Fitzwilliam Darcy

Meryton, Hertfordshire

The village of Meryton did not come soon enough into Darcy's sightline, and he alighted from the carriage the moment they pulled up to the stage stop in front of the postal office. It was not so large a town that he would not find her immediately, he had thought on the way there, however now that he was in the thick of the little village, he realized that perhaps he had been foolish to surmise that discovering where Elizabeth Bennet had vanished too would not be so easy.

There seemed to be a multitude of young ladies out and about with their families, all in similar dresses and bonnets. He searched in vain for Elizabeth, hoping to find her at the milliners, or the tailors. To his dismay she was in neither place, and it was not until he had stumbled past a book store and seen the crazed expression on his face that he realized the depths of which he had fallen for her.

He was truly, madly, deeply devoted to her, and if she refused him he knew right in that instant he would not be able to marry another.

His heart heavy, he would have her or no other, even if it meant that he lost all of his wealth and his good standing in society. None of that pain would compare to not having Elizabeth to love, and cherish for the rest of his days.

As he was contemplating his reflection, the drawn sour look of his face, he was startled to find his sleeve being tugged. He turned and immediately was greeted by the panicked, and distressed countenance of one Mrs. Watson, formerly Miss Lucas.

"Miss-Mrs. Watson," he corrected himself immediately. "Miss Elizabeth was with you-" he paused as he spoke and look passed her, hoping to see Elizabeth standing there, gay smile upon her face and a happy countenance to greet him. Instead there was no one and nothing except Mrs. Watson, who looked green around the edges of her mouth.

"Mr. Darcy, how good to see you," she said in a rush, "I had heard that you have paid special attention to Miss Elizabeth, and I am so grateful to find you here in Meryton. Miss Elizabeth, that is to say," she stumbled over her words and coughed, swaying as if about to faint. Darcy grabbed her by the sleeve and inhaled sharply as she nearly swooned into his arms.

"Tell me. Tell me what is the matter," he said urgently, taking care not to hurt her delicate frame.

"It is Mr. Wickham. Oh he is a cruel, evil man-"

"Where?!" he barked the word out, but Mrs. Watson did not shy away. Instead she shook her head and pointed, into the very book store that he, Mr. Darcy, had been staring at his reflection in the window of. He waited not another moment, but ran into the shop, nearly upending a customer who bustled out, a parcel of books in her basket. He blurted out a half-apology and looked down the narrow, cramped shelves in the shop. Of course the book store. Elizabeth was as book-mad as a woman might be, turning pages and finishing off gothics faster than some women sewed new ribbons to bonnets for summer picnics. He had never given it much thought, since his younger sister was quite fond of reading herself and could be ever so focused on the written word as any young gentleman. Some men might find it unseemly in a wife, but Mr. Darcy thought of the hobby with nothing but fondness. A woman should be well read. If Elizabeth were to be anywhere in Meryton, it would be here, amongst the things she loved most dearly.

He nodded to a young shopkeep who was busy tallying up a new shipment of books and recording their values upon a ledger, and then pushed towards the back of the shop.

"Mr. Wickham," came a hissed, distressed voice. "Let me by, please." It was Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy surged around the corner to discover the couple in a shadowed, hidden little corner of the shop. Mr. Wickham had Elizabeth backed up against a stack of books, an expression of discomfort and upset on her face. He had a hand fisted in her gown, tugging her towards him, and if the tableau could say anything, it was that Elizabeth wished to be anywhere but there in that moment, and that a private assignation as such that kind of shop corner would normally encourage, was unwelcome and unwanted.

"Now, Elizabeth, don't be coy," Wickham said, and Elizabeth exhaled at the improper use of her Christian name, almost as much as an inappropriate familiarity as the way he pulled at her dress.

"Wickham," Darcy snarled, and as Wickham turned in surprise at the interruption, Darcy hauled his arm back and struck the other man. His fist met jaw with a satisfying, solid crunch, and Wickham wheeled backwards, stunned for a moment. Elizabeth, to her credit, did not cry out, but instead reached for a rather hefty novel, what looked to be a compendium of herbal knowledge, and in a short moment she had brought the book down over Wickham's head with a soft phut noise.

Wickham slumped to the ground, eyes open, a low groan emitting from his mouth. Elizabeth darted around him, scooting behind Mr. Darcy, her fingers pressed to her trembling lower lip. She still clutched the herbal book in her hand, and then yanked it against her stomach as if refusing to be parted with her make-shift weapon.

Darcy would find time to be charmed by the action later, and instead glared down at Wickham where he lay, dazed and blinking in the dusty moted light of the small bookshop.

"Here now, here now! What's this?" the young shopkeep had bustled up behind them, and then let out an exclamation at finding a customer prone on the ground, and to others upright.

"He's had a fit," Darcy lied immediately, "I would call for the doctor, immediately, the one at the military camp just outside of the village." He put a hand out for Elizabeth, and was gratified to find she took it without question. "I do not know what came over him. One minute we were discussing-"

"Johnson's Herbal, a discussion of Irish healing herbs and compounds," Elizabeth supplied, her voice holding a flat and somewhat distant quality.

"Yes, Johnson's Herbal, and the next moment, he was shuddering quite violently to the floor," Darcy added.

The shopkeep stared at Darcy and then Elizabeth, before bending down and waving a hand in front of Wickham's face. Darcy put his hand gently on the small of Elizabeth's back and guided her away, as the shopkeep tried to rouse the man on the floor.

"I-" Elizabeth started to say, but Darcy hushed her gently, and then took the book from her hands. The value of it, a pound ten, was expensive, but since it was the volume that had incapacitated Wickham so thoroughly, Darcy was feeling rather fondly towards it.

"Let me purchase this for you," he said, and when Elizabeth stared up at him, her eyes wide. "A gift, a token," he amended. Her cheeks flushed and she looked away. He reached for his coin purse, and a second shopkeeper, an older gentleman, quickly noted the purchase down in the ledger and thanked him for his custom. Just as a doctor was being summoned to see to Mr. Wickham, Darcy was ushering Elizabeth out of the store.

Mrs. Watson was on them in a moment, trembling.

"Oh Lizzy," she whispered, and then wrapped her arms around the younger woman. "I am so sorry-"

"Please, it's alright. I'm alright," Elizabeth said. "He only… wished to make his affections towards me known, and I in turn wished to express that I was not ready for any such declarations from him." Elizabeth wrapped her hands around the book, now bound in paper and twine for its journey to her home.

"Elizabeth-" Darcy said and both women looked up at him. He immediately cursed the moment, that it was in the dusty if pretty streets of Meryton, in front of Mrs. Watson of all people, but it could not be helped. No word must escape of the moment that Wickham had clutched Darcy's beloved by her skirts. No improper thought or bit of scant gossip would impugn her reputation. He would not run the risk of losing her to falsehoods or idle tongues.

He would have her, his Elizabeth, to be his companion for all of his days. He fell to one knee.

"Mr. Darcy," Mrs. Watson gasped, and then turned away, her eyes wide.

"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth repeated his name as a refrain, her own expression shocked as well.

"I should never live to see a day where you are threatened, Miss Elizabeth," he said, the words falling from his mouth with no large amount of grace. "I will not struggle in vain another day, not knowing what will become of me if I do not have you as the companion of my life. Please, you must allow me to tell you how ardently I adore and love you."

He held his breath, staring up at her pale face, and noted that she clutched the herbal even closer to her chest, her fingers crinkling the brown wrapping paper around its edges.

The world fell away. He did not notice as the military doctor came to call at the shop, entering through the door behind him, and he did not notice as Mrs. Watson stepped away a few feet, to give the couple some well-deserved privacy.

"Elizabeth?" he asked when he felt his heart could no longer bear the agony of waiting for her response. Then, his chest went tight, as if a leather rein had been wrapped around it, pulling taut. She shook her head.

"I… Mr. Darcy, no. I cannot… even think, to think? An offer- is this, are you-" she stammered out her words, for once caught unawares and unable to form a proper sentence.

"No? Miss Elizabeth, I love you," he got to his feet as he spoke, reaching out for one of her hands. She jerked back, and then took another step. Mrs. Watson raised her head, staring at them both and moved forward, hovering in Elizabeth's shadow as if to offer some meager protection.

"You love me?" Elizabeth asked, the corners of her mouth pulling down. "Is this why you purchased me this?" She offered up the book, a gift, a token that had been meant to salute her bravery.

"No, it was merely… I had only wished to…"

"You wished to what?" Elizabeth's tone had gone from shocked to cool in moments, and her face shuttered all emotion. "I cannot think to entertain an offer at this moment," she finished. "Good day to you, Mr. Darcy."

She turned, leaving him to stand in front of the book shop. Behind him, the bells at the door heralded Mr. Wickham's removal on a stretcher by the doctor and a few of the military men.

"You cannot go-" Darcy said, stumbling after Elizabeth as she walked swiftly with Mrs. Watson. Elizabeth turned, and it was then he noted that there were tears clinging to her lashes - tears! - and she looked at him as if she were very afraid. His Elizabeth, afraid of him?

Good Lord, but he had been a fool. Had she not just had a frightening pass, where her person had nearly been violated by the cad, Wickham, and her reputation ruined? And then to have Darcy fall to his knee and offer to her, when she was so shaken? Had he not had a single thought as to her needs? No, he had not. He had only thought of himself, and his desire to have the one thing he truly loved in the world.

"Go," he said, his voice dry. "Go. I am sorry. I am so sorry."

Elizabeth shook her head, lips trembling, and then turned, Mrs. Watson guiding her away.


Hello my dear friends,

I hope today is treating you well and you are excited to move into a nice autumnal mood. I have been cosying up my space with all of my autumn decorations (I keep a little stuffed owl and a stuffed squirrel in a scarf tucked away to be brought out now, they are on my shelf next to my writing desk), and stocking my cupboard with fresh tea, honey from my friend's apiary, and home-made cookies.

This time of year can be very nostalgic for many, whether you remember going back to school, or you have children going back to school, or your children are long grown and you miss the "where's my-" questions from them. For some a painful time, for some a happy time, but either way, I hold you dear in my heart and I am thinking of you.

It's also a time for change, and with that, comes a change for my posting schedule. I will be updating this story on Tuesdays from now on, and my other story, Duty and Desire, on Thursdays, as I am trying to take the long weekends off from being on the computer, and spend more time with friends and family.

Sending you warm wishes (or cool ones if it is still warm where you are, or warming up in the Southern Hemisphere!) for the new season,

Nora

New chapters uploaded on Tuesdays, but you may find it in its entirety on Amazon now by searching for 'Nora Kipling - A Required Engagement'.