Chapter Eleven
“Good morning, Colonel.”
“Good morning, Bennet.”
Richard had risen at his normal hour and was surprised to see Mr. Bennet seated at the breakfast table, a cup of coffee by his empty plate.
Too used to being the only one in his parent’s household to rise early, he had forgotten that estate owners were known to keep country hours to get most of their estate work done during the light of day.
“Did you sleep well?” Bennet asked.
“I did, sir. Thank you for extending your hospitality.”
“Truly, Colonel, it was our pleasure, but I did not do it just to extend hospitality. I have other reasons for wanting you close by.”
“And that is…?”
“I have you and my daughter under the same roof and can keep a watchful eye.”
Richard could not help himself. He laughed.
“I appreciate a watchful father and set myself up for your caprice and humor when I asked if you could point me in the direction of the beauty I saw walking in Meryton.”
“Without even trying, Jane makes mortal men forget to breathe. As her father, I must look out for her because she has the uncanny ability to see only good in everyone.”
“Everyone?”
“Yes, everyone. When I tell her of Wickham’s misdeeds, which I will because I do not hide the ugly side of life from my daughters, she will try to find redemption in his behavior and actions.”
“With Wickham, that is an impossibility.”
“Not for Jane. She truly is exceptional.” Bennet assessed him carefully, then began speaking again.
“Do you know Mr. Bingley and his sisters?” Richard could not help but grimace when he replied that he did.
“Then you know Miss Bingley holds herself above many people, even those higher ranked in society.”
“I do.”
“And you know if the opportunity presents itself, and she knows there is no direct societal fallout for her behavior, she will abuse the person or persons she thinks below her station.”
“Again, I am aware.”
“Then, let me reveal a facet of Jane’s personality. Miss Bingley wrote a scathing letter to her – I am supposedly unaware of this letter – whereupon, she told my daughter any correspondence sent to her would be burned and if Miss Bingley saw Jane on the street, she would give her the cut direct.”
“She said that? In a letter?”
“Yes, she did. I am a gentleman and a substantial landowner. As such, Jane is above Miss Bingley who does not even have one foot out of the ditch of trade. However, I digress. Jane, heartbroken over the abandonment of Mr. Bingley and blatant disrespect displayed by Miss Bingley, still holds them in high regard and wishes them nothing but future happiness.”
“I am humbled by her act of forgiveness. Would that there were more people like her in this world.”
“Now you see why I protect her. I could do nothing for Elizabeth as circumstances dictated what had to happen, and she is a different woman. Like her father, her courage always rises when faced with the trials of life and she does not see everything as warm and fuzzy. She and Jane are opposite sides of a coin.”
“Darcy may not appreciate his wife now, but your niece is the perfect woman for him. I will tell you I think he held her in some regard before the compromise.”
“I disagree with that notion.”
“You would because you do not know his character. I have known him since we were boys running about catching frogs and learning how to ride horses together.” Richard finished his coffee and then pushed his chair back from the table.
“He told me he danced with her at the ball at Netherfield.”
“He danced with others, colonel. There is nothing earth-shaking in that fact.”
“No, Mr. Bennet,” Richard explained. “He danced with the sister of a friend who was his host and therefore duty called for him to honor her with one set. Elizabeth was the only lady outside his intimate circle he danced with. Darcy never dances at balls. He does not want to raise the expectation of desperate mothers and their daughters, yet he asked your niece to dance.”
Bennet now leaned back in his chair.
“He asked her to dance before that night.”
“He did?”
Richard could not hold in his look of surprise.
“At a gathering at Sir William’s, and Lizzy told us he asked her to dance a reel at Netherfield Park.”
“My God! He is in love with her!”
“She declined both times.”
“No wonder he is all sixes and sevens when it comes to her. Truly, he must be quite besotted.”
“Yes, he must be in love, which explains why the marriage settlement was so generous,” came the sarcastic reply from Elizabeth’s uncle.
“Mr. Bennet, if you knew how often Wickham has tried to hurt him by any means, you would understand the sense of betrayal he felt when he imagined your niece acting as Wickham’s accomplice. It would have cut him deeply.”
“I suppose I will have to take your word for it because we have not seen any evidence of affection or even good manners when it comes to that gentleman – and I use the word loosely about him.”
“Maybe, in your next letter to your niece, you could begin to hint at his goodness. It is there, beneath layers of shyness and awkward behavior.”
“I would love nothing better than to correspond with my niece, but your cousin has forbidden her from contacting her family. It was part of his outrageous demands, along with her not taking all of her belongings with her when she left for Pemberley.”
It was only because he was used to controlling his emotions that Richard didn’t show a physical response of disgust at Mr. Bennet’s words. What had Darcy been thinking?
“First, sir, let me get this straight in my mind. You are forbidden to write to your niece, nor can she write to you?”
“Yes, she may not have direct contact with her family,” he stated again.
Richard noted both times Bennet emphasized the phrase ‘her family’ and held back a smile. Even he could see a way to circumvent that order and stay within the ridiculous parameters Darcy had set down.
“I see, and you believe your niece is currently at Pemberley?”
“That is where Darcy said he would take her after the wedding,” Bennet answered with a firm voice, but his body shifted and Richard knew immediately he was not being truthful. How interesting.
“I am happy to advise you she is in London at Darcy House.”
“So close,” Bennet almost breathed out on a sigh and his lips quivered in a smile.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Richard knew Mr. Bennet was very aware of where his niece was.
It seemed Mrs. Darcy had already successfully navigated around one of Darcy’s ludicrous roadblocks.
The more he learned about the family, the more he liked them.
By this time, Miss Bennet had come down for breakfast and joined the gentlemen at the table.
“Good morning, Miss Bennet,” Richard said after he’d stood to greet her.
“Good morning, Colonel, Papa.”
She sat to the left of her father, directly across from Richard. He noticed that her cheeks were tinged a lovely pink, but she never raised her eyes to his, instead, she concentrated on buttering a toasted slice of bread.
“Does your family ever come to town, Mr. Bennet?” Richard asked, hoping Bennet would say yes and he could then finagle an invitation to visit them.
“I hate town,” – his hopes sank faster than a child’s paper boat – “however, Jane will be traveling to town after Christmas with her aunt and uncle.”
“Would this be relatives from your wife’s family?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, they are.”
“And while Miss Bennet is visiting her family, would you mind if I called on them and brought my newest cousin with me?”
“I would approve, except Elizabeth can have no contact with my daughter.”
“Yes, that is a bit of a conundrum.” Richard turned his attention to Jane. “Miss Bennet, if Mrs. Darcy attended with me, could I offer to walk out with you while she visits?”
During this time, Jane had watched both men with pleasure and then blushed a deeper shade of pink when the colonel asked if he could visit with her specifically.
“I… I would be delighted, Colonel.”
She looked down at her plate and dropped some preserves on her toast.
“Excellent.”
Richard turned his attention to Mr. Bennet who looked amused and disgruntled that he had practically asked to court his daughter in front of him.
“I never underestimated you, Colonel Fitzwilliam, but I must admit, I did not expect a frontal attack so soon in the game.”
“I believe in the adage of carpe diem. One never knows when an opportunity such as this will present itself again.”
“Nor that of rifling through important papers.” Richard’s eyes narrowed. Bennet once again had toyed with him. “I told you, sir. Nothing in this house escapes my notice. I trust what you learned will not be used against my niece.”
“Never. She has earned my respect and as a member of my family, she has my loyalty.”
“Good to know.” Bennet turned his attention to his daughter. “Jane, even though the man put you on the spot with his sudden request for your company once you are in town, I will ask that you answer me honestly. Do you wish for Colonel Fitzwilliam to call on you?”
She hesitated only briefly.
“I would like to get to know the colonel better, and as much as I love Mamma, I am glad it would take place away from Longbourn.”
“Then you have my permission.” Bennet rose to his feet.
“I will say my farewell now, Colonel. I hear my wife and daughters coming down the stairs and Jane will not be left unchaperoned. You will find my youngest daughter on better behavior this morning. She and her next eldest sister have been relegated to the nursery until they turn eighteen.”
Richard bade him farewell and took his seat just as Mrs. Bennet entered the room, followed by Mary, Kitty, and a sullen Lydia.
“Jane,” Mrs. Bennet began, “I am surprised to see you alone with the colonel.”
“Papa has only just left. We were not alone.”
“Oh good,” Mrs. Bennet huffed as she sat, “One misalliance in this family is enough.”