.
"I am still your father and you will not shout at me no matter how upset you are!" Mr. Bennet ordered.
Elizabeth gave him an extremely impertinent look but apologized for her unladylike display. Mr. Bennet seriously doubted the sincerity of her apology but at least she was temporarily quieted.
"Elizabeth this pains me more than you can imagine. I will tell you the entire story and then we will proceed from there. Will you give me your attention without interruption?" Mr. Bennet asked.
"Yes, sir," Elizabeth replied.
"I was quite surprised, a week past, to have Mr. Darcy shown into my library." Mr. Bennet began.
"Mr. Darcy came to Longbourn?" Elizabeth all but shrieked.
"Yes, my dear. Please contain yourself. All this shrieking is far too reminiscent of your mother and quite unlike yourself." Mr. Bennet rebuked.
Suitably chastised, Elizabeth nodded and allowed her father to continue. He began his story and did not stop until admitted his consent to the match due to the extenuating circumstances. He watched his daughter's complexion change from ghostly white to bright red as his story progressed. When he finally finished, he invited her participation.
"Well, Elizabeth, what do you have to say?" Mr. Bennet probed.
"So, I suppose my own sister is the one ultimately to blame for my suffering!" She replied angrily.
"Your sister's behavior was unacceptable but unfortunately not out of character. I would assume she was prompted in her eavesdropping by her mother. I was on the verge of refusing him until Lydia stared crowing about your kiss. I know you are blameless in this but we are in a precarious situation and I must beg you to see that. I had hoped some other solution could found. If I know you as well as I think I do, you probably threatened to jump out of the moving carriage." he said with a small smile.
"Indeed, I did sir. I still do not understand why he is insisting on this marriage. Why would he want to marry a woman who does not wish to marry him?" she groaned.
"Elizabeth, I am sure you do not want to hear this but I believe him to be truly in love with you." her father replied.
Elizabeth scoffed at his answer. "If he were truly in love why would he insist on ruining my life? Would he not put my feelings in front of his own and release me?"
"I believe you are truly different from any woman he has ever encountered. He does not know how to react to you. It is also evident that he has truly been spoilt his entire life and is not used to being refused in anything. You have challenged him and his has responded by using any means at his disposal to get what he believes is his due. I don't think him evil." Mr. Bennet replied.
"You do not? What could his behavior be called if not evil?" Elizabeth fumed.
"I am not applauding his methods. He acted wrongly and continues to do so. I see him as a desperate man but not an evil one. His having the announcement printed without my approval only underlines this. I am sure he felt I was going to change my mind regarding the union. I had told him I would be in town far earlier. He seems to act recklessly when circumstances are not in his favor. He needs to be tempered in his reactions. Your disposition, I hope, could only help him along in becoming a better man." Mr. Bennet countered.
"I do not wish to help him in anyway except forgetting that I exist! Marriage to him would be an abomination. Our life would be one of constant strife and disagreement. I would never let him forget his sins." Elizabeth replied angrily. "Please do not make me do this." she begged her father most dramatically.
"My dear, I see no other alternative. Think of your sisters and your mother. What of the entail? He promised to buy it away from Mr. Collins." he reminded her.
"So, I am to be sold for my family's comfort?" she said bitterly.
"No, you are not and I am insulted that you think I would act in such a way. I am just trying to point out that there could be some benefits to this situation if you can find a way to accept it. Now, that the announcement has been made I see no way out unless he withdraws his offer. A broken engagement will hardly affect a man of his stature but it could be very harmful to your future as well as that of your sisters." Mr. Bennet added.
"Father if he breaks the engagement will you promise me not to pursue the matter legally or otherwise?" she said hopefully.
"Elizabeth, what are you planning?" he asked suspiciously.
"Nothing as of yet but if he broke the engagement would you agree to let this entire matter be forgotten?" she asked again.
"I would happily, but I cannot speak for your mother. She knows nothing of the exact circumstances of the engagement, only that you are betrothed. She has already begun planning your wedding. If I had six pence for every time she uttered ten thousand I year, I would have ten thousand a year myself and no worries." He told her while grimacing.
"I see, but you are the head of our household. Surely you could find a way to curb her?" Elizabeth said bitterly.
"You have lived in the same house as I for the past twenty years, have you not Elizabeth? If I had learned the secret to curbing your mother in that time surely I would have put such strictures into place. There is no restraining her irrational nature. If she made such a fuss over you not marrying Mr. Collins I cannot imagine the horrors of her finding out you refused Mr. Darcy." he said ashamedly.
"Father if I promise to handle my mother, with all due respect of course, will you support me in this? Please, I beg of you!" she pleaded earnestly.
Mr. Bennet looked doubtful. "I will but I will not be an accomplice to any socially unacceptable behavior. I do not want scandal on my doorstep." he warned his headstrong daughter.
"I will not provoke a scandal. I will simply make Mr. Darcy see the error of his choice. Before this engagement results in an actual wedding ceremony I will help him to realize that I am not the partner in life that he desires."
"If he withdraws his offer Elizabeth, I will stand by you. If he does not I will have to insist that you go through with wedding." Mr. Bennet said sadly.
"Thank you, father. At present I will have to be thankful for any assistance I can get." Elizabeth replied.