Elizabeth darted past the shrubbery and out into the lane. She glanced quickly behind her and signed in relief, then laughed at herself. What had she expected to see, Mr. Collins bearing down on her on a dark horse ready to snatch her up, carry her off to Scotland, and force her to marry him? No, she reflected with further amusement, if anyone were in pursuit it was more likely to be her mother. How long, she wondered, did she have until her mother learned that Mr. Collins had proposed to her and that Elizabeth had refused him? Her parents had slept late this morning and her mother had taken her breakfast in bed so Mr. Collins had "on finding her alone, dared to avail himself of the opportunity of speaking without soliciting her good mother for the honor of a private audience, which, he flattered himself would have been unreservedly given, and he did hasten to assure her that her the approval of her most honored parents…" She could not say that the proposal had surprised her, it was almost amusing (with his talk of his reasons for marrying, and of Catherine de Bourge's advising him to do so) until he had insisted on taking her refusal as an attempt to increase his love.
A shadow crossed Elizabeth's path and she looked up to see Georgiana flying overhead. The sight made her catch her breath, as it always did. A chance to bond might have been the only thing Mr. Collins could have offered that might have tempted her, but he had only spoken of the possibility of bonding himself one day, spoken of it as likely if it could be done without offense to his noble patroness.
Georgiana circled and landed in front of her with a squawk of greeting.
Elizabeth made her a low curtsey, "Georgiana! I am delighted to see you. I hope you are well this morning." Just as she finished speaking her delight turned to disappointment as she realized Georgiana had a rider.
Mr. Darcy dismounted and made his bow. "Thank you for meeting me here."
Why would he think she was here to meet him?
Her confusion must have shown for he added. "We did agree to speak today."
She remembered now that they had, or at least he had said they would talk today, but there had been nothing about a time or place. Did he think women simply made themselves available at his convenience? However, she was here and she would have to talk to him at some point. "We did. But on further consideration I am of the opinion the less said about last night the better."
"Then let us reach an agreement quickly. I apologize for my ungentlemanly behavior and am prepared to offer you reasonable compensation."
He looked as if he were about to draw something from a pocket but Elizabeth stopped him by saying coldly, "No compensation will be necessary Mr. Darcy."
"Do not delude yourself into thinking I can be induced to offer you marriage, the situation of your family, and my obligations to my own make that impossible."
"Marriage! I certainly had no idea of any such thing!" What was happening today? Did every single man within five miles think she wished to marry him?
"There is no reason for such pretense. You clearly knew I would be under the influence of my bonded and followed me in the hope I would compromise you and feel honor-bound to marry you."
Elizabeth's face had grown warm with anger and indignation. She held her chin high as she replied, "Mr. Darcy, even if I wanted to marry you, I am not the sort of Lady, if such ladies exist, who would purposely throw herself into a compromising situation, in the foolish hope a man would feel honor bound to save my reputation. What man having been so fooled could be expected to make such an offer? let alone a man such as yourself in whose character I have every reason to distrust!"
"Miss Bennet, you cannot possibly expect me to believe…" Mr. Darcy was cut off abruptly by Georgiana who head-butted him in the chest and knocked him to the ground.
(0)
Darcy landed hard on his bottom with his legs sticking out in front of him. For a moment he was too stunned to comprehend what had happened. By the time he gathered his wits and climbed back to his feet Miss Bennet's righteous indignation had vanished and she was laughing. She was laughing so hard tears were running down her face. She gasped for breath saying, "Oh, Georgiana! The look on his face. Whatever…whatever made you…"
Her laughter was infectious and with feelings of great amusement coming from Georgiana as well he could not help laughing himself. "I believe Georgiana thought I was about to say something you would find offensive."
"If only she had applied the remedy a little sooner."
"I should not have accused you so." What had he been thinking to say such things? A moment ago he had felt as if he were completely justified. And yet, just last night he had admitted to himself that running out into the night because she thought there was a griffin in trouble was just the kind of foolish thing Miss Elizabeth Bennet was likely to do and Georgiana believed her.
Miss Bennet only nodded in reply.
"In my defense, most women of my acquaintance would be glad to marry me."
"But that is a self-selected group."
"How do you mean?"
"You are only acquainted with the women who you have somehow not managed to offend or who have other interests that make them willing to overlook your behavior."
He was tempted to reply, to match wits against hers one last time, but he needed to be practical. "Be that as it may as you do not wish to marry me we should have no trouble coming to an agreement."
Again he reached toward his pocket and again she stopped him. "As I said Mr. Darcy that will not be necessary." This time there was no coldness in her tone, but he could not fathom her motives.
"I do not understand. There must be something you want."
"Only this. To put this entire matter behind us and never mention it again." But that was what he wanted. It could not possibly be so easy.
Elizabeth laughed gently and it gave him a warm feeling that was not altogether unpleasant. "Is it so surprising I would want nothing from you?" but then her expression changed. "But then my behavior that evening would lead you to believe the worst. I can not explain why I allowed, no, returned your kiss. I do not understand myself what would possess me to act in such a way."
And the very thing he had been about to say struck him as horribly unfair when she said it of herself. He was ashamed to have entertained such an idea and wanted only to reassure her. "Perhaps it is because you are so close to your father's bonded, that you felt some of the emotions coming from the Griffins."
"Is that possible?"
"It... I have never heard that it is but you do seem to have a certain amount of empathy and their feelings at the time were particularly strong." [1]"
She raised an eyebrow as if challenging him to say more but he resisted the temptation and said instead, "In offering you compensation I meant no disparagement of your character. It was only meant to mitigate the effect of any damage to your reputation."
"My reputation is more likely to suffer from sudden prosperity, without explanation than an incident of which no one else knows." She had not even asked how much he would pay, and perhaps he should be grateful. If she asked what value he thought she put on her reputation he could only answer that it was priceless and thus put himself into an awkward position.
She continued, "If you and I agree never to speak of it. I am sure we can depend on Georgiana's silence." Again he felt it could not be so simple and in a moment he saw the flaw.
"You changed your gown. A maid must have helped you." People were too prone to forgetting the servants.
"I have taken care of it."
"Are you certain, absolutely certain, you can depend on her discretion?"
"I am."
"Would you at least allow me the honor of reimbursing you for whatever you have given her?"
"That will not be necessary. What I am giving has more value to her than to me. Mr. Darcy if we continue to argue we are more likely to have our current meeting misconstrued than be in danger from anyone learning of last night."
With this, he could not argue and he soon took his leave. He had gotten exactly what he wanted without spending a farthing and yet somehow felt as if he had been outmaneuvered. Her wanting nothing from his was commendable of course, but should she not give some thought to practicalities? Everyone knew she had no dowry to speak of, or as far as she knew she had no dowry, unless she had learned of her father's joke.
He gave himself a shake as if to shake Miss Elizabeth Bennet out of his thoughts. What did it matter to him if she took his money or not? He would be flying to London within the hour and in a few months, if all went well, to Rosings for the birth[2]. He would not see Miss Bennet again, or if he did it would likely be with his cousin by his side. If the bonding truly improved her health[3] she might make for a very agreeable companion, she could be handsome enough if she were only more animated, and what did Miss Bennet mean she had reason to distrust his character?
(0)
Elizabeth had only been back from her walk for a few minutes when her mother found her and exclaimed, "Elizabeth Bennet! What do you think you are doing rejecting such an offer of marriage."
Elizabeth was taken so much by surprise that she almost replied that Mr. Darcy had not been offering marriage before realizing her mother was speaking of Mr. Collins. The encounter with Mr. Darcy had driven Mr. Collins' offer almost entirely from her mind. The absurdity of it all made it difficult not to laugh, an impulse her mother did not fail to notice and which served only to increase her resentment toward her least favorite daughter. It was some time before she could escape to her room where she wished to pull out some of the gowns she thought Rachelle might like.
By the time Rachel arrived, it was almost time to dress for dinner. She was full of apologies. She had been at needed at Netherfield and had lost most of her half-day off. She picked a pretty practical gown but Elizabeth noticed how longingly she looked at the white one, which was still out from the night before.
"Have you changed your mind?" asked Elizabeth. "I am still happy to give you this one but I would not wish to get you into trouble with Miss Bingley."
Rachel answered softly, "Perhaps I might wear it one Sunday while she is in London."
"Take them both." Said Elizabeth watching the girl's eyes widen, "One for helping me and the other in gratitude for your discretion." Indeed she had been questioning whether the gown was enough to give her and yet to do too much would make the whole situation look devious.
"Truly?"
"Yes, you did me a great service and if I am ever in a position to do a favor for you I hope you will let me know."
"If it is not too much to ask…there is something… that is… if you come to hear of a position, perhaps you might mention me?"
"Of course. Are you unhappy at Netherfield?" Silly question. She works for Miss Bingley.
"Please do not think me ungrateful, Miss, I know I am lucky to have a place there. But, Mr. Bingley has only a short lease and Miss Bingley means to be in London for the winter. I can not be sure how long I will be needed."
"Well, I hope the Bingleys will see the value in retaining a good servant but I will certainly recommend you if I hear of anything."
"And if you ever need anyone yourself…" she blushed as if thinking herself too bold.
"I do not think there is any chance of that in the near future but if my situation ever changes I will remember you." She did not mention that she might soon be in a position to mention Rachael to her sister Jane when she became mistress of Netherfield. Of course, Jane would wish to keep her, and with such a mistress the girl could not hope for better. She thought with satisfaction of having her obligation so easily discharged.
It was not until the next day, when Jane received a note from Miss Bingley, that Elizabeth thought more of what Rachel had said about Miss Bingley being in town.
1 Darcy is on to something here.
2 The Griffin gestation period is normally 140-150 days, (approximately 30 days longer than that of a Lion).
3 As previously mentioned, at this time people believed bonding could improve one's health.
AN: Many thanks for reading, favoriting and especially reviewing. I appreciate the encouragement. I managed to get this chapter written as I recover from Covid. I hope you enjoyed it. More twists and turns to come.