Imperative: Volume 2, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice

by Wells, Linda

  “How does she feel about this?”

  Elizabeth looked at her with surprise. “She respects her brother’s decision.”

  “That is certainly admirable, just do not be overprotective. She should be permitted to experience the world. This was a mistake that I made with Anne. Despite her weakness, I should have allowed her to try.”

  “Then you might have lost her sooner, and Rosings to some man who was not so compliant with your demands. Your protection, while heavy-handed and unreasonable in regards to my husband’s choices, was also done with Anne’s best interests at heart.” When the lady said nothing, Elizabeth looked down at her hands. “May I take this opportunity to thank you for your defence of me to Mr. Collins? I know that you have accepted me, and tried to set right the opinions you stated publicly, but the letter you wrote to him, concerning my affection for my husband …”

  “I am mortified that you should know anything of it. How do you know? Did that pipsqueak write to Mr. Darcy?”

  “I am afraid that your letter was read out loud to my entire family. Miss Bingley was delighted to speak of it.” Elizabeth nearly laughed to see the woman’s mouth drop open. “I appreciate your faith in us.”

  “Well.” Flustered, she stood. “I am without words, however, I will say that you and Mr. Darcy will … certainly fill these halls with children, if your mortifying displays of public affection are any indication of what takes place behind closed doors.” Elizabeth smiled and did not offer any protest, Lady Catherine eyed her. “Have you any further suspicions?”

  Elizabeth looked back to Darcy’s eyes. “I have a vast array of suspicions, and proof of nothing.” Drawing her shoulders back, she said determinedly. “And until there is proof, I will simply … have faith.”

  “WILLIAM? ARE YOU OCCUPIED?”

  “Samuel.” Darcy blinked and attempted to ignore the dull ache in his temples. “No, I am merely putting on the appearance of industry, please come in and I will attempt to focus upon you instead of the drummer residing in my brain.”

  Smiling, he entered and taking a seat, watched his cousin wince with the sound of the chair scraping across the floor. “A bit of a head this morning?” Darcy grunted. “You know; the problem is that when you drink to excess, you appear to be perfectly in control and incredibly relaxed, but behave supremely out of character. To anyone who does not know your nature, you seem to be a most entertaining companion.”

  “To listen to you, I should have a glass in each hand at all times.”

  “I understand that you were reciting Shakespeare to Elizabeth and then accosted her before the entire party.” He grinned and laughed as Darcy’s dull eyes sharpened with a glare.

  “I kissed her.”

  “A great deal, so my Father mentioned this morning …”

  “Damn Richard.” Darcy swore. “Every time, every time I let him water me …”

  Laughing heartily, Samuel sat back and observed the hurting man. “You should know by now.”

  “Well, I am a damned fool, too. I sincerely hope that he wakes beside his chamber pot where he has been praying for the sweet relief of death on his knees all night.” Rubbing his face, he looked up when Samuel snorted. “Elizabeth is still sleeping.”

  “You have not faced her this morning? You ran off?” Samuel’s grin grew along with Darcy’s embarrassment. “Oh, I will remain for that! And here I was feeling regretful that I had not been along for the day.”

  “Why are you here?” Darcy pulled himself together and glanced at a clock. “Should you not be in Lambton? Do you not live in Lambton?”

  Samuel sobered, “Well … yes … I wanted to talk with you, so I asked Mr. Mayfield if I could have the morning and stayed at the dower house last night. If you truly are not well …”

  Darcy pinched the bridge of his nose, but was focussed on his cousin’s expression. “No, this is clearly something that you need to discuss or you would not have made the arrangements with your employer.” Mrs. Reynolds knocked and he saw a girl beside her with a tray. “Yes?”

  “Mrs. Darcy thought some coffee and biscuits would be good for you, sir. And she directed me to mix up some of the willow for you.”

  “Thank you.” He spoke softly and looked at the glass containing the pain remedy. “Mrs. Darcy is awake, then. Did you see her?”

  “No sir, Judy gave me the order when she was helping Parker with the wet clothes …” Darcy sighed and Mrs. Reynolds took pity on him. “She is in the gallery, I understand.” He lifted his eyes to her and his brow furrowed. “Judy said that Mrs. Darcy was entirely herself.”

  Samuel looked between master and servant curiously as Darcy blew out his cheeks. “Thank you, Mrs. Reynolds.” He watched the girl set down the tray and disappear into the hallway where he saw more servants working. “I suppose that you are prepared for … whoever else is coming here.” Disgusted with himself, he closed his eyes against the pain.

  “Yes, sir, Mrs. Darcy and I have been over everything and the rooms for the Manning, Winslow, and Fox families are prepared. It seems that many of your invited friends are staying at neighbouring estates, so you will not need to host any other guests, unless of course, they are unfit to travel after the ball.” She looked away from Darcy’s frown and to Samuel, “May I bring you anything, sir?”

  “No, nothing, thank you.” He smiled and nodding, she left and closed the door behind her. “That was cheeky. Unusual from Mrs. Reynolds.”

  “She fancies herself my mother at times, I will overlook it. Three more families coming.” He sighed and wondered what Elizabeth was doing in the gallery. Poor Lizzy, I have no business being ill when she has so much.

  “Father is friends with Judge Manning. You took your tour with his nephew, Roger Manning?”

  “As well as Fox and Winslow. They were my best schoolmates and companions around the kingdom until I had enough of their shenanigans and left them for the peace of Sommerwald.” Rubbing his face he smiled slightly, “They have certainly seen me in worse condition; hanging over the side of a boat in the Irish Sea comes to mind.” Pausing, he added softly, “I had nobody to look after me then.” Darcy picked up the glass, stared down at the liquid for a moment and then downed it with a shudder. “Blech!”

  “Will it help?” Samuel asked curiously.

  “Knowing that Elizabeth is herself helps. Seeing her will help further. I was asleep as soon as my head found the pillow last night and she was asleep when I woke with a furry tongue at dawn.” He blew out some air and focussed on his cousin’s smile. “Now then, while I wait for my brain to begin functioning again, tell me your troubles. And please, do not beat about the bush. I am not quite equipped for riddles this morning.”

  “You know me too well.” Samuel looked at Darcy’s desk and the work spread over it. “I suppose that yesterday when I watched you all riding through the village, I felt a bit left out.”

  “I understand that. You were welcome, you know.”

  “Yes, I know that, but … I am also a working man.”

  “We all are; we just have different occupations.” Darcy smiled. “The ones that our fathers gave us.”

  Nodding, he spoke quietly, “Yesterday, watching you ride off … I saw a group of gentlemen. I was struck that I did not belong with you any longer.”

  Darcy leaned towards him, “You are a gentleman, Samuel. You went to Cambridge; you had your levee …”

  “But I am no longer pursuing a career as a barrister. In another three and a half years, I will be a country solicitor. That will strip away my status as gentry and my wife, whoever she may be, will never be permitted to curtsy before the queen.”

  “So?” Darcy smiled at the stare he received. “Who were you hoping to marry? I thought that you wanted a woman to love, not one to perch on your arm and dance with at St. James’s. When you come to London, you still have your father’s townhouse, unless he chooses to end the lease, or you are always welcome at our home and will receive our sponsorship to whatever event you choo
se to attend. You have full access to Pemberley … really, you will have all of the benefits of being gentry without having to be gentry.”

  “The poor relation.” He murmured.

  The bad humour that came with the hangover flared and Darcy raised his voice. “Do you regret your decision to take on Mayfield’s practice? Have a few nights in your room at the inn all alone brought on second thoughts? You wanted this! You seemed quite grateful for the opportunity when I proposed it to you. Are you telling me now that I have made a poor investment in you?”

  His eyes widened. “No … no. I do appreciate your kindness, William!”

  “Then why do you thumb your nose at it? If you want to be a gentleman, then I suggest that you mount your horse, turn in your notice to Mayfield, and do not stop riding until you reach London and beg Easterly to take you back! Maybe, maybe he will remember the industrious young man he took on before, and maybe he can help you to find a room at Lincoln Inn again and guide you to the bar. Fine, you will become a barrister. Then what would you do? You would be following in your father’s footsteps. Is that what you want? I was under the impression that you hated court? And that you have no desire to repeat your father’s path of following the circuit judge? That you wanted to settle in the clean atmosphere of the country and serve the people of the surrounding villages, love a good woman and start a family, and be home for them every night? You give this up if you settle for the life of a barrister. You know it, I know it. All for the sake of calling yourself a gentleman?” Disgusted, Darcy sat back and drummed his fingers on the desk in perfect time with his throbbing headache. “Do you know yourself?”

  “Apparently not.” Stung by the vehemence of his cousin’s speech he stood up and walked away from the powerful glare that was burning into him. “I am a Darcy. We are … intensely proud of our ancestors.”

  “Agreed. Do you feel that you are somehow disregarding your origins by taking a different path to essentially the same career? That you are bringing shame upon the family?”

  “Am I any different from Georgiana?” He bit out and could see Darcy gripping the arms of his chair in the reflection of the window as his face reddened with fury. “I am sorry; I spoke without thought.”

  “Explain yourself, sir.” Darcy hissed. “Face me and explain yourself.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment and then turned. Darcy was up on his feet and had arrived startlingly fast to stand beside him. “I love Georgiana. I appreciate how she is changing and the sincerity of her regret, but there is no question that everyone who knows the truth must live with the consequences of her actions and at the least, bear permanently altered opinions of her. Thus far, you have managed miraculously to hide her shame.”

  Breathing in deeply through his nose Darcy nodded. Protection remained in his eyes, but Samuel had not said anything remotely incorrect, “And how does my sister’s ruin and recovery relate to your decision to become a country solicitor?”

  “What I am doing cannot be hidden. I … I am … Am I harming the family by … indulging my selfish desires to … Lord, I cannot even find the words for what I am doing or why.” Frustrated, he walked away to the window and stared out at the landscape teeming with workers preparing for the ball. “Do you know of any member of this family who has walked away from our status before? None! Every younger son has upheld his place, becoming an officer in the Navy or Army, becoming clergy or entering the law … something, anything, to hang on to the hard won credentials of being a Darcy. And who am I to …” He hung his head.

  The elixir beginning to ease his headache, Darcy felt some of his fury fade. “Do you know, Samuel, this is the first time I have ever heard you speak of being proud of our name?” Surprised, Samuel turned and watched Darcy returning to his desk. “You have spoken of your love for the estate, but that was separate from pride in who we are, and what we stand for. I believe that the improving relationship with your father has something to do with that.”

  “My father?” Samuel stared.

  “What I think you are struggling with is not becoming a country solicitor, but the motivation behind it. You tried to hide your love of Pemberley as a punishment for your father for his incomprehensible behaviour towards you and your mother, and yet, you follow him into law. To please him, I imagine?” Samuel nodded, “And yet you refuse outright to let him direct you to become a barrister and eventually a judge like himself, instead returning to your roots here.” He waved out at the Derbyshire landscape. “You were both rebelling against your father while trying to respect your origins.”

  “When Georgiana was found … I believe that Father wished to protect her to save the Darcy name. I wished to protect her to save her.”

  “And if that was happening now? If she were recovered today?”

  “I would wish to protect them equally.”

  “Would you be willing to marry her now, as your father demanded?”

  “To protect the family?” He puffed out his cheeks and shook his head. “I do not know. If the man I call my father now was making the request …” He met Darcy’s eyes. “I do not know.”

  “You have changed a great deal. You are not thinking only of yourself.”

  “It seems to me that is all I am doing. I am whining about not being a gentleman anymore.” Samuel sat down.

  “I think that you are more concerned about hurting the family by not being considered a gentleman than you are about personally not being a gentleman in society’s eyes.” Darcy raised his brows. “Let me tell you how I have changed in this past year of hell. If my sister marries, if she finds a man to sincerely accept all of her indiscretions and love her, I will consider him to be a true gentleman. No matter who he is or what he does.” Samuel raised his chin and nodded while Darcy continued. “My dear wife’s definition of a gentleman has nothing to do with how a man is born, but rather how he behaves. I believe, Samuel, that she will swear before God and King that you have always been the exemplary model of a gentleman. Whose opinion matters more to you? A woman who I know you,” he closed his eyes and rubbed at his ring, “admire and respect,” His eyes opened, “or the bodies of the dead buried around All Saints? Or the wagging tongues of the fools at St. James’s?”

  “You have changed.”

  “Let us say that my pride has taken a beating and my opinions have been properly humbled.” Darcy looked down at the ring and brushed his finger over the initials engraved upon it.

  The two men sat in silence together for quite some time. “I apologize, William. You have been so generous to me. If I had any sense, I would have realized that all the answers to my doubts were already given when you spoke to Mr. Mayfield last summer about me.”

  “The thought of your status was not on my mind, then, Samuel. Only your happiness.” Darcy looked up and shrugged. “Georgiana was missing and I … I needed to do something … good.” His fingers went back to his ring. “So. Are you at ease now?”

  “Yes.” Samuel nodded. “Forgive me for wasting your time today. I will just take myself off to Lambton and be grateful that you were willing to help me …”

  “Quiet.” Darcy murmured and sitting back in his chair, picked up a quill and twirled it as he thought. “Is there a slow season for Mayfield?”

  “I … do not know.” He rested his arms on Darcy’s desk. “Why?”

  “Sommerwald lies empty. I would prefer that the house live. Why not, when you have the time, go and live there?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Go on. You know the property, go and live on your own. Take a month or however long you can. Become comfortable in your own skin. I did that and I am grateful for it. I lived there alone after leaving my friends on our tour.”

  “Manning and Fox …”

  “And Winslow.” Darcy nodded. “I miss my father terribly, but his death forced maturity upon me, maturity that was born on that estate. You have never lived in a quiet house where your time is entirely your own. Go on then, make Sommerwald your retreat, and in … what
is it, three, four years, when you are in truth the owner of the practice, you will be confident in yourself when Mr. Mayfield hands over the keys.”

  Samuel stared. “I do not know what to say. You trust me to spend any time at all there as the man in charge? I have no experience …”

  “I was exactly your age when I inherited Pemberley.”

  “You were raised for it.”

  “Bingley just bought an estate yesterday. Is he prepared at all?” Darcy raised his brows and nodded. “I am not suggesting that you run Sommerwald, Ferguson is the man in charge. Behave as a tenant, no different from Bingley at Netherfield. A gentleman on holiday. Maybe you will find a nice girl there. Too bad Sophie has no sisters.” He smiled.

  Overwhelmed, Samuel shook his head and stared down at his boots. “You are anxious to see me married.”

  “No, I want you to be happy. But I will not be sorry to see you take your vows with a woman you adore.” There came a knock at the door. “Come.” It opened and Elizabeth entered. Both men stood and she walked in slowly, taking in her husband from head to toe, and then the tray before him. “I drank down the vile concoction, dear.”

  “Good.” She read her husband’s worried eyes and held them tenderly before she turned to Samuel and smiled. “Good morning!”

  “Good morning, Elizabeth.” His smile grew when she kissed his cheek. “You look especially lovely today.”

  “As you are especially handsome.” She winked when she heard Darcy’s cough and shifting feet behind her. “Are you staying? We are having dancing lessons in a few hours to prepare for the ball. All of the gentlemen will participate.” She turned to Darcy when he groaned. “I arranged for a master to come from Lambton. It would not do for the host and hostess to be embarrassed before their guests, would it?” Darcy’s cheeks coloured and Samuel valiantly held back a snort. Elizabeth turned back to him. “The remaining guests arrive sometime today as well?”