by Bella Breen
Col. Fitzwilliam fell backwards into his chair. “You truly told her about her low connections? The behavior of her family?”
“Of course I did! She had to know how much she meant to me. I could not get her out of my mind. It was a romantic marriage proposal and she not only turned me down but insulted me in the process.” Mr. Darcy drank his brandy.
Col. Fitzwilliam also took a healthy drink. Good God, his cousin was the most intelligent man he knew, but he was a complete dolt. “Darcy, do you perhaps think that maybe she was not flattered by that proposal? That by telling her of her inferior family connections and their lack of decorum, it caused her to be angry?”
Mr. Darcy turned around with a glare. “It was the truth. Should I have lied to her? Should I have told her that I was happy to be married to her, to be related to her sisters that showed no propriety at all? To have as a mother-in-law a woman with little brain and less tact?”
Col. Fitzwilliam took a deep breath. He could not imagine anyone messing up a marriage proposal worse than Darcy had. “So, what happened then?”
“She proceeded to tell me of everything she disliked about me. She even told me that I had ruined the future happiness of George Wickham! You know as well as I do that is nothing but lies. Lies that George Wickham has spread and that Miss Elizabeth believed.”
Col. Fitzwilliam flattened his lips as he remembered what had almost happened to his cousin Georgiana Darcy. There was nothing too bad that could happen to George Wickham because of that. And if he spread lies about Mr. Darcy’s involvement, he surely told a very different story than what actually happened. “You will have to set her straight on that account.”
“I had thoughts of telling her in person but realized that could lead to another argument. I had planned to write her a letter when she fell in front of me and this mess occurred.”
To be forced to marry Elizabeth Bennet? Col. Fitzwilliam would not mind that. His cousin got all the luck. He drank the rest of his brandy and stood to pour himself some more. “So, she turned you down because of how you supposedly ruined George Wickham’s life?”
“Not just that. She also claimed, and quite rightly, that I had taken Mr. Bingley away from her older sister. I had thought that Miss Bennet had shown no more favor to my friend than any other man. It turns out that I was wrong, according to Miss Elizabeth. If what she said was true, then I did make a horrible error in judgment.”
Col. Fitzwilliam groaned. He remembered Darcy telling him about how he had saved his friend from a bad relationship. Oh God, Darcy. Col. Fitzwilliam drank his brandy. “Well, what are you going to do now? You did offer for her, did you not?” Considering how angry his cousin was at Miss Elizabeth, he was not sure that Darcy had indeed done what propriety dictated.
“Of course I did!”
Col. Fitzwilliam spread his hands out in a placating gesture, then sat back in his chair. Egad. That marriage was going to be a horror. He felt bad for his cousin as he knew how much Darcy loved to stay at home. But with an angry wife, Darcy needed to find hobbies out of the house pretty quickly.
“Could you change what you did regarding your friend Bingley and Miss Elizabeth’s sister? That would help Miss Elizabeth to not be so angry with you.”
“I have to. I have erred and caused, according to Elizabeth, tremendous harm to Miss Bennet. I guess I will find out how much harm I caused my friend when I tell him.”
Col. Fitzwilliam could not help but notice that his cousin had spat out the name Elizabeth as if he hated to say it. Hopefully Darcy would come down from his anger, because he had to marry Miss Elizabeth probably sooner rather than later.
“What are you going to tell our aunt?”
Mr. Darcy shook his head. “I do not know. I need to tell her soon as the gossip will be running through Hunsford. I need to come to terms with it first though.”
Col. Fitzwilliam nodded. What a mess.
Chapter 5
Lady Catherine de Bourgh focused on Mr. Collins. “Say again, who were the women that were with you?”
Mr. Collins was happy to be of use. “Mrs. White and Mrs. Wimbley. You may know them as—”
“What did they do when you came here? Where did they go?”
Mr. Collins leaned away from Lady Catherine. “I do not know. I hastened to tell you the news as soon as possible.”
Lady Catherine stood and walked towards the doorway. “Do not share this news with anyone. I will determine when it is the correct time to do so. You must excuse me.” They were dismissed without a backward glance.
Mrs. Collins sighed, but this was how Lady Catherine behaved to those far beneath her. Mr. Collins slowly stood, still confused as to how things had turned out. It was not what he had expected. Charlotte stood and motioned for her younger sister to stand as well. Mrs. Collins held her husband’s arm, curtsied to Miss de Bourgh, then quit the room to walk to the parsonage.
Usually Lady Catherine would call a carriage for them to ride back to the parsonage, especially if it was dark. Since this was still the afternoon however, and since Lady Catherine’s mind seemed to be elsewhere, they walked back.
Charlotte did not ask anything of her husband about what he had seen, because he probably did not care. Charlotte cared very much though. Elizabeth was her very good friend. She could not imagine how she was feeling at this moment, for Charlotte knew how much Elizabeth detested Mr. Darcy. And to be forced to marry him? Charlotte shook her head and picked up her pace.
They reached the parsonage quickly. Charlotte went up the stairs and knocked on the closed door of Elizabeth’s room. “Elizabeth? It is Charlotte. Can I come in?”
“Yes.”
Charlotte could not tell how Elizabeth was feeling by just that one word. She entered the room and closed the door, hoping that would keep her husband from being nosy. “How are you feeling? I heard you had a fall.”
There were bandages on Elizabeth’s hands. She was already in her nightgown and under the covers, which was very unlike Elizabeth. “I have had better days.”
Finally Elizabeth turned her head to look at Charlotte, then burst into tears. Charlotte sat on the edge of the bed and held Elizabeth.
“Charlotte, you have no idea what happened. I am so upset! I am so angry at that man.”
Charlotte rubbed Elizabeth’s back. “Elizabeth, I realize that you do not like him, but what can you do? I understand you were compromised. He did what he had to do for propriety. Truly there are far worse men that—”
“Oh Charlotte, you have no idea what happened after you left to go to Rosings Park. You have no idea.” Elizabeth’s voice ended on a groan.
Truly, there was something in the story that Charlotte was missing. “What do you mean? I heard you were out walking on the grounds of Rosings, then fell and Mr. Darcy came upon you and helped set you to rights.”
Elizabeth shook her head and leaned back. Charlotte was surprised at Elizabeth’s countenance. Her face was pale, her eyes were red, and tears stained her face. She looked forlorn. Seeing Elizabeth without hope was unsettling.
“You left to go to Rosings, and I stayed here with a headache, but Mr. Darcy came to see me. He proposed marriage.”
Charlotte gasped. “But then that is wonderful. He cares for you!”
Elizabeth shook her head. “He said that he could not stop thinking of me even though I had low connections and impropriety in my family. Against all that he still wanted to offer me marriage. As if I would be honored by that?”
Oh, no. Oh dear. Charlotte could now see what the problem was, and it was horrible indeed.
“And I had just heard earlier in the day from his cousin Col. Fitzwilliam that Mr. Darcy had ruined the relationship of Mr. Bingley and Jane. That he had told Mr. Bingley that Jane did not love him! Mr. Darcy did not deny it when I told him so.”
“You told him this after his marriage proposal?”
“Yes I did. I told him that there was no way I could accept his proposal after his impinging my family to
my face and ruining Jane’s happiness. Not only that, but there is a soldier that had recently come to Meryton, George Wickham. He also told me of how Mr. Darcy lied and ruined his future as well. He is not a good man, Charlotte, and I am forced to marry him.”
Charlotte eyed her good friend. When Elizabeth got worked up, she was hard to reason with. But Charlotte had to try. “Did Mr. Darcy tell you anything about this George Wickham? Perhaps he is not telling the true story?”
“How could he not be telling the true story? He seemed quite honorable.”
“Elizabeth, you just told me that Mr. Darcy had guessed wrong about Jane’s feelings for Mr. Bingley. That could not be the only thing that is incorrect here. I think you should let Mr. Darcy explain. You do not want to start your marriage having this between you.”
Elizabeth groaned. “Marriage! If there were any way I could get out of it without ruining the reputation of my sisters, I certainly would. I cannot stand to be married to that man.” Elizabeth lay back down on the bed, wiping her face to dry her tears.
Charlotte pursed her lips. This did not bode well for that marriage. Elizabeth was headstrong and quick to anger, but fiercely caring and loving. She would be a wonderful wife. But only if she could find out that Mr. Darcy had not acted out of malevolence, but of concern and care. And she hoped dearly that the story of George Wickham was incorrect and he had lied to Elizabeth. And she hoped indeed that Mr. Darcy told Elizabeth the real story soon.
Lady Catherine called for her carriage and rode into Hunsford. She stopped at the houses of Mrs. White and Mrs. Wimbley. Thankfully they were both at home, probably because the true gossip time was after Sunday services.
Lady Catherine would not bribe them; she would not stoop to something like that. Plus, once you gave money they would never stop requesting it. No, she would use the power and authority of her position to scare them into staying quiet about what they had seen. That along with reminding them that her daughter Anne was engaged to Mr. Darcy and that this marriage due to being compromised would never happen.
She felt relief and secure in the knowledge that she had secured the future the way it should be. She rode back to Rosings Park with not to worry in her mind.
Lady Catherine walked down the hallway to the rooms of her dear nephews. She stopped though when she heard laughter coming from Col. Fitzwilliam’s bedchamber. It sounded as if they were in their cups. Good. That would keep Mr. Darcy from doing anything foolish. She would talk to him in the morning and remind him that he was engaged to Anne. There was nothing he could do for Miss Elizabeth. She had ruined her reputation all on her own.
Chapter 6
Mr. Darcy awoke with a horrible headache. He felt absolutely miserable and not just because of his physical pain. The horrible day’s events came back to him: Elizabeth hated him and yet he was forced to marry her. He shook his head and then groaned, holding his head in his hands.
Mr. Darcy stumbled out of bed and downed a few swallows of brandy. That was the only thing that would make him feel better in a hurry, for he had a very long day ahead of him.
“Mr. Ahern, prepare me a travel bag. I am going to London and should be back today, or perhaps on the morrow.”
“Very good, sir. Will you be traveling by horse or carriage?”
Mr. Darcy did not want to alert his aunt of his errand. She would stop it if she knew of it. “I will ride Bucephalus.”
He would inform his cousin Col. Fitzwilliam of what he had planned to do before he left. Richard could then inform Lady Catherine that he had a business errand in London. He was sure that she would soon know what had happened on the grounds of Rosings, but hopefully he would have a special license by then and there would be nothing she could do.
Col. Fitzwilliam walked into the dining room for dinner. Lady Catherine did not run Rosings Park on London time, therefore dinner was much earlier in the day than one would expect.
Lady Catherine looked around and then at her nephew. “Where is Mr. Darcy? I have not seen him yet this day.”
“He had an errand to run in London. A matter of some business.” Col. Fitzwilliam did not feel good. He had a horrid headache and nausea yet he knew he had to show up for dinner. He could not imagine how his cousin was faring with his ride to London. Darcy was made of stronger stuff than he was.
“To London? What business could he have in London? I do not recall him getting a letter yesterday or any other day?”
“I believe he has gone to get a special license. I am sure you have heard by now what happened yesterday?” Col. Fitzwilliam poured coffee down his throat and thereby missed Lady Catherine’s expression.
“He is engaged to be married to Anne. Did he forget that?”
“I believe he considers it his duty to wed Miss Elizabeth since she was compromised.”
He was not going to say that his cousin had never had any intention of marrying Anne. And Col. Fitzwilliam did not blame him. The Matlocks even said they had never heard Mrs. Darcy mention such an engagement. It had only been brought up after Mrs. Darcy had died. That is when Lady Catherine de Bourgh told everyone that Fitzwilliam and her daughter were engaged. Even if his cousin did not believe in the engagement, Lady Catherine certainly did, and expected him to follow through with it.
After dinner Col. Fitzwilliam went outside to walk upon the grounds to force himself to feel better and to escape Lady Catherine. She had not said anything else during dinner and that made Col. Fitzwilliam nervous. But what could she do? The compromise was witnessed by several people. There was no escaping it. Mr. Darcy had to marry Miss Elizabeth.
A phaeton and a carriage with the de Bourgh coat of arms stopped in front of the parsonage. “Charlotte! Charlotte! Lady Catherine is here! Make haste! She pays us a great honor!”
Mr. Collins ran out to greet Lady Catherine. It was a rare honor indeed that she had stopped.
“Where is Miss Elizabeth?” Lady Catherine stepped down from the phaeton and quickly walked towards the parsonage.
Mr. Collins followed as she walked in. “She is with my wife on the grounds. They are very good friends and I am sure they are close by—”
“Find them!”
Mr. Collins bowed then backed away and went out to the garden. “Elizabeth! Cousin Elizabeth!”
Charlotte, Elizabeth, and Maria Lucas walked out from behind large flowering plants in the garden. “What is it, Mr. Collins?”
“Lady Catherine de Bourgh is here! Hurry! She wants to talk to you.” Mr. Collins grabbed Elizabeth’s arm and ran back to the parsonage. He did not even stop when Elizabeth called him to let go of her.
They burst into the parsonage with Elizabeth furious at Mr. Collins. She finally managed to rip her arm loose as Lady Catherine walked into the back room.
“You are no longer welcome in Rosings Park nor in this parsonage. I want you to leave immediately. Go back from whence you came!”
Elizabeth was surprised but not bereft of her senses. “May I ask why?”
“As if you do not know the reason. My nephew has been engaged to my daughter and yet you sought to entrap him in marriage. Oh yes, I know of your attempt to compromise him. Well, it will not do. You are to leave within half an hour. My carriage will take you to the nearest posting inn. I will not leave until you are in the carriage.”
Elizabeth was speechless. She was being thrown out? All because she had fallen over a tree root and her dress had flown up to her complete mortification? “I most certainly did not attempt to compromise myself with your nephew. It was an accident. Believe me, I do not want to marry Mr. Darcy any more than you want me to. However, I have been compromised and there are witnesses.”
“There are no witnesses. You will find the village women do not recall any such thing. Mr. Collins did not ever come upon the scene either. You will leave for Hertfordshire immediately. I suggest you pack your things or you will leave without them.”
Elizabeth stepped back and looked at her friend Charlotte. Charlotte stared at Lady Catherine
in horror. Elizabeth swallowed and looked at Maria, who looked on the verge of crying. Elizabeth turned back to face Lady Catherine. “You cannot mean for Maria Lucas to be sent away as well? She is much too young to ride back to Meryton by herself. We were to travel together. I will have to stay so that I can escort her back.”
“Miss Lucas will be chaperoned and taken care of when she has reached the end of her stay. You, however, are leaving now. I will not have you on my grounds! I will wait in my phaeton to make sure that you have acknowledged my orders. I do not trust you, Elizabeth Bennet, and I do not take my leave of you.” Lady Catherine de Bourgh swept out of the parsonage.
Elizabeth turned to Charlotte. “You cannot let this happen! I have done nothing wrong. I intended to stay a few more weeks.”
It was Mr. Collins though, that answered. “You cannot stay, Cousin Elizabeth. Lady Catherine has spoken. You have to leave. I will help you pack.” Mr. Collins rushed out of the room. Elizabeth heard him as he stomped up the steps.
Charlotte finally looked at Elizabeth with sorrow in her eyes. “I am sorry, Elizabeth, but I must stand by my husband. Do you have enough money for travel? I would not count on Lady Catherine allowing you to ride in her carriage to Meryton.”
Elizabeth blinked. She had to think to bring her mind back to the topic at hand, instead of her shock. “Yes, I do have some travel money. I believe I will have enough to ride with the post.”
Charlotte motioned with her hand and Elizabeth followed her to the kitchen. Charlotte took a small jar down that looked to contain spices. Instead, it contained money. “Here, take at least this much in case you have any other troubles.”
Elizabeth’s eyes watered as she hugged her good friend. “Thank you, Charlotte. I am sorry.”
