Chapter 3
"Col. Fitzwilliam for Mr. Darcy," Col. Fitzwilliam said as he presented himself to the butler that greeted him at Netherfield. Upon arrival he had been surprised to see a carriage carrying Miss Bingley and the Hursts loaded down with luggage departing the drive. He did not repine having evidently missed that particular group's company but wondered what had transpired to cause Miss Bingley to depart his cousin's company.
When he had received his cousin's express requesting his help in dealing with Wickham he had eagerly petitioned his superiors for leave. He did not know what had caused Darcy to finally determine the need to act, but was relieved he had. Col. Fitzwilliam could also not help but consider how fortunate it was that his buisness brought him to Hertfordshire. He knew the county was large enough that it was unlikely Longbourn was in the same vicinity of Netherfield but he felt a burgeoning of hope. He could at least call on the household and see if things had changed for him in Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn, Hertfordshire's eyes.
As he ruminated on the young lady he had met last spring, he wryly considered given how his cousin had a tendency to look down his nose at those without fortune it was likely a good thing Longbourn did not partake in the same society as Netherfield. She had already kindly stopped him from requesting a courtship last spring, imitating that she saw him as no more than a friend. Having her acquainted with his aloof cousin would not encourage her to reconsider his suit. His cousin's summons to Hertfordshire he decided was just the impetus he need to see if he could succeed this time where he had failed last spring. He didn't want an heiress as a wife. What was luxry when it left his heart cold and empty?
"Richard!" Darcy cried as he spotted his cousin in the foyer. He had promptly followed the butler out after he had ask if he was in for a Col. Fitzwilliam. "Have you brought the recipets? I did not expect you so soon."
"I sent my batman to Pemberley to retrieve them, while I came straight here. I could not let this opportunity pass me by. I have secured several weeks worth of leave," Col. Fitzwilliam told his cousin, but refrained from elaborating what opportunity he reffered to. In truth her reffered to the opportunity to assist his cousin and finally see Darcy take action against the scoundrel and the opportunity to try again for Elizabeth's favor.
"I expect this business to take no more than a few days and then I plan on quitting the area," Darcy said shiffting uneasily.
"Nonsense Darcy. You cannot mean to abandon Bingley to country society," Col. Fitzwilliam said with a chuckle. "How will he survive without your care? He will find himself engaged to a country miss of no import," the colonel teased knowing Bingley's penchant for falling in and out of love often and Darcy continually assisting him.
"That is exactly why it is imperative that I join Bingley in town and prevent him from returning and making the biggest mistake of his life. He has raised expectations and the only way for him to avoid an imprudent marriage is to leave the area," Darcy said grimly.
"Leaving the female in question to suffer a disappointment and the cemsure of her neighbors?" Col. Fitzwilliam asked. "That hardly seems fair."
"Her mother will be the disappointed one. Her heart was untouched by him but she would accept an offer of marriage at her mother's urging, a most vulgar fortune hunter. Bingley doesn't deserve to be tied to someone that has no true feelings for him. I could not in good conscious let him enter into such an unequal match where there are serious objections to the lady."
"Well you may depart the county when this business with Wickham is wrapped up but I have another matter to see to as well. I had hoped to put up at Bingley's while I tracked down an acquaintece in Hertfordshire."
"I was unaware you had any friends in the area," Darcy said in suprise. "What is the family name? I have met a few of the milita officers stationed here."
"They are not a member of the milita. In fact my friend is not a male at all, but rather a female, one whose acquaintece I hope to renew with more success then I had last spring. She unfortunately considers me no more than a friend, or at least she did six months ago. I hope to convince her to reconsider, unlikely though it might be."
"I had no idea you were interested in anyone," Darcy said with a frown.
"That is because she is not of the ton. She wishes to marry for a deep abiding love. When I attenpted to seek a courtship in the spring, she kindly but firmly dissuaded me from asking. It is not likely that she has become more prudent in the intervening months, but I feel compelled to find out."
"You are the son of an earl, a decorated vetran, surely she would not have refused you, particularly if she felt any sort of friendly affection for you."
"It is not hate or disdain that can condemn a man, Darce, but rather the bitter spell of friendship. Love and hate, they are two sides of the same coin. I am up against benevolent indifference. Yet I must make the attempt. I will enquire as to where her father's estate is and make my way to Longbourn to determine if there is anyway I can convince Miss Elizabeth to have me," Col. Fitzwilliam said. Unfortunately he did not see his cousin's fist come flying at him and connect squarely with his jaw.
"What the bloody hell, Darcy?" Col. Fitzwilliam exclaimed as he craddled his jaw and stared at his cousin in disbelief.
Darcy stood whitefaced staring at his cousin with disbelief. "No," he croaked out. "No," he said again more firmly. "Have you not always claimed you would marry an heiress or marry not at all."
"That was before I met Elizabeth last May," Col. Fitzwilliam said gruffly. "If you know she is not an heiress, I take it you know her?"
"Her cousin, our aunt's parson, her father's heir, proposed to her and her mother wished her to accept him," Darcy said dully.
"Aunt Catherine's parson?" Col. Fitzwilliam said in disbelief. At Darcy's nod, he said, "I know just what type of man Aunt Catherine prefers, there is no way Miss Elizabeth would have given her consent."
"She did not," Darcy said grimly. "Despite the fact that the estate is entailed to him."
"Then I am for Longbourn. Do you know where it is? Surely with family pressure to marry him, my suit may find more favor then it otherwise would have," Col. Fitzwilliam said.
"I do know where it is," Darcy said eyeing his cousin.
"Well?" said Col. Fitzwilliam impatiently.
"I am in love with her," Darcy said abruptly. "I intend to marry her." He felt relief rush through him to give voice to his feelings and to state that he would marry her.
"You are engaged?" Col. Fitzwilliam asked in dismay.
"No. Not yet. She dislikes me. Quite strongly," Darcy said grimly. "It was for her sake I decided to take care of Wickham once and for all. He has spread his pack of lies to her."
"The likes of him could not decieve her."
"Yet she believes him and hates me."
"She hates you?" Col. Fitzwilliam asked softly.
"Rather vehemently," Darcy said. "Enough so that she was easily fooled by Wickham. I cannot account for it," he added helplessly.
"Then you are closer to securing her heart then I ever have been. Hate and love are two sides to the same coin. I can imagine you have acted in your usual fashion here, earning her disdain. For her to dislike you with no apparent reason, you have let her down. She expected more of you and you let her down. What did you do?" Col. Fitzwilliam demanded. Inside his heart was steadily beating but he felt as if the light had been sucked out of the world. Darcy's manners where atrocious. His pride was just the type of thing that would usually cause Elizabeth to dismiss him and forget about him. But according to Darcy Elizabeth did not dismiss him and move on like Col. Fitzwilliam had seen her do with other arrogant men. She vehemently disliked him, a sure sign that she in truth cared for him.
"I do not know what I have done, but I intend to fix it. I forbade her cousin from marrying her. I suspect he will announce his engagement to another local lady. I, um, made it clear that I expected him to find another, " Darcy said sheepishly. "I would imagine he believes doing so will appease me that he truly has no further designs on Elizabeth, which means there will be no family pressure to force her consent or foster her discomfort."
"Rendering my suit back to where it stood previously. A friend, but not a lover and husband," Col. Fitzwilliam said unhappily.
"So we are to be rivals," Darcy said quietly. The second his cousin mentioned Elizabeth's name Darcy's fist had shot out, taking both him and his cousin by suprise. Here was an honorable man, one he knew was perfectly capable of loving and cherishing Elizabeth. He was hard pressed to find a single reason his cousin was unworthy of her, confronting him with the simple truth that he would never consider any worthy of her. He loved her. Loved her to the exclusion of all else. If he did not marry her, he would never forgive himself for losing her to another. His mind was made up, he had to throw his hat into the ring and try to win her hand.
"Rivals implies I have any chance," Col. Fitzwilliam said with a bitter chuckle. "Miss Elizabeth sees me as naught but a friend. You made no mention of your matrimonial aspirations in your missive, nor when you mentioned your intention to depart the area immediately following this buisness with Wickham. I assume this is a fairly new development?"
Darcy nodded and said, "I could not envision a better man for her than you, but even the thought of you as her husband rather then me, was more then I could take. Up until you announced your plans to persue her, I had believed I could turn from her. That I could leave Hetfordshire and her behind. That I could exist with reports of her and ensure someday when she did marry it would be to a man worthy of her. But you are worthy of her and I could not do it. I could not loose her. I love her."
"I cannot say I am in love with her, but I have always felt with the slightest bit of encouragement I would easily succumb to such a fate," Col. Fitzwilliam said grimly.
"It took absolutely no encouragement. Fool that I am, I fought against it."
"Why? Because she has no fortune? No connections?"
"Those can hardly matter to me. I have rather enough of both when you think about it. Though I can admit to believing those two considerations merited much thought for me. Her family though, now they are something not so easy to ignore. Her family is an embarrassment. It is her mother who has been hunting Bingley for her elder sister."
"Her elder sister? The one she speaks of with such affection? Are you insane, Darcy?" Col. Fitzwilliam demanded. "If Bingley has raised Elizabeth's sister expectations you had best hope he comes back and follows through and remains steady and true, unless you are prepared to choose between Bingley's society and Miss Elizabeth's. She can be as ferocious as a wild cat when it comes to protecting those she cares about. When I met her she was letting lose on a gentleman of the ton that had struck her young cousin with a cane for having the audacity to enjoy the park as a child should when it was all but empty. She was absolutely magnificent. If you think her defense of her sister's heart would be any less so, you do not know her at all, nor do you deserve her."
"Who was this so called gentleman?" Darcy demanded.
"Wheaton. I intervened before he could turn his cane on her and made it quite clear what would happen to him if he did or ever made mention of the incident. Luckily it was Green Park, not Hyde and far from the fashionable hour."
"He attempted to strike Elizabeth?" Darcy said in a chilling voice.
"Attempted being the operative word. Trust me, he was simply no match for me. A true coward," Col. Fitzwilliam said with disgust.
"He will regret ever doing so. I will see him ruined," Darcy snarled.
"He is fairly rolled up. It should be easy enough for you to do with your resources. The man won't sit down with me again at the tables. I made sure to fleece him for a small fortune after the incident."
Silence reigned for a moment while both men considered Elizabeth.
"She was a true Bodica," Col. Fitzwilliam said with a chuckle. "Depsite being a slip of a thing with those big green eyes. I doubt there is another like her out there, as delicate and gentle as any lady but a core of iron."
"She cares naught for my consequence and wealth," Darcy said softly. "She challenged me over how I had treated Wickham. Prepared to champion a penniless drifter over a man ten times his consequence."
"She wouldn't care for you consequence, your wealth, your prestige. The fact that I am a decorated war hero and the son of an Earl was not enough to sway her to consent to a courtship. You likely have that something more she is looking for. If only you can bring yourself to unbend enough to demonstrate that fact to her. I never thought I would say this, but I wish Elizabeth Bennet hated me, then perhaps I would have a chance with her. As it is, I conceded the field to you."
"And I desperately wish she did not hate me," Darcy responded scrubbing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. "I cannot see how it helps my case. Not when you are here ready to offer for her with your charm and easy amiability."
"I had known Miss Elizabeth four weeks when I approached her uncle she was staying with in London for permission to request a courtship with her. He welcomed me into his office and looked at me with pity in his eyes. He knew exactly what my hopes were. I made my formal request. He asked me if Elizabeth had spoken much to me of her sister Jane. I conceded that yes she had. He, as gently as possible, tried to explain to me that Elizabeth reagarded me as a perfect potential suitor for her sister, not herself. I objected that everything I had heard of her sister did not convince me that we would suit at all, where as Elizabeth, she was perfectly suited to me and I believed myself to be suited to her. Gardiner agreed that yes,on a paper that was certainly the case. His eldest niece needed a softer sort of man than Elizabeth. Ironically, Bingley fits the bill perfectly and here you are attempting to separate them. Elizabeth, he told me, needed a strong man that knew his own mind to be her husband, one that could challenge her. One that she could respect. He assured me I was all of these things and that if I wished, I could petition Elizabeth for a courtship, but he strongly advised against it since he did not believe she would agree. I will never forget, he told me that he firmly believed when Elizabeth fell in love she would vehemently dislike the gentleman first.
Seeing Darcy's startled expression, he went on to explain, "A mere stranger is guaranteed to fall short of her expectations early in the acquaintance because she has a tendency to make snap judgements before learning more of a person. As she studies their character, facets are revealed that will improve her own understanding of a person. Her uncle assured me a strong man that knew his own mind would successfully overcome Miss Elizabeth's prejudice that would likely develop quickly when he failed to meet her preconceived high expectations and revealed himself to be only human after all. As it was though, his niece liked me. Miss Elizabeth liked me. Liked me the way she would have an elder brother or perhaps if her good friend, a Miss Lucas or Lutton I believe, had been a male. She esteemed me greatly, but only as a friend. So you see Darcy, you are perfectly positioned to win her heart and hand. You have already begun to amend your ways for her. I never thought I would see the day you finally called Wickham to account for his misdeeds, but a few words from Miss Elizabeth challenging you about him and presto, you jump to action, finally ready to rid English society of that scoundrel. All because you want a slip if a girl to have a better opinion of you. You chased off her objectional suitor and landed a blow to her less objectional one. You stand ready to protect her, like a dragon jealousy guarding his treasure. She is outspoken but I dare any of the ton to insult her with you next to her and not find themselves ruined in one way or another. I have always thought you needed a wife that would challenge you. That the right woman would be the making of you. It appears I was right. I must say I commend your superior taste,while I loath the fact that the woman is one I greatly admire."
"You would accept her as only a cousin?" Darcy asked quietly.
"With much more dignity then you likely would," Col. Fitzwilliam said with a snort. "Unlike you, I did not feel the need to let my fist fly when you announced your intent to marry her."
"I would apologize but I find it would be completely insincere. Though I know my action was unacceptable and I should be sorry."
"Pompus prick," Col. Fitzwilliam said with an affectionate chuckle. "Be glad you are my favorite cousin, or I would not tolerate your uncalled for right hook and your plan to sweep the lady I planned to court into matrimony. As it is, I will get over my disappointment. I truly am in no worse position then before. She already stopped me from asking for a courtship once. It was highly unlikely that would have changed. Eventually, in a day or two, I will be grateful your fist likely saved me from alienating a young lady whose society I enjoy. Let me clean up and we can head to Longbourn."
"Why Longbourn? Should we not go and speak to Col. Forester, Wickham's commanding officer?"
"A young lady I like and admire is nearby, not only have I not seen her in half a year, I am preparing to resign myself to not being a suitor for her hand. We are for Longbourn."
"Richard?"
"Yes?"
"I have no idea how to convince her to marry me. What do I do?"
"I already failed to convince her to consider a courtship. Are you sure you wish to seek my advice?"
"I don't know who else to ask," Darcy said considering, a gleam appearing in his eye.
"Whatever that gleam in your eye is for, I pray you think through whatever rash action you are about to indulge in," Col. Fitzwilliam said.
