Accept No Evil （First Person） #4
I had no idea what he meant by that, but it sounded an awful lot like a challenge to a duel. The colonel stood up straighter and gave a malevolent stare. “This is not your business.”
Mr Darcy seemed unperturbed. “You accosted my friend, whom I like and respect enormously, whom I consider under my protection, on your own aunt’s estate! This is very much my business! Make your choice, Fitzwilliam! Make it now!”
The colonel sneered. “Let us settle it now then.”
With that, a scene began that I can scarcely describe.
The colonel came at Mr Darcy like a madman, and that gentleman, not looking mad in the least, stepped aside every punch, then landed one of his own.
Each swing by Mr Darcy either found a spot previously injured or a fresh target.
The encounter went on for what seemed minutes or hours, yet Mr Darcy remained the soul of discretion.
That is not to say the colonel was unskilled, or Mr Darcy untouched.
The colonel landed punches and kicks that surely would be Mr Darcy’s end, such was the violence, yet I could not fathom why I did not run screaming.
Both men were battered, bruised, and clearly injured internally.
Mr Darcy’s left eye was alarmingly black and half-shut; the colonel’s nose was broken, bruises blooming across his face to accompany my scratch marks, which bled over his uniform.
Both men sweated like lathered racehorses, both slowed, and both seemed ready to kill.
On it went. Punch after punch, kick after kick, the colonel growing angrier while Mr Darcy became calmer.
Mr Darcy eventually tired of the game, and simply started hitting the colonel so fast the man could not react.
His veneer of calmness gone, I thought he might kill the colonel.
I broke from my stupor as the colonel fell with no chance of rising, and Mr Darcy leaned down to deliver the final blow.
My hand on his arm stopped the swing, though it took moments before he was master of himself again.
I had seen the violence raging within him, but rather than being frightened, I was comforted.
This man would never do violence on an innocent, nor allow it while he breathed.
I could add ‘tough as shoe leather’ to ‘abominably handsome’ when describing him.
At that moment, he was my favourite man in the world.
He turned to me. “Miss Bennet, you have seen the gardeners and the groomsmen. I doubt we can contain this.”
“Yes sir, I know. I thank you for coming to my defence. I will not marry him, for I would feel obliged to cut his throat on the wedding night. My sisters and I must accustom ourselves to scandal. It cannot be avoided.”
Mr Darcy looked at the gardeners. “You there! Drag this man back to Rosings and put him under lock and key. He speaks with no one but me. Guard the room until I arrive, and you will talk to nobody! Not a single soul! Am I rightly understood?”
Both gardeners realised they should have made themselves scarce long ago, and neither wished to be any farther in Mr Darcy’s bad graces.
Both simply gave him a knuckle and reached down to do exactly as directed, picking the colonel up none too gently by arms and legs.
A few others had come to watch the excitement, but a glance sent them scurrying like rats from a sinking ship.
There was little point in making a further scene.
Mr Darcy turned back to me, continuing as if the interruption had never occurred.
“Miss Bennet, I fear I made a bad situation worse. I lost all self-control, and you saw the results. Much of the damage to your reputation is my fault, so I will not allow you to shoulder the consequences. This is the second time I have allowed a wolf free rein to prey on the Bennet sisters. Last time your sister took care of things; this time I will.”
“Mr Darcy, I feel you take too much upon yourself. Had you any indication at all that the colonel would act in such a way?”
Mr Darcy’s reserve of strength seemed ready to crack.
“No, I had no idea. My aunt suggested she would make him her heir, and he seems to have snapped. I know not whether this lay hidden beneath the veneer, was generated by the battlefield, or was always his nature. Either way, I brought him here, and he is my responsibility.”
“As I said, we shall endure. I have no doubt you and your aunt will do whatever you can to help us, and we will survive the episode. Lizzy never expected to wed. Mary and Longbourn are secure. My younger sisters should not even be out, so they can bide their time for a few years. All will be well.”
Mr Darcy looked at me intently, at least with the one eye that was not swollen shut.
“You, your sisters, and your parents would all be materially affected by a scandal, and you can see how many people have had at least a glimpse of what happened here. I will not have you married to my cousin, but I would like to offer you my hand in marriage. We will still endure some scandal, but most of it will go away nearly immediately if a marriage is announced quickly, and the appropriate rumours are circulated to explain the altercation. I know you well enough to believe that we will get along perfectly well, as I already consider you a close friend. I shall give you all the love, honour, and respect that is due a man’s wife.
I realise I am not the man you would choose, but I offer this freely and with a glad heart.
We can be happy, or at least content together.
All I ask is that you give me an heir, and as much of your heart as you can; and I will offer the same. ”
I stared at him, unable to think of anything to say.
I was not deceived that he had been in love with me for months and used this opportunity to obtain my hand.
There was every chance he wanted a Bennet sister, but little that he wanted this Bennet sister—and yet he prepared to go forward.
I had no doubt of the outcome. We would be happy.
We were both peaceful, honourable people.
I knew enough to understand that time shared (and I blushed to think that would include the marriage bed), could bring people together.
A shared life, shared responsibilities, and children could do what affection had not…
after the wedding. If we allowed ourselves the chance to love, we could learn to do so; it would not be difficult.
Marrying the best man I knew could be no hardship.
It would be a particularly good answer for me, and likely not so bad an answer for him, considering he was short of heirs and making no progress towards resolving the lack. It was the perfect answer.
I nearly agreed on the spot. The answer was on the tip of my tongue, nearly falling from my mouth… and yet… I needed to know something.
“I appreciate the honour of your address, and believe me when I assert that you are the best man I know. I believe we could be very happy. We could be the couple everyone envies! However, my honour demands I ask a question. Will you entertain it before I give my answer?”
He nodded.
“I know you try to do what you think best for me, but I am not convinced this is the only alternative you considered. Have you other solutions that might solve the scandal without the offer of your own hand, sir?”
He stared for a moment, seeming to take my measure.
One never knows if one reads a person correctly, or simply places one’s own wishes and ambitions upon their countenance, but I liked to believe the answer made him respect me a bit more.
I had no doubt he already liked and respected me, or he would have found some alternative, but this answer made him… not happy, but perhaps… content.
His answer was what I expected. “I believe you could have the same effect marrying nearly any man of means, so long as we manage the story the gardeners spread tonight, but the decision must be made quickly. If the gardeners believe I protected either my intended or a closely aligned woman, nearly all the shame will go where it belongs. Those men will spread any story I ask, and whatever the other men spreads will not stand up.”
He took a deep breath, looking carefully to judge how I heard this.
“I could name three or four men I know very well, who are honourable and worthy, in want of a wife, but also in need of fortune. Most try to recover from the profligacy of fathers or elder brothers, and to do their best for their estates and dependents. I would not shackle you with a fortune hunter, but if you are willing to trust me, I believe I could find you someone suitable who is decisive enough to do what needs doing quickly. Any would take my word on your good qualities, and with your dowry would be willing to enter a marriage immediately, and allow a not quite accurate rumour of the engagement date to stand.”
“I have no dowry. You likely do not know that, but it is so insignificant as to be non-existent.”
“You do now,” he stated definitively.
The matter-of-fact statement made me gasp.
He had just offered me his entire life. Offering a sum of money was a trifle by comparison, yet loaded with meaning.
That he had not offered money first told me even more of his character.
The gentleman had already calculated he could likely solve the problem of my reputation by expending gold upon it, a sum he would not miss; yet he had chosen the route he judged best for me.
He knew I esteemed him, but had no idea how I felt about anyone else, so he offered the safest route lest I feel pressured to an unsuitable match.
He thought these other men would treat me well, but knew he would himself.
He offered the only answer where he could be certain of my future husband’s good behaviour. I admired him more than ever.
“Might you tell me of these men? Do I know any?”
I knew the answer before he spoke. In fact, I must have known it before I even asked.