A/N - this has been updated to correct grammar and spelling - a big thanks to my beta reader Ann ( goclimbatree), who has begun reading through and helping me fix errors and ensure clarity.

Let me know if you continue to see any issues. This story will be published on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited at some point once it is finished (August?).


Chapter 2

The couple had been wandering along the path as they spoke, and they both looked up when they heard another voice call out. "Darcy!" Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam cried. "Where have you been?" He stopped abruptly when he saw them together. "Miss Bennet! What a surprise to find you here with my cousin." Fitzwilliam glanced at his cousin with a wry grin.

"Good morning, Colonel," Elizabeth said.

"Richard," Darcy nodded.

"I was on my way to call at the parsonage, Miss Bennet," the Colonel said. "Might I escort you back that way? Darcy, Aunt Catherine is looking for you and insists you attend her right away."

"I will attend my aunt after I see Miss Bennet back to the parsonage," Darcy insisted, offering her his arm once again. She smiled up at him as she took his arm, and he felt his heart lighten a little. He smiled at her in return, showing his dimples, both of them ignoring the Colonel's presence for a moment.

The Colonel grinned as he fell into step with the couple, unconcerned at being forgotten. "It seems I am de trop, but I will accompany you, nonetheless. Have you both enjoyed your walks this morning?"

"The grove is lovely," Elizabeth replied. "I so enjoy spring and seeing the flowers bloom. The gardens at Rosings are lovely, but I prefer less formal gardens. There is so much… order here and not enough nature."

"Pemberley's gardens are much wilder," Darcy informed her. "My grandmother and my own mother also preferred less formal gardens. While the gardens are not fully wild, they are much more natural than the gardens here. There are many beautiful walks, and the park is a full ten miles around." She heard the pride in his voice as he spoke of his home, but she recognized it was not a haughty pride but a pride of accomplishment and in his heritage.

"My aunt and uncle are taking a tour of the Lakes this summer, and I hope to join them. My aunt also intends to visit her former home in Derbyshire while we are there," Elizabeth told them. "I have heard much of the 'wildness' of that county and look forward to seeing many of the Peaks while I am travelling through the area."

"Where in Derbyshire did your aunt reside, do you know?" Darcy asked, considering how he might be able to invite this unknown aunt and uncle to his home while they travelled.

"My aunt grew up in Lambton, sir," she replied.

"That is only five miles from Pemberley!" Richard exclaimed. "Will you pass through Matlock as well, do you think? Matlock is the seat of my own family."

"I do not know yet; it will depend on my uncle and the length of our visit," she answered. "My aunt and uncle will set the itinerary, and I will just accompany them." She smiled brightly at both of them as she spoke.

"When I bring Georgiana to visit, I will speak to your uncle and invite them to Pemberley when they pass through Lambton," Darcy told her, smiling down at her in return.

Richard's eyebrows flew to his hairline at the invitation, but he said nothing. He gave Darcy a strange look but continued walking. A moment later, they all arrived at the parsonage.

The gentlemen bowed to Elizabeth before taking their leave. Holding her hand a moment longer than strictly usual, Darcy murmured to Elizabeth, "It was remiss of me not to tell you how much I appreciate your agreement. I look forward to meeting you again in the morning, if not sooner," he said, wishing he had taken the opportunity to kiss her hand while they had been alone.

Elizabeth watched the gentlemen depart before returning inside. Her return had gone unobserved, so she slipped upstairs to consider what had happened on her morning walk, especially that she had accepted a courtship with Mr Darcy. "I am courting Mr Darcy," Elizabeth thought in her room. "He admires me, has asked to court me, and thinks me beautiful." Laughing to herself, she sat down to compose several letters that she would hide and pass to Mr Darcy on the morrow. She suspected a maid was taking her mail to Mr Collins and intended to keep these letters a secret.

Neither gentleman spoke for several minutes as they made their way toward Rosings. Finally, when they were out of earshot and sight of both the parsonage and Rosings, Richard broke the silence. "So, Cousin, do you have anything to tell me?" he asked teasingly.

Darcy glared at him. "No, I do not," he said before pausing and considering things for a moment. "Actually, I do need to tell you something. Wickham is up to his old tricks, this time in Hertfordshire. Before I left there in November, he was a member of the militia quartered there. He is, of course, still telling stories about the denied living to all and sundry and running up large debts."

"I did not know that," Richard said, perking up. "When we return to London, I may pay a visit to the militia commander there. Do you happen to know his name?"

"Colonel Forester," Darcy replied. "Miss Bennet asked me about Wickham this morning as she had begun to realise his stories may not have been true after observing him for a time."

Richard arched a brow at him. "How did she come to realise that about him?"

"She saw through his lies, or, at least, saw enough to wonder about his stories. I had obliquely warned her in November when I was at Netherfield, so she asked me about him this morning." Darcy paused for a moment before continuing more seriously. "I told her about Georgiana, Richard."

At that, his cousin stopped walking and looked at him aghast. "How could you do that? We swore not to share that story any further."

"She will not spread the story," Darcy assured him.

Richard eyed his cousin cautiously. "You are in love with her." It was a statement, not a question; he already knew the answer

"Yes," Darcy said simply, not willing to elaborate any further.

They began walking again silently. After several minutes, Richard again broke the silence. "What do you intend to do about it?"

Richard was surprised as a wide grin spread across his typically dour cousin's face. "She has agreed to allow me to court her; however, we will not tell my aunt or her mother at present for similar reasons. I will write her father to ask his permission for the courtship to proceed, and she will write him to ask to stay longer in town with her uncle and request he not tell her mother until things are more definitely settled between us. I intend to introduce her to Georgiana once we are both in London."

Richard nodded. "Congratulations, cousin. I think she will make you a fine wife, especially given the rather large grin on your face. I have not seen you smile like that since before your father died."

"She is a rather special woman, Richard," Darcy agreed softly before closing his eyes briefly to picture her — and to imagine kissing her.

They did not speak again until they reached the house. By unspoken agreement, they both headed toward Lady Catherine's drawing room, the one that held her "throne", where they knew they would find the lady. Although only Darcy had been requested, the Colonel knew without being asked that he would be needed to support his cousin.

"Darcy! Finally, you have come. I sent for you ages ago," the grand lady said loudly when they entered. "Fitzwilliam, you are not needed here. You may go."

"I prefer to stay," he drawled, settling himself into a chair lazily.

She glared at him, but he refused to budge. Darcy sat near him, much more stiffly, and waited for the complaint that was sure to come.

It came quickly. "Darcy, I insist you announce your engagement immediately," she demanded.

"I am not engaged to anyone at present, Aunt," he replied evenly.

"You are engaged to Anne. You have been since you were in your cradles," she insisted.

"No contracts have ever been written, nor were settlements signed by my father or me. I have not asked anyone to marry me, nor would I have been accepted had I asked, so how is it that I am engaged, madam?" he asked, his voice cool.

"You are honour bound to marry my daughter. No one else will have her because it is widely known that you are betrothed to her," she tried again.

"You have spread the false story of the engagement, and I have refuted it every time I have heard that rumour. My father told you before he died that I would not marry Anne, and I have told you as well. I will not be induced into marriage by a fictional account of my mother betrothing me to her sister's daughter more than two decades ago," Darcy stated clearly.

"She will be ruined," Lady Catherine said again, spluttering in her rage.

"If she is, it is by your hand," Darcy told her. "She is the heiress of Rosings, yet you have never taken her to town or had her presented at court. You have not let her have a season or do anything a young woman of her station should do to seek a husband. If she is not married, it is not my fault but yours."

"Do you intend to marry Miss Bennet?" Lady Catherine questioned angrily.

"Again, Aunt, I have offered marriage to no one, and quite frankly, who I marry is not your concern," Darcy responded, his voice still cool but his anger rising. "Miss Bennet has nothing to do with my refusal to marry your daughter. This has become an annual conversation; I refuse to marry Anne every year I visit, and you refuse to accept my answer."

She sputtered in rage. "If you will not do your duty to my daughter, then leave my home immediately. You are no longer welcome here, nor will you be allowed to spend another night in residence," she yelled. "Take your cousin with you."

"I will leave to-day. Lord Matlock can review your accounts in the future because I will no longer do it," Darcy informed her before turning on his heel and striding out. He headed up the stairs and directed his valet to pack their things for an immediate departure. He sent a footman to the stables to inform his coachman to prepare the carriage and the grooms to prepare his and the Colonel's saddle horses. Then he sat down to write several notes.

As he was finishing these preparations, Richard appeared at the door and leaned against the frame. "My bags are being packed. I assume we will leave within the hour?"

"Yes, Richard, we will. Did she have anything to say after I left?" Darcy asked.

"She ranted a bit about you not doing your duty – I do not believe she realised I was sitting there still. She intends to write my father, believing he will convince you to 'do your duty to the family'. She seems afraid of something, but I know not what she fears," Richard said. "What will you do about …"

He trailed off when Darcy slashed his hand through the air. "Say nothing of that here," he hissed quietly. Louder, he said. "My valet and your man have things under control here. Let us walk to the stables — I intend to ride to London, and the carriage with our luggage can follow. What do you say?"

Richard nodded, and after a quick goodbye to their mutual cousin, who was sad to see them go so soon, they headed toward the stables.

Once outside, Darcy spoke. "We need to call at the parsonage to inform them we are leaving today. I will need a moment to speak to Miss Bennet if you can distract the others for me. She was to write notes for me to post on her behalf, and I have a note for her that I hope I can give her."

Their horses were nearly ready when they arrived at the stables. In only a few minutes, they mounted and took an indirect route to the parsonage, hoping they would not be observed. They arrived to find just the ladies within, as Lady Catherine had insisted the parson commiserate with her immediately upon the departure of her nephews.

"We are off to London, ladies, and have come to take our leave of you," the Colonel announced after greetings were exchanged. Elizabeth darted a surprised look toward Darcy, and he looked apologetic in return.

While Richard engaged Mrs Collins and her sister in conversation, Darcy spoke quietly to Elizabeth. "My aunt has thrown us out after I refused, yet again, to announce an engagement to my cousin. Since I am no longer welcome at Rosings, we will leave immediately for town, and I am greatly disappointed not to have your company for a few more days. My aunt specifically mentioned you in our conversation, but I gave her no reaction or information. Regardless, I worry she may take action against you. Be on your guard, please, Elizabeth, and let me know if there is anything I can do for you."

Darcy was delighted that Elizabeth looked as displeased as he was with the sudden change to their plans. "I am sorry you are leaving, sir. I have not finished all of my letters, although I did finish the letter to Jane. I explained our plans, and if I add a line asking her to inform my father and my uncle, perhaps we can still follow those plans." She looked hopeful and smiled shyly at him. "And I will be careful on my walks, although perhaps I should stay closer to the parsonage."

He smiled. "I can deliver the letter in person and arrange to meet your relatives. Then, I could make the request on your behalf if you would allow it."

She grimaced. "When my aunt and uncle were at Longbourn for Christmas, I still believed the worst of you. I had not seen through Mr Wickham's lies then, and I am afraid I did not hold back in expressing my negative opinions of you, for which I am very sorry now. I am unsure how your request would be received, which is why I wanted to write to both my uncle and my father first."

His smile faltered a bit. "I hope you do not still think so poorly of me," he said quietly.

"I do not," she insisted. "Since you have been in Kent, my understanding of you has been gradually changing. Our conversation this morning has made me view you quite differently, and I am sorry we will not be able to get to know each other better here." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Let me write my uncle a short note of introduction before you go. Charlotte should not object to extending your stay a bit longer."

Elizabeth turned to her friend. "Charlotte, Mr Darcy has agreed to deliver the letter to Jane I just finished when he reaches town. I need to write a brief note of introduction for my uncle as well. Please excuse me to quickly pen it."

"Of course, Eliza," Charlotte agreed, giving her a knowing look. "There is paper and ink in my little study."

Standing quickly, Elizabeth hurried from the room and returned in a few moments with several folded notes in her hand. "I wrote to my aunt as well. The address is on the top sheet, and I greatly appreciate you taking these to town for me. I hope I am not taking advantage of your kindness by giving you so many letters to deliver."

He nodded and took the notes, noting that one piece of folded paper bore his name on top. He slid all the letters into his pocket and stood. "Not at all. I am pleased to be of service to you, Miss Bennet. Fitzwilliam, we have a long ride ahead of us, so let us make haste to town. Ladies, I am sorry our visit to Rosings has ended so abruptly, but it was a pleasure to see you all again."

They all stood, and farewells were offered. Charlotte sent Maria upstairs as the gentlemen exited and made her way to the kitchen as Elizabeth escorted the gentlemen to the door. The Colonel stepped away when Darcy took Elizabeth's hand in his for a brief farewell. He kissed it quickly and surreptitiously slid the note into her palm before striding to his horse. Mounting, he waved in farewell before he and the Colonel nudged their horses into motion.

Elizabeth stood at the door and watched the gentlemen until she could no longer see them. She excused herself to go to her room to rest for a time and reflected on the rather abrupt changes of the last several hours. Only this morning, she had been largely annoyed with Mr Darcy's presence on her walks, and now she felt rather bereft of the idea of not seeing him for a week or so. In the space of a conversation, her understanding of the gentleman and his motivations had been completely reversed. No longer did she hold his words and actions against him but had, in fact, begun to admire him and agreed to his request to court her and be introduced to his sister. She could hardly believe it.

The same conversation put a definite end to any ideas of Jane and Mr Bingley. If he were already betrothed, Jane needed to know so she could, hopefully, get over any feelings she still held for him. Elizabeth was annoyed with Mr Bingley for engaging her sister's feelings without consideration of the potential impact to others. Not only was Jane nursing a broken heart, she was pitied by her friends and neighbours for having failed to capture Mr Bingley and had gone to London with the Gardiners after Christmas to avoid their notice and her mother's constant complaints.


Copyright 2023 by Melissa Anne