Chapter II #2
Unfortunately, Elizabeth, who stood nearby alongside Charlotte Lucas, was not nearly so sanguine about the Christmas party.
“The man simply will not cease following me around!” complained Elizabeth. She had been given a brief reprieve from the man’s presence only because he wished to investigate the refreshments being offered.
“He thinks we are engaged,” continued Elizabeth, “and he refuses to listen to my insistence otherwise. He pretends he can only hear every other word I am saying, so that he might twist anything I tell him to his advantage.”
“I would be willing to attempt to distract him,” offered Miss Lucas. She gave Elizabeth a small smile. “Should he care to speak with me, I could serve as a willing enough audience.”
“Mark my words, but your attempts to appeal to him shall come to naught!” said Elizabeth. “The man is a menace who can do nothing other than what he wants. And what he wants right now is to make my life as miserable as possible.”
Mrs. Gardiner shook her head in a mixture of sympathy and amusement. “Lizzy, I dare say you attribute too much purpose to his actions.”
“And I dare say I attribute too little,” countered the young woman, with perhaps more passion than sense. “He is wholly focused on me, for whatever reason, and there is nothing to be done about it.”
Despite his best attempts to turn his attention elsewhere, Mr. Darcy found his own eyes focused on Miss Elizabeth Bennet far more often than was strictly proper.
After his recent altercation with her, he felt it best to maintain some distance between them, yet he frequently found himself drifting toward her, as if drawn to her despite his will.
Miss Elizabeth’s fiery spirit was on display that evening as she thrust her hands into the air, and Darcy thought he had heard more than one mention of Mr. Collins’s name when she failed to keep the volume of her voice low.
He had heard from Bingley that Miss Elizabeth had refused the parson’s suit.
Why, then, did she seem to have his name on her tongue so often?
As Darcy considered the issue, Mr. Collins moved forward to accost Miss Elizabeth.
“My dear Miss Elizabeth,” the man could be heard saying.
Darcy heard a loud sigh from nearby and turned to locate its source.
“I beg pardon,” said Mrs. Gardiner, appearing embarrassed that he heard her exhalation. “I fear I should have been a little more conscious of my surroundings.”
“No harm has been done, Mrs. Gardiner,” said Darcy with a polite smile and a slight dip of his head.
Though they had been previously introduced, the woman seemed pleased by his use of her name, and Darcy wondered whether his reputation in the neighborhood might be worse than he had thought.
“I am actually from Lambton,” offered Mrs. Gardiner suddenly. “As such, I am familiar with the grandeur of your estate. It has been some years since I have been to Pemberley, but I dare say I have not yet seen a fairer part of England.”
The responsive smile on Mr. Darcy’s face was genuine. He loved his home, and he could sense that Mrs. Gardiner’s compliment was sincere and not merely meant to flatter. “I thank you. I would trade it for no other estate in England, for it is very dear to me.”
After the establishment of this connection, the two then began to speak warmly of common acquaintances, and as Darcy grew more comfortable, he began to speak with her more freely. Then at last, with feigned casualness, he asked Mrs. Gardiner about Mr. Collins.
Mrs. Gardiner looked over at the clergyman, who was in the midst of some sort of long-winded speech directed at Miss Elizabeth.
“I suppose there is little to be said of a positive nature, though it pains me to own it. I hope you will forgive my bluntness, but I find myself rather comfortable in talking to you. I suppose it shall not cause any harm for me to speak freely this once and advise you that Lizzy is rather miserable about him.”
Darcy started at her words—there was something about how she had spoken them that put him on edge—but then he quickly composed himself. Keeping his voice calm and level, he prompted: “Indeed?”
Mrs. Gardiner looked at him for a moment, and he wondered whether he had given away more than he ought. But she did not comment on what she had witnessed and merely told him, “As you can imagine, she is less than enthused about the notion of being the wife of such a man.”
Her mouth opened to say something more, but the approach of her husband distracted her from whatever she intended to tell him next, and the next few minutes were lost to pleasantries as Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Darcy spoke to one another.
After separating from the Gardiners, Darcy moved to an unoccupied section of the room. He felt troubled indeed by what he had heard. What could Mrs. Gardiner mean by what she had said other than that the parson had proposed once more and forced Miss Elizabeth to accept him?
What a travesty such an engagement was! Could it indeed be true? Could Mrs. Gardiner have been mistaken? How could such a well-spoken and intelligent young woman as Elizabeth Bennet ever stoop to accept such a pompous oaf as her husband?
Darcy turned the notion—which had previously seemed nigh inconceivable—over in his mind.
Certainly, he had at least a rudimentary understanding of the Bennet family’s situation.
With five unmarried daughters and an entail hanging over their heads, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet would no doubt have been tempted to marry off one of their daughters to the future master of Longbourn.
Elizabeth’s flair of impertinence, however, should have ensured that she would not ever bow to the convenience of a marriage to a man as lacking in good sense as Mr. Collins.
Unfortunately, Darcy must have been staring at Collins without realizing it, as the object of his thoughts soon locked eyes with him. Face brightening with pleasure, Collins hurried over to speak to him. Darcy considered turning away from him, but he hesitated too long.
“Ah, Mr. Darcy!” cried Collins. “How fortuitous that we might have the opportunity for discourse with one another! I recently spoke with your grand lady aunt and that most handsome of young women, her daughter, Miss de Bourgh. I must congratulate you on your future with Miss de Bourgh, as you shall no doubt be the happiest of men when that day comes on which you and Miss de Bourgh tie your families ever closer together. Lady Catherine de Bourgh has spoken at length of how it was your mother’s wish as well as your own that the pair of you join in nuptial bliss—from your very cradles, they spoke of it, and we need wait only for that happy day to come to pass. ”
Darcy had absolutely no desire to wed his cousin, but he also had no desire to engage in arguing with this buffoon of a parson. There were some men who had been born with the inability to be affected by reason, and Darcy believed Mr. Collins was one of them.
Rather than try to dissuade Mr. Collins from perpetuating the falsehood of an engagement between Darcy and his cousin, Darcy determined to guide the conversation toward Miss Elizabeth.
With another person, he might have gone about his investigation in a more subtle way, but with Mr. Collins, any subtlety would have failed to lead anywhere.
And so it was that Darcy commented nonchalantly: “I understand that something might have happened between you and Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”
Mr. Collins’s face broke into a large smile that only made the man seem more odious.
“It has indeed!” crowed he. “I am much anticipating making my dear cousin my wife. She is quite handsome, you know, and her charms will no doubt endear her to my parishioners. They will benefit from one who shall show them all the tender care already displayed by my patroness—that is, your generous and most beneficent aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. My patroness cannot help but approve of Miss Elizabeth as my wife, and I am certain when they meet, she shall laud my choice with a most gratifying exultance.”
Mr. Collins paused for a breath before continuing with a pleased look.
“It is only natural that Miss Elizabeth and I should come together, for when I inherit this estate, she shall be able to return to her dear family home, and her mother shall be able to remain in residence. I have no doubt that Miss Elizabeth’s sisters, handsome as they are, will find their own husbands ere long.
They need only a little time. The matches they make shall no doubt be inferior to that which is being made by Miss Elizabeth, but I dare say they will do well enough for themselves. ”
Darcy’s mouth felt dry, and he did not know whether he could trust his ears. Again, he found himself moving past his usual reserve into a more uncharacteristic bluntness. “You have requested her hand then?”
The clergyman’s smile only grew broader.
“Mrs. Bennet assures me that we can begin the wedding preparations after Christmas. I had rather wished to begin sooner, but Mrs. Bennet has advised that the holidays are a precious period for her family and that she requires only a little more time before she may begin.”
“I had been under the impression that Miss Elizabeth would not make a decision about marriage hastily,” said Darcy, attempting once more to gain further information from Mr. Collins.
“She required only the proper inducement,” said the man with a satisfied smile. “Young ladies these days only need to be swayed by a few delicate compliments and a man’s perseverance, you must understand.”
Darcy’s lip twitched, but he made no comment. Soon after that, he extricated himself from the other man’s presence and found a different part of the room in which to indulge in relative solitude.
For the rest of the evening, Darcy remained quiet and thoughtful, wondering how Miss Elizabeth could ever accept such a fool of a man as her future husband. He could scarcely believe it.