by Sophia Grace
Mr. Collins lifted his head, his thin lips pulling into a smile. "Perhaps you are quite right. Originally, I had thought an hour early would be just the right amount of time required to show my appreciation, but perhaps one would not want to be too early."
Elizabeth's gut clenched. An hour early? No one would be ready then. Not even in such a great house as Rosings. She and Charlotte shared a horrified glance.
"You are quite right," Charlotte said, turning her attentions toward her husband once more. "Too early indeed. Should we say five minutes early then?"
Mr. Collins looked aghast. "Five minutes? That is rudeness itself if I have ever heard such a thing. We cannot be less than a quarter of an hour early."
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. Fifteen minutes was far better than arriving an hour before dinner. Perhaps she and Charlotte could dress quite slow this evening and turn that fifteen minutes into five. A corset malfunction would be welcome, so as long as it did not impede her going. Though, with Mr. Darcy there, the desire to dine at such a grand house had diminished for her.
She curtsied and excused herself from the room. By the time she returned to her bedroom, the men could not be seen anymore. A twinge of sorrow twisted her insides, but she shook her head, forgetting all about it.
Chapter 2
At ten minutes to the agreed upon dinner time, Mr. Collins and their party walked up the steps to Rosings Park. Gas lanterns lined the walkway, casting reflections of dancing fire onto their path. Almost immediately, a servant answered and welcomed them inside. The servant took their things and showed them into the drawing room. Neither Lady Catherine nor her daughter had arrived yet. Elizabeth glanced at Charlotte, both with worried expressions. Ten minutes was not altogether too early, however the absence of the ladies of the house made Elizabeth anxious.
Rushed footsteps sounded on the hardwood floors right outside the room. Mr. Darcy strode in. Immediately, his gaze locked onto Elizabeth as he bowed before them all. Soon after he entered, Mr. Collins started speaking, but Darcy ignored his attentions and went straight for Elizabeth who was standing at the edge of the settee. "Miss Bennet."
Mr. Darcy bowed again, and Elizabeth curtsied in response. She could feel Charlotte's gaze upon her, as well as Maria's.
He took her hand and led her to the far side of the room. Once there, he dropped her hand and pulled the edges of his coat together. He looked everywhere but at her until she could not take it any longer. "Mr. Darcy, was there something you wanted from me?"
He swallowed, and Elizabeth felt the air thicken between them. Alarms sounded in her head. This was not the same man she knew as Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy was confident if nothing else. After taking a deep breath, he said, "I am afraid I have done something that you will not be happy about, but I implore you to listen to everything."
Her eyebrows furrowed as she gazed at him. What in the world could he possibly be talking about? He had already done many things she did not like and even more that she did not agree with.
He glanced at the doorway to the drawing room before looking back at her. "My aunt wants me to marry my cousin Anne. You of all people will understand when I say I cannot have that happen." His gaze roamed toward Mr. Collins who was sitting on the settee with an unhappy expression.
She knew very well what he meant. A shiver cloaked her body in a chill. "How did you—?" she started to ask.
"It does not matter how I know you refused Mr. Collins. I merely only bring it up, so that you understand what I have done, Miss Bennet. I could not simply tell my aunt no as you did to rid yourself of your unwanted. My situation is much more difficult than that as Anne and I have been intended for one another since we were born."
An image of Anne de Bourgh formed in Elizabeth's mind. She had once thought she would suit Mr. Darcy well, but that was unkind of her knowing what Darcy's feelings were now. "I am sorry to hear that, Mr. Darcy. What can you do to avoid this?"
Mr. Darcy crossed his hands over his chest. "I have already done the only choice left of me. I tried to reason with my aunt, but as I am sure you are aware, she is not one to be reasoned with. She is quite stubborn."
Much like yourself, Elizabeth mused.
"There was only one recourse I could use to convince her that I was not going to marry Anne."
His face fell ashen as he looked at her, and Elizabeth, though curious as to what he was going to say, almost laughed at his expression. She had never seen Mr. Darcy with this countenance before.
"Where is she?"
Elizabeth heard the strained voice of Lady Catherine as it rang through the halls next to the drawing room.
"Is she here?" she demanded.
Elizabeth stared at the entryway, waiting for the lady's arrival.
Darcy grabbed her wrist. "Elizabeth, before she comes, you must know she is not happy. She—"
Lady Catherine arrived in the drawing room with a flurry. Mr. Collins, who was on his feet as soon as he heard her voice was already at her side, bowing at her. She dismissed him with a curt gaze and then her eyes roamed the room until they stopped on Elizabeth. The vehemence which poured off her ladyship made Elizabeth take a step back. Ridiculous as it seemed, Lady Catherine seemed to be upset with her.
She marched toward her and Darcy, her eyebrows arching. "I am quite put out! I daresay I have never been treated with so much ridicule. To be in my house and not breathe a word of your upcoming betrothal to my nephew. Is this to be borne? It cannot be. What do you have to say for yourself, Miss Bennet? Do you deny that you have done this much to me?"
The shock of Lady Catherine's outburst struck Elizabeth dumb. Mr. Darcy stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body. "I told you, Lady Catherine. We just arranged everything earlier while I was at the parsonage. There was nothing to announce before then."
"Move out of the way, Fitzwilliam. I want to look upon the woman who has taken away not only my pleasure, but your late mother's as well. You know how we planned your engagement to Anne."
Mr. Darcy squared his shoulders, returning to his usual self. "I beg of you to choose your words more carefully in front of my intended, Lady Catherine. I had hoped you would have beared the news better."
Elizabeth blinked. Had Mr. Darcy just called her his intended? She ran through the last few moments, her mouth opening in shock.
"And I had hoped that you had sense in you not to marry someone such as she."
"Enough!" Mr. Darcy bellowed. He grabbed Elizabeth's hand, leading her away from the shocked faces of Charlotte and Maria, and the desperate face of Mr. Collins. They went through the house and out the main doors to the lane. There, he let her hand go, and shook his head at himself as he walked toward the parsonage.
She stopped, watching him go without looking back to see if she followed. She groaned in frustration as he was now several feet from her and then called out to him. "You told her we were going to be married? That was your resolution to this?"
He turned, acknowledging the distance between them with a sigh, and then came forward. "I had no other choice. She would not have relented otherwise."
"But me?" Elizabeth pleaded. "Why me? You could have even made up some woman. You could have spared me the same fate you are trying to rid yourself of."
Mr. Darcy's face pinched as he took in her words. Good, she thought. He should feel this.
"And then what?" he countered. "She would merely only tell me to end it and do as they had intended since I was an infant. I am sure my mother would not have wanted me to be unhappy."
"Of course, she wouldn't," Elizabeth agreed. "You are still not answering the question of why me, however."
"I needed a real person. I needed someone right there where she could see that the bonds were already in place."
Elizabeth backed away from him. The full extent of what he'd done were just now coming over her. She would not be able to get out of this, and neither would he. They were now bound to one another. Just one slip of his tongue and he had doomed her. "I had
thought you filled with pride," she said. "But I had not thought you selfish. I should have known with the specifics Mr. Wickham shared with me, but to be so cruel as to set my fate." She shook her head. Never in her life had she found someone so abhorrent as she did now.
Chapter 3
Darcy followed Elizabeth as she made her way through the woods, breaking off from the path to the parsonage. He caught up with her, begging her to stop.
Her whole body was cracking. She had only ever wanted to find someone whom she could love. Now, Mr. Darcy had taken that away from her.
"Miss Bennet!" he yelled, finally getting her attention. "What is this you speak of in regard to Mr. Wickham?"
She spun on him. "You know exactly what I speak of, Mr. Darcy. The living?"
Mr. Darcy ground his teeth together. "And so this is his latest heart-wrenching scheme? I had thought you, of all people, would be immune to his words, but I should have known better. He lied to you, Elizabeth. Mr. Wickham and I came to an agreement with what my father left him. I offered him the living, and he refused it. In return, we settled on a monetary arrangement, which he accepted. I have done nothing to wrong Mr. Wickham… Though he has done everything in this world to deserve it."
Elizabeth blinked. She stared at Mr. Darcy as he spoke. There was truth in his countenance, of that she was sure of. Then again, had she not said the same when Mr. Wickham told her the opposite? Jane, she remembered. Jane had told her not to believe Mr. Wickham so explicitly. She lifted her chin in the air. "He told me you refused to give him the living, therefore resigning him to his fate in the militia."
Mr. Darcy shook his head. "I would never do such a thing. My father's wishes mean more to me than my distrust of him. It has been a long time since I knew of Mr. Wickham's true character, yet I shielded it from my father. His attachment was with him until the last, so of course, I granted him whatever he wished."
Mr. Darcy took her hand and led her to a fallen tree. He gestured toward the leaning trunk and she sat on it. "But he has wronged you?" she asked, coming to terms with what he was telling her.
Darcy nodded. "And Colonel Fitzwilliam knows the whole truth of it, so he can provide testimony if need be. You see, Elizabeth, I am afraid you have quite misjudged both Mr. Wickham and I. Perhaps after I tell you this story, I will not seem like such a villain, and Mr. Wickham will deteriorate as the hero in your eyes."
He took a breath before starting again. "After I gave Mr. Wickham the promised amount, I had hoped never to see him again. Unfortunately, quite the opposite came true. You will imagine my surprise that when I went to visit my sister, Georgiana, at Ramsgate, I also found there Mr. Wickham. As surprised as I was, I was even more so when Georgiana admitted to me the reason of his presence." He stared into her eyes. "I hope I can count on you to be discreet, Miss Bennet, as this pertains to my sister. She admitted to me that she and Mr. Wickham had planned on running away together."
Elizabeth gasped.
"You can imagine how I acted," Mr. Darcy went on. His eyes shifting as if he were reliving the whole experience. "I told him to leave the area at once, and then had to convince my sister that what Mr. Wickham wanted was not Georgiana at all, but her fortune. You can understand that, Elizabeth, can't you? I hear he is betrothed to a Miss King now, and I also hear that she brings a sizeable amount of money to the marriage. I only hope it works out as well for her as it did my Georgiana."
"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said. "This is a shock indeed. I had not thought Mr. Wickham capable of this." She thought about his betrothal to Miss King, and even Lydia's words that were quite unfavorable to Miss King's appearance. Had they not all joked how there were more desirable things than looks? But to do that to Miss Darcy…and he a favorite of the late Mr. Darcy's, too. "It's reprehensible," Elizabeth said.
Mr. Darcy nodded.
"And you can be assured of my silence on the matter," Elizabeth stated, though she did not feel as if she needed to. Mr. Darcy would not have told her if he thought the information would go any further than herself.
Mr. Darcy stood straighter. "I know I have done you a disservice, Miss Bennet. Perhaps I am a selfish man, but I must admit that my decision to name you as my intended was thought out. In fact, I have not been able to think of much beside you for some time."
Elizabeth's head careened back.
"It is true," he continued. "I have wanted to tell you of Mr. Wickham for some time but did not know how to impose myself on you. I abhor that type of behavior, even though knowing if I did not, meant losing your good will. I could not tell you how happy I was to know that someone else had caught Mr. Wickham's eye. I thought almost every day that I might hear news of your betrothal to him, and I would not have borne it well, Miss Bennet, that I can promise you."
Elizabeth's heart thundered in her chest. Was Mr. Darcy actually confessing admiration for her? It seemed surreal. "Do you mean to say that you have feelings for me, Mr. Darcy?"
"I mean to say that I have the utmost of feelings for you, Elizabeth. I am sincerely in love with you. I could not risk falling into the trap of my aunt, and since you are the only woman who I want to marry, your name came from my lips before I could stop myself." He swallowed, emotion turning his cheeks a ruddy red. "Perhaps I have not made the best impression on you yet, Elizabeth, but if you only give me the chance, I shall do everything in my power to persuade you to feel differently."
Elizabeth's heart lurched. She did not know what to say. She had not thought he could possess these feelings mere minutes ago, but that he was now professing them to her was unimaginable.
"I know I can be proud, as you have called me before. It is a failing, and one I will try to conquer for you."
He grabbed her hand and Elizabeth let him. Her fingers in his felt hot, and a warmth enveloped her that reached all the way to her heart. He wasn't the villain in all this as she had once believed. She had even seen good come from him in their last visit. His words, of course, affected her more than she wanted to admit. Mr. Darcy…
"If you are set against me, Miss Bennet," Darcy started. "Then, I shall go to my aunt this instant and tell her that the engagement is off. I will tell her that you could not suffer her ill will. All of this will not go any further as my aunt would never—in her eyes—ruin our good names."
"But then what?" Elizabeth asked. "You would be forced to marry Miss de Bourgh."
Darcy nodded solemnly. "I suppose I would."
Elizabeth's limbs turned to steel. She could not let that happen. She felt the wrongness of it in her heart, and even her mind agreed. He should not marry Anne, and even though she had only now been introduced to the real Mr. Darcy, she could not help herself from wanting to know him more.
"Your aunt is not happy with your choice," Elizabeth said.
Darcy peered up at her through thick lashes. His gaze was pointed.
"Me," Elizabeth said. "She is not happy you have chosen me."
Darcy's face turned softer and brighter. "If you consent to be my wife, I do not care one bit about what my aunt says. I will take you from this place this instant and we never have to return here again."
Elizabeth looked upwards. The sky had darkened even further. The sliver of a moon hung in the air.
"Forgive me," Darcy said. He unclasped the buttons on his coat and slid it over Elizabeth's shoulders. They'd left without her gathering her shawl, or anything else for that matter.
His hands lingered on her forearms after arranging the coat. This simple act was only a peek inside the man Mr. Darcy truly was.
Before he took his hand away from her, she clasped onto it. "There's nothing to be forgiven, Mr. Darcy. I will marry you."
His face lit, and he grabbed her hand with such force that a bolt of energy passed from him to her. Her lips involuntarily curled into a smile, and Darcy mirrored her, though his smile lengthened, taking up most of his face.
In the next moment, he pulled her to her feet. "Very well, then. I shall take you to the parsonage while I go to
Rosings. If my aunt continues berating you, I shall take you back to Longbourn at once where we shall tell your parents the good news. I hope it will be good news, at least. We can start planning for the wedding immediately. If you agree, I should like to invite my sister as well."
"Your sister?" Elizabeth beamed. Her heart lifted with his plans of the future. "Of course!"
Darcy walked them toward the parsonage. To hear him talk about their lives together, Elizabeth seemed to glow from within. As soon as she got to the parsonage, she would start a letter to Jane straight away. She wanted her sister to be the first to hear the exciting news.
She could not have imagined being happier than at this moment.
Chapter 4
Several Weeks Later…
Elizabeth's fingers trembled, though Fitzwilliam clasped onto them tightly. Finally, he pointed as their carriage rounded a curve. When she looked up, she saw the most handsome estate she had ever seen. No matter how many times Fitzwilliam or Georgiana had tried to describe it to her, it had not done the house any justice. It was elegantly beautiful.
Darcy cuddled in next to her, sending her body flaming. Since their nuptials earlier that day, Fitzwilliam had been a changed man. He used any excuse to touch her, sending her heart flipping. Their relationship may have started out shaky on that fallen tree limb, but the roots had grown and delved deep into the earth until their foundation was unshakeable. They now had a solid base from which to grow on, and Darcy, for one, seemed insurmountably happy. His grin never wavered now, and she had not seen a hint of his prejudice or pride that she had first known him for. In fact, he was quite generous. His demeanor never coming more alive than when he first saw Elizabeth and his sister together.