The Next Morning…
Elizabeth Bennet…
I was fuming by the time I met up with the group headed to Italy on Darcy's private plane. The man was just downright infuriating, cold-hearted, and a…a…oh, drat! He was just a plain monster. Temporary indeed! Charlotte's words rolled over me again and again rather soberly, almost in a rhythm similar to that of the funeral march. I needed this job. That phone call had caused a cold rage to start to develop in the pit of my stomach and it had been eating away at me since the previous evening. Jane, who had informed me last night where we were to meet, smiled at me softly as I joined them while I avoided Darcy's penetrating stare and Caroline's haughty one. No one should have to put up with their arrogance! I was not about to be sociable. Who needed society? Damn the man! He must have known that I was angry—must have known that the pinched expression on my face was nothing more than disgust. And yet he smiled—throwing that half grin of his around the lot near the plane as if he thought the sun and the moon rose and set depending on his perfect pearl white teeth. It shouldn't disturb me as much as it did-shouldn't cause the slow burn that emanated throughout my system, causing even my veins to bulge.
"You seem out of sorts today, Ms. Bennet." Darcy whispered near my ear as he passed, his breath fanning the sensitive skin that surrounded my ear lobe. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I followed silently as we all began to board the luxury plane, taking seats along the interior without a word. I didn't want to answer his silent question, wasn't sure I could without exploding in his face. So, instead, I kept my mouth shut as we all buckled in as the pilot took off, keeping to ourselves until we were up in the air. I took a book out of a bag at my feet and opened it, determined to settle into the short flight over by absorbing myself in literature and ignoring everyone else present. And then Caroline ruined it.
"I say, Ms. Bennet, do you fancy yourself an extensive reader? If so, you would swoon at the collection of books stored at the library at Pemberley. It is quite impressive." Caroline remarked as I peeked over the edge of the page I was trying so hard to comprehend. Okay? And what the hell was Pemberley? Grrrrr! I smiled sweetly as I flipped the page, knowing that I had not even begun to read a word embossed on the page I had just been perusing. The woman just had to open her mouth.
"I wouldn't call myself an extensive reader, but I do enjoy it." I replied carefully, feeling almost as if I were walking into some kind of trap. Caroline shouldn't worry overly much. After all, I was only temporary. She grinned at me almost predatorily.
"In my opinion, all ladies should be extensive readers as well as formally trained in etiquette and in the arts. Do you not agree, Mr. Darcy?" Caroline asked sweetly, seemingly startling Darcy out of his own thoughts as he turned toward her then. He snorted softly as if annoyed at being pulled into this silly conversation. And it was silly.
"It does seem to be a sign of an accomplished woman if she knows enough about literature to apply it to every day circumstances." He remarked off-handedly as I stared at him in agitation. I was sorely aggrieved by him at the moment and did not want to listen to anything that he had to say, much less to any of his opinions. The dratted creature! Caroline nodded at him in agreement.
"Yes, Mr. Darcy has quite the list of what he perceives to be the ideal woman. Something he compiled when we were teenagers. Do you not, Mr. Darcy?" Caroline asked as Will looked over at her sternly. His irritation level was growing and it was obvious.
"It was the idle-hood of youth, Caroline. It comes for naught now." He replied quietly before looking down at a stack of paperwork in his lap as Caroline shrugged.
"And yet I still recall it vividly. It seems I have even strived to fulfill that list a time or two myself. What was it now? Hmmm…an extensive reader, demure, mannerly, attractive, unobtrusive, polite, intelligent…I think that about touches on all of the areas that you attempted to cover when it comes to the perfect female." Caroline noted as Fitzwilliam Darcy peered over at her quietly, the expression on his face bespeaking his ire at her free speak. I recognized it for what it was—a jab at me, and I reciprocated only because I was in one hell of a mood.
"That, Ms. Bingley, is not an ideal woman. It's a puppet. To strive for that would be nothing short of idiocy." I replied with vigor as Jane looked up at me in surprise and Charles actually gasped. Caroline paled and blanched. I realized too late that it was a cold, cruel remark that was probably bitingly rude, but I didn't care. Darcy, however, did. He looked at me with an expression darkened now from the cool, easy features that he had presented to me earlier. His paperwork seemed forgotten.
"Another ideal, Ms Bennet, is for women to strive not to be rude and callous—to learn to hold their tongues, especially in front of their superiors." Will Darcy stated in a low, dangerous tone as I stared up at him unblinkingly, my normal reserve all by forgotten. I was modest and I was unobtrusive when I needed to be, but like any other female scorned, hell hath no fury. I glowered.
"Spoken sir from a man whose business thrives on daring, for that is journalism is it not? Should I truly watch my tongue, sir, when this tongue is only temporarily in service? You speak so of idealism and yet you have none of your own. It was Cicero who once said, "Where is there dignity unless there is honesty?" or do you follow your own rules, Mr. Darcy, and expect others to follow yours? There was another man, Don Marquis, who once stated that, "Honesty is a good thing, but it is not profitable to its possessor unless it is kept under control." That seems to be your lot in life, sir. I am incensed. Shouldn't a woman expect the same from a man that he expects from her?" I asked angrily, ignoring the way that everyone know looked on in shocked surprise. He had lied to me about my position at Imperial, and I was angry. He could have told me that I would eventually be dismissed. I took in a deep breath, shocked myself at the words that had flowed out of my mouth. The man made me…different, more open. More honest with myself, and I was suddenly afraid of how he would react to what I had said. Jane whistled and murmured something along the lines of 'you go girl!' under her breath as Darcy looked at me quietly for a moment—differently, almost as if he were seeing me for the first time. I couldn't blame him. I was seeing myself for the first time as well. He scowled.
"And Thomas Sowell stated, "There are only two ways of telling the complete truth—anonymously and posthumously." You misperceive me, Ms. Bennet." He remarked quickly as I stared at him evenly.
"Do I?" I asked him almost in a whisper. Was I not temporary? "You certainly have your pride, Mr. Darcy." I commented softly as I watched his jaw clench.
"And you, Ms. Bennet, have your prejudice." He commented back as I sat back in my seat soundly, exhausted once again after yet another verbal argument left open as to who had succeeded to overwhelm whom. We stared at each other willfully for a moment, longer than probably necessary, but I couldn't pull my gaze away and neither, it would seem, could he. Jane cleared her throat and began discussing the wonders of Italy, as if the change of topic would ease the tension and, while the others did relax as they talked, Darcy and I just remained as stone statues. The small couch on the luxury plane where he sat was across from mine and being long legged, his knees bumped ceremoniously into mine as brief turbulence rocked the mode of transportation. I tried easing my hand down the skirt I wore to pull it over my knees only to accidentally rub his knee in the process. Such simple touches and yet every nerve ending in my body tingled in awareness. I loathed him and yet I could not help but shiver. My eyes met his again, and the sparkle that met my gaze took me off guard—it was almost as if he were enjoying the sparring, the battle we seemed to be waging. Again, I shivered.