by Robin Helm
As Bingley’s sisters and brother-in-law had declined the invitation to Longbourn, Darcy and Bingley arrived an hour early for dinner with no difficulty.
They were received with great civility by Mrs. Bennet, and she acquiesced most graciously when Bingley requested that Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth show them the gardens.
Darcy, true to his word, had arranged beforehand with Bingley that they would always be within sight of one another. Bingley had been happy to agree.
The four of them made a congenial party as they walked towards the flowers and shrubs.
When Darcy asked Elizabeth to sit with him among the rose arbors, Bingley did the same with Jane, though he was careful to guide her far enough way to prevent either couple from being overheard.
“Are you feeling better today?” Darcy asked, leaning forward to view her expression.
“I am much improved, thank you. Have you fully recovered?”
He smiled. “Indeed, I am. I felt well enough to ride this morning, and I put Xanthos through his paces with a punishing ride to Meryton.”
She turned her face towards him, and he relaxed into the back of the bench.
“Xanthos?” she asked with a small smile. “Named for Achilles’s immortal horse that had the ability to speak?”
Darcy chuckled, encouraged by her expression. “My stallion. His ill temper meant no one would ride him while I was unable to do so.”
“Do you normally ride daily?”
He nodded. “Yes, I enjoy the exercise every morning and evening.”
“Interesting. My sister and I walk at sunrise and again at sunset.”
“I may have seen you at Oakham Mount on one or two occasions.”
Her gaze sharpened. “I have observed a man on a large horse several times. I must learn to be more careful. Had you been a man of dubious intentions, my sister and I might have been in some danger.”
Darcy nodded. “While I dislike that idea, I must agree.” He took a deep breath. “In fact, I fear you have already encountered some trouble.”
She looked at her hands, clasped in her lap. “Whatever could you mean?”
“You were injured in more ways than one by your fall at Oakham Mount.”
Elizabeth lowered her eyes. “What do you mean, sir?”
“I overheard a conversation between two ladies at the bookstore this morning.”
She turned her face towards his. “I assume it must have had something to do with me and Mr. Beckett.”
“Yes,” he replied solemnly. “Mrs. Long was telling Lady Lucas about your accident, including how the physician carried you back to Netherfield. She also knew you had been alone with him in your room.”
Elizabeth looked away.
Unable to see her face, Darcy continued. “Lady Lucas defended you, but she shall send her daughter here tomorrow to determine if the story is true.”
“To my knowledge, I was not alone with him in my chambers, and I have no memory of Mr. Beckett carrying me to Netherfield. I never had the power of refusal in either instance.”
Darcy shook his head. “Indeed, you were unaware of it, but I saw for myself that you were unchaperoned with him. I talked to Beckett, pointing out the impropriety – the damage he might have done to your reputation by sending Sarah away. In the other instance, the entire house witnessed his return from Oakham Mount with you in his arms.”
She rubbed her forehead and glanced at him. “I have done nothing wrong, yet I am condemned for it. If you lay blame at my feet, and you were there, how will I ever prove my innocence?”
“I do not blame you!” he replied, lightly touching her arm. “Others were at fault, but not you. Are you determined to continue walking morning and night, starving yourself because of what I said at the Assembly?”
“How much humiliation must I bear?” Elizabeth cried, rising quickly. “Yes. Are you satisfied?”
“Please,” he answered, standing beside her. “Stay a moment. I must finish what I have to say.”
She crossed her arms and looked away.
“This is all properly laid at my door,” he said. “You would never have gone walking alone at night had I not made those ridiculous, unfounded remarks.”
He heard her sound of disgust and decided to change his approach.
“Did Beckett promise you anything before he left?” Are they engaged?
Elizabeth nodded. “Mr. Beckett was talking to me when he was called downstairs, and he promised he would return to me as soon as he could. He said it would be no more than an hour or two.”
“And he did not?”
She shook her head. “I waited all day with no word from him. Last night, my mother told me he had returned to London.”
“Did he not leave you a note?”
Her voice was so quiet, he could hardly hear it. “No, I had nothing from him.”
Darcy would have preferred to keep his information to himself, but that would have been deceitful, and he abhorred deceit.
“Beckett received an express and left nearly immediately, telling none of us why. I know it must have been something terrible for him to behave in such a fashion. However, he took a moment to scribble a note. I saw it myself on the salver. It was sealed – directed to you. Did you not receive it?”
Elizabeth turned to face him. “I did not, but ’tis no matter. He could have come himself in the time it took to write to me. This changes nothing. He is gone, and I must bear the consequences of his actions.”
Darcy sighed. “May I ask what you will do?”
She lifted her chin. “I shall leave tomorrow to stay with my aunt and uncle in Cheapside. Perhaps if I am gone, the gossip will die down.”
“The fault is mine, and so must the remedy be. I shall make it right.”
Elizabeth stared at him, eyebrows raised. “And how do you plan to do that, sir?”
He cleared his throat and swallowed.
“I will marry you.”
He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.
Proverbs 18:13
Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. Did he say he will marry me?
“Well?” he asked.
“I must beg your pardon, sir. Was that a question or a statement?” she returned. “I confess I am confused.”
Darcy knit his brows. “I said, ‘I will marry you.’ What confuses you?”
“Perhaps I wondered whether you require an answer or not, as I did not hear you ask a question.”
Shaking his head, the gentleman looked heavenward. “Of course. I have never before asked any woman to consent to be my wife. Forgive my awkwardness, as I have no experience in the art.”
She looked at him, bemused. “Why are you offering to marry me? Is it due to a sense of guilt or obligation? Are you the patron saint of stained reputations?”
He stood tall, clasping his hands behind his back. “I caused this entire situation by making that absurd remark at the Assembly. Had I kept my thoughts to myself, you would not have been determined to walk at night.”
“True, perhaps, but I would still be ‘too much to tempt you’ had you not said it. Would you have agreed to marry me had I not begun walking and started moderating the amounts that I ate?”
“I can answer only to the present circumstances,” he replied. “I did not know you – I had never even met you – when I made that insulting comment, but now that I have spent some time with you, I think differently.”
“Differently enough that you would have asked the same question of me were I not in this predicament?” she asked, looking straight into his eyes.
He refuses to be entirely candid.
“Why does it matter?” He raised his brows. “I am asking you now. That is the material point.”
She stood, sighing. “Because it matters to me. I do not wish to wed a man who loves me only when I am thin, for I may increase again when I am happily married with children or as I age.”
He shook his head. “I assure you
, I can admire you in all your forms. ’Tis more likely we shall grow old and fat together than to think I would base my affections on your waistline.”
“I do not want to feel my husband did me a favour in marrying me, whether it was for my situation, my reputation, or my figure. My looks will fade. Will you love me then?”
His voice was low. “I am fully aware I am not an easy man to know. I have not the pleasant manners of my friend Bingley, nor the striking good looks and easy charm of Beckett. Not many people understand me, and fewer still truly like me for myself. If you can care for me as I am, you shall certainly have my adoration.”
Elizabeth paused before continuing. “Very well. You have stated you will marry me. You never asked me if I want to marry you. I told you once before, only the strongest love will induce me into matrimony. You would wed me to spare me the disgrace of being compromised. You speak of admiration, adoration, care, but not love. While I appreciate your willingness to protect me and my family, I have no desire to live my life as the wife of a man who values me as a friend but does not love me. I imagine you would prefer a wife who loves you, as well. You said as much when I was reading to you.”
Darcy dropped his hands to his sides, looking at the ground. “Am I so unlovable? Could you not learn to love me?”
“Mr. Darcy,” she said softly.
He looked up, his eyes hopeful.
She continued. “I never said you were unlovable. Perhaps my feelings for you would grow if we knew each other better. I already think of you as honourable and good, and I believe we have much in common. I suppose my question is, could you love a woman whose reputation is not pristine? I know you are proud, and people will gossip. You must have some reservations about the match.”
Darcy lifted his chin. “I do not worry concerning what people will say, but I truly have no wish to marry a woman who loves another man. That is my only reservation. Are you in love with Thaddeus Beckett? I hold you in highest esteem, and I know you will be truthful with me. As long as you do not love him, I think I could find no other woman who pleases me so much as you do.”
She smiled. “Perhaps I could have grown to love him, but I do not.”
He exhaled. “Marry me,” he pleaded.
“Why?”
“Why? Because we read the same books, and you disagree with me more often than not. Because you are lovely and kind. Because my money does not impress you. Because you fascinate me. Is that not enough? Marry me.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “I cannot agree to marry you today. Shall we test the strength of our feelings by waiting to become betrothed? By tomorrow, I shall likely bear the mark of a ruined woman. If you still wish to marry me in a month, ask me again.”
“What if Beckett comes back?”
Is that fear in his eyes? she wondered.
“I doubt he will, but what if he does? I have told you I do not love him. If we agree to a month’s courtship, I promise you I will consider no other men while you and I get to know each other better.”
Darcy’s brilliant smile nearly blinded her.
“Then you agree to a courtship?” he asked eagerly. “And you will accept me at the end of it?”
She nodded. “In a month, if you can truthfully say you love me, I will accept your offer.”
He looked at her thoughtfully. “But what if you still do not love me?”
She looked at him from the corner of her eye. “I am but a simple country maiden, Mr. Darcy. Do you think I could resist a worthy, handsome, intelligent man who loves me and does his best to win my love?”
“Probably not, and if such a man appears in Meryton in the next month, I hope you do not meet him.”
Elizabeth laughed aloud.
“Ah! I have made you laugh, and I heard you say you dearly love to laugh.” Darcy smiled at her. “If I make you laugh every day for a month, I think you will love me.”
She was suddenly sober. “As long as you do not make me cry, as well.”
He started to reach for her hand but seemed to think better of it. “I made you cry once, but I did not like it. I shall endeavour never to do so again.”
“’Tis nearly time for us to go in to dinner.”
“Stay a moment. We have an unusual arrangement, and I wish to make an unusual request.”
Curious. “State your request.”
He bit his lower lip. “I wish to speak to your father and let him know my intentions are entirely honourable. I would like his approval of the conditions of the courtship.”
Nodding, she replied, “That is reasonable. Why would you think I would not agree?”
“Because I should like for you to confide to Miss Lucas, when she calls tomorrow, that we are in a courtship. Normally, you would not share such information until we are engaged.”
“You wish to protect my reputation?”
“Not necessarily; at least, that is not my principal concern. I confess I want others to know you and I have an understanding of sorts. Miss Lucas need not share her knowledge with others, if you wish to keep it secret, though she could say she knows for a fact you are not unmarriageable and have had an offer from a suitable gentleman, which you are considering.”
He is ashamed of me. “You do not wish to marry a woman connected with scandal.”
“How can you think that?” he asked, shaking his head. “In the past half hour, I have asked you three times to marry me. This is not so much to protect you as it is to stake my claim. I am a selfish, jealous man where you are concerned. For one month at least, you are mine. Other men would know not to interfere.”
Mr. Darcy is rather sweet. Who would have thought it? “Then talk to my father. If he agrees, I shall confide in Charlotte tomorrow.”
Darcy’s smile was triumphant as he offered her his arm, and she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow.
After a lovely meal, Darcy requested an audience with Mr. Bennet. As the gentlemen walked towards the library, Darcy looked back, secured Elizabeth’s attention, and gestured for her to come with them.
Once they were all in the room, Elizabeth closed the door and joined Darcy before her father’s desk.
When they were seated, Mr. Bennet leaned forward, looking at Darcy with interest. “You wished to speak with me?”
Darcy took a deep breath. “Yes. I have asked Miss Elizabeth to marry me, and she has given me her answer.”
The elder gentleman leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk and steepling his fingers. “And what am I to do? If she has given you her consent, I shall not oppose her wishes.”
The young man grimaced. “Her consent. About that. We find ourselves in a situation which is different from most betrothals.” He glanced at Elizabeth. “She has placed a stipulation upon her acceptance of my offer.”
Mr. Bennet directed his attention to his daughter with open curiosity. “Stipulation? Explain, please, Lizzy.”
“I have asked for a month’s courtship before I agree to the betrothal. I should like to know Mr. Darcy better before I accept. Therefore, I would prefer we kept this among us three.”
He turned back to Darcy. “I dislike secrecy, and I should think you would prefer transparency, as well. Why would you allow such a thing? Are you embarrassed to be engaged to my daughter?”
“Not at all. I would gladly marry her tomorrow, though I understand her reasons.”
“In truth?” asked Mr. Bennet, peering over his glasses at the young man. “Enlighten me.”
Darcy looked at his hands. “I made an insulting remark about Miss Elizabeth before I ever met her. She overheard it. I am quite ashamed of myself.”
“All of us know you slighted my Lizzy. There must be more to this than that.”
“That unfortunate incident precipitated a series of events which will lead to public censure of your daughter by tomorrow,” Darcy replied, raising his eyes to Mr. Bennet’s face. “There is already gossip. I heard two ladies talking in the Meryton bookshop. As I am the one at fault, I should provide the solution t
o the problem.”
“Lizzy?”
She blushed. “I am considered to be compromised, though I did nothing wrong.”
Mr. Bennet stood, voice rising, fists clenched. “You have ruined my daughter?”
Darcy held up his hands. “I did not. Beckett, my physician, followed her from Netherfield to Oakham Mount a few nights ago, hoping to protect her without her knowledge. She heard a noise behind her and, frightened, ran through the trees in the dark. In the process, she fell and injured her head. Since she could not walk and, in fact, was not able to reason enough to help herself, Beckett carried her back to Netherfield. He was also alone with her in her chambers there when he sent the maid on an errand. Your daughter does not remember either of those occurrences.”
“And why is this your fault, Mr. Darcy? It seems to me that Mr. Beckett should be sitting where you are.” He sat down, glaring across his desk.
“She would not have been walking alone at night had I kept my opinions to myself. Beckett is gone, but I would offer for your daughter in any case. I have a very high regard for her.”
“Hmmm….” Mr. Bennet looked between them. “How would your courtship protect her when she insists on secrecy?”
“Lady Lucas will send her daughter here tomorrow to learn what she can of the matter. I asked Miss Elizabeth to convince her that she is considering an eligible match from a gentleman of means. When we announce our betrothal in a month, everyone will know I am the suitor.”
“So, you are the obstacle to an immediate public betrothal, Lizzy?” he asked. “You know you shall have to marry. Why not go forward with the plan now?”
“I had always hoped to marry for love,” she replied, tears in her eyes.
Her father’s eyes were sad. “You could have a yearlong courtship, but it would not guarantee love that is lasting.”
“Please, Father.” Her eyes beseeched him. “Allow me to do this my way.”
Mr. Bennet nodded slowly. “Very well. I will agree on one condition.”
“Name it,” said Darcy.
“If any scandal attaches to Lizzy’s name, you will marry at once.”
