Courting Elizabeth: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

by Renata McMann

  She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, Elizabeth could see the pain there. “My father got sick before the season when I was nineteen. He died half a year later. That took care of that season and the mourning took care of the one when I was twenty. It was after his death that the arguing began. Mother became tyrannical, overbearing.” She shook her head.

  “I wanted to come out when I was twenty-one, but my mother had a different plan. She desired me not to because my younger sister would come out with me if I waited one more year. I did debate it, but eventually Mother wore me down and I agreed. My sister was very shy and I was starting to gain confidence. I decided Mother was right and it would help us both if my sister and I came out together.” Miss de Bourgh’s expression grew wistful. “My sister got sick and died, costing me another season.”

  “I’m sorry about your sister,” Elizabeth said. She hadn’t known Miss de Bourgh had a younger sister, but she could easily imagine how terrible it would be to lose one. They’d always been lucky, she knew, her sisters and her. For many families, death was nearly as common as life.

  “It happens,” Miss de Bourgh said with a sad little shrug. “I really wanted to come out the following year. We went to London and I got sick. As soon as I was well enough to travel, we were back at Rosings. Although I was well within two weeks, Mother convinced me I was genuinely sick and couldn’t stand the London winter. We went to London last year. I had something a bit like a come out. We attended parties and other events for nearly three weeks, but then Mother persuaded me to return to Rosings. I believe she’d meant to permit me a season, but once it became obvious there was a man who was interested in me, Mother exerted her will.”

  “She is that determined you should wed Mr. Darcy?” Elizabeth asked, though she wasn’t surprised that someone who would sacrifice the reputation of their niece would also destroy the happiness of a daughter.

  “No, I don’t believe so. At first she found the gentleman suitable, but he let it get out that he would make her leave Rosings if he married me.” She looked down. “I didn’t love him. He was no loss, so I don’t regret him.”

  Elizabeth was suspicious of the return of a wistful note to Miss de Bourgh’s tone. She wondered if Miss de Bourgh truly didn’t regret the man, or if her mother had convinced her she did not.

  “So, you see,” Miss de Bourgh said. “She has every reason to believe she can change my mind, and she is correct. I have never won. I can’t keep fighting her.”

  “I still don’t see what good any of this will do you, and can imagine a great deal of harm it will do me,” Elizabeth said, tamping down the sympathy for Miss de Bourgh that tried to well in her. “You may threaten to cast your mother from Rosings, but the threat will lose its force and she will return to her highhanded ways. You will still need to stand up to her eventually, twenty-five or no.”

  “No, for it is no idle threat. I will banish her. I’ll tell my servants I won’t receive her, and let them go if she gets by them. If she chooses to live on her property, I will visit her once a week and if she starts arguing with me, I’ll leave. In something so important as what man I shall wed, it will take her weeks to wear me down. I won’t give her that and I’ll let her know it.”

  Elizabeth shook her head. Lady Catherine wouldn’t relent. “Her ambitions for you and Mr. Darcy and her threat toward Miss Darcy won’t disappear simply because she no longer resides in Rosings. From what I’ve seen of Lady Catherine, she will never give up so long as you and Mr. Darcy both remain unwed. I will not agree to a false engagement and certainly not to a marriage.”

  Mr. Darcy eyed her for a long moment. Elizabeth felt her face heat. She supposed it was in poor taste to declare she wouldn’t wed Mr. Darcy when he hadn’t reissued the offer. She wasn’t about to let manners hedge her into agreeing to Miss de Bourgh’s scheme, though.

  “There is another aspect to this,” Mr. Darcy said. “Lady Catherine knows a doctor, the one who helped convince Anne that London winters are too harsh for her. Colonel Fitzwilliam and I once overheard her asking the man what steps would be required to declare someone insane and unfit to govern their own property.” He cast an assessing glance at his cousin. “Though it troubles me to consider it, I feel your mother has the force of will to persuade this doctor to declare you incompetent, leaving her in charge of both Rosings and your finances.”

  “That seems farfetched,” Elizabeth said, somewhat surprised Mr. Darcy was taking Miss de Bourgh’s side. He couldn’t possibly wish to embarrass himself by pretending to be engaged to her. He’d hardly been able to bring himself to attempt it in truth, let alone for subterfuge.

  “It is, but it is also a possibility,” Miss de Bourgh said. “Mother would do anything to keep Rosings.” She let out a deep sigh. “I shall never be rid of her.”

  “You will be if you marry.”

  Elizabeth and Miss de Bourgh both turned to Mr. Darcy in surprise. Elizabeth wondered if that was his way of proposing to his cousin. Miss de Bourgh must have come to the same conclusion, for she took a step away from him.

  “Not me,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Someone else.”

  Miss de Bourgh shook her head. “I would need to find someone very quickly in order to beat Mother’s timeframe and save Georgiana. I’ve only managed to attract one man in my nearly twenty-five years. I still think putting her off for two months, until I inherit and can credibly threaten her with expulsion, is the only way to save Georgiana’s reputation.”

  “Then Miss Bennet and I must contrive to render me unavailable for two months, as you asked, while you contrive to find a husband. As Miss Bennet said, we cannot remain engaged forever, nor would it help. Lady Catherine would eventually recognize the deception and renew her demands.”

  “We cannot be engaged at all,” Elizabeth declared. She sympathized with Miss de Bourgh, and with Mr. Darcy’s sister, but this was asking too much of her. A long, then broken, engagement with Mr. Darcy would destroy Elizabeth’s reputation and the effect it would have on her family hardly bore thinking on. “Forgive me, Miss de Bourgh, but I am not willing to go along with this. My father will be unhappy with me if I became engaged to Mr. Darcy and my mother would be devastated when the wedding didn’t take place. My reputation would be irrevocably tarnished. I simply must decline.”

  “No, you must accept.” Miss de Bourgh returned to wringing her hands. “I know you do not know me well, or Georgiana at all, but surely you must see the right thing to do is to help us.”

  “In truth, I don’t even concede it will help.” Elizabeth was growing cross. For someone who claimed an inability to stand up for herself, Miss de Bourgh was being quite persistent. Of course, it was one thing to plead with Elizabeth, and quite another, she supposed, to bear up under Lady Catherine’s constant company, day after day. “If Mr. Darcy asked me to marry him and I said yes, wouldn’t Lady Catherine simply reapply her threat of tarnishing Miss Darcy’s reputation to force Mr. Darcy to break off our engagement?”

  Miss de Bourgh shook her head. Her pleading gaze turned to Mr. Darcy again.

  “For all her faults, my aunt believes a man’s honor should be on a pedestal,” Mr. Darcy said. “She would never ask me to sully myself, or her by association, by backing out of an engagement.”

  “So instead she will unleash her machinations on me, to force me to break it off?” Elizabeth asked, mild anger sparking in her. She wondered if they would have admitted as much if not pressed.

  Mr. Darcy nodded. “She will.”

  “This plot grows less savory by the moment.” Elizabeth pulled back her shoulders, standing firm. “I simply cannot agree.”

  “Even for five thousand pounds?”

  “Five thousand pounds?” Elizabeth repeated as Mr. Darcy’s startled, “What?” rang through the clearing.

  “The money means nothing to me.” There was desperation in Miss de Bourgh’s face now. “I inherited forty thousand pounds, which I cannot do anything with, although the income
is mine. I spend less than six hundred pounds a year.” Spinning, she paced away from them, then back. Words continued to pour from her mouth as her heavy skirt pushed aside the tall grass. “My mother has not allowed me to have any friends. I don’t spend too much time with Mrs. Collins, because if I did, my mother would get jealous and keep me away from her. Mrs. Jenkinson is my mother’s creature, employed to spy on and curtail me.”

  Miss de Bourgh was gesturing widely now, more animated than Elizabeth had ever seen her. Unfortunately, it was obvious it was the liveliness of a cornered creature. Elizabeth, whose own mother could be domineering, obsessive and invasive, felt sympathy well in her again. What could she do, though?

  “The tenants I talk to treat me with the greatest respect, but that eliminates the possibility of real friendship,” Miss de Bourgh railed. “Besides, they are uneducated and have concerns that mean little to me. I’ve been waiting for my twenty-fifth birthday so I can get out from under my mother’s control. I love Georgiana, but I can’t let her mistake ruin my life.”

  “Surely, Mr. Darcy would stand up to your mother once you wed, freeing you from her. Is marrying him truly so terrible a fate?” Elizabeth posed the question though she knew she’d already asked once, for it offered the most ready solution.

  “Yes,” Miss de Bourgh cried. “Yes, it is.”

  Elizabeth caught Mr. Darcy’s slight wince and hid a smile. His conceit likely didn’t care for the presence of two women who so vehemently wished not to tie themselves to him.

  “This will be the most important decision of my life.” Miss de Bourgh stopped pacing, coming to a halt before Elizabeth. “I cannot permit my mother to make it for me. I won’t bind myself to a man who holds only cousinly affection for me and who will go on living in Pemberley, likely no matter where I choose to live. What life would that be? For once, I shall make my own choice.”

  For all her fervor, Elizabeth could see Miss de Bourgh was shaking from head to toe. They stood thus for a long moment, Miss de Bourgh beseeching, Elizabeth thinking, until an idea came to her. “May I pose a suggestion?” Elizabeth asked, the words slow as she thought the idea behind them through. “It doesn’t need to be an engagement. In fact, if it isn’t an engagement, it would be more plausible and give us more time.”

  “I don’t understand,” Miss de Bourgh said.

  Elizabeth cast a quick glance at Mr. Darcy as she illuminated, finding his expression typically impassive. “Mr. Darcy and I met, as you suggested and as we have. I was made aware of the contents of the letter, also a true statement. I apologized for my misunderstanding.”

  “Which you already have,” Mr. Darcy said with a slight bow to her.

  “We reached an agreement. Not to marry, but to get to know each other better,” Elizabeth concluded.

  “A courtship,” Mr. Darcy said.

  “No, because that is an agreement that is meaningless,” Miss de Bourgh said, sounding almost as if she would cry. “My mother won’t respect it. An engagement is the only thing short of marriage that I dare hope will divert her.”

  “An engagement can be one sided,” Mr. Darcy said. An odd look slid across his face, though his futures settled into inscrutability as he turned to Elizabeth. “Miss Bennet, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?” He held up a stilling hand, though Elizabeth was too surprised to speak. “You do not need to answer me for two months because you don’t know me very well and you will want to know me better. I want you to understand that the offer remains open until you answer, two months from today.”

  For several seconds Elizabeth was still too astonished to reply. “You are asking me to marry you? I will not destroy my reputation over your family’s disagreement.” Had she not been adamant? Did he think the offer of five thousand pounds had moved her? Did he think so little of her as that?

  “You won’t be. I can now honestly say that I have proposed to you and given you two months to answer. All I ask is that you do not refuse me until then.”

  Elizabeth smiled in relieved understanding. It was more than a courtship, but less than an official engagement. Mr. Darcy’s offer was binding on him, but nothing yet bound her. Thus, she could eventually decline in good grace. “It is a good idea, and will permit me to leave as planned, so I do not have to endure Lady Catherine trying to come between us. You don’t need me here while awaiting my answer.” She looked to Miss de Bourgh, wanting to make sure her next statement was clear, and perhaps to impart some understanding of the mild insult she felt at the offer. “And you do not need to pay me.”

  Miss de Bourgh’s eyes were filled with unshed drops. “No, you can’t leave. Please stay. If you and Darcy are not frequently in each other’s company, my mother will not believe there is anything to it. You should accept the money and pretend he is a suitor you are seriously considering. Please.”

  Elizabeth sighed. Miss de Bourgh looked so frail. Honest within herself, Elizabeth admitted she didn’t care much for Lady Catherine, her highhandedness toward everyone including Charlotte, and her nearly complete control of Miss de Bourgh’s life. It would be satisfying to help thwart her.

  Aside from missing her family, it wasn’t as if remaining in Kent would harm Elizabeth in any way. The way Mr. Darcy had proposed made staying reasonable. Elizabeth’s reputation would be spared, perhaps even augmented. When word got out that a man like Mr. Darcy wished to wed her, others might follow.

  At least, her reputation would be augmented with anyone who wasn’t Lady Catherine, Miss Bingley or Mrs. Hurst. Safe enough, for when it was over, the three would forget about her. Then, she would have only her mother to suffer, as Mrs. Bennet would surely be in agonies over Elizabeth’s refusal. Still, better to be tormented by her mother for a secretly good deed than to continue to endure her mother’s most recent grievance, Elizabeth’s refusal to marry Mr. Collins.

  “I will stay.” Elizabeth watched Miss de Bourgh slump with a relief so strong, it seemed she might faint. “I will even give every impression of welcoming Mr. Darcy’s courtship. I will not, however, accept any payment. You must understand my aid can be won, but not bought.”

  Mr. Darcy had a slight smile on his face as he turned to her. “Perhaps we could leave the issue of the five thousand pounds unresolved? I understand your inclination, Miss Bennet, but it could be that, on occasion, an act of pride is also one of folly. Think of the difference such a sum could make to you, or to your sisters.”

  Elizabeth frowned. He was correct. The money could offer them greater security in the face of Mr. Collins eventual claim on their home, assuming they didn’t all wed.

  “Do you have someone whom you could confide in who could give you advice about accepting the money?” Mr. Darcy asked. “You said your father would not be happy with the engagement, but could he counsel you about the money?”

  “I will be seeing my uncle sooner, and he could advise me,” Elizabeth said, for she still hoped to visit her aunt and uncle in London before returning to Hertfordshire, even if she did remain longer in Kent.

  “Talk to him,” Mr. Darcy said. “And Anne, you must agree that the offer remains until Miss Elizabeth replies, just as my offer to her does.”

  “I do,” Miss de Bourgh said quickly.

  “I believe we are concluded here, then?” Mr. Darcy suggested. “I think it will be for me to ensure enough people know of my proposal that Lady Catherine won’t be able to easily set it aside.”

  Elizabeth tried to contain a grimace. She still didn’t care for the idea of the world at large viewing her and Mr. Darcy as more than acquaintances. She said nothing, however, for she’d already agreed.

  “Yes, I think we must be done here.” At the sound of her voice, they both turned to Miss de Bourgh.

  “Anne,” Mr. Darcy said. He bowed to his cousin, proffering his hand.

  Miss de Bourgh accepted and he led her the few steps to the phaeton, handing her up. Elizabeth hurried around to the other side, not wishing for or needing assistance. She was seated and
arranging her skirts by the time Mr. Darcy came to stand beside her, looking up. Though still grudgingly, she couldn’t help but find him decidedly handsome.

  “Miss Elizabeth,” he said with a low bow.

  “Mr. Darcy,” she acknowledged, nodding.

  “I shall see you both soon.” He turned away, crossing to retrieve his horse, mounting with an ease that bespoke of practice and strength.

  Miss de Bourgh jangled the reins, warning her team their respite was at an end. As she executed a careful turn about the clearing, Mr. Darcy passed them. He didn’t look at her again, but Elizabeth caught a slight smile on his face as he rode away.

  Once the phaeton was facing the road they’d come in on, they headed back down the lane. Elizabeth soon recalled the maid. She hoped the young woman had anticipated a long wait and wasn’t worried at being left for so much time. She also hoped it wouldn’t come out that the maid had been left at all, for that would surely tip off Lady Catherine.

  “Miss de Bourgh, will the maid who was in your carriage talk to Lady Catherine?” Elizabeth asked.

  “She will tell my mother what I ask her to.”

  “Can you be sure?”

  Miss de Bourgh cast Elizabeth a sly smile. “Once or twice a month, I take a supposedly random maid with me on this kind of trip. I usually do it after an argument with my mother. I give the other maids a shilling. This maid is taken less often than any of the others, but only when I want to do something I don’t want my mother to hear about. I give her a pound a month for her cooperation. She is saving it for a dowry. Her mother keeps it, so there is no danger of it being discovered.”

  “A pound a month?” Elizabeth was again surprised by Miss de Bourgh’s extravagance. It appeared she was quite willing to spend her money in order to get her way against her mother. “Why, she can’t be paid more than ten pounds a year.”