Chapter 16 A Troublesome Tuesday
A Troublesome Tuesday
“So he discovered your courtship by watching you moon over Miss Elizabeth?” Colonel Fitzwilliam guffawed and slapped his knee. “I wish I had been there. It sounds terribly entertaining.”
“You would not have thought so if you were in my position.”
“But I was not and that is what makes this so amusing.”
Darcy rolled his eyes. “He stared at us with an odd expression on his face all evening. As if we were mathematical equations he could not parse out.”
Fitzwilliam laughed again. “Did you explain when the ladies withdrew?”
“They did not withdraw! No one saw the need for it, so we all adjourned to the drawing room together.” Darcy gave his cousin a sly smile. “It was rather entertaining seeing Bingley look so befuddled when I turned Elizabeth’s pages as she played.”
Richard snorted. “I can imagine.”
“I am to call at Gracechurch Street shortly. Will you accompany me?”
“I believe I will.”
They had not been at Gracechurch Street ten minutes before Darcy knew something was wrong.
Elizabeth had greeted them civilly and introduced Colonel Fitzwilliam to her family, but she had sent him no private smiles, no longing looks.
She had not teased him or said a word to him beyond a greeting since he arrived.
He sat near her and waited for a gap in her conversation, then leaned toward her and whispered, “Are you well, dearest?”
“I am in perfect health, Mr. Darcy,” she answered crisply, not even sparing him a glance.
Darcy was befuddled. “Has something occurred to upset you?”
She turned a stony expression on him, then looked away again without speaking.
Well! This was not to be borne. Clearly she was angry about something, or she would not have refused to answer him. He must find a way to speak to her alone.
“The weather is fine today,” he said to Mrs. Gardiner. “My cousin and I had hoped to go for a walk with the ladies.”
Mrs. Gardiner smiled tightly at him. “That sounds lovely. Jane, Lizzy, fetch your things while I alert Paulson.”
Mrs. Gardiner swept out of the room with her nieces before more could be said. Darcy and his cousin looked at each other oddly.
“What is going on, Darcy?”
“I have not the slightest idea.”
“Something is off here. If I did not know better, I would say they wished we had not called. Did they receive bad news? Has something happened?”
“I cannot say, but I intend to find out.”
Soon, they were walking down the street with a giant of a footman following along behind them.
He watched the gentlemen with a wary eye, and Darcy again felt that something was terribly off.
He had walked out with Elizabeth only yesterday and no one had felt the need for a chaperone.
Now, even with her sister and his cousin along, her aunt had sent a footman.
“Elizabeth,” Darcy ventured tentatively when they were some distance from the house. “What is wrong? Please do not tell me it is nothing.”
Elizabeth looked up at him with pursed lips and eyes that sparked with something he could not name. She looked over her shoulder at her sister walking with Colonel Fitzwilliam. Sensing her need for more privacy, Darcy quickened his pace to put more distance between the couples.
“What is going on?” he asked again.
Elizabeth sighed. “Mr. Darcy, did you enjoy dinner last night?”
“Yes, of course.” Why was she speaking of dinner?
“Did you enjoy all aspects of it? Not just the food, though I know my aunt sets a good table, but also the company?”
“I always enjoy your company.”
She took another deep breath. “Everyone’s company?”
Darcy was confused. What was she getting at? “Your aunt is a skilled hostess, and you know Bingley is my friend. I do not know Miss Bennet well, but I do not mind her company.”
“And?”
He looked at her in confusion. “Elizabeth, please tell me why you are upset with me, for you clearly are. These questions are not helping.”
“Very well. My uncle. You barely spoke to him all evening, and when he spoke to you, you gave him such clipped answers that he was insulted in his own house.”
Darcy flushed. He knew Elizabeth was not wrong. He had actively sought to avoid Mr. Gardiner’s company. But he had no desire to hurt Elizabeth in the process, and it was bad manners to insult one’s host in their own home.
“I admit I was not a very good guest in that regard.”
“Not a good guest!” she cried. “You were nearly uncivil! I do not remember when I was last so embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed!” Darcy turned to face her, shock and offense writ on his features. “You were embarrassed by me?”
“Yes! My uncle is a perfectly genial man, who did nothing but invite you into his home, offer you dinner, and attempt to be friendly toward you. Yet you treated him like he was not even worth your notice, let alone your conversation.”
Darcy’s mouth opened and closed, every word he thought to say dying on his tongue before he could speak it. “I, that is, I do not…”
“Please do not tell me you do not perform for strangers. This is my uncle. You were a guest in his home. The least you could have done was behave with courtesy. I have seen you be more gracious with Miss Bingley!”
That stung. Darcy looked away, unable to form a response. They had entered a little park now, and Colonel Fitzwilliam steered Miss Bennet away from Darcy and Elizabeth, leaving the footman looking back and forth between the ladies, clearly unsure whom he should follow.
“Please stay with my sister, Paulson,” said Elizabeth tiredly.
Darcy thought it a good sign for a moment—she clearly felt safe with him, and perhaps she wished to be alone. But it only took a glance at the fire in her eyes to realize she was furious with him and likely wished to berate him without an audience.
He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I am sorry I was rude to your uncle, Elizabeth. I never meant to hurt or offend you by my behavior, and I apologize for doing so.”
Her arms were still crossed over her chest, but he thought he saw her stance relax a little.
“Fitzwilliam,” she said hesitantly, “I would like you to answer something truthfully.”
“Of course.” He felt flooded with relief. She had called him by name!
“Why were you so rude to my uncle?”
He instantly flushed and he knew she saw it by the stiffening of her shoulders.
“The truth, please. Do not spare my sensibilities.”
Darcy sighed. “Very well. There were a few reasons. If you will hear me out?”
She nodded.
“I spoke with Bingley briefly before you came down to dinner. He mentioned your uncle taking him aside and questioning his honor. I understand he was acting as Miss Bennet’s guardian, but it did set me somewhat on edge.”
She glared at him but said nothing.
“And Mr. Gardiner is your mother’s brother, and I have often found her…” he paused as he searched for a word, “somewhat difficult to be in company with.” He could not look at her as he said it, but she had asked for his honesty.
“Is that all? Would you not have realized a few minutes after meeting him that he is nothing like my mother?”
Darcy took a deep breath. At least she was not offended over what he said of Mrs. Bennet.
“Truthfully, your uncle is in trade. I have known many such men before and they often wish for an investment of some kind, or an introduction. They often try to convince me to be part of some risky scheme that has little chance of success, and they want someone else’s money to speculate with. I cannot abide it.”
Elizabeth watched him thoughtfully, clearly considering everything he had said very carefully. “And you thought my uncle would be such a man? That he would vulgarly ask you for an investment, at dinner in his own home, with his wife and nieces present?”
When put in such a way, it did sound ridiculous, but he had not given it much thought. He had seen Mr. Gardiner, thought he was a tradesman with whom he wanted little to do, and focused his attention on Elizabeth.
“I can only say I was not thinking as carefully as I should have been. I had been so anxious to see you, and then I spoke with Bingley and,” he paused to take a breath.
“No, I am making excuses. I was abominably rude. You are correct. Mr. Gardiner was my host, and your uncle and guardian. He deserved better treatment from me. I apologize.”
She watched him warily for a moment, as if she were still sketching his character. “Very well, Mr. Darcy, I accept your apology. I can understand your reasons, to an extent. Do you intend to continue in this aloof manner? Or will you make a genuine effort to get to know my Uncle Gardiner?”
He stepped closer to her, relieved to see she had uncrossed her arms and relaxed her stance. He took her hands in his and pulled her a tiny bit closer, though she was still too far away for his liking.
“I will be the opposite of aloof.” He raised her hands to his lips one at a time.
“I will make an effort to befriend your uncle. I can see it is important to you.” He knew he had said the right thing, for her shoulders lowered and her face lost its serious lines.
“I will not allow your delightful presence to distract me from what is due my hosts.”
She finally smiled at him. Something seemed to loosen around his chest and he felt tension leave his body. How had he gone entire days without her smiling at him before? It felt impossible now.
“Would you like to put that to the test?” she asked slyly.
“How do you mean?”
“Come to dinner again tonight. Show my uncle you are a good man. Show me I have not been mistaken in your character.” She added the last more somberly, and Darcy understood he had made a very grave misstep, and nearly collided with disaster.
“Yes, I will come to dinner this evening.” She smiled at him again and he could not resist placing another kiss on her hand before tucking it beneath his and continuing their walk through the park.
“That reminds me. I would like for you meet my sister while you are in town. She is currently staying with my aunt, Lady Hopewell. Will you and Miss Bennet come to dinner tomorrow evening? Mrs. Gardiner may attend as your chaperone if she likes.”
Elizabeth noticed he had neatly avoided inviting her uncle, but she understood that his aunt might have more rigid ideas about society than she had, and he had apologized very prettily. It would be petty of her to hold someone else’s guest list against him.
“Yes, I would be delighted to attend. I know Jane has no engagements. I will ask my aunt if she is free.”
Dinner that night was as different from the night before as possible.
Darcy spoke with Mrs. Gardiner of Lambton and Derbyshire.
He talked with Mr. Gardiner of fishing, a sport they both enjoyed, and he even made an effort to get to know Miss Bennet better.
She would be his sister—he ought to have made the effort before now, but he had not been thinking clearly.
In truth, he had been thinking of little but Elizabeth.
He was observant enough to notice the surprise, though it was quickly hidden, on the faces of Elizabeth’s aunt and uncle.
They clearly had expected more of his insulting behavior from the night before, and he was filled with shame that he had behaved so to his hosts and the beloved relations of the woman he hoped to call his wife.
Just before the dessert was brought out, he caught Mrs. Gardiner nodding to Elizabeth with a look of approval in her eye, and Elizabeth smiling back in relief.
He finally realized how close he had come to losing her.
The thought took his breath away for a moment.
As a wealthy man with a vast estate and in good health and looks as he was, he had never imagined he would be refused by any woman he would make his proposals to.
Yet Elizabeth had all but told him she would have done just that.
After everything they had been through, after all of the conversations and outings and all his determined wooing, after every awkward attempt to be charming he had made, the idea that he might lose her over his insufferable pride made him a little sick to his stomach.
She was worth too much to him now. He would not let her go—not for anything, and not for anyone.
“I heard you are planning a trip to The Lakes this summer and that you plan to stop in Derbyshire for some days.”
“That is right,” said Mr. Gardiner, thrown off by the sudden change of topic. They had been speaking of the Gardiners’ oldest son attending school soon.
“I would be pleased for you to stay at Pemberley while you are in the area.”
Mr. Gardiner was taken aback. “That is very generous of you, Mr. Darcy.”
“Please, call me Darcy.” He stole a glance at Elizabeth and saw she was watching them carefully.
“You may call me Gardiner.”
Mrs. Gardiner rose then to lead the ladies out and as Elizabeth passed him, she grasped his hand for a brief moment, a beguiling smile directed solely at him.
He sighed in relief. He had fixed what was wrong, and she was his again.