An Unnatural Inheritance: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Page 25
Mr. Collins’ eyes went wide and he nodded awkwardly, clearing his throat.
“Yes, yes, of course, I understand,” he said, shifting still.
In short order, Elizabeth and the colonel were sequestered into the carriage, their goodbyes said, and were quickly on their way. They were not far outside of the village boundaries when Elizabeth sat up and looked at her companion quizzically.
“I thought we were to Rosings to pick up the maid?” she asked. Colonel Fitzwilliam grimaced, then nodded.
“Ah, yes, that. I apologize for artifice, but there is no maid. My aunt would never consent to have one of her employees out of her sight. But I have my suspicions as to what is calling you urgently to London, and I wished to aid your journey in any way possible. I also have some matters to talk to you about, and I preferred privacy. If you are uncomfortable, I will turn around this moment and personally see you onto a hackney,” he said, sounding very tired.
Elizabeth shook her head.
“I do not mind, though I don’t approve of lying to Mr. Collins, however understandable your reasons are. I confess to wanting to speak to you as well. Why have you stayed at Rosings, instead of going to London?” Her throat constricted with anxiety.
“Darcy did not want my aunt to worry excessively and become involved, and he asked me to remain at Rosings so as to not make her believe the situation was overly serious.”
“But now you are leaving?” Elizabeth asked.
“Things have taken a turn for the worse, and I have been summoned. But I believe you knew that. Now tell me, what do you hope to do in London? You must love him, or else you would not go fleeing into the night like this. Does this mean you’ve forgiven him?”
Elizabeth was silent for a long moment, eyeing Mr. Darcy’s cousin suspiciously. She was surprised to hear him speak so frankly.
“How much do you know, Colonel Fitzwilliam?”
“All of it,” he responded quickly, an impish grin on his face. Elizabeth laughed lightly.
“I highly doubt that,” she said gently. She sighed and looked up at him. “I am going to London for several reasons, primary of which is to offer my assistance. But I also must tell Mr. Darcy a great many things first. Is it safe to assume that you will, in short order, know of them all?”
Colonel Fitzwilliam cocked his head to the side, looking very much like his cousin for the first time since Elizabeth had met him.
“Yes. Darcy and I tell each other everything. How do you expect to offer assistance?”
Elizabeth massaged her temples quickly, then reached into her pocket and pulled out the express from Jane and handed it to him wordlessly. She watched his eyes grow larger as he scanned it, and she thought back over the contents — which she doubted she would ever forget — wondering if she had acted correctly. The feeling of panic rose within her again as she remembered Jane’s words.
Lizzy,
I have been hesitant to write you regarding this, but I believe I can wait no longer. As you know, Mr. Bingley and I have become reacquainted since I came to London, and I have spent much time in the company of his sisters, Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst. Through them I came to be acquainted with Miss Georgiana Darcy, the younger sister of Mr. Darcy. She is a sweet, unassuming girl, who I understand has been in ill health since the summer. As such, she does not often leave Mr. Darcy’s town home, but on several occasions she has accompanied Mr. Bingley’s sisters and I out on small shopping ventures. Knowing what I do of the girl’s misfortunes, I have endeavored to be a friend to her, and must admit that I like her a great deal.
Two weeks ago we were at a milliner's, when a crowd of women Miss Bingley is acquainted with noticed Miss Darcy, and began engaging in the cruelest of gossip. It will be no surprise to you that they had learned, through a cousin in Hertfordshire, of Mr. Wickham’s relationship with the young girl. Though I attempted to remove our party, Miss Bingley was fascinated by the story, and despite my best efforts, Miss Darcy heard. I have never seen someone turn so white, and she fled the store directly. There was a great noise, and by the time I was able to get to her, it was too late — in her distress, she had run directly into the street, and was struck by a great coach.
Her injuries at first did not appear life threatening — I learned that she suffered a broken arm and an injured ankle, and was unconscious from a head injury, but the doctor predicted that she would awake. She has been permitted no visitors. I asked Charles to try to find a way for me to see her, so that I may help any way I could, and at last he managed to smuggle me to her room. Lizzy, she is so much worse than I thought. She has not awoken, and her face is terribly bruised, and I am afraid that my powers are too weak here in London for me to have been of any help to her at all.
I have seen Mr. Darcy only a handful of times, and he has been despondent. Charles says he keeps himself to his study or his sister’s rooms at all times, and refuses visitors. Your last letter was frustratingly vague, but I believe I understand enough about what transpired between you to know that he needs you, Lizzy. Do not make him go through this alone.
More importantly, I beg you to come, as soon as you can. Though London and distance from home have dampened my power, you have always been stronger and more practiced than I have, and it is my hope that together we can provide some relief to the poor girl. I did not wish you to feel burdened by guilt, but I cannot protect you from this any longer. It was your spell on Mr. Wickham that caused the truth to come out, and I cannot help but feel that our family is to blame for this. As such, we should do all possible to put things right. After you arrive, I wish to write to father to invite our other sisters to join us, for I believe that with the full power of the coven behind us, we may be more effective.
Please come. I do not know if he will speak to you but we shall attempt to work that out when you arrive.
With much love, your sister, Jane.
Having finished the letter several times over, Colonel Fitzwilliam looked up at her, his eyes wide.
“I had planned to speak to Mr. Darcy myself, but he left before I was able to,” she said quietly. “Last winter, Mr. Wickham was stationed in Meryton, near my home, and became a great favorite of my family. We became friends, and he had many stories to tell of his mistreatment at the hands of Mr. Darcy and his cruel younger sister. At length I grew suspicious, and cast a truth spell on the man, hoping to learn of his intentions toward my family, as well as to assuage my curiosity about Mr. Darcy. But my younger sister, who helped me with the spell, is not talented at magic, and the enchantment did not dissolve within the hour. For several days, he was spelled to speak only the truth, and, unsurprisingly, his history with Miss Darcy became public knowledge within the neighborhood. Because his true character had been revealed, many were hesitant to believe the veracity of his account, but nonetheless, it appears that the gossip made its way to London.”
“So you are a witch then? He was right,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said quietly, his eyes still wide. “I can’t believe he was right.”
“I did not enchant him. I never bid him to love me, nor worked such a spell on him. I have made many mistakes, and I will not deny that I have accidentally involved Mr. Darcy in my magic, but never maliciously, and never intentionally. For better or for worse, he loves me of his own accord. I did not and could not create that.”
“And your sister? What of her and Mr. Bingley?”
“My sister is the purest soul I know. She uses her magic only to heal, and even then very sparingly. She knew nothing of my actions until I was too deep in my mess and needed help to sort it out. I have hurt her with my recklessness as well,” Elizabeth added quietly.
“How?”
Elizabeth looked out the window with a sigh.
“I cast a spell to unlock her true feelings for Mr. Bingley, as I felt she was holding herself back. But it backfired, and hit Mr. Darcy and me instead. Apparently, as I now know, I revealed his feelings for me. And I became aware of my feelings for him,” she said softly, avoidin
g his cousin’s gaze. “I did not handle it well. I tried to cut out the affection, to banish the emotions from my body, but I was a fool. Instead, I sent Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley from the country, effectively separating my sister from the man she loved. In truth, sir, very few people that I love have been unaffected by my foolishness.”
“Using malicious magic against a man is a crime,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said slowly. “You’ve just confessed to using magic three separate times against my cousin and Mr. Wickham, and you attempted to spell Mr. Bingley. What is to keep me from arresting you as soon as we enter London?”
Elizabeth smiled grimly.
“I am a witch, Colonel Fitzwilliam. By the time we reached London, you would no longer remember this conversation,” she said calmly. “But more importantly, I do not think you will. You love your cousins, and I wish only to help them as I can, to attempt to make some amends for the pain and misery I have brought upon them. That is all; when I have completed that task, I will remove myself from their lives.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam sat back in his seat and rubbed at his chin pensively.
“I truly do not know what awaits you in London, but I promise to help,” he said.
Elizabeth shrugged, suddenly feeling very tired.
“That is the most I can ask of you. Now, if you would excuse me, I would like to sleep while I may before we get to London.”
“Stretch out and make yourself comfortable; my coach is very well appointed,” the colonel replied. Elizabeth, who had settled in and closed her eyes, opened one and squinted at him.
“Ah yes, your coach — which bares the Darcy crest — is exceedingly comfortable, Colonel,” she responded with a smile, before closing her eyes once again and settling into what she knew would be a very uneasy sleep.
***
When Elizabeth arrived at her uncle’s home in a luxurious Darcy carriage, escorted to the door by a tall, broad man in a red coat, Edward Gardiner did not know how to properly react. Jane, it appeared, was unsurprised by her arrival, and flew to the door, her affable young man trailing dutifully behind her.
As the sisters embraced, the gentleman in red exchanged a gruff meeting with Mr. Bingley, and they passed several quiet comments between themselves as Mr. Gardiner stared on in fascination. Eventually he cleared his throat, and four sets of young eyes turned to stare at him.
“Lizzy my dear, how wonderful to see you. What a splendid surprise. What brought you to London so suddenly — and so comfortably, I might add?” the older man added, a touch of warning in his voice. He had not yet decided his feelings on the friendly yet flighty Mr. Bingley, and now another of his dear nieces had appeared on his doorstep, unescorted save for an abnormally broad member of Her Majesty’s service.
Elizabeth flushed and dropped a quick curtsey.
“Forgive me uncle, I have acted abominably. As you know, I’ve been visiting with our cousin and his wife in Rosings, where I came into the acquaintance of Colonel Fitzwilliam, Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s nephew and the cousin of our friend Mr. Darcy, who we met in Hertfordshire with Mr. Bingley,” Elizabeth explained, halfway hoping that the jumble of names would confuse her uncle. It did not work. Edward Gardiner crossed his arms and silently waited for her to continue.
“I’m afraid I’ve been terribly homesick and missing Jane, and she wrote and encouraged me to come to London. Mr. Collins has been incredibly welcoming, but I felt I was continuing to trespass on his generosity, and when Colonel Fitzwilliam offered me transportation with him, I felt it was a perfect opportunity. Please, do not be angry with me, I know I’ve acted foolishly.”
Mr. Gardiner was silent, and a hush fell over the room before he slowly shook his head.
“No, you will have to do better than that, Elizabeth. You are not the kind of girl to go running all over the country on a whim,” he said at last. Colonel Fitzwilliam stepped forward and opened his mouth, but Elizabeth shook her head and held out a hand to steady him.
“Uncle, I cannot give you what you ask. You know Jane and me, and though you never speak of it, I believe that you understand certain things about us and our sisters. Even mother in her way knows, but out of goodness, none of you have ever addressed it,” she said quietly, glancing nervously to the side at Mr. Bingley. But he stayed passive, appearing unsurprised at her comment. “You need not confirm, but simply trust me that if I could tell you, I would. I was needed in London, and Colonel Fitzwilliam was exceedingly kind in escorting me. Please, uncle.”
Jane’s eyes were wide as she looked around the room, chewing on her bottom lip and wringing her hands. The girls had long assumed their uncle had suspected, but had never spoken of their magic so boldly to him.
Mr. Gardiner eyed his niece silently for a moment, then nodded.
“It is a joy to have you, Lizzy. Colonel Fitzwilliam, thank you for your kindness. Would you care to stay for refreshment?”
For the first time since arriving, Colonel Fitzwilliam addressed her uncle and shook his head.
“No, thank you, Mr. Gardiner, I’m afraid I must be leaving. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Bingley, walk me out, old chap?” Mr. Bingley nodded and followed Fitzwilliam out the door.
“When your aunt asks, you have come to surprise Jane, at my invitation,” her uncle whispered to Elizabeth before leaving the two sisters alone.
XXVI
The parlour of Darcy House was almost sparse in comparison to the opulence of Rosings. It was beautiful, Elizabeth had to admit, tastefully and elegantly furnished, with large windows along the far wall that filled the room with natural light.
Jane and Mr. Bingley sat silently across from her, and Elizabeth stroked her skirts absentmindedly, worrying that her heartbeat was so loud her sister could hear it. When the door opened she almost jumped in alarm until she realized it was only Colonel Fitzwilliam, but then another wave of panic slammed into her as she realized it was time. Following her new friend dutifully out of the room, she trailed him down the long hallway and through an oak door at the end.
Elizabeth blinked in surprise as she turned, her mouth a small “o” shape as she looked at the room before her; walls were lined with shelves of books, more books than she could ever have imagined, each neatly catalogued and arranged. A fire crackled gently in the corner, and the same large windows from the parlour were present here as well, providing a view to the back of the house, which featured a spacious back garden. It would have been easy to be swept up in the wonder of the room and forget why she was there. But she turned to Colonel Fitzwilliam, her mouth tight.
“I thought we were going to his study?” she asked firmly.
“I thought this would be a better spot, less business-like,” he said with a shrug, but she shook her head, cutting him off.
“No, I’m sorry, I must insist. This is akin to a business transaction, and I do not think that sitting before a fire in fine lounge chairs is a fitting scene for this discussion. I see what you are trying to do here, Colonel, but I must insist,” she repeated tightly. With a sigh Colonel Fitzwilliam nodded and ushered her toward the side of the room and another door, which he pulled open and strode into.
She followed dutifully, and found herself enclosed in a much smaller version of the library, this time with only one window looking out on the back garden and a large desk situated before it. Elizabeth sunk into a chair across from the desk and nodded at the colonel.
“Thank you,” she said, smoothing her skirts. “Truly, I appreciate this.”
“Do you want me to stay with you until he comes down? I told him only that there was someone in his study needing to speak urgently, so he does not know it is you,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said with some agitation. Elizabeth smiled weakly and put a hand on his elbow.
“You are very protective of someone who has done such ill to your family, Colonel,” she said gently. “I thank you, but no. I will face my sins alone.” Colonel Fitzwilliam’s eyebrows knit together in consternation, but he nodded and left the room.
“Mr. Darcy,” she said quietly, dropping into a curtsey. He stood by the entry, his hand still on the knob as he stared at her, his expression alternating between surprise, relief, and panic, and it was almost a full minute before he haltingly closed the door behind him and walked into the room.