Chapter 2 #2
She tilted her head in genuine astonishment.
“Why are you so surprised, Mr. Darcy? Mr. Collins is the heir to Longbourn, and naturally my parents wish to keep the estate within the family. From a practical standpoint, it is as reasonable a union as the engagement between yourself and your cousin, Miss de Bourgh.”
He looked taken aback at her statement and said, “I am not engaged to … but it matters not. Mr. Collins is an absolute fool, and you are an intelligent and vivacious young lady. You would hate being his wife.”
She stared at him with incredulity at these blunt words.
No one in her immediate family had understood her feelings entirely, not even her beloved Jane.
Or perhaps Jane did understand but had been too timid to speak against their father.
And here, this man whom she had formerly despised was incisively declaring the truth.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I would hate being his wife. I would hate it with every fiber of my being.”
Darcy startled her by rising to his feet, and she watched as he began pacing, his brow jutting forward.
He made four turns up and down the floor before halting and saying, “It is not just Mr. Collins, Miss Bennet. He would tempt you toward insanity, but my aunt would push you right over the edge into madness.”
This was so unexpected that she found herself genuinely smiling for the first time that day. “Lady Catherine de Bourgh? Your aunt? She would drive me mad?”
“She would,” Darcy said with a sigh, and walked over to sit down again.
“I respect my aunt because she is my mother’s sister, but she is an overbearing woman who believes herself to be wiser and more intelligent than everyone around her, when in fact she is very much like any other woman in England.
It is only her position in life as the daughter of an earl and the wife of a wealthy baronet that has permitted her to oversee so many people. ”
“Until today, I would have used those words to describe you, Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth said. This was, she knew, not courteous in the least, but she was beyond courtesy.
He looked shocked, and then a reluctant grin graced that handsome face.
“That is legitimate,” he said. “I did not realize that I was behaving so poorly during my time in Hertfordshire, but I see that I was. But tell me, please, what is your plan? Will you be visiting your relations in Cheapside, perhaps?”
She was vaguely surprised that he remembered that the Gardiners lived in Cheapside, but she shook her head and said, “No. I considered them, but I have not yet reached my majority, and the first place my father will look is my aunt and uncle.”
He frowned at her. “Then where will you go?”
That simple question made the tears rise to her eyes again, and she dabbed them with the handkerchief given her by Darcy.
“I have been saving my allowance to purchase gifts for Christmas, and that is enough for me to stay in a boarding house for at least a few weeks while I try to determine what to do.”
He stared at her with an appalled expression on his face. “A boarding house? For a lady alone? You cannot be serious!”
“Where else will I go?” she cried out. “I have no relations outside the Gardiners and no friends with whom I can find shelter. I am astonished at your view that marrying my cousin would be a catastrophe, but you must comprehend that very few will support me in this matter. Indeed, when I think of our situation, with no dowries for me and my sisters, and the estate entailed away, I do understand why my parents would demand this of me … but I cannot do it. I cannot!”
“Of course you cannot,” Darcy said.
She swallowed hard, stood up, and said, “Given that you sympathize with my plight, I hope I can trust you not to tell my family or anyone else about our encounter here today?”
“I will not tell anyone, no,” Darcy said as he rose to his feet as well, “but Miss Bennet, while I know I have not shown it at all in the past weeks, I find you an admirable young lady, and I would not be able to sleep if I allowed you to go off on your own to some questionable living situation.”
She felt her heart seize in her chest, and she whispered, “Mr. Darcy, please, I beg you…”
He lifted a staying hand and said, “I have an elderly aunt on my father’s side, Mrs. Amelia Gregson, who lives retired in London. She is lonely and would appreciate a companion. Would you be willing to live with her for a time?”
She blinked at him and was suddenly aware that her mouth was gaping open unbecomingly.
“Your aunt,” she repeated in a confused tone and forced her mouth to close.
“My great-aunt, actually,” he said. “She is seventy years of age but still very intelligent, and I know she is lonely. She would greatly enjoy your company.”
She shook her head. “Why would you, of all people…”
“I know the weight of family expectations, Miss Bennet,” Darcy said gravely.
“I lost my father five years ago and took on the responsibility of not only the estate but also my much younger sister. I cannot imagine being forced into an unwanted marriage … but I suppose that is not completely true. My aunt, Lady Catherine, wishes for me to marry my cousin Anne, and I am not inclined to do so. But the reality is that as a man, I can simply choose not to offer, and my decision cannot be gainsaid easily. You, as a young woman, not yet one and twenty and still under the authority of your father, are not nearly as independent, and yet you have the courage to reject a miserable marriage. I admire you very much.”
She swallowed hard and then lifted a hand to pinch her other hand. This could not really be happening, could it? Maybe she was in bed at Longbourn and had dreamed the entire nightmarish situation.
She winced from the pain of the pinch. It was all too real.
“Please?” Darcy asked.
She sighed. If need be, she could find somewhere else to go if it proved to be intolerable, and perhaps Mrs. Gregson would be pleasant enough.
“Very well,” she replied. “Thank you.”