Sorry, I had to remove the other stories since I published them on Amazon and made them available on Kindle Unlimited - with additional content.

For Kindle Unlimited, Amazon rules are that the story must be exclusive to Amazon.

I'll probably be back with a new story soon.

'Remember, you wanted this' by Sydney Salier Copyright © 2020

~~~oo00oo~~~

Mistress at Pemberley?

Miss Bingley wanted to be the Mistress of Pemberley and would go to any length to achieve her goal.

This scene might have occurred while Jane and Elizabeth were staying at Netherfield, when Jane was sick.

If it had, the story could have gone rather differently.

~~~oo00oo~~~

Since Elizabeth could not sleep, she decided to select a book from the sparse offerings available in the library. As she was returning to her room, she heard a commotion in the hall of the guest-wing, when she reached the top of the stairs.

Not wanting to be drawn into a private argument, she curiously peeked around the corner and saw Mrs Hurst halfway down the hall. Further down the hall, Miss Bingley was being pushed out of a room, wearing only a flimsy nightgown, by Mr Darcy, who was wearing a banyan.

Elizabeth suppressed a snort when she heard Louisa Hurst demand in an accusing tone of voice, 'Mr Darcy, what are you doing with my sister.'

At being accosted, he appeared to be deliberately blocking the doorway. 'What does it look like? I am throwing her out of my room of course.'

Oh no, this was too amusing. It seemed Miss Bingley had tried to compromise Mr Darcy.

'You have dishonoured my sister.'

'Certainly not. I have no interest in a bird of paradise.'

Ouch. That must hurt. Elizabeth smirked.

'What? Are you calling me a… a… a…' Caroline stammered in shock.

'A Cyprian?'

'I am not a Cyprian,' shouted Miss Bingley

Mr Darcy smirked. 'You are correct. I apologise to all Cyprians for comparing you to them.'

Worse and worse. Elizabeth had not realised that Mr Darcy had a sense of humour. Admittedly, it was a vicious sense of humour, but, under the circumstances, amusing nonetheless.

'I am not a light o' love!' Miss Bingley defended herself.

'Then what were you doing in my room? Although, if your manners and comportment were better, now that I know you are in the market, I might consider making you my mistress until I marry. What are your terms?'

'How dare you. You have compromised me. You must marry me. You told me that you could not wait until we were married. Otherwise I would never have dreamed of coming to your room…'

'Have you now added practiced liar to the list of your accomplishments? I told you that I abhor the arts which ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation. Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable. I will not be coerced into marriage by someone such as you.'

'But I am now compromised since I came to your room.' Miss Bingley was still trying to make her point.

'You have compromised yourself. No decent woman would sneak into a men's bed, unless he were her husband. Certainly not uninvited.'

'But if you do not marry me, your own reputation will suffer too.'

'Hardly. Some people might consider me a rake… and congratulate me on my conquest and my good sense not to marry you.'

'What…' An affronted Miss Bingley screeched loud enough to wake the house.

'Madam, no matter what you may claim, you have obviously not spent much time in the first circles, to be familiar with their customs. Most of those men have mistresses, many of whom happen to be daughters of tradesmen. You would fit in perfectly. You act and even dress like many of them do. At least the worst of them.'

Since Miss Bingley seemed to have lost her voice due to shock and horror, Darcy shrugged and added, 'as I said, if I were desperate, you might be a mistress at Pemberley, but you will never be the Mistress of Pemberley.'

Miss Bingley found her voice again to snipe, 'and who, pray tell, would you deem worthy of being Mistress of Pemberley. Certainly not Miss Eliza, even though you admire her fine eyes.'

Did Miss Bingley just say that Mr Darcy admired my eyes? Elizabeth was startled.

'At least, Miss Elizabeth is a gentlewoman with intelligence, wit and charm, to enhance her exquisite looks. You have none of those advantages. I would consider it an honour to have Miss Elizabeth as my wife…'

This comment left Elizabeth stunned. What happened to the Mr Darcy whom she thought she knew? The one who declared her not handsome enough to tempt him, and who had looked at her only to find fault.

Here was a very different Mr Darcy, who was complimenting and defending her. Had she been wrong in her assessment of the gentleman? Did he truly say that he would consider it an honour to… No this could not be. He could not possibly mean that.

'You cannot be serious. She has an uncle in trade.'

'Have you forgotten that your own father made his money in trade, Miss Bingley, whereas Miss Elizabeth's father is a gentleman.'

'What is going on here? I heard Caroline screeching.' A rumpled looking Charles Bingley joined the group in the hall.

Before Darcy could answer, Miss Bingley made a last-ditch attempt to salvage the situation. 'Charles, Mr Darcy asked me to come to his room. He compromised me. You must make him marry me.'

'That is impossible.' Bingley, who was still half asleep was not inclined to be diplomatic.

'Are you saying that it is impossible for you to make him marry me? Have you no concern for me?'

'No, Caroline. I am saying it is impossible that Darcy asked you to come to his room.'

'What? You dare to disbelieve your own sister. Why would you do such a thing?'

'Because I happen to know that Darcy despises you.'

'Bingley, do not put words in my mouth. All I said was that your sister's personality is atrocious, and her manner and dress sense are worse. I did not say that I despise her.'

'You may not have said those words, but I suspect that you were thinking them.'

'I am entitled to think what I please. But did you not inform your sister that I had made it quite clear to you that I would never offer for her, and that she should stop wasting her time?'

Bingley looked uncomfortable.

Darcy huffed, 'do not tell me... You forgot.'

'As a matter of fact, I did not forget, but Caroline always gets so very shrill when someone tells her what she does not wish to hear… What can I say... I opted to preserve my hearing.'

Miss Bingley looked in consternation between the two men, who were callously discussing her shortcomings as if she were not present to hear them.

'Since you failed to clarify the situation to your sister, it is now up to you to sort out this mess. I am planning to go back to my interrupted sleep. Good night.' Darcy stepped back into his room and closed the door. Everyone could hear him locking the door for good measure.

'Well, Caroline. It appears that your attempt at Darcy has failed spectacularly. I suggest you go to your own bed. We will speak about your future in the morning.' Bingley walked away to return to his own room, and hopefully get back to sleep.

'Louisa, what went wrong? How could Mr Darcy be so callous and not do the honourable thing and marry me? This should have worked,' wailed Caroline.

'I tried to tell you, that unlike Charles, Mr Darcy has a spine and a will of his own. He will only allow propriety push him so far. You chose to forget that he has been hunted by experts for years and he is still single…'

'You think that others have tried to compromise him and failed?'

'Yes, although I do not think anyone went quite as far as you did. I suppose it would have worked, except for one reason… I think Mr Darcy is in love with Miss Elizabeth, and that made him impervious to your coercion.'

Elizabeth heard that stunning comment, as the voices faded while the sisters made their way back to their own rooms.

~~~oo00oo~~~

When Elizabeth returned to her room, she found Jane, who had come from the adjoining room, waiting for her.

Jane asked with twinkling eyes, 'I presume you heard Mr Darcy's declaration?'

'Yes, I did. But surely, he only said it to put off Miss Bingley.

'I always thought that Mr Darcy found you enchanting, and could not keep his eyes off you. But since you do not wish to hear it, I will not say that I told you so… but I may think it.'

'Jane, since when have you become cruel? Have you no compassion for Miss Bingley? To be so thoroughly humiliated after sneaking into Mr Darcy's room.'

'I was surprised that she should flaunt propriety in such a way, since she always appeared to considered the country manners of our neighbours lacking. Mayhap she misunderstood a comment by Mr Darcy, and thought it an invitation?'

'You heard Mr Bingley. Mr Darcy would never consider Miss Bingley. The only one who could not, or refused to see it was Caroline.'

'I was saddened that Mr Darcy was so cruel in his rejection. I suppose being hunted for so many years has taken its toll on his patience.'

'I happen to think that being so very cutting was the only way to make Miss Bingley understand that she had overstepped herself. Also, he was not aware that there were witnesses out than Mrs Hurst, who had to have been part of the scheme. She appeared to be on her way to Mr Darcy's room, when he evicted Miss Bingley.'

'Oh dear,' sighed Jane. 'If Miss Bingley had misunderstood a comment by Mr Darcy, she would not have wanted it known that she went to his room. Poor Miss Bingley. She must have been desperate to attempt a compromise.'

Elizabeth hugged her sister. 'Dearest Jane, only you could feel sympathy for a woman in such a circumstance.'

~~~oo00oo~~~

Miss Bingley arrived at the breakfast table in a temper, but tried valiantly not to show it. Her brother, Mr Darcy and Miss Elizabeth all greeted her as if nothing had happened.

Since Mr Darcy and Miss Bingley assumed that Miss Elizabeth was unaware of the events of the previous night, everyone tried to behave as normal. Which in Miss Bingley's case was to snipe at Elizabeth.

Eventually, Elizabeth was tired of fending of barbs. She decided to use one of her own. 'I hope you find the fresh country air conducive for slumber. Did you sleep well, Miss Bingley?'

'I did indeed, Miss Eliza. I hope you also had a restful night?'

'I do not wish to complain, but I think you need to speak to your servants. They seemed to be having some sort of argument outside my room last night. They quite disturbed my sleep.' Elizabeth, with a guileless expression, looked pointedly at Caroline.

Caroline Bingley, gritting her teeth, agreed to reprimand her staff.

~~~oo00oo~~~

When Elizabeth had directed her barb at Miss Bingley, she had been so focused on her objective to stop the objectionable woman from spoiling her breakfast, that she forgot that others at the table would also understand her reference.

When Elizabeth looked in on Jane after her meal, her sister said, 'since I need to rest after having been disturbed during the night, you should go for a walk. You have cared for me admirably, but you need to look after yourself as well. I know you have missed your walks.'

Elizabeth had to admit the truth of her sister's statement, and followed her advice.

As soon as she was outdoors, she breathed deeply and felt the stress of the last day ebb from her. She set off on her walk in much better spirits. When she reached the edge of the formal garden, she was surprised to encounter Mr Darcy.

He bowed. 'Miss Elizabeth, would you permit me to accompany you on your walk?'

Elizabeth hesitated for a moment. The new knowledge of Mr Darcy's possible regard for her was too new, after having thought him objectionable for so long, that she was unsure whether she wanted his company. But since he was asking politely, maybe she had a chance to clear up the mystery. Therefore, she agreed.

Darcy offered her his arm, which she took with some trepidation.

After strolling in silence for a few minutes, Darcy decided to take the bull by its horns. 'Miss Elizabeth, I gathered from a comment at breakfast that you inadvertently overheard a conversation last night…'

'If you are wondering how much I overheard, I must confess that I was still awake and heard everything.'

'I see… ah…'

'Mr Darcy, may we speak openly? I think that while complying with propriety is an advantage most of the time, sometimes it not only hampers understanding but can lead to serious misunderstandings.'

Darcy sighed in relief. He had been afraid that since Miss Elizabeth had been flirting with him, she might read more into his declaration to Miss Bingley than he was prepared for. 'That would be a great relief.'

'In that case I must tell you that while I was pleased that you would defend me to Miss Bingley, I found your statement exceedingly confusing. After all, you had found me to be not handsome enough to tempt you to dance with me, and since then you have been staring at my trying to find every other fault which I possess.'

Darcy was shocked. 'You heard that. Dear Lord. That comment was only meant for Bingley to stop pestering me. I barely glanced at you…'

'Oh. I am afraid that several other people also heard the comment, and since I was hurt and angry by it, I also spread the story amongst our neighbours.'

'Miss Elizabeth, please accept my most humble apologies. As I said, I barely glanced at you, otherwise I would have known that the statement is completely untrue. But whether it was true or not, I should not have said it. I am very sorry that I hurt you. But, as to me looking at you, it was because I could not keep my eyes of you.'

A thought suddenly occurred to Darcy. 'Please forgive me if I am being offensive, but could you tell me if you have been flirting with me?'

'Certainly not, Mr Darcy,' was the immediate and outraged reply. 'I hate…' Elizabeth stopped mid-sentence.

Darcy blushed and sighed. 'I did not mean to upset you, Miss Elizabeth. Your playful manners confused me. I suppose it was presumptuous of me to think…'

Elizabeth was angry at the implication that Darcy had thought himself so irresistible that she could have been flirting with him, despite his atrocious behaviour, but she throttled down the anger and tried to see it from his perspective.

'It was indeed presumptuous, Mr Darcy. But now I wonder, are situations like last night common for you?'

'If you are asking if ladies are chasing me for my wealth, yes they are, but last night was rather extreme.'

'So you practice a proud and haughty demeanour, to avoid those kinds of situations?'

'Yes, I do, since I have no wish to raise expectations.' Realisation struck Darcy. If Elizabeth had not been flirting with him, and considering her first impression of him was insulting and hurtful, then he had deluded himself into thinking that was showing an interest in him. 'Miss Elizabeth, you truly do not like me at all, do you?'

'No, Mr Darcy, I do not,' she said firmly, looking him in the eye.

Darcy chuckled. 'It is ironic, that the first time in my life when I like a lady, she does not like me.'

'You truly like me? I have been impertinent and trying to upbraid you about your pride and arrogance, and more often than not trying to hurt you for the hurt you caused me, and you still like me?'

'Your impertinence, as you call it, is the reason why I like you. Which is why I said what I did not Miss Bingley last night.' He sighed. 'But there are other considerations, which is why I hoped to speak to you, when I realised you heard what I had said about you. I have certain constraints and duties, and I am not certain that I can choose as I wish. Society has an expectation that I should choose a wife from my social circle…'

'Ah, here is the Mr Darcy I have grown to know and hate… proud and arrogant and thinking himself oh so superior...' Elizabeth jeered.

Darcy was getting angry. 'You wanted honesty. Do not complain when you get what you asked for. I am sorry if I am not one of the lapdogs you are used to, but some of us are raised to consider duty above all else. While mooning about a young man or young lady might seem very romantic in novels, real life usually has very little place or patience for such indulgences.'

Elizabeth, unused to being spoken to in such a way, was about to snipe back at him, when his words penetrated her anger and disappointment. Disappointment? Could his stated admiration have wiped away her dislike of the man so easily? She took a deep breath to calm herself.

'My apologies, Mr Darcy. That comment was indeed uncalled for. I am afraid I find it difficult to overcome ingrained habits. Shall we try to converse like rational adults?'

'I too am sorry. I should not have spoken so harshly.'

'Shall we agree that neither of us is perfect?' Elizabeth privately admitted that she was impressed by this new Mr Darcy. While he was proud, he was prepared to apologise when he realised that he was at fault. On the other hand, while he was prepared to listen to her rational arguments, he would not back down when he knew himself to be in the right.

'Thank you, Miss Elizabeth. May I explain my situation and my reasoning? It is not meant to be insulting, but hopefully it will enable you to understand my conundrum.'

Since Elizabeth had hoped to make sense of the contradictory impressions Mr Darcy had caused, she agreed. She had to hold on to her temper with both hands when he discussed her family, but reluctantly agreed that to an outsider, the behaviour of her mother and youngest sisters was improper. After all, it was an embarrassment to herself, and she loved her family and was used to them.

When he finished speaking, Elizabeth, albeit grudgingly, agreed. 'Thank you for explaining. While I dislike the necessity, I can understand your concerns. I am now sorry that I vilified you to our neighbours.'

'It was justly deserved. Although I hope that we may now be able to become friends.' Darcy was not certain what he wanted for the future, but the idea of Miss Elizabeth as a friend appealed to him.

Elizabeth gave the words some thought and found the idea of being friends with an intelligent man to be quite appealing. Even if nothing else came of it, since she was still not quite reconciled to his previous behaviour, she did enjoy intelligent conversation.

'Friends it is, Mr Darcy,' she said with a smile, holding out her hand to him in the manner of gentleman sealing a bargain.

~~~oo00oo~~~

A few days later, Miss Bingley was sent back to London to set up her own establishment. As it happened, while she did not find a husband in the first circles, she did find a protector.

~~~oo00oo~~~

As it turned out, there never was a mistress at Pemberley. A few months later, Darcy was happy to introduce his staff to the new Mistress of Pemberley, Mrs Elizabeth Darcy.

~~~oo00oo~~~