by Leenie Brown
Elizabeth shook her head when her aunt looked her direction. It would be so much better if her mother could be shuffled off to bed, and Darcy could be prepared in advance for the arrival of her mother. Her heart fluttered, and her stomach quivered. She knew his sentiments regarding her family, and though she knew that he had overcome them once to offer for her, he had done so while not in the presence of her mother.
~*~*~
“Will you wait much longer?” Bingley straightened his coat as Darcy exited the carriage.
“Wait much longer for what?” Darcy replied as he straightened his clothing as well
“As if you do not know!” Bingley checked his hat and stepped toward the Gardiner’s front door. “How long until you offer for her?”
“I could ask you the same,” Darcy replied with a flick of his brow.
“When she returns to Hertfordshire if not before,” Bingley replied. He lifted and lowered the knocker before crossing his arms and smirking at his friend. “Now, what about you?”
Darcy shrugged. “I already did.” He chuckled at Bingley’s gaping expression. “And I was soundly refused.”
“Refused?” Bingley repeated in surprise as the door to the Gardiner’s home opened.
“And given a second chance,” Darcy whispered as he moved past his friend and entered the house.
“A second chance?” Bingley asked softly as they gave their outerwear to a waiting servant.
“Yes,” Darcy replied.
“Mr. Darcy,” Marianne Gardiner stood up from the place where she sat on the stairs.
“Miss Gardiner.” Darcy bowed. The girl before him smiled and curtseyed. He had been duly impressed with the fine behaviour of the Gardiner children. They seemed to have been taught all the proper graces for children of their age. “May I be of assistance?”
Marianne pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and glanced toward the sitting room door. “I am not supposed to be here. I am supposed to be in the nursery with my brothers and sister, but Lizzy looked so worried.”
Darcy followed her gaze as she once again looked at the sitting room door. “Why is your cousin worried?”
“I think it is because her mother has arrived suddenly. It was quite a shock to see my aunt, you see.”
Darcy waited patiently as the young girl ran the ribbon of her dress nervously through her fingers and looked as if she was deciding exactly how much to say.
“My aunt is not like Lizzy,” she finally said, turning eyes up toward him that pled with him to understand her.
“I know,” he replied. “I have met your aunt before.”
Marianne sighed. “Then you know she can be…” She glanced once more at the sitting room door before whispering, “silly.”
Darcy smiled. “I do, and might I tell you a secret?”
She nodded her head eagerly. “I am very good at keeping secrets.”
“That is good to know, Miss Gardiner,” Darcy replied. Then he crouched down to her level just as he used to do when Georgiana was younger and added in a whisper, “I have two aunts who are just as silly but perhaps not as loud as your aunt, although my aunt Catherine can be rather vocal.”
He had expected her smile when he had told her his secret. However, the hand she placed on his shoulder and the understanding whisper of “aunts can be trying, but we must love them” that accompanied it came as a surprise.
“You are a very wise young lady,” he said as he stood. “Thank you for telling me your cousin was worried.”
Marianne dipped one last curtsey and scurried up the stairs before the gentlemen were announced.
“Mrs. Bennet is here?” Bingley asked with a sigh.
Darcy nodded as the door to the sitting room was opened. “She is worth it,” Darcy whispered.
“Without a doubt,” Bingley replied just before they entered the room.
Mrs. Bennet was indeed at the Gardiner residence, sitting in a chair next to Mrs. Gardiner and waving a handkerchief in front of her face until she saw the gentlemen appear. Then she straightened and tucked her handkerchief away.
“Mrs. Bennet,” Darcy greeted. “It is good to see you. I trust your trip to town was pleasant.”
He watched as her eyes shifted from Bingley to him and then to Elizabeth before returning to his face. Apparently, Mrs. Bennet knew that he was here to see her second daughter.
“Did you travel alone?” Bingley asked. “Or did Mr. Bennet and your daughters accompany you?”
Mrs. Bennet seemed to be recovering from whatever moment of nerves she had experienced that required a fanning. Her lips curled into a pleasant smile, and her eyes focused with more certainty on the gentlemen who stood just inside the sitting room door. “Oh, be seated, please,” she cried. “You must not be so formal on my account. We are all good friends, are we not? You have dined at Longbourn, after all.”
Darcy gave her a nod and took a seat next to Elizabeth, knowing full well that his every action was being examined closely. It was as if he was some sort of oddity that Mrs. Bennet had never before seen. He nearly chuckled at the thought.
Bingley, of course, had taken his place next to Jane and was repeating his inquiry about Mrs. Bennet’s travels.
“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Bennet replied as if startled from a reverie. Her head swung toward Bingley. “Mr. Bennet is with Mr. Gardiner, and Mary, Kitty, and Lydia are with my sister. Mary wished to stay at Longbourn, but I refused. It is not proper for a young lady to be on her own in such a fashion, I said. And Mary, being the good girl that she is, did not argue further. Lydia had hoped to stay with Mrs. Forester, but Mrs. Forester is just recently married, and it would not do to have Lydia getting in the way as Mrs. Forester is just getting her feet under her in her new position as mistress of her own home. Besides, Lydia will likely have the opportunity to be their guest once the militia removes to Brighton. Mr. Bennet has not yet agreed to it, but if I know my Lydia, he will.”
Darcy glanced at Elizabeth, whose eyes had grown wide at her mother’s words.
“Does the militia leave soon?” he asked.
“Oh, not for another two months, at least,” said Mrs. Bennet, “and it is a good thing, too. They bring a festive air to things. Many a young lady swoons at the sight of a red coat, much as I did when I was but a girl.” She sighed. “Oh, to be young once again.”
“It has been my experience that not everyone in a village enjoys the presence of the militia,” said Darcy.
Mrs. Bennet’s brows rose. “I do remember you were not fond of some of the officers.” There was a slight tone of accusation in her words.
“Darcy has the right of it,” said Bingley. “There are dangers and difficulties associated with a group of men who are always shifting from camp to camp — especially the ones who are fond of drink, cards, and ladies. I believe it was that sort of officer of whom Darcy disapproves.”
Mrs. Bennet huffed. “Mr. Wickham enjoys a game of cards, but surely he is not so bad as you suggest.”
“I know him to be far worse,” Darcy replied soberly. “Do not allow him to fool you with his pleasant manners and delightful tales.” He accepted the cup of tea that Mrs. Gardiner handed him.
“Mama found the most beautiful piece of lace today,” Jane said brightly. “Your sister will be sorry to know it has been purchased.”
Darcy shook his head. “My sister and lace,” he said with a chuckle, gratefully allowing Jane to turn the topic of conversation. He would speak to Mr. Bennet about Wickham later, and then, he might allow Bingley to share a quiet story or two with Mrs. Bennet about how Wickham had had a comfortable fortune and could have had more had he not squandered it.
“You have a sister?” Mrs. Bennet asked.
“You know he has a sister, Mama,” chided Elizabeth.
Her mother shrugged. “I had forgotten.”
“I doubt that very much,” Elizabeth murmured.
Darcy bit back a grin. “You will get to meet her tomorrow,” he said. “Since you are in town, I will
finally have the opportunity to repay your hospitality. I have invited the Gardiners to dinner at Darcy House and would be delighted if you would join them.”
“Do you know what you are asking?” Elizabeth whispered.
Darcy smiled at her and gave a slight nod of his head.
“I do not believe you do.” Her reply was nearly lost in Mrs. Bennet’s cries of delight.
And so, the conversation turned to entertaining and the many things Jane had done while in town. Darcy lent his voice to the discussion and even described in some detail the theatre where he had a box and expressed a desire to have Mrs. Bennet attend a play at some future time. Finally, the conversation dwindled and then lapsed into a pleasant silence.
Darcy was just handing his cup to Mrs. Gardiner in preparation of taking his leave, when Mrs. Bennet, who was once again looking at him as if he were a curiosity, blurted, “Whatever did you do to your eye?”
“That was my fault,” Bingley answered before Darcy could. “We were having a bit of a joust and, well, I won.”
Darcy was certain Mrs. Bennet’s eyes could not grow any wider than they did at that moment. He was also positive that Bingley had just found himself to be a touch less amiable in Mrs. Bennet’s perception.
“You hit him?”
Bingley nodded. “Several times. And he hit me as well. I just happened to land my punch better.”
Mrs. Bennet gasped.
“They are boys,” said Mrs. Gardiner, who knew exactly why Darcy’s eye looked as it did. “It is how they settle things.”
Mrs. Bennet gasped her displeasure once again, still unable to voice her disapproval.
“I deserved it,” said Darcy as he rose to leave. “Will you walk with me?” he asked Elizabeth.
She took his hand and allowed him to lead her from the room.
“Are you well?” he asked as they stood in the passage.
Her brows furrowed as she nodded. He could see the question in her eyes. Her mother had been as silly as ever, and he suspected she feared he would be driven away by such things. He had, after all, listed her parent’s failing in his poorly made proposal in Kent.
“I love you,” he whispered. “Nothing and no one will change that. Not even your mother.”
Her response was enchanting as a smile crept slowly across her face and settled in her eyes. He lifted her hand and kissed it. “You said I might dare to hope to one day win your affections.” He paused and looked down at the hand he held in his. “I should like to speak to your father if you will allow it. He should know that we are courting and that I intend to marry you. It is only proper.” He drew a deep breath. “May I speak to him?”
His heart beat wildly in his chest as a touch of panic rose in his mind, reminding him of the last time he had spoken to her about marriage.
“Yes.”
Her response was barely above a whisper, but it shouted in his ears, swelled in his chest, and spread like sunshine across his face. “You would have me?”
She nodded, and he did something very much unlike anything he had ever done before. Without so much as a glance about him to see who might be watching, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly.
Chapter 9
Richard smirked behind his glass of wine while he stood near the fireplace at the far end of the drawing room at Darcy House.
“What has you looking so amused?” Bingley asked as he came to stand near Richard.
Richard shook his head. “Many things, but currently, it is the way Miss Elizabeth’s father keeps watching Darcy and clearing his throat anytime Darcy moves closer to his daughter.” He chuckled. “And you! I must say I have never seen a mother — especially one with marriage so foremost in her thoughts — watch you so warily.”
It was true. Mr. Bennet had done an admirable job of acting the part of protective father for the past twenty minutes since the Bennets had arrived at Darcy House while Mrs. Bennet, after her initial exclamations of delight at her surroundings, had divided her time between repeating her pleasure at being in such a grand home and watching Bingley with a distrustful eye as if the man might at any moment spring upon her and do her harm.
Bingley shrugged. “Darcy did not tell you?” he asked.
“I did not see Darcy until just before the Bennets arrived.” He turned so that his back was toward those seated in the drawing room, and he faced Bingley directly. “What should my cousin have told me?”
Bingley leaned to the side and looked around Richard’s shoulder to where Darcy and his sister were entertaining the Bennets. “You promise not to draw any notice? No loud guffaws or exclamations?” Bingley asked. “For if you do attract attention, I shall leave you to explain yourself to Mrs. Bennet and face the wrath of your cousin as well as possibly Mr. Bennet by yourself.”
Richard’s head tipped as a grin split his face. “There may be just cause for Mrs. Bennet to think you untrustworthy.”
Bingley smiled in response. “I am rather enjoying her distrust. She has done a great deal less fawning over me since she discovered I was the source of Darcy’s injuries.” He crossed his arms and lifted his chest proudly.
Richard shook his head. “Mrs. Bennet thinks you are violent? I do not see how that will help your cause if you are truly intent on marrying her daughter.”
“I have five thousand a year,” Bingley said with a shrug. “And I am, for the most part, likable, and it is not she but her husband who must give his consent.” His smile grew. “Which he has already given.”
Richard’s eyes grew wide as he drained the last of his wine from his glass.
“To both me and Darcy,” Bingley added just as Richard swallowed.
The gasp that accompanied the swallow caused Richard to start coughing.
Bingley bit back a grin and thumped him on the back. “He swallowed wrong,” he explained to the rest of the room. “I am quite certain Mrs. Bennet thinks that this is somehow my doing,” he whispered to Richard.
“It is,” Richard sputtered between gasps. “Has no one told you that you should not share startling information when someone is in the middle of drinking?”
“Once or twice,” Bingley said as he gave Richard’s back one last resounding thump. “But I do appreciate the reminder.”
“You and my cousin are betrothed?” Richard asked when he could once again speak without sputtering.
“Was that not the startling news that nearly caused you to expire just now?” Bingley asked with a laugh.
Richard growled, sobering Bingley somewhat. There were boundaries that one did not push. When Richard Fitzwilliam growled, no man or woman with a trifling amount of sense persisted in teasing.
“Yes,” Bingley replied. “We are both to be married.”
“When did this change in status occur?”
“Yesterday,” Bingley replied somberly. “I accompanied Darcy into Mr. Gardiner’s study, and once Mr. Bennet was done with Darcy, I figured it would perhaps help his cause — and my own, of course, — if I followed suit and asked permission to also marry one of Mr. Bennet’s daughters. The eldest daughter that is. I did not just ask for any daughter. I did ask for a specific one,” Bingley explained.
Richard nodded slowly as he processed this information. “What do you mean when Mr. Bennet was done with Darcy?”
Bingley smiled broadly. “He was not pleased to enter Mr. Gardiner’s house and find Darcy kissing his daughter. There was a fair bit of stomping and snorting over the ordeal. It was actually rather surprising to me. Mr. Bennet has never appeared to be one to care overly much about his daughter’s behavior, but then Miss Elizabeth is his favourite.” He shrugged.
Richard turned, looked at his cousin, and then turned back to Bingley. “My cousin was kissing a lady in her uncle’s house?”
“In the corridor near the entry,” Bingley nodded as he assured Richard of the truth of the matter. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a future mother-in-law to torment and her daughter to enjoy.”
Richard g
rabbed Bingley’s arm before he could make his exit. “What has become of him?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Darcy. His behavior. It is…so…so unlike him.”
Bingley shrugged. “It is something about not being thought proud or appearing to be due to his desire to appear proper to one and all.”
Richard released Bingley’s arm. “Does anyone besides those in Mr. Gardiner’s study and the ladies involved know of this betrothal?’
Bingley shook his head. “I believe that will be shared at dinner.”
Richard groaned. “My mother will be here.”
Bingley smirked. “Yes, it should be entertaining.”
“You are incorrigible,” Richard chided as he followed Bingley to where the rest were assembled.
~*~*~
At precisely five minutes before dinner was to be served, Lady Matlock arrived, as she always did, with a flutter of activity and an apology for her tardiness. Perhaps the Bennets were fooled by her flushed appearance of hurry and her look of remorse, but no one that had known her for any length of time believed a word of her apologies.
Lady Matlock enjoyed making somewhat of a scene upon her arrival. It offered her the attention she sought as most were too polite to point out her tendency toward fashionably late arrivals. Most were too polite, but Lady Margaret was not.
“My daughter does like to be noticed when arriving,” she said as she greeted the Bennets.
“My Lydia is the same,” Mrs. Bennet replied. “She does enjoy attention, and she is well-worthy of it. There is not a more lively and beautiful lady of her age in all of Hertfordshire. I am certain there are many who would rival her in town, but in Meryton, there is not a soul. Jane, of course, outshines her in beauty, but not in liveliness.”
Elizabeth sighed. She had hoped her mother would be so impressed to be in the presence of Lord and Lady Matlock that she would be somewhat subdued. However, that did not appear to be the case.
“All will be well,” Darcy whispered hopefully in her ear.
“I should like to believe that, but I cannot,” Elizabeth replied.
