Darcy and the Accomplished Woman

by Linda Phelps

  “Indeed, such a thing would not be easy,” said Darcy. “The memory might awaken you at night and force you to relive the event in your mind time after time shuddering with mortification.”

  “Very comforting,” said Bingley.

  “But a woman of Miss Bennet’s character would never tell another of your offer, so you would be spared the humiliation of your rejection becoming public knowledge.”

  “Also very comforting. I believe tomorrow I will leave Netherfield forever.”

  “Bingley,” said Darcy, “if you are convinced Jane Bennet is the woman you want to take as your wife you must tell her. It is unfair to her if you do not.”

  “I must be more certain she will accept,” said Bingley.

  “Then call on her until you are certain.”

  “You must come with me to observe her responses,” said Bingley. “Once you are sure I am on safe ground, you must tell me and I will then ask for her hand.”

  “No,” said Darcy, “I will not do it. Last November I influenced you to leave her without a word. I was wrong. I will have nothing to do with this affair except to wish you well. I have this minute decided I have business in London that cannot be delayed. I shall leave you in the morning. You must observe Miss Bennet without my aid.”

  “But, Darcy,” said Bingley.

  “Immediately after breakfast, “said Darcy. “Make my apologies to those with whom I had promised to hunt.’

  When the men arrived at Netherfield, Bingley called for a brandy. Darcy smiled and joined him.

  Mr. Darcy’s Journal (London)

  It is done. Bingley has engaged himself to the excellent Miss Jane Bennet. She did not refuse him, she did not humiliate him, she did nothing but accept him willingly. How simple it all was once he made the offer. I had only left him alone for five days, and all is settled.

  Now I must build my strength to withstand another refusal from Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I have done what I can to show her I am a man she can admire and respect. If it is not enough, I will have to think again about offering myself to Caroline.

  Louisa Hurst found her sister walking with the other visitors to Scarsborough near the water’s edge. “Caroline,” said she, “I have a letter from Charles. Let us sit so we can read it.”

  Caroline took the paper, fingered the broken seal and observed, “It appears you have already read it. What does it say? It is not long.” But Louisa did not answer, so Caroline unfolded the paper and read

  Dearest sisters, I send you the best of tidings. You are to be joined by a new sister, one whom you already love. Miss Jane Bennet has consented to become my wife. Your joy at this news will be great, but not so great as mine now that dear Jane has accepted me. I pray you come soon to Netherfield to welcome her to our family. We plan to wed within a few weeks, and I think a wedding breakfast would be a fine way to entertain our neighbours on such a happy occasion. Caroline may have the planning of it. Both Jane and I remember how well she managed the ball.

  I have sent the news to Darcy, who is again tending to business in London for a few days. Once he returns and you arrive, we will have delightful times with my Jane and her charming sisters.

  I must stop writing for I am expected at Longbourn to spend the day with the Bennet family, and most especially with my Jane, my angel.

  Charles

  “I am astonished!” cried Caroline. “After the pains we took to protect him from this very match, he has gone beyond us and become engaged to Jane Bennet. How could this happen? Why did we not stop him from returning to Netherfield?”

  “A better question is, why did Mr. Darcy not stop him from returning to Netherfield?

  “I’m sure he accompanied Charles to prevent this very thing from occurring,” said Caroline.

  “I am less sure. I spoke to him once I knew the plan, and I will say he seemed quite indifferent to the idea of the match coming about.”

  Caroline’s fingers clenched as she remembered Darcy’s words to her

  “Perhaps we were wrong to separate them. Jane Bennet is a fine young woman. No one can say a bad word about her. If Charles wants her and she is agreeable, who will be injured?”

  “But Louisa, how can we accept such a sister? Think what our friends will say when they discover we are allied to such a family!”

  “We will accept her with as much grace as we can gather,” said Louisa. “What’s done is done. Now that it has happened, I admit I rather wonder now at our going to such lengths to prevent it.”

  “William Longstreet told me that the youngest Bennet daughter has married that scoundrel of whom we have heard, Wickham. How can Charles associate himself and us with such a family?”

  “I believe we must take the attitude that Jane is not responsible for the actions of her sister, or her mother, for that matter.”

  “But what will Darcy think? Will he not think that I—that the family has lost some of its standing?”

  “I have meant to speak to you on this matter,” said Louisa. “No, I do not think Darcy will lose respect for us. But I also do not think you should continue to think of him as your husband.”

  Caroline drew back. “How can you say that? For months you have talked of the likelihood of him proposing marriage.”

  “And for months he has not done so, and only one thing could have prevented him from taking that step.” said Louisa. She looked with great sympathy at her sister. “Caroline, he does not love you.”

  “How can he not? Am I not attractive and accomplished? Am I not the perfect woman to be his wife?” cried Caroline.

  “What is more,” said Louisa calmly, “you do not love him.”

  “Love has nothing to do with it!” cried Caroline. “He needs a mistress for Pemberly, someone to bear him heirs. Who else can fill that post?”

  Louisa hesitated for a moment. “Elizabeth Bennet?”

  “What?” cried Caroline. People strolling by the sea glanced at her warily. “That is impossible,” she said, speaking more quietly.

  “I wish for your sake that it were,” said Louisa, “but did you not notice when she came to Pemberly for tea how he watched her, how the little smile came to his lips when she spoke to Georgiana?”

  “She is not handsome enough to tempt him!” cried Caroline. “Her appearance is no better than’ tolerable’! Do you not recall when he said that? Remember her arrival at Netherfield, her feet caked with mud. She had the appearance of a wild woman.”

  “Oh, Caroline.”

  “Her family is abominable. Think of Mrs. Bennet! And her sister has run off and lived with Wickham without marriage!”

  “They are married now,” said Louisa.

  “But such a disgrace cannot be born,” said Caroline. “He would not put the name of Darcy in such an alliance.”

  Louisa took her hand. “He will abide all these things if he loves her.”

  Caroline grew silent. This truth from which she had tried to hide came forth and demanded to be recognized. She tightened her grip on her sister’s hand. “Oh, Louisa, what am I to do?”

  “You are to forget Darcy as you forgot George Longstreet. You are to think of the man who does love you.”

  “William Longstreet?” said Caroline. “But he is a second son. He has no money. He is no one.”

  “And you are a second daughter,” said Louisa.

  “It is not the same.”

  “And he has some money, and you have rather more. Lack of money would not cause you a problem. As I remember, he called on you frequently even before father died.”

  “He is not—”

  “You enjoy his company. Do not deny it.”

  “Indeed, I do, but that is because he makes me laugh,” said Caroline. “I do not fancy him as a husband.”

  “I am very fond of Mr. Hurst,” said Louisa, “and very pleased that he asked me to be his wife, but he has seldom made me laugh.”

  “He has too much dignity—”

  “And if there is one thing I would change about Mr. Hurs
t if I could, it would be that he had in him the words that would make me laugh.”

  “You make it seem as if laughter is as important as love,” said Caroline.

  “At times I wonder if it is not,” said Louisa.

  Miss Bingley’s Journal (Scarsborough)

  Louisa believes that Darcy means to marry Elizabeth Bennet. If true, what a humiliation for me! First George chooses Anne Constable over me, and now I am second to Lizzy Bennet. In what ways am I not a superior choice to either of these women? Am I less handsome or less accomplished? Do I bring a smaller fortune into the union? How are such preferences to be understood? What will my amiable friends say about my failure to receive an offer from the person that –we are all agreed on this—is the perfect man to be my husband?

  Louisa further suggests that I consider William as a husband. Would marriage to him not be another humiliation?

  He speaks of my beauty and charm, but always in a teasing manner. He has never indicated that he truly loves me. His praises are part of a game we have played for many years. I enjoy it, but never have I felt there was sincerity behind his silliness.

  It is true that I would miss this silliness should it cease.

  I believe I cannot bear it if Darcy marries someone other than I.

  I know we will have to leave here for Netherfield to greet our new ‘sister’.

  Unfortunately, she will always be accompanied by her deplorable mother and her detestable daughters. Further, we must call at Longbourn often to display our delight at the union of our families. Then there will be Sir William Lucas and his dull wife and children, and, I suppose, an Assembly Ball to endure.

  William will praise me for facing these trials with ‘poise and courage’ should he come to know of them.

  “Lady Catherine de Bourgh”.

  Darcy stood in astonishment as his aunt pushed past the butler.

  “Fitzwilliam!” said she. “I bring you the most distressing news.”

  “Nothing is wrong with Anne, I pray,” said Darcy.

  “She is as well as she ever is. No, this news is about a young woman who was lately a guest in my house, a young woman I treated with condescension and kindness beyond what she warranted. And now just see what she and her abominable family have done.”

  Darcy escorted his aunt to a chair. “You can’t mean Elizabeth Bennet,” said he.

  “What other young woman can we expect to act with such boldness, such complete failure to recognize the abyss that separates her from finer families such as ours?”

  “Aunt,” said Darcy, “you must tell me what has justified your journey to London. I am, of course, delighted to see you, but if you had written to announce your plan, I could have prepared entertainments for you.”

  “I did not expect to have the need to speak with you,” said Lady Catherine. “I believed that the young woman would recognize my right to speak to her on this matter, but she did not. She was most uncivil. I shudder to recall the things she said.”

  Darcy called for a refreshment. Lady Catherine, although not shuddering, seemed to him to be dangerously red in the face. “Aunt, I cannot understand you. Of what matter do you speak?”

  “Let us be grateful that the matter is not already the talk of London society. You must see that it does not become so.”

  “What matter?” repeated Darcy.

  “I see you do not know. Just this: Elizabeth Bennet and her family have put about a report that you and she are engaged to be married. Have you ever heard of a plot more devious than that? They mean to create the idea that you are obligated to this young person.”

  Darcy turned the words over in his mind. Obligated to marry Elizabeth Bennet! He controlled the smile that came to his face. “And how do you know this?”

  “From Mr. Collins. He received a letter from Mrs. Collins’s father which stated that the whole of that miserable little society was unable to speak of anything else.”

  “Ah,” said Darcy. “You are mistaken. It is the eldest daughter, Jane Bennet, who has accepted my friend Bingley. They are the ones who are engaged.”

  “I am never mistaken,” said Lady Catherine. “I come today from the Bennet house where I have spoken to Elizabeth Bennet on this matter. She denies it, of course, but she does not deceive me.”

  “Aunt, I declare to you I am not engaged to Miss Bennet. She told you truth.” Darcy thought for a moment. “But if you believed us to be engaged, how did you attempt to dissuade her?”

  “I spoke of the unseemliness of such a match. Who is Elizabeth Bennet? What could she bring to such a union? Then I spoke of the irreparable harm she would do to you. Your friends and family will never accept her.”

  “And she said?”

  “That to be the wife of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy would prove reward enough to make such isolation from finer society be no burden.”

  At these words Darcy could no longer contain his smile. “And what else did you say to convince her to reject an offer of my hand, should one be given?”

  “I reminded her that you have a commitment to your cousin Anne.”

  Darcy looked at her and speaking gently said, “Aunt, we spoke of this when I was last at Rosings Park. I am very fond of Anne, but I have no intention of becoming her husband. We would not suit each other. I am sorry, but this is so.”

  “Think of the family! Think what the estates would become were they merged by such a marriage. You and Anne would certainly receive a title in recognition of your holdings.”

  “A title means nothing to me.”

  “Fitzwilliam,” said Lady Catherine, “I fear I must ask you the same question I asked Miss Bennet, although in your case I am confident I know the answer. Are you engaged to her?”

  “Suppose I were,” said Darcy. “If she were the woman I choose to marry, what concern would it be of yours? I trust you would have faith in my judgment on this matter as you have on so many others, and wish me joy.”

  “I would think you insane and ungrateful!” cried Lady Catherine. “How could you bring such an obstinate, headstrong woman into our family?”

  “Perhaps I am pleased by those qualities in her.”

  “You cannot marry a woman who cares so little for your honour. You cannot be thinking of it. Promise me you have no plans to offer this upstart your hand.”

  After a long moment Darcy said, “I cannot promise. I will not promise.”

  “Fitzwilliam, she is a woman of no importance. Her family is worse that unimportant. Does she not have a sister who eloped with a man called Wickham? Did the sister not live with him for some weeks before their marriage?”

  “Elizabeth is not responsible for her family,” said Darcy. He felt his temper begin to rise. “On the contrary, the fact that she has risen above them is a sign of her character and integrity.”

  “By the Lord, you are smitten with this woman, this fortune hunting woman whom no one can respect.”

  “Perhaps I am smitten,” said Darcy coldly. “She is not a fortune hunter.”

  “Ah! Make her an offer and see her leap upon it. She will be spending your money before you have assigned it to her.”

  Darcy recalled the evening he had made Elizabeth just such an offer. Rather than leap to accept him, she had shown him the door. “You are wrong, Aunt, and I pray you, stop speaking of Miss Bennet in this fashion. You are insulting both her and me with these words.”

  “I informed her that she is an unfeeling flirt, whose ingratitude for the hospitality I provided her at Easter is only one symptom of her total lack of civility and fortune. When I attempted to receive her promise that she would not marry you, she refused to give it. That is how steeped in depravity she is.”

  “Depravity!” said Darcy. “Aunt, you have said too much. I must ask you to leave my house and not return. Do not expect me at Rosings again until I have your apology. I will not come if Miss Elizabeth Bennet is not welcomed.”

  “Nephew, I beg you, do not do this. Remember how she has received my kindness to her.
That alone should inform you of her complete lack of comprehension of the distinctions of rank.”

  “Farewell, Aunt,” said Darcy, leaving the room to her. It was not long before he heard the sound of her carriage pulling away.

  Mr. Darcy’s Journal (London)

  “…your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain for the feelings of others…”

  Thus spoke Elizabeth to me at the rectory of Rosings Park. Thus do I now write of my aunt, the famous Lady Catherine de Bourgh. The charges were correct. I shared these reprehensible flaws with my aunt, the both of us treating Elizabeth (and who knows how many other people?) in a grossly uncivil manner. I had not seen myself as such until Elizabeth spoke, but it did not take me many days to recognize the accuracy of her words.

  I have spent the better part of half a year teaching myself to behave as a gentleman should. I did not do this with the hope of ever meeting Elizabeth again, but I hoped not to repulse another young woman as I had repulsed her.

  I am now amazed when I recall that I taxed her with ‘the inferiority of your connections.’ I was thinking that the obtuse Mrs. Bennet would be a source of humiliation to me, should she become my mother. But at the least she is good natured (excepting her interactions with me) which my own aunt is not. Lady Catherine, who took it upon herself to go to Longbourn to convince Elizabeth not to marry me, who spoke to her of family and money and honour and disgrace –which of them is the more abhorrent?

  But enough of these recriminations. Lady Catherine has revealed that Elizabeth has changed her opinion of me. That she would not deny the possibility of our marrying—what could be more auspicious than that?

  I go to Netherfield at first light. I cannot spend many more hours wondering what my future holds. I must know to what degree her opinion of me has changed.

  Miss Bingley’s Journal (Netherfield)

  We are returned to Hertfordshire. It is as dreary as I had expected. Louisa and I are required to call at the Bennet house no less than one day out of two. Jane Bennet is much as I remember her, except she is just a bit cool in her interactions with Louisa and me. Charles and she constantly find excuses to examine the gardens and fields, walk to Meryton or to the home of Sir William Lucas, even enter the stables to discover if the horses are well cared for. They are in love and in truth when I see them together I agree with Darcy. Where is the harm? Jane is a lovely girl, unschooled in the ways of society, but like Georgiana she shall have opportunities to meet my friends in town. She will soon learn the proper way to conduct herself with them. As for her clothes, no more village seamstresses or milliners for her. I am certain she has always envied me my clothes. Now I can teach her how to dress herself in a manner suitable to her new situation.