A Most Attentive Father Chapter 27, a pride and prejudice fanfic

~O~

Vexations & Visits

After all the excitement of recent weeks, Elizabeth decided that she needed some time to herself to catch her breath.

Even though the excitement had been exhilarating, culminating as it did in her engagement less than two days ago, she was in desperate need of reflection. Yet despite her efforts to leave the house unnoticed, she was followed.

Without thinking of where she was going, her feet took her to the top of Oakham Mount. While she was waiting for the sun to crest the horizon, she thought about the changes which had occurred in her life since she met Darcy, and the even greater changes which were in store for her in the new year.

She was so deep in her thoughts that she did not her the approaching footsteps until a mellow baritone intruded on her awareness. 'A penny for your thoughts, my love,' Darcy asked as he sat down next to Elizabeth.

She did not answer immediately, looking rather forlorn.

'What is troubling you? You seem pensive.' Darcy asked quietly, taking Elizabeth's hand.

Feeling grateful for the support, she rested her head against his shoulder as she said, 'I feel guilty for making my father feel sad.'

'Ah.' Darcy searched for the words which he hoped would help Elizabeth. 'From the day you were born, your father knew there would come a day when you would leave him. Children grow up and leave home. Perhaps a first son returns after finishing school to take over the estate, but daughters almost invariably leave to follow their hearts. It is the way of things. Always remember, he loves you and wants what is best for you.'

Raising her head so she could face him, Elizabeth's smile was still one of pain rather than joy. 'I still feel guilty for causing him pain. He is the best father I could have wished for.'

'Think about the time when our children are grown up and are ready to go their own way. How will you feel?'

Elizabeth turned her face away so that Darcy should not see the blush which his casual mention of their children caused. Unlike most young women of her time, she knew exactly, even if only theoretically, how children came about and considering the attraction she felt towards her beloved, he was not the only one who was eagerly anticipating their wedding.

Tearing her mind away from those thoughts, she considered his words. 'I will be sad to see them go, but happy for them to have found what makes them happy.'

'Would you want them to feel guilty for leaving and making you sad?'

'NO,' she cried in consternation, turning her face back to him. 'I will want them to be happy.'

'Does that answer your question?' The gentle smile with which Darcy uttered those words warmed her like nothing else could.

Elizabeth took a deep breath, letting all the guilt flow out of her. Mirroring his smile, she asked, 'How come you are so wise?'

'I confess that I am not looking forward to the day when my sister will wed, but I want her to be happy and lead a fulfilling life. And I do not want her to feel bad about following her heart.'

'So, you have thought of such things already.'

'Indeed.'

'Thank you. Not only for helping me understand, but also for not making me feel like a fool for not having considered my father's point of view.'

'I suppose it is easier for a man to understand another man.'

'Indeed.' It seemed only natural for Elizabeth to express her appreciation for Darcy's help in a non-verbal fashion, until a cough from the footman, who had followed Elizabeth to ensure her safety, reminded the couple to behave themselves.

~O~

After returning to Netherfield, Darcy received a thick packet of papers from his solicitor in London. As he was calling on Elizabeth as soon as it was polite to do so, he took the papers with him in the hope that Bennet would be available to meet with him.

Luck was with Darcy as Bennet was happy to have an excuse to absent himself from the wedding planning in which the ladies were engaged. The men settled comfortably into Bennet's study with a tray of coffee and Darcy presented Bennet with the papers.

'I sent a note to my solicitor to draw up draft marriage articles. I was hoping to discuss them with you.'

Bennet took the papers but asked, 'Do you not think that you should have asked Lizzy to join us? This does affect her, you know.'

Darcy groaned inwardly as he had not considered this aspect of his future marriage, since it was customary for men to deal with contracts. Also, ever since his father died, he had become used to making all the decisions which affected his life, his family and his estate. He salvaged the situation by claiming, 'I thought to run this past you first to see if any of it would offend Elizabeth.'

Bennet grinned. 'Good recovery, son. But knowing her, the only thing that would offend Lizzy would be being ignored.'

'Perhaps you would ask her to join us?'

'What a wonderful idea. I should have thought of this myself,' Bennet teased and rang for a servant to send Elizabeth to them… after fetching another cup.

Darcy grimaced briefly before he acknowledged, 'Thank you for covering for me.'

'Let that be a lesson to take into your marriage. Never ignore Lizzy. If you do, she will make you regret it.'

Darcy sighed and nodded. 'Sage counsel, indeed,' he said, wondering how many pitfalls he would encounter in the early days of their marriage before it became automatic for him to think that there were two people in a partnership.

~O~

The additional cup arrived and soon after, so did Elizabeth.

Bennet greeted her with a smile and explained, 'Darcy brought your marriage articles, and he wanted to discuss them with us.'

'I appreciate being consulted, but if it is all the same to you, I shall confine myself to listening… after reading the document.'

After being seated and taking a cup of coffee for herself, Elizabeth accepted the second copy of the document to read. She finished at about the same time as her father.

She listened with interest as Bennet asked, 'What about Elizabeth's dowry?'

'I expected that the amount I was planning to settle on her would include her dowry. That way she can still control her own funds.'

'But you are only settling fifty thousand on her.'

'Only?' Darcy spluttered. 'That was the amount my father settled on my mother, which included her dowry of twenty thousand pounds.'

'So, you would penalise my daughter just because your mother came from a poor family?' Bennet asked with an innocent expression.

'I know that you are well off, but you cannot tell me that with five daughters you can afford dowries greater than my mother's. Even twenty thousand each would come to a total of one hundred thousand pounds.'

'Look, why do we not make it easy. Just settle Lizzy's dowry on her and be done with it.'

Darcy was getting suspicious by the slight twitch around Bennet's lips which he could not completely control. Cautiously he asked, 'I did not wish to seem mercenary when I made that assumption. How much is your daughter's dowry?'

'One hundred thousand pounds.'

Darcy gave Bennet an irritated look. 'So, my assumption was correct after all. One hundred thousand pounds, divided over five daughters, is twenty thousand pounds.'

'Each.'

'That is what I meant to say, twenty thousand pounds each.'

'No, you misunderstood. My daughters' dowry is one hundred thousand pounds… each.' Bennet delivered that revelation and sat back to watch Darcy's reaction. He was not disappointed.

After sitting in stunned silence, staring at his host, for a minute or more, Darcy slowly regained his power of speech. He blurted out, 'One hundred thousand pounds each! How rich are you?'

'Very,' was Bennet's laconic reply.

Darcy shook himself like a wet dog and rubbed his face. Turning to Elizabeth, he asked, 'Did you know about this?'

Seeing the dazed expression on Elizabeth's face, he was unsurprised when she said, 'No, I did not. I knew that I would have sufficient funds to be comfortable if I did not marry, but I did not know the details.'

Darcy turned back to Bennet. 'Who knows about this?'

'My mother and my brother-in-law Gardiner, since I have some investments with him.'

Darcy started to calm down as he considered the information. 'I can understand why you would not share this information with all and sundry. It also explains your previous reluctance to allow even a hint of part of your wealth to be known. You would have every fortune hunter in the country trying to compromise your daughters into marriage.'

'Ah, but you see, it is my choice whether to pay out the dowry. If someone is only after their wealth, they will not receive a penny. But as long as no one knows how much they will be worth, it avoids upsets and inconvenience… not least for my daughters.' Bennet's lips twitched again as he added, 'My daughters all know that they will get a respectable dowry, but only if they marry with my permission and not because of a compromise or an elopement.'

Darcy took a sip from his now cold coffee before he said, 'I suppose I have to change the amount of the settlement to Elizabeth's dowry plus my contribution of thirty thousand pounds.'

'That should provide quite nicely for your children, even if you add no more to it,' agreed Bennet.

Suddenly Elizabeth chuckled. 'Poor Miss Bingley, she is so proud of her twenty thousand pounds dowry.' A moment later her amusement turned to embarrassment. 'I should not have said that.'

Darcy's lips twitched as he said, 'Compared to you, she is indeed poor… and not just financially.'

~O~

The following afternoon, Elizabeth was in the sitting room to continue working on the guest list for the wedding with her grandmother while Aunt Susan was conducting a class in polite conversation for her sisters in the drawing room.

Their quiet was interrupted as a large barouche box drew up in front of the house and a stately lady of middle years emerged to make her way to the front door. Moments later they heard a loud voice in the foyer demanding to see Elizabeth.

A slightly bewildered Mr Hill came into the sitting room, announcing, 'Lady Catherine de Bourgh to see Miss Elizabeth.'

Elizabeth did not have a chance to accept or deny the visitor, as the lady pushed past Mr Hill into the room.

'Are you Miss Elizabeth Bennet?' the lady demanded after a quick look around the room and not seeing anyone else who could be the right age to have enticed Darcy away from Anne.

'I am indeed,' Elizabeth replied as she stood and performed a minimal curtsy. 'And this, Lady Catherine, is your hostess, Mrs Bennet, my grandmother.'

Since Lady Catherine barely acknowledged the introduction, Mrs Bennet returned the greeting in the same manner, but she remained seated, waiting to be amused.

Guessing the reason for the visit, Elizabeth asked, 'To what do we owe the honour of this unexpected and unannounced visit?'

Lady Catherine ignored the implied reprimand and immediately expounded, 'A report of a most alarming nature reached me two days ago. I was told that you Miss Bennet had become engaged to my nephew.'

Elizabeth had heard of the lady and her interesting personality, as well as her fantasy regarding Mr Darcy and her daughter Anne. It was perhaps not polite of Elizabeth to toy with the lady, but Lady Catherine's whole demeanour made it irresistible. 'Which nephew would that be? There are at present two of your nephews residing at Netherfield, the estate next to ours.'

Taken somewhat by surprise, Lady Catherine announced, 'My own nephew, Mr Darcy, who is engaged to my daughter.'

Amused that the lady would travel all the way to Hertfordshire to perpetuate her fantasy, Elizbeth suggested, 'If he is truly engaged to your daughter, you cannot think that he would offer for anyone else.'

Ignoring the implication that Darcy was not engaged to Anne, Lady Catherine said in her haughtiest manner, 'I know that report must be a scandalous falsehood; he would not disregard every feeling of family duty and propriety to connect himself to someone as unsuitable as you. Still, I came hither immediately to have you confirm the impossibility of such a report.'

Elizabeth contemplated teasing the pompous lady further but seeing the disapproving look on her grandmother's countenance, she said simply, 'I cannot do that, as I am indeed engaged to Mr Darcy.'

Lady Catherine's colour rose, as did her voice. 'You must immediately break this engagement. Surely you must acknowledge that such a union must never be. Honour, decorum and prudence forbid it. I cannot allow the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted –'

She would have carried on in this vein, but she was interrupted by a voice coming from the door to the drawing room. 'Catherine, stop this nonsense at once. You are behaving like a fishwife. I will not have it.'

Lady Catherine whirled to face the intruder, furious at being taken to task, when she recognised Lady Susan. A cry escaped her lips. 'Mother, what are you doing here?'

'Enjoying a pleasurable visit with family,' drawled Lady Susan and came further into the room.

Trying to come to grips with the presence of her mother, Lady Catherine complained, 'If you are visiting with Darcy, how can you allow him to pay court to this country nobody, when you know that he is engaged to my Anne.'

Lady Susan gave her daughter a pitying look and said, 'First of all, Fitzwilliam is not engaged to your daughter, that is simply an unreasonable fantasy of yours. And I cannot see any reason why he should not court one of his cousins… especially one I picked out for him.'

Lady Catherine was too busy fuming to notice the startled look Elizabeth directed at her grandmother, who gave her a small smile and a nod.

'Of what are you speaking? Darcy has only one female cousin, my Anne. If these chits claim a connection, they are lying.'

'Catherine, if you had ever paid attention to the stories my mother told, you would have known that her sister married Mr Henry Bennet. My host, the current Mr Bennet is his grandson and your second cousin. This makes Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth third cousins.'

Lady Catherine glared at her mother. 'That may be so, but Anne has precedence as she is his first cousin.'

'Aside from the fact that marriage between close relatives tends to create sickly children…' she paused with a look reminding her daughter that Sir Lewis had been the product of first cousins. She continued, 'Why should Fitzwilliam marry a sickly and cross first cousin with a paltry estate like Rosings, when he could marry an intelligent, beautiful and vibrant third cousin with a large estate like Longbourn.'

'A large estate like Longbourn? Where did you hear such nonsense. I am told it makes but two thousand a year.' Lady Catherine was happy that at last there was a point on which she could refute her mother.

'You are misinformed.'

'I have my information from their own cousin, the heir to this estate.'

Mrs Bennet interjected, 'Mr Collins was misinformed as to his status. Longbourn was entailed to the male line for five generations, an entail which ended with my son.'

Lady Susan directed an irritated look at Mrs Bennet for her interruption which disturbed her flow of thought. But she carried on, 'So, you see, Mr Collins is no more the heir of Longbourn than you are. Apart from that, he has spent a total of two days in the company of the Bennets, while I have known them for years, decades in fact.'

Thwarted at every turn, Lady Catherine drew herself up to her full height. 'I am not in the habit to brook opposition. And as a member of the peerage, I must –'

'Stop. How many more times do I need to tell you that you are not a member of the peerage. As the daughter of an earl, you are a commoner. You only have a courtesy title of Lady, which does not entitle you to throw your non-existent weight around. I am fully aware that you know these facts, but you chose to ignore them.'

Lady Susan shook her head while Lady Catherine bristled and was about to speak when her mother continued. 'You are behaving like a spoilt toddler. I taught you better than that. Even if you were too lazy to learn any accomplishments and declined to apply yourself to gaining an education beyond the most basic skills, I did teach you manners.' She raised a brow as she suggested, 'Perhaps you are getting senile to have forgotten your training?'

The harangue had raised Lady Catherine's ire to white-hot fury. 'If that is how you feel, I shall take my leave of you,' the lady grated and stormed out.

Lady Susan turned to her companions. 'Oh dear, was it something I said?'

That statement after the flaying they had witnessed caused Mrs Bennet and Elizabeth break into hysterical laughter. A moment later Lady Susan added her own sad chuckle.

~O~