First Comes Marriage
A Darcy & Elizabeth Pride & Prejudice Variation
Elizabeth Sylvester
Copyright © 2018 by Elizabeth Sylvester
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter One
“Lydia!”
Mrs. Bennet’s exasperated shriek brought the chaos that had descended upon Longbourn House to a temporary standstill.
“How many times do I have to remind you that this is not like any other assembly. We must be there before anyone else.”
“But why, Mama?” Lydia pouted.
“You know why! Now you’ve been dancing and twirling around all morning with not a care in the world, while my heartbeat soars with each passing minute!”
She dramatically clutched at her heart as she sank into a chair in the corner of the room, with an exaggerated sigh.
“Don’t you understand how important it is to get the best spot in the assembly? Both Jane and Lizzy need to be noticed and not hidden amongst the multitude of girls that will be there today! I have explained this to you before. Every mother in her right mind will be there—she would be a fool not to when it is rumoured Mr. Bingley is to attend!”
Lydia stopped pirouetting for a minute to whisper something into her sister Kitty’s ear, and the two of them burst into a fit of giggles, quite unperturbed by their mother’s outburst.
The sisters were used to the melodrama that enveloped their household almost every day, with their mother’s frequent tantrums and fainting spells. Her words were never taken seriously by the younger two, especially frivolous Lydia, who now chose to drown out her mother’s words by singing at the top of her voice.
“Oh, the two of you will be the death of me!” Mrs. Bennet lamented. “Jane! Lizzy! Do something!” she shouted out to her elder daughters.
Mrs. Bennet had been in a tizzy ever since she had got wind of the new arrival at Netherfield House. She had fretted and fussed, trying her hardest to get Mr. Bennett to set up an appointment with Mr. Bingley but with little success.
“Come now my dear!” He had placated. “Why do we need to be the first ones to impose on the new neighbour’s hospitality? Give him time to settle in and I will call on him then,” he had said, patting her hand affectionately as he quietly shut the door of his library, leaving her under no illusion that he would listen to anything else on the matter.
Mrs. Bennett was desperate. For her it was very important that Mr. Bingley see her daughters before he laid eyes on anyone else. He was a very wealthy man who had the potential to solve all their worries. No doubt all of the mothers of Meryton felt the same, but Mrs. Bennet had something they did not have. Jane, her eldest, was breathtakingly lovely in both appearance and spirit. She was quite convinced that Jane would win his heart and his hand.
But no matter how lovely Jane was, she could not win Bingley’s heart if he did not see her! And she would not put it past some of the other mothers to devise a scheme to get him to dance with their daughters before he managed to set eyes on Jane Bennet. She had seen the look in Mrs. Long’s eyes when she confirmed that yes, of course, they would be attending the assembly.
“Well? Come on girls. You ought to have finished the adjustments to your gowns days ago. They will still need to be pressed. And your sashes! Oh my word, what else can go wrong?”
“Mama.” Elizabeth spoke softly in an attempt to calm her mother. “We shall be finished soon and there is plenty of time. Our gowns are ready. We have laid them out on the bed so that they do not crease. And I am only making minor adjustments to my sash that will not take long.” She smiled tenderly at her older sister. “I have no doubt that Jane will steal the heart of every man at the assembly.”
“I don’t want her to steal every man’s heart!” Mrs. Bennet cried. “If Mr. Bingley is impressed that will be good enough.”
“Well then, Mr. Bingley’s heart. Do not fret. It will all go off without a hitch.”
Her mother stormed from the room without another word. Elizabeth watched after her helplessly, wishing she would not worry so. What was the sense in it?
“I wish she wouldn’t worry so,” she whispered to Jane. “It does her no good.”
“I realise that,” Jane responded. “But what is to be done? At least Lydia and Kitty have gone to prepare themselves.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Only because they could not stand to listen to Mama’s wailing for another moment longer!”
A sudden crash from somewhere upstairs startled them into silence. It was the shriek that followed a moment later that really caused them to worry. Without saying a word, both girls jumped to their feet and hurried up the stairs.
“Oh please no!” The grief in Mrs. Bennet’s voice was so tragic that they moved even faster, convinced that there had been a great disaster.
And there had been.
“Just look at what these silly girls have done!” Mrs. Bennet moaned, pointing to the gowns that now lay ruined with dark red stains all over the front. A small pool of dark liquid spread slowly across the floor.
Lydia and Kitty stood guiltily in one corner, the empty glass in Lydia’s hand serving as a clue as to what had occurred.
Elizabeth shook her head, barely able to believe what she was seeing. “Lydia what were you doing? And is that wine you were drinking?” She looked from Lydia to Kitty searching for some sort of explanation that might justify all of this.
Lydia tossed her hair. “I was looking for your other sashes. Mine are so dull.”
“But why did you have to be so careless! What were you doing with a glass of claret in the middle of the day in our bedroom of all places?” Jane was close to tears and Elizabeth was not far behind her.
A look of amusement passed across Lydia’s pretty features. “It was just a bit of a joke, that’s all. You were all so tense that Kitty and I thought why not go to the dining room and take some—“
“I did not!” Kitty cried. “I did not take any wine. I would not do such a thing!”
Mrs. Bennet gave no indication of having heard or cared about her younger daughters’ secret wine drinking. She was staring at the gowns on the bed, shaking her head slowly as if she was struggling to take it in. “What’s to become of us now? Mr. Bingley will surely choose someone else tonight and my poor Jane will die an old maid!”
“Mama, that is not true.” Elizabeth moved to the bed and picked up the ruined gowns. They were saturated—it was no good. “Perhaps the servants can boil them. We still have time.”
“We have no time! We were due to leave in an hour.”
“We could wear our other gowns,” Jane offered.
“Your other gowns?” Mrs. Bennet snuffled loudly. “How could you? Everyone would know. We’d be laughing stocks, every one of us. There’s no fabric to sew ne
w ones and no time even if we had fabric. Oh, Jane. Oh my, I do not know quite what to say.”
“Don’t worry mama. I’m sure there’ll be another assembly soon.” Jane comforted.
“Oh there will be plenty of assemblies Jane, but none with someone as worthy of attention as Mr. Bingley!” she cried.
“I’m sure Mr. Bingley isn’t the only handsome gentleman in the world, mama. My beautiful sister will surely find someone worthy enough to steal her heart.” Elizabeth joined in.
“Will he have as big a fortune?” Mrs. Bennet burst into tears again. The very thought of the missed opportunity was too much to bear.
There was no question of them going now. If the stains had been smaller they might have attempted to cover up the discolouration with flowers, but there was no way they could cover this. They could not allow the other residents of Meryton to see them in stained gowns, let alone Mr. Bingley who was no doubt used to a high level of elegance and sophistication from the women in his circle.
“Kitty and I shall give Mr. Bingley your regards,” Lydia said with a smile when the maids had been sent for and they had had confirmation that the gowns were beyond repair.
Jane gasped. Her hand flew to her chest on hearing the cruelty in her sister’s words.
“You will do no such thing,” Mrs. Bennet snapped.
“But our gowns are pristine!”
“Yes, but that is not the point. I would order you to bring your gowns to Jane and Lizzy only for the fact that they would not fit and there is no time to make adjustments.”
“But I thought you wanted a daughter to marry Mr. Bingley!”
“You can have no idea how desperately I want that,” Mrs. Bennet wailed. “But I cannot send you two. People would talk if Jane and Lizzy were not present and I will not have that. Now, go to your rooms. I do not ever want to see a wine glass in those clumsy hands of yours, do you understand?”
When the others left, Lizzy closed the door behind them and shuffled back to the bed. Both girls lay down without saying a word. What could they say?
Chapter Two
Elizabeth was up early the next morning. Since she seemed to be the only one that was up and about, she decided to go for a walk. She loved walking in the woods whenever she was in a poor mood. The trees; the light—being there had a calming effect on her; transporting her into another world where she was one with nature.
Her mind was still in a bit of a turmoil with the events of the previous evening. Mrs. Bennet’s hysterics had taken their toll on everyone. After lying in silence in their bedroom with a devastated Jane, Elizabeth had ventured downstairs. Her younger sisters had soon gone off to bed in sobs after receiving a stern lecture about their carelessness, and Mr. Bennet had stormed off to his library when he could not bear his wife’s tantrums any longer.
Everyone in the house was devastated by the previous day’s events and she could not bear to pass another day wondering how a moment of carelessness could have had such a grave effect on Jane’s prospects.
Despite her worries, she couldn’t help but smile to herself as the beautiful song of a bird cut through the air. She lifted up her face to the gentle breeze that swept through the trees. The sun had just risen, and every part of the wood was bathed in a golden hue. The events of the previous night began to fade as she revelled in the beginning of another day.
There had been a spell of rain the night before and Elizabeth found her shoes squelching mud every little while. She did not mind it though. There was an added freshness to the morning that was even more beautiful due to the rain that had passed.
The distressed whinny of a horse suddenly cut through the quiet of the morning. Elizabeth stopped to listen again. It seemed to come from the edge of the woods.
When she had walked about a hundred yards, she came into a clearing in the woods. A beautiful black stallion stood at a strange angle, while a handsome man tried his best to coax the animal into moving again.
When she got closer, it became evident that the hind leg of the horse was caught in the mud. The man tried his best to extricate the leg, but the horse reared in fright every time, splattering him with mud. Elizabeth could not hide the smile that spread across her face, and at precisely that moment, the man chose to look up.
“I can see that you find this highly amusing Miss, but it is really not that funny. My horse is in great distress and I don’t seem to be very successful at helping him out of the mess.”
Elizabeth was overcome with guilt and rushed to his side—it was not on the man’s account, but on the horse’s. She hated seeing animals suffer and it was obvious to her now that the horse was becoming increasingly frightened.
“Please forgive my manners, sir, but I could not help it. It is not the situation I found amusing but the… um… mess your darling horse has made.” She tried to look away and not focus her attention on his mud-splattered coat.
“You poor beauty.” She said as she patted the horse. “How did you manage to get yourself into this mess?”
It was quite evident that Elizabeth was no stranger to horses and the man was intrigued by her.
“I haven’t seen you in these parts before.” Elizabeth looked quizzically at him.
“I’m actually visiting a friend, Mr. Bingley, at Netherfield House. You must forgive my manners,” he continued. “I’m Fitzwilliam Darcy.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Darcy.” Elizabeth said with a smile and slight curtsy. “I’m Elizabeth Bennet.”
“Miss Elizabeth.” He nodded. There was no smile accompanying his reply and Elizabeth was certain he disliked her.
The horse whinnied again for want of attention.
“Oh my, I cannot just stand here and watch him in such distress. Let me help you.”
He frowned and shook his head. “Nonsense.”
“But I insist.” She tried to hide the smile that came easily to her face. “It does not look like you have had much success.”
“Very well then,” he grumbled. “Hold onto the reins while I free his leg.”
Elizabeth spoke soothingly to the horse while its master went about the task at hand. With a great tug he finally managed to free the leg, but the force was so great, he lost his balance and fell squarely in the mud.
“Oh Mr. Darcy, are you hurt?” Elizabeth asked, not quite able to control the urge to laugh. He looked ridiculous!
“Let me help you.” She approached cautiously.
Mr. Darcy tried to rise but fell right back into the mud. Laughing Elizabeth planted her feet on the ground and held out her hand.
“Here, take my hand for support. Perhaps you’ll be able to stand up then.”
Darcy did not look too amused by her laughter but took the proffered hand anyway. One tug at her hand, and Elizabeth went sprawling into the slippery mud beside him.
“Oh dear, I knew that was a bad idea. I cannot apologise enough.”
But she was not offended. It was so unexpected that all she could do was laugh. “Aren’t we a sight, Mr. Darcy!” Elizabeth said, shoulders shaking. “Mama is definitely going to have another fainting spell when she lays eyes on me; and when she knows that a man of your standing has seen me in this state, I will surely be sent away forever!”
Her flushed cheeks and twinkling eyes made Darcy catch his breath. He had never seen a woman laugh so unselfconsciously or be so unconcerned by her appearance. She looked beautiful, sprawled in the mud with bits of grass sticking to her hair. He wanted to reach out and brush them away but he knew better than to do that.
It was not like him to even think of such a thing—what was wrong with him?
“Come on Mr. Darcy. Let’s help each other up.” She advised as she stood up with the support of his shoulders. “Don’t tug on my hand too hard or I will surely fall again.”
Darcy was finally able to stand up with her support.
“I ought to walk you home,” he said uncertainly, having never found himself in this situation. “Where do you live?”
“No, I shall go alone. We both know it would not be a good idea to be seen alone together, despite our meeting having been a coincidence.”
“In that case, I shall be on my way Miss Bennet.” He said, as he mounted his horse.
Elizabeth watched him ride away with a tinge of regret. She had quite enjoyed the little exchange she had had with him and was eager to get back home to tell Jane all about it.
She wondered how mama would react when she saw her soiled garments. The second ruined gown in a week—Elizabeth knew she would never hear the end of it.
Chapter Three
Elizabeth tried to slink quietly into the house. She hoped to make it to her room before she was spotted by someone, but she ran into her father as soon as she entered. Like her, he too was an early riser.
“My dear Lizzy! Look at you!” Mr. Bennet exclaimed. “What happened? Did you have a tumble in the mud?” He said this with a twinkle in his eye.
Mr. Bennet was quite unperturbed by her appearance. Ever since she was a child, Elizabeth had been rather adventurous and had often been so taken in by the outdoors that her accidents were quite commonplace. Mr. Bennet had been witness to quite a few of them.
“Yes, papa it was quite an unfortunate incident. The trail was quite slippery after last night’s downpour,” Elizabeth lied.
Telling her father about her encounter with Darcy would serve no purpose.
“Mrs. Bennet isn’t going to be very pleased.” He said, just as her mother walked in.
“Elizabeth Bennet!” She fumed, aghast at her daughter’s appearance. “I hope nobody saw you in those garments. Oh what a sight you are! Run quickly to your room and get out of those clothes before someone decides to call on us.”
First Comes Marriage: A Darcy & Elizabeth Pride & Prejudice Variation Page 1
