A Plethora of Peers Chapter 14 - Apologies, a pride and prejudice fanfic

~~PoP~~

Apologies

For a moment, everyone stared at the now closed door in shock.

Colonel Fitzwilliam was the first to recover. He turned to the Bennets and said, 'I am afraid that I must add my own apology to my cousin's. As soon as we entered, I remembered Miss Bennet and her connections. Instead of explaining things sensibly, I could not resist teasing Darcy as I have done on many occasions before. Unfortunately, I misjudged his reactions.'

He grimaced as he addressed Elizabeth directly. 'I believe you hit the nail upon the head when you claimed that Darcy was feeling magnanimous about his interest in you. He has always had an exaggerated pride in his family and when he discovered that you are his peer in truth, it stuck in his craw. When I added my teasing, it was too much for him to bear.'

Bennet interjected, 'You should realise that when you bait a bear, the bear is likely to lash out.' He sighed. 'I think that I must go and soothe the ruffled fur.'

'Pardon me, but I think that should be my responsibility since I caused the problem,' protested Fitzwilliam.

'Because you were the one to cause the problem, I doubt you would be able to smooth things over.' Bennet nodded at the others, 'If you will excuse me.'

~PoP~

Once Bennet had gone to follow Darcy, Elizabeth turned to the Colonel. 'I too must tender an apology for calling your mother mercenary.'

'As I said to Darcy, you did but speak the truth. Although in her defence I will say that she is not interested in more wealth for herself. Just like any mother she is simply hoping for the best for her children,' Fitzwilliam replied with a rueful grin.

Before the situation could become maudlin, Mrs Bennet offered refreshments, which the Colonel and the sisters gratefully accepted.

Initially the conversation was somewhat stilted, but the Colonel's natural gregariousness and charm soon had everyone in a better mood. He regaled them with sanitised tales of his exploits in the army where he portrayed himself alternately as the hero or a fool.

Mary was reminded of the line by Shakespeare, it takes a wise man to play the fool, while she mostly listened to the conversation.

As she listened, she also observed the Colonel closely. When he had first entered the room, her attention had been caught by the twinkle in his eye which spoke of good humour. That he was almost as tall as his cousin and almost as handsome had done him no harm in her eyes. As a matter of fact, she thought his somewhat more rugged and weathered appearance much more interesting than Darcy's smooth features.

She then listened to his easy banter with her sister and caught herself feeling jealous. Mary knew that Elizabeth's only interest was in Mr Darcy, but she kept wishing that the Colonel would treat herself to his charm.

Mary had been horrified by Darcy's unexpected anger, even though she could not hear the words, and was grateful to Fitzwilliam to intercede. When the Colonel admitted to teasing his cousin, she felt torn that such an amiable appearing man could be so heartless but when he apologised for his misjudgement and took responsibility for his actions, Mary could do nought but forgive him.

The Colonel was definitely an imperfect man and full of contradictions, but at least he did not blame anyone else for his own mistakes.

Listening to the conversation Mary hoped that Colonel Fitzwilliam would remain at Netherfield for as long as possible.

~PoP~

Bennet had not gone far outside when he spotted Darcy striding around the garden in apparent frustration and running his hands through his hair.

When he spied Bennet coming towards him, he asked, 'Have you come to give me a thrashing for my boorish behaviour?'

'Nothing so simple. I have come for a conversation.'

'That sounds even more ominous.'

'Your cousin apologised for baiting you,' said Bennet and went on to lay out the Colonel's explanation.

Darcy listened carefully but remained silently in thought when Bennet finished. After a while, he sighed and said, 'I confess that your daughter and my cousin both diagnosed the problem perfectly. I had not realised how much arrogance influenced my attitude. I was convinced that my love for your daughter was a great condescension towards her as I felt that she was my inferior due to her lack of connections and wealth.'

He huffed in chagrin. 'I defended my choice to my cousin, telling him how wonderful Miss Bennet is and her many admirable qualities. But he knows me too well and must have discerned my hypocrisy.'

'I have a feeling there was more to your reaction. Perhaps a certain amount of the green-eyed monster?

Darcy's eyes widened as he was taken aback by the suggestion. As he examined his feelings and actions earlier, he recognised that Bennet was correct. 'Richard… Colonel Fitzwilliam and I are very different people. Given a choice I would be a recluse while he is gregarious. Richard can make friends with anyone on five minutes acquaintance while I have always struggled even to converse, particularly with ladies.'

A fond smile spread over his features. 'I love Richard like a brother even when he teases me. But when I discovered that they knew each other, and he started to banter with Elizabeth… I suppose that I saw red.'

'So, you blew our connections and your ignorance of them all out of proportion.'

'I am afraid so. But I still do not understand why she did not mention them.'

'How much time have you spent in conversation?'

'Not as much as I would have liked.'

'And you should know that most of our neighbours are equally ignorant of my late wife's family. I gather that you are very aware how wealth and connections can draw the unwelcome attention of the wrong kind of people.'

Darcy nodded slowly, beginning to understand as Bennet continued. 'Lizzy had a season in London which she cut short because she did not like the so-called gentlemen who were after her for being the granddaughter of an Earl and presumably an heiress. She wanted to be loved for herself.'

Bennet gave Darcy a mischievous grin. 'There are two things which you should know. When Lizzy and your cousin met in London, she liked him because he was not interested in her… in a matrimonial sense. But she did comment unfavourably on his mother's matchmaking attempts with her.'

Darcy groaned as Bennet said, 'The other thing is that you have only yourself to blame for the way you found out about the situation. If you had not brought your cousin today, we would have explained the relationship to you this afternoon – with significantly less drama.'

'I must tell you that the reason Richard is here is because he was trying to escape his mother's matchmaking…' Darcy trailed off and shook his head. 'My aunt has much to answer for.'

'Only your aunt?'

Darcy's eyes flew up to Bennet's and the sharp rejoinder. 'And my stupid pride, of course.'

'Better.'

Darcy hesitated a moment before he asked, 'I came here this afternoon to request your permission to court Miss Bennet. If she should forgive my earlier performance, would you give your blessing?'

'I would never stand in the way of my daughters' happiness,' Bennet declared and offered, 'Come into my library and I will send for Elizabeth. The decision is entirely hers.'

~PoP~

Elizabeth came into her father's library and stopped in the middle of the room as she saw Darcy standing by the window with a hangdog expression.

Mr Bennet was sitting behind his desk and said to his daughter, 'Mr Darcy has something he would like to say to you if you are prepared to hear him out.'

'I am always prepared for a discussion,' Elizabeth said carefully and remained standing where she was.

Darcy approached her to within easy speaking distance. He wanted to take her hand but restrained himself. 'Thank you, Miss Bennet. I have come to throw myself at your mercy. I have discovered an aspect of my personality of which I was completely unaware. Jealousy is an emotion I have never before felt, as I also never before loved a woman. I had not realised that the two might go hand in hand.' The confession was accompanied by a rueful half-smile.

He continued. 'I cannot promise never to be jealous again, but I will do my best to keep that feeling under good regulation. I will also make every effort to regulate my pride. I pray that you will allow me to prove to you that I can be a better man than I demonstrated earlier and that you will permit me to court you.'

At those heartfelt words, the last of Elizabeth's anger melted away. Ever since his reformation at the assembly, Darcy had appeared to be practically perfect in every way. She had mistrusted this perfection and had been proven right. But she felt that his response to his imperfection was more reassuring than continued perfection would have been. It might seem illogical to anyone else but to her this attitude made sense.

She nodded and tried to express her feelings on the subject. 'A courtship is designed to give both parties the opportunity to discover whether they would suit. To determine each other's good points as well as the bad and to see if we can accept the less desirable aspects of each other's character.'

'Are you saying that you will give me another chance?'

'I require a promise from you. You will never again jump to conclusions. If you have questions, I expect you to ask them calmly and give me the opportunity to answer in the same manner, as I will not tolerate being lambasted.'

'You have my word,' Darcy eagerly agreed. 'Would you like that in writing or prefer for me to swear on a bible?'

'Your word alone will be enough. After all, if I cannot trust your word, I cannot trust you with my life.' Elizabeth turned to Bennet. 'Father?'

'You have my blessing.'

Darcy beamed at Elizabeth and took hold of her hands at last. 'Thank you,' he said and raised her hands to his lips.

Feeling his lips on her gloveless hands sent a tingle up Elizabeth's spine and a smile to her lips. 'You are welcome… I think.'

~PoP~

Once their issues were resolved, Bennet rang for a tea tray to be brought to the library.

They gathered around the table by the fire and Elizabeth served them all. Bennet fortified his own tea with a small tot of brandy.

He took a cautious sip and sighed with contentment as warmth flooded through him. At last he felt ready to speak. 'Mr Darcy, I believe that you are ready for some of our family history.'

'Yes, I am, sir, but please call me Darcy.'

'Very well, you may call me Bennet. But to get back to the subject.' Bennet described his history with his brother, his marriage to his beloved Henrietta and the circumstances which caused him to inherit Longbourn and for James to be raised predominantly by his grandparents.

'I had not realised that you have a son.' He glanced sideways at Elizabeth. 'Which was why I assumed you had educated Elizabeth, I mean Miss Bennet, like a son.'

Bennet quirked his brow at Darcy's slip of the tongue. 'I suggest that under the circumstances you might call her Miss Elizabeth when in private,' he said with a grin as Elizabeth blushed. 'You are partially correct. Since James will inherit the Earldom, he has agreed to break the entail as soon as he comes of age. At which point Elizabeth becomes my heir for Longbourn.'

'I truly hope that it will be many years before Miss Elizabeth inherits,' Darcy exclaimed with feeling. He was getting to like Bennet more the longer he knew him.

'While I hope to live for many years yet, I plan to sign Longbourn over to her as soon as the entail is broken. This estate if effectively her dowry.'

Darcy's jaw dropped at the news. When he regained his speech, he said, 'This looks like an extremely prosperous estate.'

Bennet grinned. 'When I took over, it made two thousand pounds a year. Since Lizzy has taken over the management, she has doubled its profitability.'

'Doubled?' gasped Darcy and looked at Elizabeth who gave him a deprecating smile.

'What can I say. I had good teachers, and I enjoyed the challenge.'

'I should warn you though,' Bennet continued. 'If Lizzy marries, I shall insist that the marriage articles specify that Longbourn remains under her control, and she may bequeath it to whomever she chooses.'

'A dowry worth in the region of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds is significantly more than anything that I expected,' Darcy said with chagrin at having misjudged another aspect of Elizabeth's circumstances. Fortunately, after all the other shocks, he could deal with this more reasonably, particularly when a thought occurred to him. 'Miss Bingley would be livid if she knew that her vaunted dowry of twenty thousand is but a fraction of your worth.'

Darcy chuckled at the thought before he nodded thoughtfully. 'Your conditions seem quite reasonable. But where will you live if you hand over the estate to your daughter.'

'I hope that she will allow her family to live here for as long as needed. Particularly my mother, whose home this has been for about half a century.'

'Of course, you know that grandmother is welcome here for as long as she likes. You and Mary too, of course.'

'Thank you, my dear. I am fully cognisant of your welcome, just as you know that once the three ladies in my life do not need me anymore, I plan to go back to Oxford.'

'Do you not mean six ladies?' Elizabeth reminded her father. 'What about Aunt Bennet and the girls?'

'Well, Lydia will be going to school within a few weeks. And by the time that I can leave, I suspect Catherine my well be married. After that, your aunt has her brothers to take care of her.' He shrugged. 'Of course, once Mary turns one and twenty, she will move to Netherfield.'

Darcy had quietly listened to the discussion between father and daughter. He was astonished at the warmth and respect between these two people and how Bennet treated his daughter as a peer. It was no wonder that Elizabeth would not put up with nonsense from anyone since she was accustomed to such a level of respect.

He was lulled into a sense of relaxation when Bennet mentioned Miss Mary moving to Netherfield. 'Why would Miss Mary move to Netherfield? I thought she did not particularly care for Bingley?'

Father and daughter grinned at each other before Bennet explained, 'My father-in-law bought Netherfield for Mary. Even though the Bingley's do not know it, my daughter is their landlady.' He paused. 'And I prefer it to remain that way.'

After a moment of stunned silence, Darcy started to laugh. I will not say anything, but I hope to be present when Miss Bingley finds out about this.'

On this more positive note, the three finished their discussion.

~PoP~

A/N: Regarding those complaints about the treatment of Lydia.

In this story she and Kitty are both 16. Kitty accepted the education offered to her, Lydia did not. She is still the same selfish and self-centred brat as she was in P&P despite attempts to curb her conduct. When this did not work, this time there was someone who was prepared to show her how she would end up if she did not mend her behaviour. What Hurst did was mild to what the reality would have been like.

~~PoP~~