Elizabeth Bennet…
I tried not to puff up in indignation as Darcy approached the table. Really I did. But I am pretty sure that I failed miserably. At least, no one could accuse me of liking the man. Hell, it seemed like I couldn't get far enough away from him and yet life had this nasty little habit of dishing me out a nice heaping plate full of 'fate.' This night, fate included placing the man directly across from me. Lady Catherine DeBourgh was shaking her head as Charles and Will took their seats.
"You could try for punctuality, nephew." The woman chastised severely as Charles ducked his head and Darcy met her gaze head-on. Something told me the two of them had come to some sort of impasse in their lives. If Darcy had once been intimidated by the old hag, he wasn't anymore. Finally, he nodded at her.
"My sincerest apologies to you, mam. To all of you ladies." He said quickly before smiling over at Lady Stephanie. Catherine Debourgh grinned as she witnessed the interaction between the two before turning toward the waiter and requesting that he bring us a menu and a wine selection list. I was still dazed by the setting, if not the pure luxuriousness of the place. Darcy's first lesson should have been table etiquette because I was having one hell of a time trying to figure out if I worked my way in or out from where the silverware began. Or was it from where it ended? Oh hell! Maybe Jane knew. Then again, maybe the little scene Lady Stephanie had walked in on at the office earlier had raised her radar because Darcy's 'potential' mate, as Lady DeBourgh had introduced her earlier, managed to find amusement in my obvious predicament. And wouldn't you know? She pointed it out to everyone else.
"It's just silverware, Ms. Bennet. It doesn't bite. It's quite simple really." Stephanie explained loudly while Lady Hurst and Caroline Bingley exchanged knowing glances and I tried my damndest not to blush. That's a hard thing to accomplish when the entire table and the one next to us suddenly seemed aware of the fact that I had no clue which fork to eat with. It made me want to pound my chest like the ancient Neanderthals while eating with my hands and picking my teeth with my fingernails before moaning, 'ugga ugga.' I schooled my features and shrugged off the comment.
"Where I come from, we spend too much time concentrating on the food instead of which utensil we are supposed to use to eat it." I remarked lightly as Jane chuckled before covering her mouth with her hand. No one else made a sound. Okay, so I didn't have a future in stand up comedy. I could have told anyone that. But even I smiled at an unfunny joke out of civility at the water fountain at work. Obviously, these people were harsher critics. I lowered my head in order to place the table napkin handed to me earlier across my lap. I think I was hoping that by ducking, people would get the hint that I had no desire to be included in the conversation. No such luck.
"I hear you're proficient in literature—quoting it and writing it." Stephanie began again as a waiter approached with a pot of steaming coffee. I sighed as I stared at it. I could so use a cup in order to fortify myself for the dinner ahead, but the expectant look on Lady Stephanie's face assured me that she wasn't one to be kept waiting. I sighed again.
"I guess that is sort of my thing. And you, Lady Stephanie? What do you do?" I asked politely as the coffee guy passed by us again. Jesus! Could someone just grab me a cup! Lady Stephanie smiled winsomely.
"I'm a lawyer." She remarked quietly as I lifted an eyebrow as if interested in her answer. Truthfully, I had already guessed that she was more than likely either a lawyer or a doctor just from the way she carried herself in that self-assured manner which denoted she enjoyed holding your life in her hands. I nodded as if impressed by the revelation as the waiter started to pass by again. I would have said something this time if Darcy hadn't suddenly stopped him.
"One coffee please with a side of cream and sugar." He ordered politely, taking a cup handed to him before passing it over to me. My jaw would have dropped if the table hadn't have been buzzing with conversation, keeping all, save a few, from noticing his gesture. My gaze met with his as I accepted the cup, trying not to wince as my fingers brushed his when I did. His reaction was the same because I barely had a hold on it before he suddenly let go. Lady Stephanie watched quietly.
"I read somewhere once that being a coffee lover was proof that you are an introverted personality." She pointed out evenly, as if the article she had read would have some point of interest to us all. Personally, I didn't care what kind of personality it meant I had as long as I could enjoy its warmth and let it soothe away my stress. Darcy, however, laughed. It seemed he was trying not to because he coughed to cover up his slip in amusement, but the way Catherine and Stephanie looked at him now, it was obvious that Stephanie's statement was not meant to be amusing. Darcy coughed again. I just raised an interested brow.
"Did I say something with that much entertainment value?" Stephanie asked as Darcy tried desperately to recover. Considering the fact that I knew what he had laughed at—at the idea that I was introverted—I was beginning to feel a little insulted. Darcy shook his head.
"I'm just trying to figure out what specialist came up with that theory. Ms. Bennet is proof enough that drinking coffee does not denote your personality." Mr. Darcy remarked as I gave him my famous 'watch it buster' glare. Stephanie shrugged.
"And here I also heard that the habit denoted someone keen in the world of business and society." Stephanie retorted once more with a sly twinkle in her eye as Darcy snickered yet again. Okay, now I was insulted. I was a keen business woman when allowed the chance. I glared at him as he took a sip of expensive wine.
"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength." I muttered as he stopped laughing long enough to turn that intense gaze of his in full force upon my person. I didn't let it intimidate me. I had been insulted enough tonight as it was. He seemed to ponder my words a moment before leaning forward.
"An Eric Hoffer quote? I am continually impressed by your ability to quote everyone but yourself, Ms. Bennet." He ground out as I blinked slowly. The two of us were like a pair of wild animals circling each other in an episode filmed by National Geographic. All we needed to do now was paw the ground and snort dirt and you'd realize we were in all out war. I scoffed.
"It has been my experience, sir, that the best learned qualities and ideas come from learning from those who have already said or done something worth having repeated." I argued as Darcy leaned forward slightly. I saw the slight discomfort that flitted across Stephanie's face, and I wondered if she was aware of the delicate amount of control that Darcy and I had both leashed our tempers with that evening. We were both angry at each other as it was and Stephanie had stoked the fire. Not so smart, that. His eyes narrowed as I leaned closer to him as well.
"Businessmen, of all people, should be the most versed in quotations." I pointed out as Darcy's shoulders grew rigid with the tenseness that now filled them.
"And you don't believe that I can quote most of the world's famous philosophers and writers, Ms. Bennet? I run my business on those famous ideals. You, however, lack direction and mannerism" He stated evenly as I laughed. Yes, laughed. The gall of him! By this time, most of the table had grown quiet, and I could vaguely hear Jane hiss warningly, "Lizzie!" I ignored her. I think she was afraid that I'd get fired. Well, let the man do his worst! We were arguing about quotations for God's sake! And, by the way, I'm sure both of our eyes were shining with a fire that no one else seemed to notice. You'd think that we had both been waiting for this moment, both been looking forward to picking a fight with each other. So, I challenged him. He knew quotes did he? I took my napkin off of my lap and threw it on the table before leaning forward more in my chair.
"The argument from intimidation is a confession of intellectual impotence." I quoted callously as he laid his napkin next to his own plate a little more formally than I had my own. His voice lowered dangerously.
"Ayn Rand's the Virtue of Selfishness? Somehow I take that as a direct cut, Ms. Bennet. One should point out that Friedrich Nietzsche once said that 'the most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments.'" Darcy argued as I puffed up with indignation. A cut indeed? What did he think he had been doing towards me? It sure as hell didn't consist of flowers and gentlemanly behavior. Oh, he thought he could out quote me did he? I stood up slightly before quoting William Lloyd Garrison.
"With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plea; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost." I stated steadfastly as I watched Darcy's eyes grow colder, filled with an icy fire that made me want to shiver. I could tell he recognized the quote and so he didn't bother to ask who had said it. Instead, he stood up slightly as well.
"Are you insulting my character, Ms. Bennet? You, who has no sense of propriety whatsoever?" He asked me in a piqued tone as I bristled. Catherine was lightly tapping Darcy on the arm by now and the Bingley sisters and Lady Stephanie were sliding down in their seats. I continued to ignore them all.
"And why wouldn't I, Mr. Darcy? You seem determined to change my character, to mold me into something that would change who I am as an individual. Consider what Cicero once said, 'Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else's traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.'" I remarked evenly as Darcy stood there a moment in silence. We were both standing now, and I blushed as I realized we were garnering quite an audience. Darcy, however, didn't seem to notice yet. He shook his head at me.
"Then consider Confucious, Ms. Bennet. He once said that 'without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established.'" Mr. Darcy pointed out as I narrowed my eyes before crossing my arms over my chest.
"That's a very narrow-minded view, even for Confucious." I reiterated as Darcy raised an ironic brow.
"You should see us in business meetings, Ms. Bennet. Business is a narrow-minded corporation." Mr. Darcy stated gruffly as I glanced around the room sheepishly once more. I think it was then that Darcy also realized we had an audience because he began to back down a bit. I wasn't about to let him do that. As a matter of fact, it was time to make my exit. The best thing about any performance is the finale. I smiled sweetly at him as I quoted Douglas Coupland.
"Here's my theory about meetings and life; the three things you can't fake are erections, competence and creativity. That's why meetings become toxic. They put uncreative people in a situation in which they have to be something they can never be. And the more effort they put into concealing their inabilities, the more toxic the meeting becomes. One of the most common creativity-faking tactics is when someone puts their hands in prayer position and conceals their mouth while they nod at you and say, 'Mmmmmm. Interesting.' If pressed, they'll add, 'I'll have to get back to you on that.' Then they don't say anything else." I quoted haughtily before turning on my heels and marching out of the restaurant. Eat that, Mr. Darcy. It's a bitter pill to swallow, isn't it? I was almost out the door when I made the mistake of looking behind me and realized that he was following. Oh, that's just great! I was already losing weight on this trip. For some reason, I never could seem to make it through a meal.
Author's Footnote: Thank you to all of those who are reviewing. You have made this such an enjoyable story to write and also, thank you to all of those who have helped me out some as well by pointing out anything they noticed out of place or just opinions in general about the story. I love hearing all of your thoughts. I genuinely hope that you keep reading and reviewing. The reviews are so very encouraging and definitely gives me that push to write more. Wonderful wishes to you all!---licensetowrite