A/N- Thank you once more, reviewers. I know I'm not updating very frequently anymore and I don't think my writing is growing much (if at all), but after this month I'll have much more free time and I'll try to do better. I'm very grateful to Raina for suggesting the idea for this story and to all of you for reading it. Thank you so much.
Mr Darcy decided the very next morning that Edward needed a good talking to, and had decided to deliver it as soon as possible. He meant to corner his cousin right before the Lucas party, but fate presented a better opportunity. It was when Mr Darcy was on his morning walk that he encountered Edward.
'Edward', he greeted, deciding to be civil before he launched into a tirade.
'Darcy. You're up early.', said Edward making it sound like a fault.
'I always wake at the crack of dawn, Edward, and you should remember that, having teased me about it all these years. But you, I believe, have always been a late riser.'
'I couldn't sleep.', shrugged Edward.
An awkward silence ensued. Darcy may have decided to confront his cousin, but he was by no means eager to do it.
'It is just as well that I met you. I have things to say to you that I'd prefer if Miss Bingley did not hear.'
'Go on. Need advice about Miss Elizabeth?', teased the Colonel.
Darcy resisted the urge to punch the grin on his cousin's face.
'What I need is that you stop interfering in things that do not concern you, especially my relation with Miss Elizabeth.', he said coldly.
'It is the lack of a relation between the two of you that bothers me.', retorted Edward.
'That is hardly your concern, and at any rate you are by no means being helpful!'
'My intention is to get you to make a move, not to facilitate your path.'
'I shall act when I feel that the time is right!', declared Darcy hotly.
'You might be too late.', said Edward softly.
Darcy paused, thrown off by the sudden change in his cousin's tone and the unreadable expression on his face.
'Miss Elizabeth is a gem, Darcy, and she will not wait for you forever. She deserves to be secure in your affections. Would you deny her the comfort?
'She knows my sentiments towards her, Edward. And while I would not mind you telling her of them, Miss Bingley did not have to know. She shall only make things harder.'
'Miss Elizabeth can deal with the shrews of the ton. And if she cannot, perhaps she isn't fit to be your wife.'
With this, Edward turned to leave, but Darcy had a question for him.
'Who were you too late for, Edward?', asked he, feeling acutely aware of the silence that prevailed without their shouts.
'How could you not know, Darcy?', questioned Edward, before walking away towards the house.
Darcy stared after his cousin with an uneasy feeling that he was missing something important.
Caroline Bingley was watching the scene from the window of her bedroom, and though she couldn't hear what the cousins spoke of, she was worried that the discussion might be about Miss Elizabeth. Colonel Fitzwilliam was so set on getting Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet married, and she feared that Mr Darcy was infatuated enough to go along with it. She would have to do something soon.
So preoccupied was everyone with their own issues that it was left to Georgiana to point out the absence of Charles at the breakfast table. She did so, and Caroline went to check on him. She returned in a few minutes to inform the others that he was unwell and would not attend the Lucas party. Darcy spoke to his friend later in the day and was a trifle worried when even Jane Bennet's name did not cheer him up much.'
'I feel unwell, Darcy!', Bingley had complained.
'Surely you cannot be thinking of missing the Lucas party. You have spoken of little else all week.'
'I cannot attend in this condition! You of all people should understand reluctance to attend a social event.'
'I cannot understand it in you. Don't you wish to see Jane Bennet?'
'Jane is very pretty, is she not?'
'Indeed.'
'Caroline doesn't like her.'
'Does it matter?', Darcy had asked.
'Of course it does. But how much?', Bingley had wondered.
'You must decide that.'
'True.', Bingley had remarked and Darcy had wondered what his friend was thinking.
It was a very downcast party that left Netherfields that day to attend the Lucas party, none of them expecting to have a good time.
A/N- I might write about who Edward loved later in the story, or perhaps an a companion piece after this story is over. I know this was going to be a fairy tale, but it didn't feel right to make it completely perfect, so I added this part on an impulse. I'm sorry it's so short and not as good as it should be. Do tell me your suggestions, and once more, thanks for reading.
