by Don Miller
When Col. Fitzwilliam appeared in front of her, she gave a deep curtsy, and looked into his eyes a moment before saying, “It is good to see you again, Colonel. It has been a long time.”
Col. Fitzwilliam was dumbstruck for a moment. Was this lovely creature in front of him the Margaret Farnsworth he had met four years ago? Finally he said, “And it is very good to see you again. I hope I may have the pleasure of a dance with you this evening.”
“At this time I have an empty card, Colonel. Please choose the dance you would like.”
Not believing his luck, he took a chance and said, “Would you do me the honor of giving me the first dance?”
“It would be my pleasure, Colonel. I look forward to it.”
He would have liked to say more, but he was holding up the receiving line, so he bowed, and said, “Until then,” and followed his party to the ballroom. When they had reached the ballroom, his mother looked at him seriously and said to him, “That was a rather long greeting with Miss Carlson, Richard. May I ask what took so long?”
Looking somewhat embarrassed, Col. Fitzwilliam said, “I could not believe it was the same Margaret I used to know. I took one look at her, and felt I had to secure a dance with her.”
“And were you successful?”
“I cannot believe my luck. I was able to secure the first dance.”
Hiding her smile, Lady Matlock said, “This is very unlike you, Richard. May I ask what prompted you to ask her for the first dance? Was it out of courtesy because you thought she might be lacking partners?”
“Certainly not!” he protested. “Did you look at her? I could hardly believe she is the same young woman I met four years ago. She is gorgeous. Where has she been hiding, and why is she not being inundated with admirers? I just thought I would like to get my bid in first.”
At that instant Darcy approached them, and asked, “Get your bid in first on what, Richard?”
Slightly blushing, something he rarely did, Col. Fitzwilliam admitted, “On Miss Farnsworth’s attention. I have just realized my mother has been hiding a gem from me.” Turning to his mother, he continued, “And why have you not been pushing me her way. She is beautiful. As I recall she is quite smart. I suspect she has a substantial dowry.”
“You must recall, Richard, you have been gone most of the past four years, and she has never shown much of an inclination to attend balls. And I must admit, I am too close to the Denbys. I think I overlooked her. But now that you mention it, she does look stunning tonight. I think the first time I really noticed how she had changed was when we came to dinner here the night Lord and Lady Monttard first introduced Elizabeth to the Earl and Countess, and she and Elizabeth seemed to hit it off so well.”
Darcy, who had been watching all this with interest, particularly the animation in his cousin’s voice as her talked about Miss Farnsworth, interjected, “My God, Richard, I do believe you are smitten. As I recall, my betrothed said something about the two of you being a good match, but I did not give it a second thought. I should have paid more attention. I hope she gives you a hard time, so I can tease you like you have been teasing me.”
“I am not smitten. I have just noticed how attractive she is and have made a very objective observation that she has all the requirements mother has been telling me I need to find in a woman.”
“Objective, my foot,” said Darcy. “I have watched you in your “objective” mode before, and this is not it.”
They were joined by others and the conversation went to other subjects, but Col. Fitzwilliam kept watching the stairway, waiting to see the entrance of the Earl and Countess and Margaret, indicating that all the guests had arrived. About twenty minutes later, he saw them enter the room at the top of the stairs leading down to the ballroom, and immediately excused himself as he made his way over to his hosts. He was not quite sure what he was going to do, but he knew he wanted to be able to talk to Margaret before Elizabeth’s introduction and the first dance.
When he reached them, he bowed and asked if he might have Miss Farnsworth’s company until they took the floor. Lady Denby smiled, because Lady Matlock had informed her of her granddaughter’s interest in Col. Fitzwilliam, and was pleased at his obvious interest. “What do you think, my dear?” she asked her granddaughter. “Will you be quite safe with him?”
“I believe I will,” was her reply. “And what shall we do before that dance?”
“I believe we should become reacquainted.” Offering his arm, he led her off to the side of the room.
A few minutes later, Mr. Carson, the butler, looking very regal, with a staff in his hand, stood at the top of the stairs leading down to the ballroom and rapped the staff several times on the floor. It drew everybody’s attention, and when the room was relatively silent, he announced in a very strong voice, “May I present The Honorable Miss Elizabeth Dumont, the Granddaughter of the Earl and Countess of Denby and the Baron and Baroness Monttard.”
Feeling very nervous inwardly, but smiling and looking elegant to those watching, Elizabeth entered the room and descended the stairs to the polite applause of the gathered guests, to meet Mr. Darcy at the bottom of the stairs. They walked to the center of the ballroom, where her grandparents met her, each gave her a kiss on the cheek, and then Lord Denby announced loudly, “And now let the dancing begin.”
On cue, the orchestra started to play, and the guests lined up for the first dance, with Darcy and Elizabeth leading the dance, followed by her grandparents, Lord and Lady Matlock, and the various other nobility, including Col. Fitzwilliam and Margaret.
It was an especially magical dance for two young women: Elizabeth, having her first dance with Darcy as his betrothed, and Margaret, having her first dance in four years with the man of whom she had been dreaming of all those years. And neither was disappointed. Elizabeth and Darcy said very little and were lost in themselves. The love they felt for each other was evident to those who were watching them. And those who had come hoping they might be able to criticize the newly elevated Elizabeth, to their disappointment, found her to be beautiful and charming.
Meanwhile, Col. Fitzwilliam was enchanted with his partner. He found her an excellent dancer, a witty conversationalist, and extremely easy to look at. He was disappointed when the dance was over, and he had to deliver her to her grandparents. Before they reached them, he asked her hopefully, “Is there any chance you have space on your card for another dance with me?”
“I did have more requests to dance by young men entering the house than I expected,” she said. She was overjoyed at his look of disappointment, but she knew what she wanted, so she continued, “However, I do have one dance left. But I am not sure it will please you. It might make you uncomfortable to take that dance, for who knows how tongues will wag.”
Thinking she meant the last dance, he was very happy, and said, “I worry not about tongues, only the pleasure of your company. May I please have whatever dance you have remaining””
“Very well, but I must warn you that it is the supper dance, so you will be obligated to spend the entire dinner with me. Do you think you can deal with that?
She could not have made him happier, and he was speechless for a moment. Then realizing she needed an answer, and they were in front of her grandparents, he told her, “I believe I will be able to survive and be the happiest of men. Somehow I feel I have been outmaneuvered, but this is one instance in which I am happy I was. I look forward to our next encounter.”
As he left, Lady Matlock, who was standing with Lord and Lady Denby, said to Margaret, “It would appear the plans Elizabeth had made to connect you with my son will not be necessary. I do believe he looked quite happy as he left, and I do believe you look very happy. May I assume you are enjoying yourself and his company?”
Hearing Lady Matlock’s comment and seeing Margaret’s blush, Lord Denby said, “I say, am I sensing a matchmaking plot here? If you are, I must say, I heartily approve. That is one fine young man.”
Margaret wa
s pleased with the approval of her grandparents and Lady Matlock, but was worried people would hear them and know she had set her cap for him. “Hush. All of you,” said an embarrassed Margaret. “I do not want the whole world to know.”
Meanwhile, Col. Fitzwilliam had reached Darcy and Elizabeth. He took Elizabeth’s hand and kissed it. “You look absolutely ravishing, Miss Dumont. Mr. Darcy here is a lucky man.”
Elizabeth did an elegant curtsy. “My thanks for your compliment. May I say you look magnificent in your dress uniform?” And turning quickly to Darcy, knowing how jealous he was of her attention to other men, she said, “And before you get jealous, my dear, you know you take my breath away all the time. Besides, I think our dear colonel here has found a significant female interest of his own.”
Darcy, realizing the ridiculousness of his jealously, smiled sheepishly and said, “You know me so well, dearest Elizabeth. And you, my cousin, I observed you with that absolutely stunning woman with whom you were dancing and all I can say is, I have a feeling she’s the one. Do not let her get away.”
Smiling, Col. Fitzwilliam said, “I am amazed at myself for actually saying this, but I think I will try very hard not to. And I am beginning to believe there is mutual attraction here. Do you know that when I asked her if she had another dance left, she said she had only one, and when I asked for it, she warned me is was the supper dance? I believe she saved that set for me so we could get to know each other better. And, I must admit, I feel like a school boy. Unlike other women whom I have been able to treat with…..” he paused, looking for the right word. “I do not know, distain, I guess, I feel almost giddy around her.”
Darcy was pleasantly surprised. He had never heard his cousin speak about a woman like this, and he recognized this must have been what he had sounded like to his cousin when he had told him about Elizabeth. After a moment’s reflections, with a big smile, he clapped his cousin on the shoulder, and said, “Do you comprehend how much you and I have changed in the past few months? For years we were carefree bachelors disdainful of all the women we were meeting, and then I suddenly meet Elizabeth, and my whole attitude on life changes. And now, because of consequences of knowing her, it looks as if your life is going to change.”
Taking Elizabeth’s hand, he said, “Elizabeth, I do believe you have been the best thing to happen to the Fitzwilliam and Darcy family in decades, and I can hardly wait to see what more happiness you will bring into my…, no our, lives. What say you, Richard?”
Thinking a moment about all that had happened since Elizabeth became part of their lives, he responded, “I believe you are right, Darcy. I just hope the good luck continues and the outcome of my pursuit of love is just half as successful as yours.”
“Thank you for all the credit you give me, William, but as far as Richard and Margaret go, I think it would have eventually happened anyway. She is a very resourceful girl.” Looking at Col. Fitzwilliam, she continued, “Richard, I believe you would have eventually found yourself in her company, regardless of whether Darcy had ever met me. And I am pretty sure, whatever the occasion, she would have attracted you as strongly then as she did tonight.”
“I am not sure that is true,” Col. Fitzwilliam responded. “Seeing you and Darcy together and the effect you have had on him has made me reconsider my life and put me in a mindset that wants what he has. I actually began to think that if there can be a woman like you for him, maybe, just maybe, there is a woman out there who would be as good for me as you are for Darcy. So when I saw Margaret tonight, and danced with her, and talked with her, I was ready to accept the fact she might be the perfect partner for me. I am afraid , if you had not come into our lives, my cynicism might have interfered with my ability to see what was right in front of me.”
The supper dance eventually came around and once again, Col. Fitzwilliam found himself with the woman who had so suddenly captured his attention. As they danced and touched, he realized he had never felt this way before, and he just hoped it was real--that it did not somehow disappear after one magical night. As he led her into supper, he said, “You know that as a soldier I tend to be very direct, so I have to ask. Is this night as magical to you as it is to me, and did you and Elizabeth and perhaps even my mother somehow have a hand in making it so?”
They had reached their table as he finished, and after he had helped her into the chair and sat himself, she reached over, and very inappropriately put her hand on top of his, which was on top of the table. “Yes and yes,” she said. “I hope you do not think me too forward, but I have thought of you often over the years and wondered if you could ever like me. I had to find out.”
Looking at her hand on his and then into her eyes, he said, “I fear, my dear Miss Farnsworth, I am in danger of feeling far more than ‘like’ for you. And I must admit, although I have assiduously avoided attachments over the years, I do not feel that way at all with you. Would it be acceptable if I visited your father and asked for the right to court you?”
She gave him her brightest smile and said, “You need not travel so far, Colonel, my grandfather has been given the power by my family to accept or reject any suitors I may have. I believe you need only ask and assure him I welcome your attentions. As a matter of fact he expressed his general approval of you this evening. I believe his words were, ‘That is one fine man’.”
“Then consider yourself courted, because at my earliest opportunity tonight, I will ask him.”
The evening was more of a success than anyone could have imagined. Elizabeth was generally accepted by all the gathered nobility as a bright addition to their ranks, and her engagement to Mr. Darcy an amazing match for both of them: her because she had captured the elusive Mr. Darcy who had been pursued by so many for so many years, and him because of her wealth and her obvious inherent gentility and her closeness to the Royal family through Lady Monttard. The courtship of Margaret by Col. Fitzwilliam was heartily accepted by Lord Denby, to the delight of all of his family and Elizabeth, and it made Margaret happier than she had been in years. And all agreed Darcy had been right--the impetus was Elizabeth, who had been brought into their lives through a chance meeting with Mr. Darcy one evening at an assembly in Hertfordshire.
Chapter 17: Lady Catherine DeBourgh
On Sunday morning the Dumont family all arose late and did not break their fast until 10 AM. After some conversation with her grandparents about the ball the night before, Elizabeth, with her maid Leila in tow, headed for Darcy House. She had promised Georgiana she would be there before lunch to tell her all about the ball, knowing that Darcy would never give Georgiana the kind of details she wanted.
When they reached Darcy House and the butler opened the door to give her entrance, Elizabeth sent Leila back to Dumont House, knowing Darcy would want to escort her home when she was finished with Georgiana. The butler informed her Georgiana was in the music room, which was obvious as Elizabeth could hear a beautiful Mozart melody being played on the piano. She quietly let herself in, admiring Georgiana’s concentration as she played the Mozart Concerto like a master, and stood by the door until Georgiana finished the movement she had been playing and looked up to see her there.
Georgiana arose and enthusiastically rushed over to Elizabeth, giving her a hug. “I am so happy you have come, Lizzie. My taciturn brother hardly told me anything about what happened last night, except to say you were amazing, the atmosphere was wonderful, and something about Richard, and … Oh yes, just as he left the room to go riding, he said it was all your fault, whatever that meant.”
Elizabeth smiled and assured Georgiana she would tell all, and spent the next hour going over the ball, what people were wearing, how the ballroom was decorated, how she had done on her big entrance, the blossoming love affair between Col. Fitzwilliam and Margaret and how good they looked together, and how well people had treated her and accepted her into their midst.
Just as she was finishing, they heard a commotion and a loud voice down the hall from the music room and both
arose and started walking toward the door, when they were surprised by Lady Catherine DeBourgh, Georgiana’s aunt, who literally came bursting through the door of the music room. Elizabeth could immediately sense Georgiana’s fear and discomfort; therefore she stepped forward to greet her Ladyship.
“Lady Catherine. How good to see you. Can I help you?”
Lady Catherine stopped in surprise. “Miss Bennet? Miss Elizabeth Bennet? What in the world are you doing here?”
“As you can see, I am visiting Miss Georgiana.”
Looking at Georgiana, Lady Catherine demanded, “Georgiana, where is your brother. I demand to see him immediately.” And then looking at Elizabeth, she said, “And I believe you can leave, Miss Elizabeth, this is family business.”
“I am sorry, my Lady, but I cannot leave. I promised Mr. Darcy I would be here with Georgiana until he returned, which I expect will be within half an hour.”
“Nonsense, young lady. I am the senior family member here, and if I ask you to leave, you must leave.”
“With all due respect, my Lady, you are a relative of the Darcy family, but you are not a member of this family. You are a Fitzwilliam and a DeBourgh, thus I believe I must stay until Mr. Darcy returns.”
“Impertinent girl! Darcy and your family shall hear of your rudeness. Now will you let me speak with my niece?”
Stepping back beside Georgiana and putting her arm around her shoulders, Elizabeth answered, “My Lady, I fear you have upset Georgiana. Perhaps, if you need to know something, you can ask us both.”
Lady Catherine was clearly seething with anger and for a moment Elizabeth thought the lady might strike her, and she wondered what she would do if Lady Catherine did strike her. However, Lady Catherine seemed to gain control of herself, and then said, “Very well. I received this letter from my nephew saying he is engaged to some Miss Elizabeth Dumont, and then, not fifteen minutes later, Mr. Collins came to me with a newspaper announcing the engagement. I came here to stop this nonsense. He is promised to my daughter Anne and cannot honor such an engagement. I demand to speak with him.”