“Do not be flippant with me, young man. You well know why I am upset. You have a family name and tradition to uphold. Furthermore, you know your uncle and I have been working to gather support to have the Earldom returned to our family. We are on the brink of success, but if you marry this nobody from nowhere, it will ruin our chances of success.”
As he was speaking, Lord Matlock entered the room and seeing him, Darcy said, “Greeting, Uncle Robert. Surely you have told him I am adamant about marrying Elizabeth and that nothing, and I do mean nothing, will deter me from that.”
“I have, but he seemed to believe otherwise, therefore, I thought I should accompany him here to see if he had any more success than I did.”
Darcy shook his head, and abruptly, he was filled with anger at the audacity of his relatives, who seemed to believe they had the right to control his actions to suit their own purposes. His uncles cared nothing about his happiness, but only the prestige an earldom for the family would bring to them. They were no better than his Aunt Catherine, who wanted him to marry her daughter, even though she knew her daughter would die if she tried to produce an heir, all because she wanted to remain mistress of Rosings Park.
Uncharacteristically, he suddenly pounded his fist in the desk and leaned across the desk, putting himself almost nose to nose with his Uncle Harold and spoke in a more threatening voice than either of his uncles had ever heard him use. “Let me make something perfectly clear to you Uncle Harold. You have no say in what I do or do not do. Furthermore, Elizabeth, the woman I intend to marry, of whom you seem to think so little, is worth far more to me than an earldom, or any other title which might be given to me if I did not marry her. If I were the Prince, I would give up my rights to the throne for her. I have not known her long, but she has already made me and my sister happier than we have been in years. Therefore, I assure you again, there is nothing you can possibly say which will change my mind, and I will listen to nothing more from you.”
He then straightened and raised his voice to yell, “MacGregor!”
MacGregor immediately appeared in the doorway. “Yes, sir.”
“My uncles are leaving. Please escort them out.”
“You cannot do this to me, Fitzwilliam. I am your uncle and the senior member of the Darcy family.”
“Uncle, you may be the oldest living Darcy, but I am the head of this family and I assure you, I can throw you out of this house. I want you to leave and never cross my threshold again until you can accept my wife. And Uncle Robert, if you feel the same, then the same applies to you.”
By this time, MacGregor was beside the Judge. “Sir Harold, would you please follow me.”
The Judge started to say something again, but Darcy cut him off. “No more, Uncle. I want you to leave.”
Abruptly, the Judge turned and started for the door. “Come, Lord Robert. Perhaps he will be in a more civil mood another time.”
“You go ahead, Sir Harold.” Then looking at Darcy he said, in a conciliatory tone. “Might I have a moment alone with you, Darcy?”
His anger having subsided, Darcy said, “Only if you say nothing to me about not marrying Elizabeth.”
“I promise. I will not.”
Judge Darcy stopped in the doorway. “Lord Robert, are you coming or not?”
“I am not. I am sure our nephew will provide me a ride back to Matlock House.”
As the Judge was being escorted out of the house, Lord Matlock moved to the chair at the side of Darcy’s desk and sat, waiting for Darcy to sit also. Somewhat reluctantly, Darcy sat and waited for his uncle to speak.”
Lord Matlock looked at Darcy for some time before finally saying, “Your feelings for Miss Elizabeth are truly deep, are they not?”
“I am not ashamed to say I love her more than life itself.”
“I am trying to understand, Darcy, the way you have acted in this situation. It is not like you. From my perspective, your Miss Elizabeth is no better than Lady Susanne, whom we prevailed upon you to call upon. In fact, given Miss Elizabeth’s background, she is not as suitable, yet you were obviously indifferent to Lady Susanne. However, you are captivated by Miss Elizabeth and willing to go against all tradition to marry her. Can you pretend I am Richard, to whom I am sure you would talk candidly about this, to help me understand what you are feeling?”
“Uncle, as much as I care for you, I am not sure I can explain it to you in a way you would comprehend, but I will try. Let me start by describing my relationship with Lady Susanne.”
He paused, closing his eyes and thinking back to the time of his one brief courtship, once again, wondering why he had ever agreed to consider an arranged marriage. Opening his eyes, he looked at his uncle with sadness. “I agreed to have you arrange for me to call on Lady Susanne because I felt the pressure of needing to produce an heir and to participate more fully in society. Furthermore, although I had no affection for Lady Susanne, the one time I had danced with her, I found her to be a pleasant woman. Unfortunately, after three calls on her, including when she and her parents visited Pemberley, I still felt no affection for her. I tried to engage her in conversations, but discovered she read little and had no interest discussing poetry or drama or history or current events other than what was happening on the social scene. When she and her parents were at Pemberley, I convinced her to ride on horseback with me to see some of the magnificent scenery around Pemberley but discovered she did not truly like to ride horseback and certainly not for the prolonged periods of time required to see some of the sights. And heaven forbid, we should talk in any depth about the estate and or the well-being of the staff and tenants. In the end, it seemed to me, if I were to marry her, she would be nothing more to me than a valuable servant ‒ one who happened to have wifely duties. I worried I would end up treating her as many men of our circle treat their wives ‒ as just a possession. Therefore, I decided I could not possibly marry her and consequently, never offered a courtship. As you know, the Marquess was quite angry that I never offered his daughter a courtship, but I think, in the end, I convinced him that ours would not be a happy marriage.”
Darcy paused and closed his eyes again, picturing Elizabeth in his mind, debating with him and giving him one of her beautiful smiles, and he could not help but smile to himself. As he was thinking of her, Lord Matlock said, “I am sorry, Darcy. I had no idea your courtship was so distressing to you. Helen and I were so impressed with her beauty, outgoing personality, and heritage, we did not truly consider what more you might need. Obviously, you believe Miss Elizabeth has all those traits you want in a wife.”
“Uncle Robert, it is that and more. It is a connection I did not believe I could ever feel for another person. A month ago, I would not have believed I could feel so deeply about something, let alone a woman, but I do, and it is the most amazing feeling I have ever had. With Susanne, I was always finding excuses not to be with her. With Elizabeth, I try to find every excuse I can to be with her. You will probably not believe me, but I swear on the Bible, if God told me I could only continue to have Pemberley if I gave up Elizabeth, as much as I love Pemberley, I would give it up without even thinking about it. I know most people think of me as a highly rational, unemotional man and would believe my love for her highly irrational. However, I have come to believe our union has been ordained since the beginning of time and that marrying her is the most rational thing I will ever do. I truly cannot imagine life without her now.”
Lord Matlock shook his head. “You are correct, it does seem completely irrational to those of us who cannot imagine what you are feeling. To many of us in our society, our status and wealth are of primary importance. As you once thought, I thought having a wife was necessary only for having an heir and a suitable companion for social events. In my case, I was lucky enough to marry a woman whom I came to love, but I am willing to admit, it is a comfortable love, not the all-consuming type of love you seem to have for Miss Elizabeth. I am not sure I would know how to deal with such a love. Furthermore, I
would never have guessed that deep within you, you harbored the ability to feel with so much passion.”
“Neither did I, but I do not regret it, because, as I said, it is the most amazing feeling I have ever had. It seemed I was treading a dreary, lonely road through life when I met Elizabeth, and now my life begins to look like I will be joyfully walking, hand in hand, down a beautiful road in the sun with her at my side. We may come upon some hurdles, such as I faced today, but most will be easily dismissed and eventually forgotten, and if they are not, we will find a way to overcome them together.”
Lord Matlock shook his head again and chuckled. “Darcy, I wish you could hear yourself as I do. The taciturn, almost morose Fitzwilliam Darcy has been turned into a poet. She must truly be something, to have changed you so. I came with your Uncle Harold, not to support him, but to act as a mediator, if necessary. I know how angry he can get. But I must admit, I have never seen you so forceful in your defense. I think he was not prepared for the angry, determined man he encountered.”
“May I assume you are now willing to accept Elizabeth?”
“My wife convinced me I had no choice and that she was, perhaps, exactly what you needed. However, I am stubborn and will admit, when I came in here with Sir Harold, I was still harboring a slight hope there might be an argument which would make you rethink what you have done. However, your defense of your fiancée and what you have just told me has been a revelation to me about you. I had come to believe you were more like me than your father, but now I can see it is not so. I think he and Anne had a love somewhat as yours, and perhaps I understand a little better now why he was so miserable when she died. You do understand that should something happen to your wife in the future, you may have the same problem as your father.”
“I do, but it is a chance I am willing to take. I believe I will cherish every moment I have with her. I only think of how wonderful it will be to have years with her.”
“You know, it suddenly occurred to me that the man, who you have just shown me to be, may be just the sort we need in the House of Lords ‒ more so than the man you were before you met Miss Elizabeth. Most of us there are more concerned about keeping the status quo than truly making England a better place for an Englishmen. I have a feeling you would one who could help us all understand what the common people of this land need. And as for Miss Elizabeth, if she is all you say she is, she would be a refreshing addition to our circle, whether the earldom is returned to you or not. This, of course, is a long way of saying, ‘Yes, I will accept her, and Helen and I will support you and her any way I can.’ Does that make all things good between us again?”
Darcy stood and stepped over to his uncle, holding out his hand. “It does. You must know, that outside of Georgie and Richard, the approval of you and Aunt Helen is what I desired most.”
Lord Matlock stood and took Darcy’s hand. “And neither your aunt or I would be able to stand being separated from you for long. I am sure you know we think of you as a son. Now, will you supply me a ride back to Matlock. I am sure Helen is sitting on pins and needles, wondering what happened.”
“I will. But I have a favor to ask. When Aunt Catherine shows up this afternoon, spewing venom, as she usually does, I hope you will allow me to send her to you with the assurance you will tell her you strongly support my marriage to Elizabeth and make her finally accept that Anne and I would never have married.”
Lord Matlock shook his head and chuckled again. “Ah, yes, I had forgotten about her for the moment. It is time I took her in hand. She has become more and more unstable as time has passed. I think, perhaps, it is time I convinced Anne to come live with us until she inherits Rosings Park in three years. I believe part of her health problem is having to live with Catherine.”
“Even she acknowledges that, but she loves Rosings so much, she is rue to leave. One of the things I am anticipating is Anne meeting Elizabeth. Somehow, I believe the two of them may become friends and that Elizabeth can somehow help Anne be happier.”
Chapter 18: Lady Catherine
Not long after lunch, a messenger arrived at Darcy House with a note from Lady Matlock asking if Darcy could bring Elizabeth, Mary, and Georgiana to Matlock House for supper. They were having a special guest and would like Elizabeth and Mary to meet their guest. She also thought Darcy, who had not seen their guest for some time, would enjoy seeing this person again. He was curious why his aunt did not give the name of the guest and decided it was someone he would not expect and would be greatly pleased to see. He could go ask her, but decided to let her have her surprise, so, having little to do, decided to go to Madam Tellier’s shop and speak with the three young women he was to take.
When he entered the shop, the sales woman who saw him recognized him and immediately went to the rear of the shop to tell Madam Tellier. Soon Georgiana came out to see him.
“What are you doing here, Will? I am sure you are not here to help us shop. Are you so anxious to see Lizzy, you could not wait until tomorrow?”
“No, I received an invitation from Aunt Helen for dinner tonight, so we could meet a special guest, whom she did not name. She said she would like Elizabeth and Mary to join us, if they are willing, therefore, I came to ask them if they were and to make sure you finished in time for them to return home and change for dinner.”
“So, she has a mystery guest she wants Lizzy and Mary to meet. It sounds intriguing. Let me ask them. You cannot go back because Lizzy is trying on clothes.”
They did agree, therefore, at six o’clock, the Darcys were in front of the Gardiner’s House and Darcy went to the door to retrieve Elizabeth and Mary. He had to wait in the foyer a few moments for them, and when Mary came down first, he thought he had never seen her looking more attractive. But she was soon followed by Elizabeth, and the sight of her made him catch his breath. It was the first time he had seen her truly dressed and coifed for a special social event, and she seemed more beautiful to him than anyone he had ever seen. He knew he would forever wonder how he had been so lucky as to have won her love.
Resisting the almost irresistible urge to take Elizabeth in his arms and kiss her, he stepped forward and helped her put on her cape, as Mr. Gardiner helped Mary. He whispered in her ear as he settled the cape around her shoulders. “You cannot imagine how much I want to kiss you at this moment.”
“Yes, I can,” she whispered back, “because when I saw the look your eyes as you watched me come down the stairs, I wanted that kiss as much as you wanted to give it.”
When they arrived at Matlock House and were shown into the parlor, Darcy could hardly believe his eyes. There, standing before him, was his cousin, Col. Richard Fitzwilliam, who he had not seen for months and who he thought was still in the thick of the battles on the continent. Leaving Elizabeth, he hurried to his cousin. They met and unabashedly hugged each other. “Richard. May I assume you are the mystery guest?”
“That I am, Darcy. My return home was even a surprise to my parents, because they did not receive the letter I sent them telling them I would be here this week.”
He had barely gotten that out of his mouth, when Georgiana insisted she get a hug. “We were so worried about you, Richard, and had heard so little. I hope you are here for a while.”
Col. Fitzwilliam kissed Georgiana on the forehead. “I am, Georgie. At least three months, but now, I think I should greet your friends.”
“Lizzy told me you already know her, so let me introduce you to her sister, Miss Mary Bennet.”
He took her hand, bowed over it, and said, “Miss Mary, I have not heard much about you, but it is obvious beauty runs in the family. Having met you and Miss Elizabeth, I can hardly wait to meet more of the family.”
For some reason, his penetrating look made Mary blush. She wondered if he could truly believe her attractive, but then decided he was probably only being a kind gentleman. “Thank you, Colonel. As for my other sisters, none us match Elizabeth, but I believe you will find all of them to be quite attractive.”
Col. Fitzwilliam then turned to Elizabeth and took her hand. “I was briefly disappointed when my parents told me Darcy had become engaged to you. I was looking forward to renewing our acquaintance when I returned. However, I think I knew, from the moment I met you, you and he would make a good couple. I still find it difficult to believe you both decided to marry on so little acquaintance, but I am most pleased, for his sake, you did.” And he briefly kissed her hand.
Giving another of those beautiful smiles he remembered so well, she responded, “Thank you, Colonel, for your approval. As for our almost non-existent courtship, it was so short because we have been waiting for each other for years, even if we did not know it. Once we met, it seemed obvious to us our marriage was fated and no one else had a chance.”
Col. Fitzwilliam shook his head. “He is a lucky man.”
When they were all seated, Darcy said, “The obvious question is why you are here. According to what I have heard and read, you are becoming quite the hero. There is speculation you are to be considered for knighthood.”
“I will discuss it more with you in private. I will only tell you that the General is concerned I have, for a senior officer, shown too little concern for my own life. I had quite a close brush with death during the last battle and the doctor convinced the General I needed time to rest and recuperate at home. I thought they were making too much of the situation, but it is done, and I am to be on leave until after Christmas and then report for duty at the War Office. The General will decide next year if I am needed on his staff.”
“A close brush with death? Were you wounded?”
“Not significantly. Our detachment was surrounded, and we were taking heaving casualties. Luckily, reinforcements arrived in time and somehow, I managed to escape with only minor cuts and bruises.”
“Then I believe we owe the doctor and the General our thanks,” said Darcy.
The Lady of the Mount and Patience Rewarded: Two Stories of Darcy and Elizabeth Page 15
