Chapter 18
“Darcy,” Richard said, entering his cousin’s sitting room, closing the door carefully behind him, and making his way over to the roaring fire.
Darcy chewed and swallowed a bite of rye bread as he gestured with his good hand toward the chair opposite his own. “Richard, do sit down. I apologize profusely for disappearing for dinner. I hope it was not too unpleasant.”
“It was more humorous than unpleasant. Lady Catherine was indeed in fine fettle, but she did not interrogate Georgiana about her pianoforte expertise. Instead, she spent most of dinner arranging for Mr. Collins’s marriage.”
Darcy blinked and shook his head to clear it. “Why would she care about her rector’s marriage?”
“Mr. Collins is the heir to Longbourn, and thus Lady Catherine has decided that he must marry one of the Bennet daughters, the better to mitigate the pain of losing their home when their father dies.”
Darcy’s eyes widened. “That may be a laudable plan, but the man is a fool, Richard!”
“I am well aware,” his cousin agreed, his own eyes crinkling with amusement, “but naturally our aunt does not think so. In any case, she is correct that Mr. Collins is a good match from a financial perspective. She thought Miss Bennet should marry her cousin, but Mr. Bingley quickly disabused her. Then Mr. Collins suggested Miss Elizabeth as an appropriate bride.”
“Miss Elizabeth!” Darcy asked, horrified. “She could not marry such a ridiculous idiot. She would not!”
Richard’s eyebrows twitched up, and the man grinned knowingly. “You have strong views on that matter, I see. You must see that it could be a great advantage to Miss Elizabeth.”
Darcy cringed in horror, but as he took a deep breath to express his outrage at the mere suggestion, Richard interjected, “I assure you that Bingley has similar views, and successfully discouraged our aunt by describing the lady as high spirited, attached to finery, and addicted to reading novels. He also made a point of his willingness to support all of Miss Bennet’s female relations when their father dies. ”
Darcy, whose heart had been beating rapidly, sat back in relief and said, “Was Lady Catherine convinced by Bingley’s arguments?”
“She was, surprisingly. Bingley handled her with rare skill. Now Mr. Collins is preparing to offer marriage to the third Bennet daughter, a Miss Mary. Whether he will succeed remains to be seen, but Miss Elizabeth is saved, anyway.”
“She would never have accepted him,” Darcy said with certainty.
“Based on my admittedly limited knowledge of the lady, I am certain you are correct. A woman who walks three miles to succor a sick sister, a woman with the energy and vigor to rise early and stride along the paths of her father’s estate, would not relish being under the thumb of Lady Catherine.”
Darcy swallowed hard, aware of the message in his cousin’s words.
“It would be fatal if it came out that it was Miss Elizabeth who was attacked by Wickham,” he said in a hushed voice.
“I am well aware,” Richard answered, equally quietly. “You are certain she is safe? No one knows of her involvement?”
“Her father and uncle, who is the local coroner, know. I know and now you know. Yes, she will be safe. If I am asked a question at the inquest that would reveal her presence, I will refuse to answer.”
“Surely not! That would lay you open to possibly being charged with murder!”
“I will take that chance. I think it unlikely that it will come to that, especially with the coroner on my side.”
Richard peered in amazement at his cousin, whose face was set with grim determination.
“You are taking a great risk for this woman,” the colonel said seriously.
“It is quite possible I owe her my life. When Wickham stabbed me in the arm, I retreated and told Miss Elizabeth to run for safety. Instead, she picked up a branch and hit Wickham on the side of the head, which knocked him against Phoenix. You know the rest.”
Richard’s jaw dropped and it took him a moment to recover sufficiently to say, “What a redoubtable, courageous lady! Of course, it could be successfully argued that you saved her as well, because you did. Wickham would have been too strong for her to fend off alone.”
“We saved each other,” Darcy said calmly, though the set of his face showed far stronger emotion than was common in the master of Pemberley.
“Do you love Miss Elizabeth?” Richard asked boldly.
Silence fell as Darcy looked down at the crimson and blue patterned rug under his feet.
“I believe I do,” he finally rasped, “but what of Anne?”
“It was quite obvious from your argument with Lady Catherine a few hours ago that you have no intention of marrying our cousin. Have you changed your mind?”
Darcy looked up in shock. “You overheard our argument? Where were you?”
“Anne, Georgiana, and I were in the parlor next to the vestibule. We did not hear the entirety of your argument, but Lady Catherine was bellowing at you as you left the drawing room, and we could all hear your firm refusal to marry her daughter.”
Darcy winced. “Anne overheard that?”
“She did. She was overjoyed.”
Darcy stared in disbelief. “Overjoyed?”
“Indeed,” Richard returned and then found himself laughing at the shocked expression on the other man’s face. “Really, Darcy, you may be wealthy and well connected, but so is Anne. Is it so unbelievable that she has no wish to marry you?”
“It is, I confess. I always assumed...”
“That Anne agreed with Lady Catherine about your so called cradle engagement? She does not, though she admitted that she does not have the strength to resist her mother’s orders.
Thus, she is pinning her hopes on your continued refusal.
Anne does not dislike you, Darcy, but she is not romantically inclined toward you either; furthermore, her health is sufficiently indifferent that she might not be able to safely bear a child. ”
“That is true. Indeed, I am concerned about that very issue. Of course, if Lady Catherine ever accepts my decision, she will likely arrange for Anne to marry another.”
“Oh, I have taken care of that,” Richard informed his cousin, an amused smile hovering on his lips.
“You have? How?”
The colonel waved a casual hand and said, “I have convinced Lady Catherine that Anne should accompany me back to London soon, and I promised Anne that my mother and I will protect her from unwanted suitors. But enough of that for now. What about Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Darcy?”
Darcy bit his lip hard enough to hurt, and then rose to his feet and began to pace up and down the sitting room floor.
“She is not well connected, nor is her family wealthy. But I ... I have been fighting my attraction to her for many weeks now. Indeed, I planned to leave Netherfield the day that Wickham attacked me; I convinced myself that it was to remove Bingley from Miss Bennet’s presence, as I was certain the lady did not care for him.
I realize I was wrong about that. But I know now that I intended to flee Hertfordshire to get away from Miss Elizabeth, who has entirely bewitched me.
But do I not owe it to Georgiana to marry a woman who can pave her way into society? ”
Richard stared at his cousin in wonder. He had never heard Darcy express genuine romantic attraction toward a woman. He forced himself to breathe deeply for a full minute in contemplation before he spoke again.
“As for Georgiana, I do not believe you need concern yourself about her coming out. My mother is a gregarious, social, very well connected woman, as you know, and she can obtain vouchers for Almack’s and the like.
I am more concerned about two other matters.
Firstly, would Georgiana like Miss Elizabeth? ”
“She would,” Darcy said confidently, sitting back down on his chair.
“She already does. Mr. Bennet, Miss Bennet, and Miss Elizabeth visited us while you were speaking to Colonel Forster. I have never seen my sister blossom so quickly in the presence of new acquaintances. Both of the eldest Miss Bennets did a marvelous job of including Georgie in their conversation without making her uncomfortable.”
“That is indeed both remarkable and encouraging. Now as to the second issue – if you marry Miss Elizabeth, can you set aside her low connections and lack of fortune? It would hardly be fair to the lady for you to look down on her for what she cannot help.”
Darcy absently laced his fingers together and was rewarded by a jolt of pain from his arm. He would be thankful when his injury was fully healed.
“That ... is a good question, Richard. It is not merely the Bennets’ connections which are wanting, but their behavior.
Not Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth – they are uniformly charming.
But Mrs. Bennet is a vulgar woman, a daughter of a local solicitor, and the younger two girls are entirely out of control.
They chase officers and drink too much at parties. ”
“What of Mr. Bennet? He seems an intelligent man. Why does he not take his womenfolk in hand?”
Darcy snorted and said, “I think it more laziness than anything else. Yes, he is very well read, but he seems content to laugh at his daughters more than keep them in check.”
“That is unfortunate and, I confess, surprising. He seemed genuinely fond of Miss Elizabeth.”
“I am certain he is; she is his favorite daughter, which is no surprise as she shares his intelligence and wit. In any case, you are quite right; I should not offer for Miss Elizabeth if I cannot set aside my prejudice against her family.”
“Do you believe that to be possible?” Richard asked bluntly.
Darcy ran his right hand over his face, being careful not to move his left arm in the process.
“Perhaps? Bingley pointed out that in her own way, Lady Catherine is also completely absurd, with her belief that she has the God given right to order the lives of all those around her. She is not vulgar, like Mrs. Bennet, but she is neither kind nor sensible.”
“Nor particularly intelligent,” Richard agreed drily, rising to his feet. “Well, I promised I would speak to Georgiana about your arm before she retires, so I had best do that now.”
“I will come with you,” Darcy answered, also standing up. “I would not want her to be alarmed.”
Richard Fitzwilliam nodded and opened the door, with Darcy following at his heels.
The colonel found himself deep in thought; on the one hand, Miss Elizabeth would be a most unusual bride for his cousin, and there would be cries of outrage from the noble members of the family.
On the other hand, Darcy was a very intelligent man, and he would thrive with an unusually clever wife.
Darcy too was deep in thought. His heart pulled him toward Elizabeth, but Richard was correct – he owed it to the lady to be certain he could accept her family along with her winsome self.
Another grim thought occurred to him as he reached Georgiana’s sitting room; if he did stand trial for murdering Wickham, the Bennets would have every reason to stay far away from him. Indeed, he would be tainted by a scandal which would send any reasonable gentlewoman running.