Dear Readers, I am grateful for the support and valuable advice you have given to me and this story. I hope my writing is improving as I progress towards writing more chapters and reading this story has been a pleasurable experience for you guys. I am updating this chapter earlier than I thought I would and hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed writing it. Happy Reading!
Chapter VIII - The Beginning of a Friendship
- Meryton -
"Are you replacing me as your partner Father?"
"No, just creating a competitor for you Darcy." Father Bennet teasingly replied,
"A competitor"
"Yes, you see Elizabeth has promised to have a few rounds of chess with me every day and I am sure she is going to surpass my skills in a few months, so you see if not a competitor then she will nicely do as a fellow player for you."
"Are you really endeavoring to do so Miss. Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth found herself laughing at this banter between two grown men and replied,
"I am not sure about being your competition Mr. Darcy but I am enjoying learning the game so I don't think considering myself a fellow player is too far off the mark."
"Now, let's move this debate to dinner my dear I believe Mrs. Hill has made your favorite apple pie today Darcy." Mr. Bennet said turning towards the man,
"As you said she would." Darcy replied,
"She has developed a soft spot for you after you helped with her niece with her debt."
"Well, she owes me no thanks I did what I had to do. Let's move to a more interesting topic. I am sure Miss. Elizabeth would love to describe her new found appreciation for the game of chess to us."
The dinner was marvelous Mrs. Hill knew how to put out a show for her favorite guest and Mr. Darcy proved to be a very witty and intelligent conversationalist. He was very engaged while they critiqued a book they both had read and was not nodding just for the sake of placating her when she enthusiastically presented her interpretation of what the author had actually intended to convey rather, his involvement assured her that he actually gave equal consideration to her understanding of the author's intent when he heard her out and where he disagreed it was not just to spite her. Elizabeth found herself wondering where was this thoughtful, intelligent man hiding when they first met and then found herself verbally expressing her confusion aloud;
"It's seems I have misjudged you Mr. Darcy here you are proving that you can be an excellent conversationalist when I has assumed you to be a quiet somber man when we first met".
"I am sorry…" Elizabeth continued embarrassed on realizing her faux pas when Darcy interrupted her and said,
"No, apologies are needed Madam, I did not have the best temperament that day." and continued in a gentle voice,
"First impressions are not always right Miss. Elizabeth, it's always easy to misjudge people when you have only known them superficially and have had no further interaction beyond the bare surface pleasantries but as the length of our acquaintance with our peers gets longer so do our powers of observation and our appraisal of their faults. But we must remember that despite our best efforts we are just human and as Father Bennet once told me there is always a possibility for human error."
"He is a wise man and I am lucky to call him family." Elizabeth emotionally replied remembering how trusting the wrong people brought her to this position;
Darcy took out a handkerchief and silently placed it on her right hand making Elizabeth laugh;
"I don't think I am emotional enough for that just now, I have always been quick to laughter and lately quick to cry." making Darcy feel something that he could not recognize with her smile,
When Darcy took leave and left Elizabeth and Father Bennet alone she felt a certain loneliness that surprised her. She had never thought that she would have such an insightful discussion with someone like Mr. Darcy she had been surprised by his compassion and care for her.
She felt tired to her bones even after sleeping away most of the day. The anxiety never completely left her, the question of what will happen to her always loomed over her head. Father Bennet had been kind enough to not pester her with questions about her situation but she still felt that she will have to find the courage to talk to him about what will happen in the future. She was wise enough to understand that despite the genuine kindness he had shown her it would not be right to stay with him as her condition became more apparent.
Elizabeth decided she would talk to him tomorrow after he came back from mass. It must be done.
-00-
As soon as Father Bennet left Darcy collapsed on the sofa and started staring at the white ceiling. This had been his method of confrontation with complex problems since childhood. His mother had often said "Staring at a problem doesn't solve it Will".
But the habit had still not left him after his more than two decades on God's earth and he frankly believed that it was only going to leave him on his death bed.
God was he morose!
The concept of Father Bennet having a daughter was still somewhat incomprehensible to his mind. The Father Bennet who had inculcated his love of reading and provided advice to him all through his adult life consciously deciding to dishonor his holy vows struck him as very odd behavior for what he knew of the man.
Then again he had said he was not infallible and owned his mistakes, was there anything beyond that a man could do?
His conscience told him that there was nothing more to be done about the situation. Working towards correcting your mistakes must be enough, the rest laid in the hands of God.
When evening came and he called for the carriage for his dinner with The Bennets, his thoughts had calmed down a bit and he decide he would solely focus his thoughts on the delicious desert that Mrs. Hill was going to serve him today but as he entered the living room he found Father Bennet and Miss. Elizabeth engaged in a game of chess and found himself saying,
"Are you replacing me as your partner Father?"
The conversation continued from there on and his belief that this was going to be a very tense evening left him completely. The conversation was stimulating and he somehow found himself appreciating the lovely Miss. Elizabeth's unabashed laughter and spending the rest of his evening trying to make her smile. Something very terrible had happened to her and despite her smiles to him he could not help but observe the sadness lingering in those pretty green eyes. She, had been betrayed, someone truly despicable had played with her trust and left something broken deep inside her and he had a feeling that it was in best interests of whoever that person was to not cross paths with him.
The next morning when Bennet joined Elizabeth for breakfast he had a feeling that something was troubling her mind as she kept avoiding his eyes while she kept playing with her food. He thought a gentle approach will be better and said,
"Is the breakfast not to your liking my dear?"
Elizabeth finally deciding to meet his eyes said "No, it's not that Father my thoughts are just all over the place this morning."
"Do you need something my dear if that's the case then I can send Mr. Hill to get whatever your heart desires?" trying to make her happy,
"No, it's not that either Father" Elizabeth answered and then was quite for a few minutes lost to her thoughts, she tried to get her mind to calm down to no avail and then abruptly said,
"I can't stay with you forever can I Father? I know that you meant what you said the day we met that your home will always be welcome to me, How could you not? But, we both that the people will be merciless if I stay, an unwed mother can't escape the vitriol of society however hard she tries. I know my mother loved me and cared for me, but she still chose to run away leaving her very young child alone to fend for herself when the cook's son promised to marry her." Elizabeth counted her breaths for a few minutes and then continued,
"I know that the life of an unmarried woman is unbelievably hard and I don't want that for my child. I really don't" saying that, Elizabeth swallowed down the flow of emotions battling to overwhelm her composure and started eating her previously untouched breakfast, trying to control the anxiety breeding in her stomach.
"You know I will do my best for you don't you Lizzy?" Father Bennet said with a surprising amount of steel in his voice,
But Elizabeth remained silent as promises were not enough right now, not when all that could go wrong played before her eyes.
"You, know that don't you, my dear?" Father Bennet repeated urging her to place her trust in him when her strength failed her.
"I trust you when you say that you would do your best but I can't make myself belief that nothing would go wrong. I have lived a harsh life Father and I don't want any child specially my child to suffer the same way I have." Elizabeth finally said breaking her deliberate silence.
"I know that hope is something that you hold sparsely but in the end that's all we have left so, I can't give you a more sage advice than to have faith because if we lose that then we have nothing left to survive for."