Book Room
He was reminded of something his father liked to say.
The acorn does not fall far from the tree Fitzwilliam, but you should keep in mind that a tree can have a pleasant orchard on one side and a steep ravine on the other; topsoil on one side and rock on the other.
You can usually see the echoes of both parents in the child, no matter how wildly divergent siblings may appear, but as with everything, try not to read too much into it.
A lot depends on which ground the acorn falls on, and how it is nourished.
His thoughts drifted to a particularly intense discussion he had shared with Miss Elizabeth at Netherfield about literature.
During the more heated part of the discussion—which Bingley asserted was more argument than debate—he had, for the first time, begun to appreciate the finer qualities of his antagonist. He reluctantly admitted she was a worthier opponent than anyone else he knew, man or woman.
He would never admit it to anybody else, but she had bested him in the end.
Certainly, he had long abandoned his initial hare-brained idea that she was not handsome enough to tempt him.
Oooohhhh Nooooo… by the time she appeared at Netherfield with all the features Miss Bingley disdained but he found enchanting, her handsomeness was not in question.
By then, he quite agreed with Bingley, and for a moment indulged in remembering the smiling and happy man his friend had been before Darcy persuaded him to abandon Jane Bennet.
Bingley had said, rather emphatically, “Your picture may be very exact, Louisa, but this was all lost upon me. I thought Miss Elizabeth Bennet looked remarkably well when she came into the room this morning. Her dirty petticoat quite escaped my notice.”
No, her handsomeness was not in question. After a few days watching her toy with Caroline Bingley—and honestly, probably with himself—her wit, her politeness, and her social graces were also not in question.
That day in the drawing room however, when he had the temerity to contradict a deeply held opinion, the daggers were drawn.
At the end of it, he did not know if Miss Bennet wanted to kill him or keep him for further study, but she was certainly a force to be reckoned with.
That was the day he began to suspect he might be beyond his depth.
“Pick your poison, sir. Port? Sherry? Brandy?”
Darcy halted his introspection and looked at Miss Elizabeth’s father, detecting a twinkle in the older man's eye that was all too familiar. Here, obviously, was the root.
“Brandy, if you please. It has been—”
Mr Bennet laughed heartily. “You appeared without notice at my door after five months, with two ladies and a maid in tow, one of whom is my usually quite pliable daughter but orders you about like a manservant, and one of whom is a maid who treats you like a big brother. I would say brandy is absolutely called for, and we are half an inch from laudanum.”
Darcy nodded, and the gentlemen deferred whatever battle they were to engage long enough to be polite and gird their loins.
For a few minutes, Darcy examined the titles he had read at one time or another, somewhat dismayed to find them a small part of the collection while he sipped his brandy. Whatever faults Mr Bennet might have, lack of scholarship was not among them.
Finally, he said, “I imagine you would like an answer to your question.”
Bennet sipped his brandy and regarded the young man over his glass, trying to take his measure.
Based on their interactions thus far, he had to assume the man was a twin, and the man from the previous autumn was the malevolent one.
He had somehow lost the rough edge that had grated so thoroughly against the Meryton populace in general, and Elizabeth in particular.
“Eventually,” he replied laconically. “Before we get into specifics though, may I ask you a question?”
“Of course. I am at your disposal.”
“Will I be unhappy when we are done speaking?”
“Almost certainly.”
“How unhappy?”
“Very.”
“Shall I be unhappy six months or a year from now?”
“I hope not, and I shall do everything in my power to prevent that, but I can make no promises.”
“Is there any action that you or I should take immediately that could mitigate any of this?”
“None, sir. If I knew what to do, I would be doing it.”
“Do you believe my Lizzy to be in any immediate danger?”
“No sir. What little I have heard suggests the opposite.”
Mr Bennet nodded and sipped more brandy. “I am a procrastinator of the worst order, and you look a bit nervous. Shall we continue our discussion over the chessboard?”
“It will be my pleasure.”
“Unless you are very skilled, that may prove optimistic.”
Two hours later, Darcy had lost decisively, but he had told the entire story—from the ignominious beginning to the mortifying proposal, Elizabeth’s subsequent flight, and his entire encounter with the horsewomen.
On a normal day, he might be evenly matched with Mr Bennet, and looked forward to a rematch—but that day, he had been thoroughly bested.
Bennet picked up a tobacco pouch lying near the chessboard, tamped his pipe, took a brand from the fire, and lit it, thinking furiously.
“That is quite a story. Funny, I would not have expected Jane to bring you to heel.”
“She did not do it alone, but she very well could have. There is more strength in her than meets the eye.”
Bennet went to his desk and retrieved a letter.
“What do you think of this? It seems my Lizzy can lie with the best of them—without being unfactual.”
Darcy examined the letter. “A red herring if I ever saw one. The way she specified her location she could be anywhere from Bedfordshire to Scotland. Her hosts could be anything from a shopkeeper to a banker.”
Mr Bennet laughed. “And look at the atrocious writing on the direction. She obviously had this ‘Margaret’ write it just to put me off the scent.”
“My theory, which my cousins agree with, is that she is running out the calendar. With two awful proposals in four months, she wants to get on the other side of her majority. I admire her very much for her courage and only repine that I made it necessary. It was very clever.”
“So, is she almost as clever as you are?”
“Reverse the question and you will be on the right track.”
“She will certainly keep you on your toes,” Bennet said with a chuckle.
“Yes, if I can ever find her, and if she will give me another chance. I have not earned it, but I shall ask all the same.” He lowered his gaze in shame. “I can do better. Much better!”
Bennet relit his pipe and smoked in silence for a few minutes. “Tell me—all that folderol about her acceptance in your society—is it a valid concern? I will not see my Lizzy put upon by the jackals in London.”
Darcy gave a grim chuckle. “That is the stupidest part of the whole thing. If I take her into society for a month, it will happily cast me aside and keep her.”
“Well said. She needs a man like you. And you need a woman like her.”
“Not a woman like her. I need her!”
“Even better said! I will make you a bargain.”
Darcy was not certain he wanted to enter a bargain with unknown conditions, but if he proposed this gentleman as a father-in-law for the rest of his life, he thought it would behove him to trust the man.
“Yes sir.”
“Lizzy will make her own decision, in her own time, and for her own reasons. She told you I stood by her when my idiot cousin proposed?”
“She did not, but Ja—err, Miss Bennet told me.”
Bennet chuckled at the near miss. “What Jane does not know is that I had no choice.
Had I approved the match, she would have walked out that door right there, and I would not have seen hide nor hair of her until her majority.
Nobody makes her do anything she does not want to.
Her mother thinks to wear her down, but she would have better luck stopping the tide. Stubborn girl, my Lizzy. “
“Is that a benefit or drawback?”
“Like most things in life, it is neither or both—depending on circumstances.”
Darcy nodded. Mr Bennet continued. “If you find her, try to remember you need balance. Apologise for whatever offences you have committed, but do not grovel. She despises weakness more than bad manners. Offer rational explanations for your thinking, before and after the proposal. Paint a picture of what your marriage would be like. Show her that you respect her, and you need her. Let her ask as many questions as she wishes and give her honest answers. Do not delude yourself that you can fool her.”
“That is exceptional advice. I shall follow it to the best of my ability.”
“Like as not, the way these things work out, you will meet her somewhere away from here. It is my belief that my daughter’s fate—or that of any of my daughters once they are of marriageable age—should be by their own choice.
If Lizzy accepts you, then you have both my consent and blessing; though neither will be necessary in a few weeks. ”
“I thank you.”
“Enough of that. May I presume Jane brought you here to repair your reputation?”
“You surmised as much?”
“I merely state the obvious.”
“Yes sir. There is, however, another matter of some urgency I must address. There is a man in town who preys on young ladies and incurs debts he cannot pay. To my shame, I knew he was here before I left in November and did nothing. It is time I dealt with him definitively.”
“Why did you not act?” Bennet asked with a frown, though he had little room to criticise a man for indolence.
“He holds… certain leverage.”
“And you still propose to proceed?”
“Yes. My courtship of Miss Elizabeth, should it ever be known, would expose your other daughters to danger. I will of course protect all of them as my sisters should Elizabeth accept my suit, but it would be best to have the threat removed in the first place.”
“How do you propose to do that?”
Darcy exhaled slowly. “I have given Mr Wickham chance after chance after chance, and others pay for my negligence. I will give him a choice. He is for the Navy, never to return to England on pain of death; or I have enough vowels to send him to debtors' prison for the rest of his short, miserable life. As for the leverage, I will inform him that one wrong word will compel me to tell my cousin where he is, which would almost certainly end in an ignominious death. I believe he will see the benefits of the King’s Shilling.”
Mr Bennet’s brows rose. “Well, if that needs doing, you had best get to it. By now, he knows you are here. Shall we ride out and see the deed done?”
“You will help?”
“Of course!”
“I shall also need you to obtain an accurate accounting of any debts he has incurred with local merchants. I will pay a portion of them, but I would rather not be cheated, and the temptation will be great.”
“Let us set to it, then.”
As the men rose and donned their coats, Mr Bennet said, “By the by, there is an assembly in about a fortnight. We should buy tickets for your party while we are at it.”