When Mr. Darcy Met Lizzy

by Mary-Anne Seaton

  As for Mr. Bennet, he scarcely said a word as was his practice but Mr. Collins was not inclined to reticence and he and the ladies of the family ensured there was no lack in conversation. Mr. Bennet however engaged the attention of his guest over dinner in discussion pertaining to his patroness, Lady De Bourgh; it was in the neighbourhood of the widow's abode, Rosings was situated that Mr. Collins was rector in the parsonage.

  In this subject, Mr. Collins had a greater deal to say. His regard for his patroness rang out in spades and he spoke highly of her affability, condescension and kindness upon himself. Elizabeth had no doubt that the woman was the type that thought herself superior to all other living creatures simply by virtue of her circumstance in life. Her cousin needed no further incitement to revere his 'humble abode' in Hudson and every other thing about his life and by the time the evening was over, Elizabeth, inwardly supported by her father made the decision that Mr. Collins was conceited, supercilious, pretention and full of his own consequence.

  The next day, she and her sisters had the importunity of his company as he attended to them to Meryton. It was Lydia's suggestion that they all thither to Meryton to their aunt's and Mr. Bennet had seen the perfect chance to send his loquacious cousin out of the house- for Mr. Collins had suddenly taken to hounding him around the house, making small conversations that Mr. Bennet could not bring himself to care for.

  It was on this visit that Lydia took notice of officer Denny with a very handsome stranger. She called the attention of her sisters to the stranger, already veering in the direction of the gentlemen.

  Officer Denny, ever the gentleman introduced his companion as Mr. George Wickham and mentioned that he was a new addition to their consignment for whom he had gone specifically to London to guide to Meryton. The man himself had a great eloquence, carriage and grace that immediately endeared him to the ladies.

  "What fine way to encounter such fine ladies in a fine town such as this," Mr. Wickham said as way of compliment to all the Bennet ladies and they; especially the youngest two blushed happily.

  "Do you not think so?" Mr. Collins threw in his two pence. "I was but enchanted with them also myself; it is not a common sight to see such beauty, such mannerisms assembled together in a family."

  Hitherto, Mr. Collins had been ignored- for a fact, his existence had totally been forgotten and Jane, guilty about forgetting her manners was quick to introduce him. Barely was the introduction acknowledged before Lydia posed a question to Mr. Wickham.

  "I cannot imagine sir, what reason you must have to join the corps but I can imagine it can only be a noble one and rest assured that you have my earnest admiration towards this."

  Mr. Wickham smiled at her in a way that caused her heart to flutter in her chest an Lydia thought how incredibly charming he was and how Officer Denny- whom she hitherto believed was the perfect example for all men- paled in comparison.

  "I aspire for peace in our beloved land among many other things..."

  His reply was thus cut short by the appearance of a carriage stopping next to the pavement where the party was assembled. Elizabeth was dismayed to see that it was Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. Since she and Jane left Netherfield but a week ago, there had been no meeting between her and the odious man. In the midst of all that was happening in her house, she had but forgotten his existence but for a few times whereby the memory would bring a warmth to her cheeks that had no business there. Upon seeing him at the moment, something fluttered in her chest and she fancied that it must be embarrassment at being faced with the man who had caught her in an indecent act.

  In the felicity of greetings that followed by which Bingley thereupon fixed himself on Jane Bennet, inquiring about her health and all such, Elizabeth observed that Mr. Darcy was disinclined to dwell in her direction. Her ire was very much rising for the deliberate slight when she noticed something that had she not been studying the man herself, would not have noticed at all. Mr. Darcy raised his gaze enough to meet that of Mr. Wickham and the reaction was less than desirable- in both men; while Mr. Wickham visibly paled, Mr. Darcy turned a most unbecoming shade of red, setting his jaw angrily while a storm brewed in his eyes. Elizabeth saw this exchange though brief and wondered at it. The men scarcely managed a nod in each other's direction, causing Elizabeth to wonder. They seemed to watch each other warily up till the moment when Bingley was sufficiently pleased that Jane was well recovered, took his leave and their company and rode on.

  The exchange was still in the front of her mind as they went to their aunts'; it was on her mind the entire time they spent there and it subsisted all the way home that she had to recount it to Jane who saw no excuse to offer for the seeming rancour between the two men for it was obvious then that they must be previously acquainted. So befuddled and enthralled by the element of a puzzle especially as it concerned Mr. Darcy that Elizabeth wished she could solicit on one of the men for an explanation but alas, she could not for she and Mr. Darcy were never on the best of terms and she had only met Mr. Wickham to-day.

  Remembering her aunt's promise to hold a small dinner assembly with her nieces and promising to send invitation to some of the officers; Mr. Wickham in particular at the suggestion of Lydia, Elizabeth decided that should the opportunity present itself at the dinner and were she to gain further acquaintance of Mr. Wickham, she would ask him about this- most politely of course.

  Fitzwilliam Darcy's countenance- though none too apparent to the careless observer, was a mixture of pleasure and discontentment- pleasure at seeing Elizabeth again even though he was ill disposed to feel this; and discontentment at the sight of the young man in her company. Though he had enough intelligence about the man's arrival into the country and the corps, he was afraid that he hadn't prepared himself well for chancing upon him.

  The sight of the man still caused him no small amount of annoyance, he acknowledged.

  Knowing the man, he was not so surprised to find him in the midst of the beautiful Bennet sisters. In fact, he would therefore be very much unsurprised if the man already did not have a grand plan brewing in his head that involved one of the sisters. Despite his disinclination towards the Bennet family in general, Darcy resolved to keep an eye on the Bennet ladies whilst the man was around. He purportedly ignored the voice in his head which teased him that his main concern in making such decision was for Elizabeth Bennet.

  That last night she spent at Netherfield, she had remembered. He could only own her sudden recollection to the proximity with which they stood at the door of the library which could be likened to how they were positioned in the room in the tavern. Since she had come into her senses about his identity, he figured that she would be inclined to have nothing to do with him and this, he most preferred for her recognition finally confirmed to him that she was a lady of disrepute and it was in his best interest to steer clear.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The dinner came to be and Elizabeth had the fortune of gathering the attentions of Mr. Wickham to herself during a game of whist. Other men in the room, including of their uncle Mr. Philips, were at the card table while the ladies observed but the man did not play and as he sat by her, they engaged in conversation. Elizabeth was dwelling upon a manner best suited to approach the subject when the man broached it himself.

  "Pray tell, if you don't mind me asking, how long have Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy been living in the country?" he suddenly asked though Elizabeth noted his hesitation in rendering voice to the question.

  Elizabeth did not mind in the least.

  "About a month," said she and added to encourage more talk on the subject; "He is a man of very large property in Derbyshire, I understand."

  "Yes, his estate there is a noble one; a clear ten thousand per annum. You could not have met with a person more capable of giving you certain information on that head than myself, for I have been connected with his family in a particular manner from my infancy."

  Her surprise was evident and Mr. Wickham asserted his statement positively. She rep
lied to his inquiry about her acquaintance with him that she thought "him very disagreeable."

  "I have no right to give my opinion, as to his being agreeable or otherwise," Wickham supplied. "I am not qualified to form one. I have known him too long and too well to be a fair judge. It is impossible for me to be impartial. But I believe your opinion of him would in general astonish, and perhaps you would not express it quite so strongly anywhere else. Here you are in your own family."

  Elizabeth encouraged him by affirming that Mr. Darcy was, indeed, not well liked by all in the country. They thus, both agreed that Mr. Darcy was ill tempered and disdainful of the common people. Elizabeth still longed to hear of the cause of the rift between the two men and she bid herself patience. After a while, Wickham asked if she knew the duration of stay of the man and she replied in the negative, asking if the intelligence affected Mr. Wickham's stay in one way or the other.

  "Oh, no!" he cried. "It is not for me to be driven away by Mr. Darcy. If he wishes to avoid seeing me, he must go. We are not on friendly terms, and it always gives me pain to meet him, but I have no reason for avoiding him but what I might proclaim before the entire world, a sense of very great ill-usage, and most painful regrets at his being what he is. His father, Miss Bennet, the late Mr. Darcy, was one of the best men that ever breathed, and the truest friend I ever had; and I can never be in company with this Mr. Darcy without being grieved to the soul by a thousand tender recollections. His behaviour to myself has been scandalous; but I verily believe I could forgive him anything and everything, rather than his disappointing the hopes and disgracing the memory of his father."

  At last, the subject of her fascination was introduced and she listened raptly though in a manner, she hoped that was not too obvious. Their conversation suffered some interruptions but she was sufficiently able to gather the intelligence she sought.

  "The late Mr. Darcy bequeathed me the next presentation of the best living in his gift. He was my godfather, and excessively attached to me. I cannot do justice to his kindness. He meant to provide for me amply, and thought he had done it; but when the living fell, it was given elsewhere."

  "But how could that be? How could his will be disregarded? Why did you not seek legal redress?"

  "There was just such an informality in the terms of the bequest as to give me no hope from law. A man of honour could not have doubted the intention, but Mr. Darcy chose to doubt it, or to treat it as a merely conditional recommendation, and to assert that I had forfeited all claim to it by extravagance, imprudence, in short anything or nothing. Certain it is, that the living became vacant two years ago, exactly as I was of an age to hold it, and that it was given to another man; and no less certain is it, that I cannot accuse myself of having really done anything to deserve to lose it. I have a warm, unguarded temper, and I may have spoken my opinion of him, and to him, too freely. I can recall nothing worse. But the fact is, that we are very different sort of men, and that he hates me."

  Elizabeth expressed her sincere shock at the revelation. It was abominably beyond her expectations of the man; low as he was already in her opinions.

  "I had not thought Mr. Darcy so bad as this, though I have never liked him. I had not thought so very ill of him. I had supposed him to be despising his fellow-creatures in general, but did not suspect him of descending to such malicious revenge, such injustice, such inhumanity as this."

  She thus remembered his speech at Netherfield about his unforgiving temper and commented on it.

  "Can such abominable pride as his have ever done him good?" she wondered out loud after she and Wickham had sufficiently abused Darcy, most deservingly of course.

  "Yes. It has often led him to be liberal and generous, to give his money freely, to display hospitality, to assist his tenants, and to relieve the poor. Family pride, and filial pride—for he is very proud of what his father was—have done this. Not to appear to disgrace his family, to degenerate from the popular qualities, or lose the influence of the Pemberley House, is a powerful motive. He has also brotherly pride, which with some brotherly affection, makes him a very kind and careful guardian of his sister, and you will hear him generally cried up as the most attentive and best of brothers."

  The last, Elizabeth could attest to, owning to the manner in which he wrote his sister while she was at Netherfield. Her curiosity, thus for the moment, shifted to the sister, hoping for at least some sensibility therein.

  "What sort of girl is Miss Darcy?" she asked.

  Wickham did not answer positively: "I wish I could call her amiable. It gives me pain to speak ill of a Darcy. But she is too much like her brother- very, very proud. As a child, she was affectionate and pleasing, and extremely fond of me; and I have devoted hours and hours to her amusement. But she is nothing to me now. She is a handsome girl, about fifteen or sixteen, and, I understand, highly accomplished. Since her father's death, her home has been London, where a lady lives with her, and superintends her education."

  "I am astonished at his intimacy with Mr. Bingley! How can Mr. Bingley, who seems good humour itself, and is, I really believe, truly amiable, be in friendship with such a man? How can they suit each other?" On this, she was truly baffled because she fancied that her high opinion of Mr. Bingley could not be wrong. "Do you know Mr. Bingley?" she asked Wickham.

  Wickham answered that he did not and Elizabeth proceeded to apprise him of how charming Mr. Bingley was in comparison to his friend. She owned that "he cannot know what Mr. Darcy is."

  To this, Wickham agreed, allowing that Darcy could be condescending without his pride to be affable with the rich who he thought was near his own station in life.

  It was at that moment that the whist party broke up and their conversation came to a standstill, though Elizabeth allowed that she had gained the exact intelligence she sought- and more. She gave her attention to the players as they gathered round the other table and Mr. Collins took his station, happened to position himself beside Elizabeth on her right and next to Mrs. Phillips who inquired of his success at the table.

  The question led her cousin into bemoaning his loss but he was quick to assure her that the loss was not thoroughly felt. "There are undoubtedly many who could not say the same, but thanks to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, I am removed far beyond the necessity of regarding little matters," he consoled his hostess.

  His mention of the lady aroused in Wickham a curious interest and he addressed his curiosity to Elizabeth in a whisper.

  "Lady Catherine de Bourgh," she whispered back, "has very lately given him a living. I hardly know how Mr. Collins was first introduced to her notice, but he certainly has not known her long."

  "You know of course, that Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Lady Anne Darcy were sisters; consequently that she is aunt to the present Mr. Darcy."

  Elizabeth answered that she did not- she knew nothing of the lady's existence till her cousin came to wait on them. She also thought it befitting that such a man should have such connections hence an inflation of his pride.

  "Her daughter, Miss de Bourgh, will have a very large fortune, and it is believed that she and her cousin will unite the two estates," Wickham thought it important to inform her.

  Immediately, Miss Bingley came to Elizabeth's mind and she thought with absolutely no small amount of pleasure how her efforts towards ensnaring Mr. Darcy was all for naught. After this came the thought to her mind to ask about the character of the lady.

  "Mr. Collins speaks highly of both of Lady Catherine and her daughter; but from some particulars that he has related of her ladyship, I suspect his gratitude misleads him, and that in spite of her being his patroness, she is an arrogant, conceited woman."

  It was exactly as she supposed. Wickham was quick to inform her that she was indeed right and affirmed that he never liked her none too much either.

  The supper party was noisy and their conversation discontinued. However, Elizabeth had learnt enough about Mr. Darcy and his history to sufficiently fuel her dislike for the man.
All she had learnt were the most detestable of all characters and those buttressed by his hasty judgement about her, she decided that there was nothing to like about him. In an instant, all traces of lingering warmth that she might have gathered about him during her stay at Netherfield dissipated and was replaced by a judgement in the like of which he pronounced upon her.

  As the evening dragged to an end, Elizabeth watched George Wickham and couldn't help but notice his extremely good looks, polite manners, splendid carriage and that he was the most popular of the guests with the ladies. He was also popular with the men too and as she could tell, he was a jolly good fellow who attended to all. She fancied herself the most acquainted with his attentions and he even came to her when the party disbanded near midnight to say his goodbyes and hoped that he would meet them all- the Bennet ladies soon enough again.

  And so it was that Miss Elizabeth Bennet left her aunt's house with the thoughts of two different men in her head. Of one, she thought most unfavourably and if she never saw him till she died, it was just as well. Of the other, however, she hoped for further acquaintance- she liked him immensely and thought about him most favourably.

  Chapter Fourteen

  As was always with Jane, she couldn’t bring herself to believe Elizabeth’s- or rather, Wickham’s story when Elizabeth related what she heard to her sister. Jane insisted that Mr. Bingley really could not keep the company of Mr. Darcy were he to be that abominable and at the peril of insinuating that Mr. Wickham was a liar, affirmed that Mr. Wickham’s presentation was too good to be anything but convinced of his words. She, therefore, expressed that the two men must have been mistaken in one way or another.

  “They have both been deceived, I dare say, in some way or other, of which we can form no idea. Interested people have perhaps misrepresented each to the other. It is, in short, impossible for us to conjecture the causes or circumstances which may have alienated them, without actual blame on either side.”