Chapter 5
Richard Fitzwilliam, when he was not deadly serious commanding soldiers, either training them or leading them into battle, was a very affable man some would describe as jovial.
He and his cousin, William Darcy, had recently departed Rosings Park in Kent.
At that moment, they were passing the parsonage of the ridiculous sycophantic parson who would break into nonsensical and inaccurate paeans about Aunt Catherine at the slightest encouragement.
The man was standing in his garden, bowing so low that Fitzwilliam was convinced the portly man’s face was touching the grass as they went by his home.
He did not miss the longing look his cousin shot towards the parsonage or, Fitzwilliam thought, towards one of the occupants of that house.
“I did wait for Miss Bennet to confirm anything she asked, but she did not return before I joined you at the mansion,” Fitzwilliam stated.
“Come now, Cousin, out with it. I know when you are brooding about something, and you know I will get it out of you sooner or later. So why do we not save the time and trouble, and you just tell me?”
“She refused me, Richard! The daughter of an insignificant country squire rejected my proposal,” Darcy stated, almost absentmindedly. “She does not like me. No, it is more than that; she hates me.”
“William, you seem to be the only one who did not see that Miss Bennet did not enjoy your company. Even our obtuse aunt did, why do you think she did not ring a peal over Miss Bennet’s head for distracting you from your duty to Anne?
She thought that your pride would never allow you to offer for one so low and who also disliked you.
You know, I attempted to raise her estimation of you, but it did not seem to have the effect I desired. ”
“Richard, of what do you speak?”
“Two days past, I was taking my tour of the park like I do each year. On my return, I met Miss Bennet in one of the groves. Somehow Bingley’s name came up, and I tried to demonstrate how you care for your friends by telling her how you congratulated yourself on separating Bingley from a very imprudent match. ”
“The lady in question was Miss Elizabeth’s older sister and the one she is closest to in the world.”
“You must know had I been aware she was related to Miss Bennet; I would not have said a word. That explains her vociferous reaction when I told her. I am so very sorry, William. I should not have said anything.”
“Unlike Miss Bingley, I never thought Miss Bennet was a fortune hunter. I thought she had no feelings for Bingley, as I did not detect any.” Darcy paused and stared out of the window next to him, seeing nothing except a pair of emerald-green eyes in the face of a woman he still loved dearly.
“You know how I always say that I abhor disguise?”
Fitzwilliam nodded that he did.
“I knew she was in London; that is the eldest Miss Bennet. Not only did I not tell Bingley, but I conspired with the shrew and invited him to reside with me at Darcy House so there would be no chance of him seeing Miss Bennet when she called.”
“William, that was badly done!” Fitzwilliam exclaimed. “As far as Miss Bennet goes, how long was this intense study of her?”
“Ahem, part of the night of the ball at Netherfield Park,” Darcy admitted.
“And you, who shows no one what you are truly feeling, made a judgement after a few hours? William, you amaze me. Are you so used to ladies like Miss Bingley who flout propriety and chase after you like she is hunting a prize stag, that Miss Elizabeth’s sister, behaving as a young woman should, is judged as having no feelings? ”
“Yes, I did,” Darcy admitted as he leaned forward and held his head with his hands while his elbows rested on his knees. “I was wrong, was I not? If that was the only reason, I may have been able to overcome her objection.”
“Tell me all.”
“The first night I arrived, we attended an assembly in Meryton. Bingley tried to importune me to dance…” Darcy told his cousin all without hiding his bad behaviour in Hertfordshire.
When he related the parts concerning Wickham, Richard growled, but did not interrupt his retelling.
“I know; I should have written to you as soon as the bastard joined the militia. Again, I was wrong.” Darcy noted that Richard gave him a tight nod.
“If all of that were not enough, I think my proposal left much to be desired…”
As he talked about his insulting proposal, Darcy did not miss that Richard was fighting to maintain his equanimity, as he was quite amused.
“By the by, if I am completely honest with myself, it is possible my advice to Bingley was in part driven by my need to escape what I then considered, an inappropriate woman for me.” When he reached the part about Miss Elizabeth mentioning that she knew about his so-called engagement as well as Miss Bingley’s assertion he was about to propose to her, Darcy saw Richard shake his head.
Next, he related what the termagant had claimed about her brother and Gigi.
All humour vanished from his cousin’s face, and it was replaced with a cold fury.
“I will ask Mother to ruin the shrew! It is something she has been willing and wanting to do for a long time, but she has held back because of your friendship with the puppy.”
“I used to object to any action which would impact Bingley. This time, I will not. I will only ask Aunt Elaine to wait until I see if Miss Bennet will be willing to provide us the letter. At the very least, I owe it to Bingley to speak to him before his sister receives her comeuppance.”
Fitzwilliam took a deep breath to calm himself. “You know how I say that you occasionally insert your hessian into your mouth?”
“Yes, you may have mentioned that once or twice over the years. What of it?”
“From your first day in Hertfordshire up to, and including, your proposal, which is the worst I have ever heard of, all you did was open your mouth to change boots! William, I know you are uncomfortable among those you do not know, but your behaviour was plainly bad and not that of a gentleman.”
“Miss Elizabeth took pains to point that out along with all of my other perceived faults. She was not wrong in everything.”
“That is why you wrote the letter to Miss Elizabeth that you did, including the part where you told her about Gigi’s almost disaster?
” Fitzwilliam saw his cousin give a tight nod.
“After meeting her, I agree with you that she will never share the information about Gigi publicly without your permission. On a different subject, did you do anything to spike the seducer’s guns, or did you, like you have in the past, walk away and allow him to damage those in the community where the woman you claim you love lives? ”
“As ashamed as I am to admit it, I was too worried about the libertine destroying Gigi’s reputation, so I warned no one. I should have spoken to protect the populace. At the very least, I should have consulted you so that we could plan what to do together.”
Before he responded. Fitzwilliam paused as he thought about what to say next; he did feel some sympathy for his cousin, but there was no way to soften what he needed to say.
“Firstly, yes, as he is in the militia, I could have done something about him. So it would have been the proper thing to let me know. Secondly, what were you thinking by denigrating her family in that way while trying to win her heart? Did you not tell me how much she loves her family, foibles and all?”
Darcy allowed it was so and tried to justify his words, “I was trying to convey that I had overcome all of my former scruples against the match…” he stopped speaking.
As he said the last, he could hear how arrogant he sounded.
“Many of Miss Elizabeth’s reproofs were accurate.
Even if I have lost my chance with her, I need to address them and become a better man. ”
The coach slowed and then came to a halt at the Bell in Bromley. There would be a close to two-hour rest, as Darcy had chosen not to swap his horses for those at the inn.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Thanks to the warming spring weather, the pond’s ice had melted by the end of February, the waterfowl had returned, and the Gardiner four returned to feeding them almost every day. Most days Jane accompanied them, like she had on this day, the first Friday of April.
Since she had begun to have her epiphanies and cast off her old personal philosophy, which had not allowed her to see the reality of the world around her, Jane felt more at peace than at any other time she could remember.
She no longer pined for Mr Bingley. Accepting that he did not love her enough to fight for her had been liberating.
Furthermore, she was certain that he was incapable of standing up to Miss Bingley.
Over the weeks since that realisation, Jane had spoken to Aunt Maddie, who had agreed with her assessment of Mr Bingley’s infatuation with her and that it was never a deep and abiding love.
She had asked Jane if she truly loved him, as at the time, she had only been willing to see what she wanted to see.
In fact, she had loved an apparition, not the true man.
At first, Jane had wanted to tell Aunt Maddie she was wrong, but it did not take long for her to accept that her aunt had the right of it. How could she have truly loved a man when she had not seen him for the person that he was?
Thanks to Jane’s new strength, she only read those parts of her mother’s letters which did not mention Mr Bingley or using her beauty and wiles to catch some other rich man.
She still loved Mama; she just saw her for who she was and knew that her mother was the last person in the world who should guide Jane, or any of her sisters, as they sought marriage partners.