Checkmate, Mr Darcy Chapter 1, a pride and prejudice fanfic

I've often wondered why the Bennets supposedly had no connections.

At the time, going to university was not so much about learning but making friendships.

In this story Mr Bennet kept in contact with several fellow students and through them met some others.

Darcy is his usual obnoxious self… but does not improve. As a consequence he will not have a HEA with Elizabeth.

~O~

Chapter 1

Elizabeth had been at Hunsford for about three weeks when the visitors, who were eagerly awaited by everyone except herself, arrived at Rosings.

Mr Collins took it upon himself to rush to the manor soon after spying the carriage passing the parsonage, to greet Lady Catherine's nephews and to extend them every civility.

Not long afterwards, Mr Collins came bustling back from Rosings, proudly announcing tohis wife, 'We are to be honoured by a visit from Lady Catherine's nephews. Make ready. They will be here in but a few minutes.'

While Collins returned to the front door to welcome the visitors, Charlotte arranged for tea to be served and then commented to Elizabeth with a teasing smile, 'I may thank you, Eliza, for this piece of civility. Mr. Darcy would never have come so soon to wait upon me.'

Elizabeth had barely time to say, 'What nonsense,' when true to Mr Collins' prediction, the gentlemen arrived. The parson proudly introduced Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam to his family. As Mr Darcy was already known to all, no introduction was necessary.

Colonel Fitzwilliam was a pleasant looking man of about thirty. He was not as handsome as his cousin but in manner and address he was most truly the gentleman.

Once the greetings were complete, the gentlemen took seats and accepted the tea which Charlotte offered. After the first sip the Colonel addressed Elizabeth, 'Miss Bennet, are you perchance related to a Mr Thomas Bennet of Hertfordshire? I confess that I cannot recall the name of his estate but have a feeling it might be Longbourn.'

Elizabeth gave him an impish smile as she said, 'Indeed, he is my father. And may I be so bold and congratulate you on your promotion, even though I am six month late. I understand it is a particularly noteworthy circumstance as few men achieve such a rank at such a young age… at least not through merit.'

'I was simply at the right place at the right time,' the Colonel responded modestly, but with a twinkle to his eyes.

'Or perhaps at the wrong place at the wrong time?' teased Elizabeth. 'At least someone observed your heroism and ensured that you were rewarded for it.'

'I suppose in that situation, right or wrong depends on your point of view. Since I came out of that fracas alive and with only minor wounds, I consider myself lucky.'

Not wanting to be supplanted in this conversation with such a superior gentleman by his cousin, Collins added his own congratulations and begged the Colonel for more details.

The Colonel obliged by entertaining the party with a sanitised version of his exploits for most of the visit. His cousin remained mute except for basic civilities, which consisted of enquiring after the health of Elizabeth's family.

'They are quite well,' she responded. After a moment she added pointedly, 'Even Jane, who has been in town for the past three months. You did not by any chance happen to encounter her?'

Darcy gave her a confused look as he replied, 'I was unaware that your sister was in town. Where is she staying?'

'With our aunt and uncle in Gracechurch Street.'

'Ah, that explains it. I rarely have occasion to venture into that part of town,' Darcy replied stiffly, while thinking with some disgust those must be those relations in trade.

Despite his stoic demeanour, Elizabeth could tell that Darcy was unimpressed. Unable to resist baiting him for his attitude she said brightly, 'They are the most wonderful couple. I was fortunate that my uncle agreed to be one of my godfathers.' With an impish smile she added, 'I am reminded of Miss Bingley congratulating us on the connection as she was certain we could purchase the fabrics for our dresses at a family discount.'

The mention of Miss Bingley sidetracked Darcy from wondering who Elizabeth's other godfather might be. Since he was certain that it would be some other inconsequential acquaintance of their family, the matter easily slipped his mind.

Especially when Fitzwilliam quipped, 'Of course, it is common knowledge that Miss Bingley knows all the best places to shop.'

Elizabeth returned his grin in equal measure, but only said, 'Indeed.'

They chatted about inconsequential for a little longer and it was not long before the time for a polite visit came to an end and the gentlemen made their farewells.

~O~

On their way back to Rosings, Darcy asked his cousin the question which had been niggling at him all during the visit. 'How do you know Mr Bennet?'

'I do not know him, but father plays chess with Bennet via mail,' Richard answered with a shrug. 'You know that he spends half his time playing with a large number of people. Why do you ask?'

'I was not aware that the Bennets knew anyone of consequence. But how is it that you remembered the name of an inconsequential gentleman whom you have never met, who is but one of the many chess partners your father has?'

Richard laughed. 'I remember him because father alternately praises and curses the man.'

'Why?'

'Father is not used to losing and he has yet to win a game against Bennet.'

'Give it a bit longer, Bennet is sure to lose soon enough against a strategist like your father.'

The Colonel gave a sideways glance at his cousin as he said with feigned indifference, 'It has been over twenty years since they started playing.'

Darcy stopped walking and turned towards his cousin giving him an open-mouthed stare. 'Twenty years?' he gasped when he recovered his voice. 'Why have I never heard about this man?'

'Do you truly think my father would want it bruited about that there is a man whom he cannot beat at chess?'

'But uncle was the unbeaten champion at Cambridge.'

'Yes, and Bennet likes to rub it in that he went to Oxford.'

'I am surprised that an Oxford man could be so skilled at the game,' Darcy replied. After a momentary pause he muttered with a moue of distaste, 'But it stands to reason that Bennet would have attended Oxford rather than a decent school.'

'I believe your prejudices are showing,' teased the Colonel without bothering to mention to which prejudices he referred.

Darcy simply shrugged and continued walking towards the manor. Richard raised his brows and shook his head in exasperation of his cousin's attitude before he resumed his walk, catching up with Darcy,

~O~

Later that evening, Darcy was pacing the floor in his room feeling irritated.

What had he done to deserve encountering Miss Elizabeth here at Rosings? For months he had struggled to forget the lovely lady with the exceptionally fine eyes, who aroused such uncomfortable sensation in him.

He must get over this infatuation. After all, Miss Elizabeth was completely unsuitable to be his wife. She had no wealth or connections and her station in life was so much below his own. She would never be accepted by society, and he would be ashamed and embarrassed to be connected to her. And worse, to be connected to her family.

True, Miss Bennet behaved in a manner that was all that was genteel, but even she was mercenary, having targeted that impressionable fool, Bingley. While Darcy enjoyed Bingley's company and friendship, he was not blind to his friend's faults.

But the rest of the family did not bear even thinking about. The loud and crass mother, who would do anything to secure a wealthy husband for any of her daughters to ensure her continued comfort, should her husband pass away.

Miss Mary, who, although without any talent, insisted on putting herself forward to entertain her audience with the caterwauling which she considered to be music.

The wildness of the youngest girls was intolerable to anyone of any breeding. The way they flaunted their assets and flirted with anything in breeches, particularly if those breeches were topped by a red coat. He would not be surprised if within a year they would ruin themselves. And their ruin would reflect on all their sisters.

And then there was Mr Bennet. While the man might be a landowner and highly intelligent, he did nothing to control his family. Darcy had noticed the amusement the man displayed when his wife and daughters made fools of themselves in public. Perhaps the man was a savant when it came to chess, but in all other respects he was completely incompetent.

Of course, there were also their connections to trade. While one uncle of Miss Elizabeth was a solicitor, which might be a barely tolerable profession, Mrs Bennet's brother was a merchant in London. Living in Cheapside, no less. Darcy shuddered to think how crass and vulgar that man would be.

Yet, despite all those considerations, Darcy had been captivated by her delightful flirtation, especially during her stay at Netherfield.

Unlike Miss Bingley, she had been subtle. Rather than fawning and agreeing with his every pronouncement, she had challenged him and expressed opinions, which he was certain were not her own, for the pleasure of debating with him.

Despite his attraction to the lady, he had done his best not to raise her expectations. He had even gone so far as to spend a completely silent half hour int the library when she came to seek him out. He had of course acknowledged her entry with a nod, but since she had left the door wide open, he had not felt the need to leave.

Apart from the discomfort he felt from being in such close proximity he had quite enjoyed watching her become absorbed in the book she was reading. Even then he could picture her in such a posture and occupation in his own library at Pemberley.

He now sighed. As tempting as she was, he could not allow the shades of Pemberley to be polluted by her presence… especially not as the mistress of his ancestral home.

On the other hand, it seemed that he had been misinformed when he thought the Bennets had no connections. But was the fact that Bennet played chess with his uncle, the Earl of Matlock, enough to overlook all the other shortcomings of that family?

Darcy gave that thought due consideration, but, in the end, he decided that Miss Elizabeth, despite her allure, was still unsuitable for a man of his consequence.

~O~

After the visitors had left, Collins went to attend to his duties and Maria excused herself to write a letter to her family. Which left Elizabeth at the mercy for her friend.

Pouring the last cups of tea, Charlotte settled back in her chair and smiled at Elizabeth. 'It seems that Mr Darcy still has not learnt to keep his eyes off you.'

'Yes, and I am certain he is still finding fault with me. At least today he did not argue with every opinion which I expressed.'

'Eliza, how often must I tell you that men do not look at women to find fault. If they do not like a woman they will simply avoid and ignore her. And you cannot deny that at the Netherfield ball, you were the only lady with whom he danced.'

'Yes, and I still wonder if he lost a bet, and that dance was the forfeit,' Elizabeth replied heatedly.

'He did not give the impression that he asked for that set unwillingly. And you must admit it was an honour.' Charlotte could be just as stubborn as Elizabeth.

'Yet we still ended up arguing.' Elizabeth glowered. 'That evening he had the perfect opportunity to warn us against Mr Wickham's depredations, but all he would say was a cryptic comment about the man being unable to keep friends.'

'At least it was fortunate that your Uncle Phillips had become suspicious of him,' Charlotte reminded Elizabeth.

Elizabeth did not explain how Lydia had actually been instrumental in discovering Wickham's vile character. It was only by the greatest good fortune that Lydia had been overly eager to meet the scoundrel and walked in on him and the young daughter of the Haberdasher's in an extremely compromising situation.

The second piece of good fortune had been that when Lydia had fled the scene, she had stumbled across Elizabeth, who had guided her to the first place of safety she could think of… her Uncle Phillips' office.

While Elizabeth loved her Aunt Phillips, she did not trust the lady's desire for gossip and there had been something about Lydia's expression which suggested discretion was more important than excessive comfort. Lydia had been torn between anger and devastation because Wickham had sworn eternal love to her just the day before in an attempt to claim her virtue.

'If I had not had my courses, I would have given in to him,' the young girl had sobbed, although still unsure if she should be jealous of the other girls or be grateful for her lucky escape. Eventually she settled for the latter option. Elizabeth was extremely grateful that the shock had had the beneficial outcome of making Lydia less prone to flirt… much less.

That incident had opened not only Lydia's eyes but also Elizabeth's to the man's character. When Mr Phillips heard the full story from Lydia, he instigated enquiries, and it was soon apparent that Wickham had debts all over Meryton which he was unable to pay and had promised marriage to several young girls in return for sexual favours.

Colonel Forster and the people of Meryton had taken a dim view of Wickham's actions. As a consequence, he was now with a regiment in Spain, at a town called Badajoz. Everyone hoped that he would never return.

But thinking of Badajoz reminded Elizabeth of their other visitor. 'But you must admit that Colonel Fitzwilliam was a most pleasant gentleman. I have rarely had such an interesting conversation.'

Charlotte raised a brow in imitation of Elizabeth's usual gesture as she said, 'Has it finally occurred and the indomitable Elizabeth Bennet has met a man in whom she is interested? Should I wish you Joy?'

Elizabeth fought down a blush as she said lightly, 'Your imagination is very rapid, it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony. Yet I have only had one conversation with the gentleman.'

'I am certain that it will not be the last,' replied Charlotte.

~O~