Master of Longbourn Chapter 15 - Insult and Introduction, a pride and prejudice fanfic

Enjoy 😊

~MoL~

Darcy stalked the edges of the room, trying to avoid interacting with most of the local inhabitants. In his defence it has to be said that he had a headache.

He watched his cousin dance with Miss Bennet and thought they made a very handsome couple. His eyes roamed over the other dancers and just as the music stopped, Darcy's eyes locked with the finest eyes he had ever seen.

Headache forgotten, and without thinking, he walked towards the young lady who had frozen in place as their gazes met. As Darcy stopped in front of her, he spared a brief glance at her partner, who looked vaguely familiar as they had been introduced earlier. 'Would you please introduce me to this lady,' he asked absently as he looked back at the lovely woman with dark curls framing a stunning face.

'Miss Elizabeth, this is Mr Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire. Mr Darcy, it is my honour to present Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn,' Robert Goulding said, bemused by the total absorption of the two people in front of him. He had heard of love at first sight but had always scoffed at the idea. Now it seemed there might be some truth in the idea.

'Miss Elizabeth, would you do me the honour of granting me your next set?'

'It would be my pleasure, Mr Darcy. My next set is still available,' replied Elizabeth as she stared into the most vivid blue eyes which seemed to look directly into her soul. The smile which her answer produced made the handsome face even more devastatingly attractive to her and caused her to gasp and her body reacted in ways she had never before experienced.

Darcy took her hand and bowed over it, causing both their hands to tingle.

For the rest of the evening, they danced every set together and talked, discovering each other's hopes and dreams and ideas, forgetting all the people about them.

By the time the assembly finished, they knew that they had always been meant for each other.

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If that was how you wanted the story to go, you can now stop reading.

If you want the real story, ignore my flight of fancy. 😊

and scroll down

~MoL~

Just a reminder. Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam is the second son. Henry Fitzwilliam is his younger brother who is the same age as Bingley (22)… with the same level of maturity – none.

~MoL~

Insult and Introduction

Meryton – 1811

Darcy managed to survive the introductions by tamping down all emotions.

The last few months had been difficult for him, and he had only agreed to teach Bingley how to manage an estate as a favour to Henry to whom he owed a great debt of gratitude.

The last couple of years his aunt, Lady Matlock, had become more strident in her demands that he needed to consider the future of Pemberley by marrying and producing an heir. No matter how often he repeated that for a man he was still quite young, as most did not marry until they were much closer to thirty than five and twenty, she was relentless.

Even reminding her that as a Darcy he did not owe allegiance to the Fitzwilliams' was unsuccessful. Admittedly, after his own mother died, the lady had been a great support to him and his family, but now she felt that she had the right to dictate to him on the strength of that connection.

Therefore, to appease the lady, even though he had no intention of choosing a wife just yet, he had attended several functions towards the end of the last season. He soon learnt that that had been a mistake.

~MoL~

London – May/June 1811

At the second ball which Darcy attended, he had been introduced to Lady Penelope, the daughter of the Marquess of Barking. Initially he thought her quite charming, even if not to his taste as she liked the town, while he most definitely preferred the country, for which the lady had nothing but disdain. He soon discovered her predatory nature.

She had decided that Darcy's wealth made him the man for her and had pursued him relentlessly. Even taking Collins' advice and talking about crop rotation and related subjects had not put the young woman off.

Quite the contrary, she seemed to see his disinterest as a challenge.

After their second encounter he avoided her as much as possible, being icily polite and never even dancing with her, no matter who urged him to do so.

It was obvious to everyone except apparently to Lady Penelope that she was wasting her time.

But then there had been that ball at the Duke's residence which his aunt had insisted he absolutely must attend.

The day had been unseasonably hot, and the temperature had not dropped in the evening. With all the candles lighting up the ballroom, it had become unbearable even though every window and door was open.

Seeing that the current set had just started, and no one was paying attention to him, Darcy meandered over to one of the doors which led into the garden and stepped outside. Even though it was not exactly cool, the fact that the air was not being heated by numerous candles and there was even a slight breeze, he felt better.

He strolled through the garden to get away from the doors through which hot air wafted, relishing the cooler air and the music which he could still hear. Passing through the further reaches of the garden, he heard a slight rustle of fabric and a suppressed giggle, causing him to lengthen his stride back towards the manor.

Darcy had enjoyed his solitude for perhaps ten minutes when the whisper of displaced gravel caused him to turn around just in time to see a figure throwing itself at him. Fearing an attack, he nimbly sidestepped, and the person measured their length on the ground.

The ear-splitting scream made him realise that his attacker was a woman, and the assault was an attempt at his honour rather than his life.

Her screams attracted the attention of a couple of people who rushed to the scene. In the forefront was the Marquess of Barking, who declared, 'What is the meaning of this, Mr Darcy? I had thought you a gentleman, but you just proved yourself to be a seducer. I insist that you will marry my daughter. Now be a gentleman and assist her to her feet.'

Before Darcy could speak up to defend himself, he heard sardonic applause. 'My lord, what an exquisite performance. It is a pity that your rank prohibits a career on the stage. It is a great loss to audiences,' chuckled none other than Darcy's cousin, Henry Fitzwilliam. 'But I am sorry to confess that your daughter does not have the same abilities. Her timing was atrocious, which is why she ended up face down on the ground instead of clinging to your victim.' Henry grinned at Darcy. 'I would suggest that you do not do the gentlemanly thing as the Marquess demands, since you touching Lady Penelope would seal your fate.'

'How dare you,' grated the Marquess.

'I am afraid that you and the lady misjudged the situation. At least you had enough sense to make this attempt in relative privacy,' Henry answered before turning to Darcy again.

'Darcy, I know that the men in your family have the reputation of being virile, but if you marry Lady Penelope, you will prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt. You will be the proud father of a miracle baby no more than five months after the wedding, possibly even four,' said Henry with a smirk.

'How dare you besmirch my daughters honour,' blustered the Marquess.

Henry leaned casually against a convenient pillar and drawled, 'I happen to know several of the gentlemen with whom she has been sharing her favours.' He straightened up again. 'You should check out the book at White's where a number of bets have been placed on who will be the unlucky man to marry your daughter, how many months after the wedding the child will be born and whom the child will resemble.'

'Darcy has compromised my daughter by luring her to be alone in the garden with him. He must marry her,' Barking insisted, refusing to back down from his position.

'I am not sorry to contradict you. He was never alone with her as I was in the garden as well. Unless you wish to claim that we both compromised her simultaneously.' He tilted his head and raked the now blushing young woman, who had managed to regain her feet on her own, from head to toe. 'I have been told that that is possible, but it would be most inconvenient to do so in a garden, especially if you are in a rush.'

Henry gave the Marquess a hard stare and suddenly looked very much like his father. 'I suggest you put it about that your daughter is heartbroken due to unrequited love and she has gone to the country to recover her spirits. That would be quite believable as everyone has noticed how Darcy has been avoiding her. I would estimate that in about five to six months she will be able to return to society with none the wiser… except for those aforementioned gentlemen. If you refuse to listen to advice, all those gentlemen will become most ungentlemanly when they kiss and tell.'

'You would not dare…'

'I dare nothing. If you retaliate, your family will be ruined.' Henry paused to heighten the impact of his next words. 'Remember, you have more than one daughter.'

The Marquess glared at Henry and Darcy before turning to his teary daughter and leading her away without another word.

~MoL~

As soon as the Marquess and Lady Penelope were out of earshot, Darcy heaved a huge sigh of relief.

'That woman must be barking mad to think that I would ever marry her,' Darcy huffed.

That comment earned him a chuckle from Henry. 'She gets her attitude from her father. He is known for being stubborn and unwise… in other words, barking mad. But he could still have made life uncomfortable for you.'

'I am perfectly well aware of that fact.' Darcy slumped down onto a convenient garden bench, relief still written all over his features. 'I should not ask, but who are those gentlemen you mentioned?'

'I have no idea. I just saw the bets in the book at White's. The rest is pure guesswork.'

'You lied to the Marquess?'

Henry grinned. 'That is a harsh way to put it. I prefer to say that I bluffed him.'

Darcy shook his head in wonder and reluctant admiration. 'How can I ever thank you?'

'I will be sure to let you know when something comes to mind.'

In the end, what came to Henry's mind was for Darcy to come to Hertfordshire and teach Bingley how to be a landed gentleman.

~MoL~

Meryton – 1811

Darcy had only arrived from Pemberley that afternoon after supervising the harvest. Instead of a relaxing even as he had hoped for, he found out that he was expected to attend this assembly.

Being afraid that if he chose to remain at Netherfield, Miss Bingley would keep him company, he had opted attend this dance. He reasoned that it was safer for him to spend the evening in company than risk Miss Bingley trying to take advantage of being alone with him.

He had done his duty and allowed himself to be introduced to Bingley's new neighbours, but the exhaustion from three days of travel and an incipient headache made him feel unsociable and disinclined to dance.

He regretted having been rude to that woman, was it Mrs Bennet? But her question if he enjoyed dancing had caught him unprepared and his answer had been curt. It was only in retrospect that he realised that the lady had not been coy when she put that question, she had simply asked for information.

Darcy had dodged the local ladies as well as Miss Bingley for two hours, when he moved again. This time to a position near a window, in the hope that the fresh air would soothe his head. He had barely had a chance to have a few breaths of the cooler air and was not paying particular attention to his surroundings, when his cousin approached him.

'Darcy, come and join the dancing. I cannot have you standing around in this stupid manner. The ladies are exceedingly pretty and lovely company,' Henry cajoled.

Shaking his head and instantly regretting it, Darcy replied with more heat than he intended, 'Henry, I am here to teach your friend. That pays my debt to you. Dancing at an assembly goes beyond what you can ask of me. I will not dance and give yet another mercenary female a chance to try her vile schemes on me by giving her consequence.'

'You have no idea what you are missing,' Henry said as he shrugged and sauntered off.

Darcy closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose in the hope to reduce his headache.

He was thus engaged when he heard a female voice from behind him. 'The nerve of that man. Calling the ladies in our community mercenary and vile schemers.'

His eyes flew open as he forced himself not to turn around as a second voice answered with a merry lilt, but pitched to carry, 'Mother, dearest, are you not aware that gentlemen carry a great burden. They are required to polish their consequence so much that they do not have time to learn even the simplest things, such as courtesy.'

As Darcy furrowed his brow and scrunched his eyes shut, while his ears turned scarlet, he wished the ground would open and swallow him. His mortification deepened when a familiar voice said, 'I see you still open your mouth to change feet.'

This was a voice he could not ignore by pretending not to hear it. Darcy sighed, opened his eyes and turned towards the man. 'Good evening, Collins. I did not expect to see you here.'

'I was visiting your aunt and only recently arrived… just in time to hear you insult my family.' Collins tilted his head and pursed his lips before he asked, 'Will you be a gentleman or shall we step outside for a lesson in manners.'

Over the years since their first meeting, thanks to regular meals of good food and plenty of exercise from working the glebe, Collins had grown and filled out. He and Darcy were now of similar height and build. But that was not what made Darcy back down. He knew that Collins was right.

Darcy glanced over his shoulder and saw two ladies, obviously mother and daughter, sitting nearby, each with a quizzical expression. He recognised Mrs Bennet from their earlier introduction, but he was certain that the young lady was the daughter he did not meet before. He would certainly have remembered those eyes which were directed at him.

He turned back to Collins who was waiting patiently. 'I am afraid that I owe an apology to you and the ladies. I have met Mrs Bennet, but would you do me the honour of introducing me to her daughter?'

~MoL~

Elizabeth had opted to sit out a set and since both her sisters and Charlotte were dancing, she had found a chair near a window to enjoy her rest. She was joined by Mrs Bennet, who had noticed her daughter sitting on her own and decided to keep her company.

'Are you enjoying yourself? I noticed you dancing the last set with Mr Bingley.'

'I certainly am enjoying myself, mother. Jane was good enough to introduce the gentleman to me after her dance with him.'

'Well, I must say that the gentleman has good taste since he chose two of my daughters as dance partners,' declared Mrs Bennet with a pleased smile as she watched the dancing. 'Look, there is Mary, dancing with Robert Goulding. She is a pretty dancer.'

Mother and daughter were happily engaged admiring Mary, when Elizabeth noticed the approach of Mr Darcy, who appeared quite oblivious to their presence as he took deep breaths when he stopped near the window.

Judging by the look on his face, Elizabeth thought that he might not be well. Thanks to his height, she had noticed him several times during the evening and each time there seemed to be a hint of pain in his stoic demeanour. Elizabeth refused to admit to herself that she had remained aware of him not because of his height and expression, but because his appearance caught her attention. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen but he quite obviously did not enjoy himself and she wondered as to the reason.

Her question was partly answered when she could not help but overhear the brief conversation he had with his cousin, but it raised many other questions.

Fortunately for the gentleman, she had heard stories from her cousin about the fact that Darcy had been hunted by ladies of the ton for his wealth. That information, coupled with his pained expression, caused her to respond to her mother's complaint in a teasing manner, just as their own cousin arrived and dealt with the situation.

Elizabeth rose to her feet as Collins made the introductions.

Darcy bowed deeply as he said, 'Ladies, please accept my most profound apologies. I had no cause to assume that the ladies of this community are anything like the so-called ladies of the ton, and I regret my shameful words.'

'I gather that you had some bad experiences in London?' asked Elizabeth, pleased with his sincere apology.

'I am afraid, I did, and it has soured my disposition. But I should not have taken it out on you.'

'Very well, Mr Darcy. I accept your apology,' Elizabeth replied with a faint smile and glanced at her mother.

'Since you are a friend of our dear cousin, I too forgive you,' Mrs Bennet added her acceptance.

Darcy heaved a sigh of relief. 'Thank you. You both are most gracious.' He turned to Collins. 'I hope that you are satisfied as well?'

Collins smiled. 'I am indeed.'

Mrs Bennet beamed at her companions. 'Now that we are all friends, why do you not come and sit with us, while Cousin William tells us what caused his delay.

Since Darcy trusted Collins, he was only too happy to accept. He had also noticed the sparkling eyes of the young lady and thought it might be a pleasure to get to know her.

~MoL~