Sorry for the (very, very, very long) delay in posting! I'm back again and have lots of draft chapters and ideas in the works for this story - I'm planning on posting much more often. Enjoy! :)
Richard reclined lazily in a large overstuffed chair in the corner of the study. The room was well-maintained by the staff of Rosings, but had been little used since the house's last permanent male inhabitant had passed away. It had been a well-loved room once, and the chair spoke of a past of many naps and likely many retreats that had been made from a certain lady of the house. It made for a pleasant place to spend the morning hours.
Meanwhile, Darcy was shooting around on the billiards table centered in the room. Richard watched his cousin pensively - something seemed different but he was unable to identify quite what it was. While always deep in thought, it appeared that Darcy's thoughts were warring inside of his brain more than normal. What kind of decision was he struggling to make?
Before Richard could even ask, Darcy straightened, glanced over at him, and began to speak.
"I am planning to ask a lady in our recent acquaintance for her hand in marriage," he stated resolutely, almost as if he was trying to convince himself to fully believe it. Seeing that his cousin did not aim to provide any additional insight into this decision, Richard hid his surprise at the pronouncement and instead determined to lighten the man's mood.
"Well then, I saw your future betrothed walking through the village earlier today. She's got quite a sparkle, that one. Congratulations, dear cousin," Richard said nonchalantly. As expected, that statement grabbed his pensive cousin's attention.
"Pardon? You already suspected?" Darcy uttered.
"Now, of course, I imagine you go into this decision with some hesitation. From the first moments of your acquaintance, I can only imagine that she has struck you the very same as she does now," Richard continued on.
"I would not say that is quite the case…," Darcy's voice trailed off as he tried to find the words to explain. His expression turned introspective once more as he considered the colonel's words on his first meeting with the lady.
"I am sure that you have struggled quite a bit with this, Darce. It is often the circumstances in which you meet someone that define the future path of your relation with them. However, this is not always the case," Richard struggled to hold back a smile as he observed his cousin sincerely listening to his words.
"Indeed…" Darcy spoke softly again, growing even deeper in thought.
"Much like you may grow affection for a hound that simply won't leave you be, I suppose that sentiments must have similarly become established in your heart for this lady," Richard continued on. With that, Darcy's eyes came a bit more into focus and his forehead creased.
"What exactly are you speaking of, Richard?" Darcy mused.
"Just imagine, you won't even be required to announce the engagement because the whole of England will hear it from Miss Bingley's mouth before even one minute passes."
"Miss Bingley? Miss Caroline Bingley?" Darcy exclaimed. "Are you quite serious? You believe I would propose marriage to her?"
At that, Richard cackled hearilty and it took him a few minutes before he could speak. "Ah Darce, I know your disdain for Miss Bingley as well as I know how to serve in the militia - I merely tease to try and cheer you up, dear fellow," Richard chuckled heartily. "In all seriousness, who else can you possibly be in such a torturous state about deciding to marry? What winsome lady has been vexing your heart the whole of this afternoon?"
Darcy smirked at his cousin's mischief and then leaned back against the billiard table, his hands clasped atop of his shooting stick acting as a head rest. He didn't say a word. The silence grew and his expression became serious once more. Attempting to fill the void, Richard continued his questioning.
"I cannot in my wildest of imaginings presume that you're caving to our dear aunt's belief that someday you will marry Anne. So who does that leave that would measure up to the impossibly high standard that you've set for your yet-to-be-determined future wife?"
Darcy considered Richard for a moment before deflecting the question and raising one of his own.
"Richard...what would it take for you to turn your back on family tradition and societal expectation when you pick a partner? What would allow you to turn a blind eye to all the reasons that a person was not suitable for you? To go against all logic and just accept what you feel instead?"
Richard got up from the leather chair and strolled over to the billiard table, resting a hand on his cousin's shoulder.
"Fitzwilliam, if I had the freedom to choose a bride based on affection over all else, that would be the only thing that would matter to me. I anticipate that two people can work through many a thing that troubles a marriage. I cannot, however, imagine surviving a life ifI woke up everyday wishing that my wife, no matter how sensibly chosen, was someone else."
"I would always wish it was someone else if it wasn't her, Richard. If it wasn't Miss Bennet."
Later that afternoon, it was an incredibly beautiful day outside - the kind where the sunlight had just the right glow, a soft breeze wafted through the air, and the temperature was neither too hot or too cold.
Caroline wandered down the country lane aimlessly. If she were a more amiable person, or at least less snobbish, she may have considered stopping in on Elizabeth Bennet just down the way in the parson's cottage. As it was, she determined that she simply didn't want to and planned to continue to stroll on by.
Just as she rounded the bend and the house came into view, she heard voices coming from within the cottage. Not those of Mr. and Mrs. Collins who she scarcely imagined could exist with each other in the day-to-day without arguing, but rather the deep rumble of the object of her marriage intentions paired with the soft lilt of her most recently declared nemesis. Hearing words filter through the air such as "feelings" and "love", all of Caroline's breeding and careful schooling could not be overcome. She dropped to the ground behind a hedge as fast as her jaw dropped, hoping to be inconspicuous to the couple. She was dazed - since when had Mr. Darcy determined to settle for a country girl? If nothing, she thought his alliance in drawing Charles, her brother, away from Netherfield to save him from a misguided marriage had at least indicated that he would never attempt the same.
She forced air in through her nose and blew it out softly through pursed lips in an effort to calm herself down. Whilst mulling over such an unexpected turn of events, her eyes moved across the ground and flickered over to a pair of well-worn but lovingly polished large riding boots entering into her vision. She scanned her eyes up until they hit upon the face of someone she could barely stand to see in such a moment - the cousin of the man that may be slipping out of her reach for good.
With his ever-present smirk on his face, the colonel crouched down beside her.
"As a soldier who aims to protect, I must enquire about your health and well-being, milady. Finding cover within a neighbor's bushes seems like mild cause for alarm," Richard whispered to her.
"Please, sir, hush! I will explain later but for now...for once...I beg you to remain silent," she urged, imploring him with her eyes to heed her wishes.
While the words did nothing to diminish his amusement, to the man's credit he did remain silent. Caroline squeezed her eyes shut and focused back in on the words coming from inside. The tone seemed angrier, the volume was more escalated that it had begun. And then, her most disliked female acquaintance's voice had never sounded so sweet as it did phrasing the sentence that reached Caroline's ears,
"...I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry."
Caroline's ears barely perceived anything following those words - any further conversation, the slamming of a door, the gallop away of a horse. She couldn't stop her fists from clenching with emotion. She looked up as she noticed the Colonel rocking back on his heels. She imagined his expression of shock very nearly mirrored that of her own.
"Miss Bingley, there is nothing right about overhearing such a conversation as we have just listened to. I hope you will speak of this to no one," Richard's voice was clipped as he spoke. Caroline's frenzy of emotions was tamped down as she realized she had never seen this man so serious. "You need to give him time and space. I do not know what all your machinations are towards my cousin, but you must give him time following what he has been through this day."
All she could do was nod. For a rare moment in her life, Caroline Bingley was struck speechless. She watched Richard clench his jaw and take a deep breath - it was clear that he was also affected by what had just happened between Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet.
"I know it must hurt to hear that the object of your affections has placed his elsewhere, but I hope you'll be able to move on, perhaps soon in London with the season coming up," Richard ran his fingers softly over the top of her hand that was helping to brace her on the ground. "Are you feeling unwell, Miss Bingley?"
"I beg you, sir, please do not waste your worries on me! I am perfectly fine. This means there's still hope!" Caroline whispered to him excitedly as she filpped her hand over and grabbed his.
"Did...we just overhear the same conversation?" Richard asked.
"Colonel, don't you see? Certainly Mr. Darcy's feelings may be tied up elsewhere at the moment, but I do know now that one thing is for certain. He is ready to marry and I will be there in London to help him find a way to do so."
