Chapter 12
Darcy was in love. He knew it. He felt it in his very bones.
He had never believed in love at first sight or even in love upon a short acquaintance. In fact, he had frequently criticized his friend, Bingley, for falling in and out of love so quickly.
Unlike Bingley’s feelings, however, Darcy was certain this love would not leave so soon. The connection he felt with Lady Elizabeth could not fail to last a lifetime. It was too powerful, almost overwhelming, in its complexity and completeness.
He did not just desire her, though there was most definitely some of that. Her pert lips, which were often curved in a slight smile, were eminently kissable, and her frame was the perfect balance between buxom and lithe.
He also was drawn to her character, her opinions, and her mind.
There was a similarity to their patterns of thinking that made it easy for them to understand each other, not that they always agreed, but even their arguments were clear and flowed easily.
It was as if they were formed from the same clay, two halves of a whole.
After their first meeting, and even their second, he was not certain of his feelings for her. He had thought that perhaps she was simply an interesting and unique young lady that he would very much like to see again.
After the ball at his aunt’s home, however, he knew. He knew Elizabeth was the lady for him, the only one he would ever love so completely.
For a good portion of the night, he had been concerned about when he would see her again. They moved in slightly different circles, so it had taken a significant amount of time for them to cross paths. He had no way of knowing when it would happen again.
Towards the end of supper, Darcy had resolved to call on her, though he was almost certain her father, the Duke, would not approve. Still, he had to maintain the connection. He could not lose Elizabeth again.
Fortunately, she suggested meeting at Almack’s instead. Though it would only be once a week, and even then just enough time for a single dance, it was far better than never seeing her again.
The last three weeks of seeing and dancing with her had been magical. The more he saw of her and learned about her, the more certain he was of his love for her. Even so, the situation was far from perfect.
Darcy tried not to think beyond simply being in Elizabeth’s presence.
He didn’t dare think of marrying her, for he was certain the Duke of Essex would vehemently object to the idea of his daughter marrying a man without a title nor even any hope of a title, no matter how wealthy he was.
Yet, the thought still crept into his mind. Could it even be possible?
Such were his thoughts as he entered Almack’s on the second of March. He immediately looked around for Lady Elizabeth, but he did not see her or her companion Lady Priscilla.
Darcy waited for half an hour, but when the dancing began and Lady Elizabeth still was not present, he began to be concerned. He spent the rest of the evening questioning anyone who knew her or the duke about her absence.
No one knew anything, nor were they even concerned. It was hardly unusual for someone to miss a single assembly. Maybe she had a spot break out on her chin that she didn’t want anyone to see. Maybe she just had a headache.
Darcy tried to take their unconcern to heart, for he knew they were all correct. There were a hundred small reasons why she might be absent that were completely benign. He couldn’t shake the feeling, however, that it would take something momentous to cause her to miss their weekly meeting.
Before the end of the evening, Darcy resolved to brave the duke’s wrath and call on her in the morning to reassure himself that she was well.
He followed through on his resolution, making his way to the well-known address of the Duke of Essex, but he was thwarted before even knocking, because there was no knocker.
It had been removed, signifying that either the family did not wish to be disturbed, or they were not in residence.
As desperate as he was for information, even Darcy would not be so bold as to bang on the door of a duke’s home when the knocker was down. So, he headed back to his home, worry and distress eating away at his mind the whole way.
Darcy spent the rest of the day in his study, pretending to work to keep his mind off his worry. He spent the evening pretending to read. He wasn’t entirely successful at either attempt, but time passed, nevertheless.
The following morning, while he was eating his breakfast, the morning mail arrived. The moment he saw the letter from her, he immediately dropped his food and opened it.
As he read it, a feeling of profound relief washed over him. She was safe, and she was well. He could not fathom why she had needed to remove to Bath so suddenly, but at least he knew where she was.
He immediately began making mental plans to go to that city, himself, but he paused in the middle of them. He could not go after her immediately.
Not only would that cause rumors if anyone were to discover that he was chasing after Lady Elizabeth, but it would likely be counterproductive. She was staying at an inn, and it would be very difficult to call on her there. He needed to give her time to get settled into a home.
The same was true for himself, as well. He would need to send his secretary ahead of him to secure lodgings, so that he could be settled as soon as he arrived.
Once again, Darcy halted his line of thinking. What would be accomplished by him chasing after Lady Elizabeth in this way? Yes, he would be able to enjoy her company once again, but what then?
If he did not have the courage to see their relationship to its obvious conclusion, that of marriage, it might be better for both of them if he simply let her go.
Darcy ruminated on the subject as he finished his breakfast. Upon its completion, he headed to his study. He placed his other letters in a drawer to be read later, and he placed the letter from Lady Elizabeth in the fire to avoid anyone discovering that she had ever written to him.
As he did so, he felt overwhelming gratitude. Not only had she thought to inform him, specifically, about her new location, but she had trusted his discretion enough to be willing to risk her reputation in the process.
The fact that she had done so gave him hope for a possible future together. While her father might not approve of Darcy as a potential son-in-law, it seemed as though it might just be possible that Lady Elizabeth could learn to see him as a potential husband.
Darcy smiled, though no one was around to see it. He then headed to his desk and sat down.
If he was going to go chasing after the lady who had his heart, he had some business to take care of first.
~~~~~
Two hours later, Darcy was still hard at work when his cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, entered his study without even knocking.
Darcy sighed and put his pen down. Richard was a favorite with Darcy’s staff, and any time he showed up, he was given free rein of the house. Of course, Darcy did not mind. Richard was Darcy’s favorite relation and best friend, and he was always welcome to anything of Darcy’s.
It was only a problem when Richard burst in unexpected and unannounced while Darcy was in the middle of something. Like right now.
Once Darcy looked up at his cousin, Richard flopped down in a chair in front of Darcy’s desk. “Darcy, you must help me stop Mother.”
“What is she doing that must be stopped?” Darcy asked, though he had a good idea.
Richard gave him an exaggerated evil eye as though he had been foolish to even ask such a thing. “She is throwing every heiress in the country at me. You know this. It is becoming entirely intolerable.”
“Can you blame her?” asked Darcy. “Her first son doesn’t seem to be able to give her any more grandchildren, so it only makes sense that you must take up the burden.”
“The only reason Patrick can’t seem to give her children is because he absolutely despises his wife. It doesn’t help that she returns the sentiment. Whether they like it or not, they will need to find a way to produce an heir, however.”
“Not if you get married and produce an heir for them,” said Darcy.
It wasn’t the first time they had shared this exchange, and Darcy was certain it wouldn’t be the last. It had become increasingly obvious over the last two years that Patrick Fitzwilliam, Viscount Northdale, abhorred his wife.
They had got along well enough to produce one child, a girl, but at this point it was almost certain they would not be producing any more.
Which meant that producing an heir for the Earl of Matlock fell upon the shoulders of Richard. That being the case, Richard would have to get married sooner or later.
The problem was that Richard’s income was not good enough to attract a suitable lady.
At least, that had been a problem up until the last year, when all of society began to take notice that the Viscount and Viscountess Northdale couldn’t seem to be able to stand being in the same room as each other.
Over the last six months Richard had gradually begun to receive a great deal more attention from various society ladies who recognized that if they married him, they would likely be the mother of a future earl.
While it wasn’t as much attention as it would be if Richard, himself, was the heir, it was still attraction enough.
It should have come as a welcome surprise to Richard, who had been keeping his heart and mind open to the idea of eventually finding love. However, Richard discovered very quickly that he wasn’t particularly fond of being pursued. He would much rather be the pursuer.
The more he avoided the various young ladies, however, the more his mother pushed for him to just choose someone and settle down.
The resulting pattern of ever-increasing avoidance and pressure is what led to his mother’s ball at the end of January and was what now led to Richard’s presence in Darcy’s study.
“The way things are going, I might just request a transfer to the continent simply to get away from a city full of scheming ladies,” grumbled Richard.
Darcy assumed it was an empty threat. After all, Richard had never truly been in battle, though he had been near it a few times. Nevertheless, for Richard to even hint at such a thing would send his mother into vapors.
“Perhaps it would help if you simply got away from your mother for a while without leaving our Great Isle,” said Darcy.
“And how am I to do that?” asked Richard. “I can’t afford to leave London, and my mother will not leave the city until June.”
“I happen to be heading for Bath in a week or so,” said Darcy. “Why don’t you come with me? It would get you away from London’s society ladies, though there may still be a few pursuers even in a place like that.”
“You’re going to Bath? Why am I just now hearing about this?” asked Richard.
“Because I only decided this morning,” said Darcy.
Richard looked piercingly at Darcy for several moments, and Darcy briefly wondered if his cousin would be questioning him about his motives. After a few moments, however, Richard shrugged.
“When will we be leaving?” asked Richard.
“I am not certain just yet. I only made the decision a couple of hours ago, and I need to make some arrangements. As I said, it will probably be a week, but I will let you know the specifics later.”
“Perfect,” said Richard. “The only way it could be more perfect was if we were leaving this very moment.”
Eight days later, Darcy and Richard left London at the crack of dawn, one of them simply pleased to be leaving the city and one of them very much looking forward to their destination.