Chapter 5

The gentlemen all retired to Mr. Bennet's bookroom for a glass of port and proper introductions for an hour before they bid each other adieu. As the men were remounting their horses Darcy heard the voice that haunted his dreams whisper in that voice low and sweet, "Come away, William." He automatically turned to see who had spoken and saw the small dark-haired lady gently pulling the little boy away from his horse. His heartrate jumped and the wave of dizziness had him grabbing at the pommel to keep from tumbling out of the saddle.

He had been looking for the glorious creature who had turned his life upside-down for almost six years. He recognized hervoice immediately but heeded his father's philosophy. 'Patience, my boy'. He must have zoned out because when he refocused the lady's hand was on his arm and she was shaking it lightly. "Are you well, Sir?" her touch ignited a wildfire in him. It was all he could do to stay in the saddle and not grab her and ride away to God knows where.

Darcy knew it was too soon to approach her. He took a deep breath before trying to speak. "I am well." His voice was low and husky. His eyes devoured her with a rapacious hunger fed by six years of starvation. Nyx, his goddess of darkness was in front of him. He wanted to tell her how perfect she was and how he had missed her. Instead, he managed to close his eyes as he settled into his saddle and laughed the moment off with a few glib words. "I think we should head home, Bingley. I appear to be in slight need of rest."

The ride back to Netherfield Park felt like the longest ride of Darcy's life. He did not wish to be parted from the beautiful little female who had haunted his existence for the last five plus years. He now knew that her name was Elizabeth. Every step away from her felt wrong. His heart told him he was committing a sacrilegious act. His mind was telling him he had already committed the unholy, profane act years ago when he let her walk away from him the first time.

Bingley did not know what to do or say to reach Darcy. He had been speaking to him for five minutes before he realized Darcy was not responding and Darcy had not heard the first word he had uttered. He glanced over at him and decided to leave him to his reflections until they arrived at the front door and a footman stepped forward to take the horses to the stable for them. He had to dismount and approach Darcy's horse to jerk at the reins to get his attention. "Come on, man. What has you in a daze?" he snapped.

Darcy dismounted and focused on the footman as he handed him the reins. "My apologies, Aiden." Then he turned to Bingley and enunciated clearly. "I was in a daze because it is not every day you meet the woman whom you intend to marry." Then he grinned like a piranha in a sorority hot tub and added, "Do you not think Miss Elizabeth Bennet is the most exquisitely beautiful angel you have ever seen, Bingley?"

Charles was not used to Darcy acting or saying anything which was not proper. He reflected on what was said and decided to answer the question. "I think Miss Jane is divinely handsome. Her sisters were all very pretty, but Miss Bennet is the angel who caught my eye. I am unable to tell you who was who after she spoke the first word to me."

"The small lady with the chestnut hair and green eyes." As he spoke Darcy's voice dropped in timbre. He knew his skin was tight and flushed- the obvious reaction to being within her sphere. He hated feeling like this when she was not there to ease his obvious distress. He felt as horny as a two peckered Billy goat. Damn but it felt good to feel the blood moving through his veins after almost six years of distain for others' sexual escapades.

Darcy knew when he went inside Bingley's sister was going to kill his mood with her incessant yapping. She was like a damn poodle. She never shut up. He did not want to see her and have her kill his buzz. He wanted Elizabeth Bennet in his arms, in his bed, he wanted to be buried in her body, her riding him…

Aiden walked the horses to the stable as Charles and William mounted the stairs. He considered the conversation he had overheard between the two men. Should he tell the tall man the rumors circulating about Miss Elizabeth? Or, should he tell Miss Elizabeth what the two men had said about the Bennet women? As he helped the groom take care of the horses, he spoke to the older man about what he had heard.

He asked the groom what he thought about the situation. They decided to talk to the rest of the servants before speaking to either party. The Housekeeper and the Butler usually knew what to do regarding these situations. Had the Netherfield men spoken of other women there would not have been a dilemma. The servants all felt obligated to take care of the Misses Bennet though because the Bennet family took care of the tenants of Longbourne and Netherfield when they needed assistance.

Darcy stumbled into the lounge and flopped down in the wingback armchair sitting to the right side of the fire. He leaned his head back and took several deep breaths before releasing his death grip on the chair arms and leaning forward to check on where the teapot and the tray of biscuits were.

A body cannot act that weird and not attract attention. The attention he least wanted to draw insisted he pay her her due respect. Caroline moved forward to take the other chair. She had never seen Darcy in the state he was in. However, she was a bitch in heat at constant boil when he was around and recognized the flush on his skin as arousal. "Mr. Darcy, what has you discomfited?" She was all solicitousness as she reached for him with one hand while she patted the strand of hair hanging down the side of her neck and lying gently against the space where her milky white bosoms would be located had she been blessed with any with the other hand. Her ploy to draw his attention failed.

Mr. Darcy looked at her in an unfocused way and began babbling. "Miss Bingley, I do not expect you to understand what I am contemplating." He was not certain that he could keep his opinion of herself private if she continued to aggravate his already agitated state of mind. His lip curled as he considered whether she resembled a starved dog or a harpy from mythology. The harpy won out simply because he was already contemplating mythology. He reached over and placed a biscuit in her hand on the off chance that if she were a starved dog food of any sort might help.

"Whyever not?" she choked out. The sting from his words had her ready to cry. She considered herself an intelligent sensitive female and his criticism of her awareness disturbed her equilibrium. She automatically stuffed the biscuit in her mouth and proceeded to chew methodically because her mama told her to take small bites and chew thoroughly.

He did not wish to hurt her feelings. However, he decided it was time to let her know that she had zero chance of becoming Mrs. Darcy. "I have no wish to injure your pride, madam, but I beheld the sight of the woman I plan to make Mrs. Darcy. Now that I have found her I feel compelled to announce my joy to the world."

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "Am I to wish you joy when what you say goes counter to my own heart's desire?"

He shrugged lightly and just managed to suppress a snort before Bingley advanced on them and handed Darcy a glass of brandy. "I, for one, approve of your choice of helpmate, old man. Just remember to leave my angel alone."

The laughter of both men enjoying an inside joke stroked Caroline's ire. "Just like that! You go out to ride the boundary fence line of this mushroom infested rookery and return engaged to be wedded to some cretin of dubious ancestry."

Darcy's anger flared. "My apologies, madam. I did not realize I was supposed to seek your permission before setting up my nursery. I was under the impression that my life is my responsibility, not yours." By the time he finished speaking he was standing at attention and glaring down his aristocratic nose at her. He turned his attention to Bingley and managed to regain most of his good humor. "I shall retire now, Sir. Please let me know if I am to remove from Netherfield after breakfast, yes?"

Charles shook his head in confusion. "It shall not be you who must away, my friend. If Caroline finds life here so tedious I think it is she who should remove from here."

Darcy bowed in acknowledgement. "Many thanks. If you change your mind just let me know. I do not want to distress you in your own home." He bowed to Caroline also. "I bid you good night, Madam. By the same token, I would apologize for vexing you with my joy."

Darcy entered his rooms to find his valet waiting for him. As Heath helped him undress and enter his bath he kept up a running commentary of what the servants were discussing below stairs. Settled into the warm bath, he leaned back against the rim and let the man talk. He knew that Heath would come to the point well before he was ready to leave the water.

"What have you heard that is causing you distress?" He finally asked after listening to Heath clear his throat several times without uttering words. "You are not normally so reticent, Heath. What has you confounded?"

Heath had entered service as a Valet when Darcy entered Cambridge. He was used to Darcy and felt he could speak anything and yet here he was tongue-tied. Heath was the proverbial valet. He was quite in-tune with Darcy's life. If Darcy said he found the woman he intended to marry then Heath had no doubt that he would enter the holy state of matrimony with the woman he had announced he was interested in. He figured the best way to say something was just to say it. "You spoke in front of Aiden regarding your desire to wed Miss Elizabeth Bennet."

Darcy felt the need to participate in the conversation since he was aware of the fact that conversation involved the exchange of information. "I did speak out of turn in front of Aiden." He stood up and took the towel from Heath to wrap it around his hips before stepping down from the bath. His eyes sought Heath's as he added, "I have not yet spoken to Miss Elizabeth regarding our impending nuptials." His gaze dropped to the floor as he made his way over to the bed where his bed shirt had been laid out. "Heath, do you remember the night I came back from the theater completely wrecked?"

"Yes, Sir. Mr. Richard made sure I attended to you before he would leave."

"I found the lady who ruined me. She is the most beautiful creature, perfection. If she will not consent to marry me, I shall have her anyway. Should she forswear me I shall compromise her, demand her hand in marriage to avenge my honor, and take her back to Pemberly as Mrs. Darcy despite what others consider unsurmountable odds."

"The housekeeper wanted you to know that there is a rumor regarding Miss Elizabeth."

Darcy smirked as he settled in the bed and pulled the covers up over his legs. "Please tell me what is being said."

"Mrs. Finch says there is a rumor that the boy child she tends most diligently is her son, not the son of Fanny and Thomas as stated on his birth certificate."

"Heath, I need you to remain quiet regarding Miss Elizabeth and William. But yes, that rumor does not surprise me. Little William has the Darcy look about him. When I call on Mr. Bennet we shall have to discuss which of our ancestors were related. If asked, you might put it about that I was all astonishment when I saw the boy and had to speak with Mr. Bennet regarding him. We shall probably find that my grandfather had a sister who disappeared and was never found again."

"Very good, Sir. Are we speaking of your great aunt Mariposa?"

Darcy grinned. Leave it to Heath to know about the Darcy family. "I am quite sure Aunt Mariposa will be happy to know we finally tracked her down. Now all I need to know is what she changed her name to before marrying into the Bennet clan."

"I shall discuss the issue with Mrs. Finch. She is quite well informed about what goes on in these parts."

Darcy nodded. "In that case, I shall leave the details in your capable hands. That is all, Heath. You may retire for the night. I shall ride in the morning if the weather holds. I have been told that Miss Elizabeth often makes her way to Oakem Mount. I should like to see the sunrise with her."

While the men slept and dreamed of angels with hair of blonde and chestnut, Caroline Bingley sat at her writing desk and doodled hearts with the names Caroline and Fitzwilliam in them. She also practiced signing her name as Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy. That bit of idiocy was a common occurrence which her maid normally dealt with the next morning if she had not already done so. What was different about tonight was the beautiful pen and ink drawing she composed of Darcy down on bended knee holding the hand of a lady as he gazed up at her. The maid saved the picture to give to Darcy because although the lady's face was blurry she had small perky breasts so obviously the picture was not of Caroline.