Section I, Next Section
Part 1A: Manning the Ramparts
Netherfield, Hertfordshire
September 18--
Fitz, She is mine! What more need I say? I have won her affections and her hand. I will not attempt to describe my elation but you, who have been my sole confidant in this matter, can well comprehend it I am sure. I confess I have at the moment only a desire to be in the company of Elizabeth, my Elizabeth-think what joy to have at last the right to name her thus-and none whatsoever for writing to you. So only tell me you will stand with me when the family's disapprobation falls upon us, as I am sure it shall. I have sent word to Lady Catherine and expect only the worst-but I am too elated to trouble myself with her certain invective. Send me word when we can expect you-Bingley's Netherfield is open to you at any moment and Elizabeth is eager to renew your acquaintance. I have assured her that from you we will have nothing but good wishes. I would have liked to promise her more of the same from other quarters, but will not indulge in vain wishes. We are to wed within two months here from Longbourn. I will send you word when we have a date that you might ask leave and stand with me.
Yours etc., Darcy
___shire Encampment
September 18--
Darcy, Blast the family! Your Elizabeth is well worth all the petty disapprobation and she will, soon enough, charm them all. Even that old goat of a father of mine. I am profoundly delighted for you old chap, and for our dear Georgiana as well-at last she will have a sister and she will be as fine and charming a sister as Georgiana could desire. Give Miss Bennet my warmest and sincerest regards and well wishes. Send word of the date and I shall arrive with a week's anticipation.
Yours etc. Fitz
...Proceeding to a family dinner in Town and conversation among distressed relations
"Richard, my dear, we have started without you, undependable as are your arrivals," said the elegant, if somewhat plain, Lady Maria as Colonel Fitzwilliam strolled into the dinning room to find his parents--the Earl of ___ and his wife Lady Maria--as well as his elder brother and the future earl, Edward, commencing the second course, consisting of a finely prepared partridge.
"You arrive at just the right moment brother," Edward remarked with an air of decided superciliousness. "We are discussing Darcy."
"Oh?" the Colonel responded evasively as he took a seat and motioned for the servant to fill his wine glass.
He could not be but a little peeved that the attack should commence so rapidly, fully anticipated as it was. Darcy had only just announced his engagement and the Colonel was as certain of the family's disapprobation as was Darcy himself. He hoped, if nothing else, to encourage his family to soften the tone of said disapprobation that an all out scandal might be avoided. He had heard again from Darcy, a letter filled with anger at Lady Catherine's abusive language toward Miss Bennet and insolent condemnation of Darcy's character. Darcy had determined to cease all contact with Lady Catherine as a result, and the Colonel doubted not that similar behavior from his own father would garner similar results.
The Earl, a tall, stout man with more than a few vestiges of a handsome countenance, disregarded his mouth full of partridge and began the inquisition in a voice as markedly displeased as his eldest son's was markedly supercilious. "As you and Darcy are so intimate, Richard, perhaps you could tell us what he is thinking with this strange marriage."
"Thinking, sir? Why nothing at all but that he is to be married."
"Do not pretend such stupidity boy. That may very well do in that infernal army of yours, but not at my table."
"Sir, I am not sure what further explanation you desire."
"Explanation?" Edward interjected. "Why father, an explanation is hardly necessary. Darcy has clearly been bewitched by some minx. Undoubtedly she is remarkably handsome and remarkably skilled at feeding Darcy's pride with all forms of empty accolades and such. I must admit I never expected Darcy of all men to be snatched by a common fortune hunter."
The Colonel snorted inelegantly. He was always amazed at how little his family, particularly his brother, understood Darcy's character, and was, given the details he knew of Darcy's courtship of the fine Miss Bennet, particularly amused by the vision of Miss Bennet they had conjured.
"If you all wish to speak against Darcy's intended I will not join you, nor will I remain at table."
"You always take Darcy's point of thinking," Lady Maria replied in irritation and jealousy.
"Only when I think him correct and reasonable."
The Earl and his eldest son nearly choked simultaneously as they cried out "Reasonable?"
"Yes," the Colonel defended adamantly, "reasonable."
The Earl dropped his heavy silver fork onto the fine china plate that held his half consumed partridge, resulting in a resounding clatter that, if they were not all accustomed to such occasional abruptness, would have startled the gathered family. His mellifluous baritone voice boomed through the smartly decorated room in all its potency, its very sweetness of timbre bellying the fury of his words and emotions. "What in blazes is reasonable and correct about this abomination of an engagement? Slighting his cousin Anne, slighting his entire family and promising himself in matrimony to some unknown quantity of a girl."
The Colonel exhaled noisily. While he held his family in a sort of dutiful regard, and while he respected the Earl as was his due, his given affections lay with Darcy and he was determined to buttress him, just as Darcy had so often done for him.
"She is not an unknown quantity to Darcy."
"But how well can he be acquainted with her, Richard?" Lady Maria inquired softly, hoping to ease the rising tension. "He has never spoken of her before, we have never heard of her until this letter announcing his engagement."
"Perhaps, but he first made her acquaintance more then a full twelvemonth ago, mother. And they have been in each other's company in quite varied society, including at Rosings Park."
"Rosings Park! But Lady Catherine said nothing of this in her letter."
"I cannot imagine why she would not have, unless she was too distracted by her assault to provide such facts. But yes, of course Rosings Park, mother. Where did you believe that I made Miss Bennet's acquaintance? I have not been to Hertfordshire. Darcy did mention, did he not, that I have made her acquaintance?"
"This is all irrelevant," the Earl shouted impatiently. "The pertinent point is that Darcy is the master of one of the country's greatest estates and my nephew. Is he truly to align himself with a girl of no family and no fortune? It is in every way shameful."
"Father, while I concur with your description of Darcy's condition in life, I disagree with your interpretation of how it impacts his consequent behavior. The pertinent point is precisely that he is his own master and can therefore marry whomever he chooses. He wants neither position nor fortune and is therefore free to act in accordance with his wishes. And I must be allowed to insist, sir, that there is nothing shameful in his choice. Miss Bennet is a gentleman's daughter."
"She has an uncle in trade according to Lady Catherine."
"Yes. And from what Darcy has told me he is an excellent man. Intelligent, sensible and gentlemanly. Darcy thinks quite highly of the man. In any case, he marries Miss Bennet and she is in an excellent young lady."
"And your cousin Anne is not?"
The Colonel could not disguise the look of disgust that passed over his generally merry countenance. "Must we start with this nonsense again?"
"I fail to see how the tacit engagement between your cousins is nonsense," bellowed the Earl as he slammed a fist on the table.
"Darcy has no promise to honor with my cousin Anne. They have never been engaged!" Returned the Colonel with equal force.
"I concede not formally," the Earl reluctantly replied. "We were simply giving Darcy time to come round to it."
"Which he would have never done, even had he not made the acquaintance of Miss Bennet. The notion of Darcy married to Anne is, sir, simply ridiculous. And, impractical as well."
"Impractical?" the Earl inquired with a furrowed brow. "What stupidity is this?"
Turning to his mother, the Colonel said softly, "Pray excuse the impropriety of what I am to reply mother." Turning again to face his father, he continued. "I doubt very much, sir, that Darcy would have fathered an heir in such a marriage, nor do I believe that Anne could have even produced one should he have made the attempt."
"He has a point there father," Edward joined in with a guttural laugh. "Duty can only take a man so far."
"Gentlemen!" Lady Maria cried. "Oh, when will one of my sons marry that I might have companionship away from these men and their rough language!" she added in agitation, more to herself then to the table.
"But mother," the Colonel replied sarcastically, "has not Edward secured the hand of Lady Patience Faircloth? Or, perhaps it would be better to ask if father has not yet secured him her hand."
"Your tone is not appreciated Richard," the Earl bellowed. "Your cousin might well follow Edward's example."
"I believe, sir, Darcy has made the better choice. He will not need be concerned with dullness, frivolity and empty vanity in his wife."
"You will not speak of her in such terms," Edward interjected in defense of his anticipated bride. "Lady Patience Faircloth is from an old and established family. She is a fine lady."
"Oh yes, a fine lady you shall have in her Edward. Pity that her dowry and her title should be more appealing then her person or her character. At least my cousin will not need depend upon such cold comforts in his marriage."
"And just what will he have that is so very valuable? That fine gentlemanly tradesman as an uncle and friend?" Edward disdainfully inquired.
"He shall have what you never shall with Lady Faircloth. Happiness, dear brother. Happiness."
The Earl's jaw dropped open in disbelief. "Happiness? Why, what a romantic notion! I never suspected my hardened army son to be so soft in the belly. Happiness, Richard, is fleeting. Fortunes and connections are not."
"In my brother's hands, sir, I am not so secure in the notion of the stability of fortune."
The Earl waved his hand, dismissing the slight to his eldest son while said son stewed petulantly. "Mark my words son, your brother's course will prove the wiser. Darcy will find this precious happiness purchased at a very high cost when he inevitably realizes it wanting in durability."
"Might I suggest sir, that we withhold judgment on the relative durability of the happiness of the Darcy marriage until we have seen it and witnessed it over time? I would wager, knowing what I know of their courtship and their characters, that their happiness will be anything but fleeting."
"And I would wager Darcy will rue the day he entered into this engagement."
"Then you shall lose your wager, sir."
...Moving on to a not ill-intentioned mother and aunt prodding for information
The Colonel entered his mother's sitting room and dropped into a chair gracelessly. Passing his hands through his thick, sandy hair he sighed deeply as he recalled the interview between his father and his cousin. It had been fascinating to hear the peculiarly calm, passion with which Darcy had defended his intended. But then the Earl had attempted to press issues of duty, family, honor and Darcy's tolerance was spent.
How dare you, sir! Darcy had intoned in that distinctly Darcy tone of controlled, cold ferocity. You speak of honor and yet you have the temerity to question the honor of my future wife, the audacity to question whether she is a worthy sister to Georgiana, and thereby question as well my honor, to question my devotion and care of Georgiana, as though she has not been my first concern these many years. I shall be quite clear, sir. I will not allow you or any person to dishonor Miss Bennet with such outrageous suggestions. If you choose to continue in this fashion I will know how to act. As my mother's elder brother, I will have you understand that only respect for her memory keeps me here now to await your expiation.
And with that bold, authoritative statement the Colonel had witnessed what he had never witnessed before: his father stunned into mortified silence. The heated and forthright interview quickly came to a tentative, if unsatisfactory, conclusion. The Earl, as the head of the family, gave Darcy his reluctant blessing but would not receive the young lady until she was Mrs. Darcy. Lady Catherine's efforts to effectively disown Darcy from the greater family circle were consequently for naught and scandal avoided; the rift between aunt and nephew became now a purely personal affair. Still, the Colonel was uneasy. Throughout the interview he had sensed some incipient change in his cousin. Darcy had always been firm and decisive, unequivocally his own master from the time he had inherited Pemberley at two and twenty, and long recognized within their circle as among the most honorable and proper of gentlemen. But the Colonel had sensed a new independence, if you will, a new resolve that it is not the conventions of society that should be stood for, but the truth of those very principles that society espoused but did not in fact exercise which must be stood for and acted upon. Indeed, it was from this new independence and resolve, in conjunction with the Earl's continued, acknowledged, albeit suppressed disapprobation that the Colonel's unease was born. The situation remained rift with unpleasant possibilities.
"Is Darcy very angry?" Lady Maria asked after a time, unable to contain her curiosity any longer. After the interview between the Earl and Darcy, the younger man had, most uncharacteristically, left the house without a proper greeting to his aunt.
"Mother, he is more disappointed then angry. I believe his anger has been spent on Lady Catherine. Lady Catherine's language, particularly as regards Miss Bennet, was quite insulting mother. Father was more interrogating, not quite insulting. I confess I do not understand father's position, or your position, mother."
Lady Maria rose from her chair and began to slowly pace the length of her quiet and tasteful sitting room, her long, elegant neck stretched like a swan's as her plain but pleasing face expressed her consternation more eloquently then could words. "And I, Richard, have difficulty comprehending yours. I understand that you are inclined to be supportive of your cousin as the two of you have been so closely aligned for so long now. But precisely because you care for his interests, as well as Georgiana's, you must realize that this is in every way a very poor match for Darcy. I know you have long been convinced that he would never marry Anne, so I will not reflect on that situation. I have, indeed, never comprehended the real nature of that agreement. But the question of Anne notwithstanding, with his fortune and connections he could have, nay, he should have selected a lady from a respected, well-connected family. A titled young lady, as did his father before him. With his fortune and the correct marriage he could rise even further to become not just the first gentleman of Derbyshire, but one of the very first gentlemen of England. Instead he has selected a lady of no fortune and no family from some remote southern county. You must understand Richard how peculiar and unsuitable this match is, how contrary to his interests."
Colonel Fitzwilliam rose himself now, and stopping in front of his mother he took her hands into his own, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Mother, what I understand is that Darcy has found for himself a wife who is his equal in all manners that are of import to him. Darcy, you must understand, while he cares for rank and position, cares more for honor and for honesty, for integrity, all of which she possess. I would even dare say, most particularly integrity." He paused for a moment, seeing her unswayed. "Mother, she is a gentleman's daughter, but more importantly, she is his equal."
"How is she his equal, son?" Lady Maria pulled her hands from her son's hold and began to pace the room again, finally seating herself in a chair that faced the Colonel. Her voice, usually endowed with a faint murmur of diffidence, was stern and unbending. "I am not as ignorant of her station as you believe. I have my intimates as well, my own sources of information. Her mother's family is in trade and the law; her father's notably modest estate is entailed away to Lady Catherine's parson; her sister is wed to the son of Darcy's father's steward and a more rakish young man it would be difficult to produce. How can you possibly conceive that she is his equal?"
"Mother!" the Colonel replied with exasperation, "If you care for Darcy at all you must learn to see this differently. She is to be his wife and his first loyalty will be with her. The family must learn to accept her and to treat her with the respect that is her due or Darcy will walk away from us all. You must see that mother."
The Colonel's admonition appeared to reach Lady Maria, and when she spoke again her voice was again endowed with her customary hesitant, vaguely diffident tone. "But such connections Richard. Such insignificant, unfortunate connections."
"I will concede that taken as a whole and abstractly her family is not particularly desirable. I will even tell you, in the strictest confidence, as it means that I am in some way breaking faith with Darcy, that her family is what caused him to delay in acknowledging to himself his sentiments and wishes when he was first in Hertfordshire. But mother, she is his equal."
"Very well, if I desist on the question of her connections, what of her lack of fortune? What of Darcy's fortune? Are you sure she is not a very clever fortune hunter?"
"Quite sure!" he replied emphatically.
"How can you be? How can Darcy be so sure?"
"I am not at liberty to divulge everything that I know mother. I will however tell you that he did not win her easily. She was not, as have been so many young ladies of his acquaintance, ready for the picking, if you will. He had to earn both her affections and her respect or she would have nothing of him, and some of his behavior upon first making her acquaintance did not make that easy for him."
"But surely any girl of her situation would be eager for the attentions of such a man as Darcy, with his fortune and connections," she replied almost scornfully. "I find it difficult to accept that he did not win her easily, as you claim. Many girls far better situated then she, any girl, I dare say, would more then welcome the opportunity to be the mistress of Pemberley."
"You have just made a most salient observation, mother. Miss Bennet is not any girl and she did not, as so many have and do, look upon Darcy as a position offered or a station to be achieved. Miss Bennet looked at him and judged him and has now accepted him as a man. Do you at all comprehend what that signifies for Darcy?"
As Lady Maria watched the expression of earnest determination spread across her son's face she was hit with a sudden clarity. "You seem to admire her very much yourself, Richard."
"I do," he replied unhesitatingly. "She is worthy of esteem and respect and I believe unequivocally that my cousin has chosen well for himself and for Georgiana."
"I confess I grow quite curious to become acquainted with this remarkable creature who has charmed you both so completely. For remarkable she must be."
"I do not wish to create false expectations, mother. Her great charm, her worth, is not perhaps immediately obvious; it is more subtle and more profound then that of, say, a remarkably handsome face or figure. Although she is handsome, it is her character, her intelligence and her liveliness that quietly and resolutely wins one to her."
"I am sure she is all these things, and yet I still struggle to understand."
The Colonel struggled for a moment in silence, doubting how to reach the goodness within his mother, that portion of her heart that hoped for only happiness for those she cared for, that portion of her mind that understood the sometimes heartrending constrictions forced upon a person's wishes by society's peculiar and often unbending demands. "It is not fashionable in our circle to be concerned with such things," he finally said in a soft voice, "but mother it is really very simple. He loves her and she him."
"Yes, well, I will grant that love is a rare commodity."
"It is not a commodity mother. It is a gift. And my cousin was wise enough to understand that when he found it in Miss Bennet." The Colonel paused for a moment and looked down upon his mother's face and noticed for the first time a wisp of loneliness, of sadness quite distinct from their topic of conversation. He walked to her side and again took her hands in his. "Simply promise me this mother, that when you do make her acquaintance, you shall give her a fair opportunity. Not only for Darcy's sake, but also for your own. You may just find in her that sensible and warm female companionship that you have long desired and that your sons have failed to provide you."
A sweet smile graced her lips and warmed her features. "I promise I shall, Richard."
Part 1B: Manning the Ramparts
Colonel Fitzwilliam approached Darcy's townhouse with great interest. He had last seen his cousin at the time of his wedding, when even all the well-executed proprieties of an engaged couple could not disguise the unfettered joy that alighted Darcy's dark eyes with a heretofore absent brilliancy. Now he was a husband of one month and the Colonel was well nigh bursting with curiosity at how his besotted cousin would behave with the familiarity of comportment that is a reward of marriage. He had been so pleased for Darcy when he had gone to Hertfordshire for the wedding and witnessed the sweet and artless affection Miss Bennet demonstrated toward her betrothed, so different from the antagonistic repartee he had witnessed in Kent, and yet still as teasing and challenging. The Colonel and Miss Bennet immediately resumed the friendly and natural discourse of their acquaintance in Kent, and found it quickly developing into a conspiratorial friendship based upon their mutual affection and concern for Darcy. The Colonel had been particularly amused, as perhaps only a bachelor can be, by the tender softness that emanated from their voices and carriage when Darcy and his bride conversed in what they believed to be unobserved intimacy.
The footman led the Colonel into the blue drawing room where he found Mrs. Darcy by herself, the late morning sun illuminating the room and casting caressing rays upon her shiny and thick chestnut hair. Standing and turning to him upon his entrance the Colonel was momentarily rapt. Mrs. Darcy looked radiant. She wore a simple, becoming morning dress, her only pieces of jewelry her fine and impressive wedding ring and, encircling her long and elegant neck, a delicate silver locket adorned with a small ruby. She is as unpretentious as ever, he thought as he approached her, but with a new loveliness. She verily glows with happiness and health.
"Colonel Fitzwilliam," Elizabeth remarked happily. "What an unexpected pleasure."
"Mrs. Darcy! I need not ask how you are, for I have never seen you look lovelier."
"I thank you for the pretty compliment. I am quite well."
"But all alone? Do not tell me that my cousin has abandoned his lovely wife so soon? He is not, heaven help me, at his club or drowned in correspondence in his study while his lovely bride sits all alone? Do tell me he is not an inattentive husband."
Elizabeth laughed merrily at the Colonel's suggestion. "Rest assured Colonel, a wife could not ask for a more attentive or devoted husband then Mr. Darcy. He is in fact, at this moment, only gone to fetch me something from the library."
"Ah!" The Colonel chuckled. "The power of love! For I have never known Darcy to fetch anything for anyone."
As Elizabeth, with a knowing smile and a soft chuckle, gestured for the Colonel to take a seat, Darcy himself came into the room, his eyes turned down as he toyed with an object in his hand. "Darling," he said in a light and airy tone, devoid of all reserve or tautness. "I was unable to locate it. Perhaps I took it to Pemberley. But this curiosity might suffice for our purposes."
"What purposes Darcy? A talisman perhaps to ward off unfriendly spirits this evening?" the Colonel interjected.
Darcy's head shot up and a broad and warm smile spread across his face. He placed the object on the nearest table and approached his cousin with hand outstretched. The Colonel noted that Darcy, like his young wife, seemed to be radiating mirth-a most unusual site in his oft dour cousin. "Fitz! What a delightful surprise. To what do we owe the pleasure."
"Must I have a purpose?"
"Not at all, but we are to dine this evening at the Earl's. I thought we would see you then."
"Precisely why I came old chap. I wanted to be sure you had forewarned your lovely wife about the lion's den. We would not want her unprepared."
"Oh he said nothing of lions," Elizabeth interjected playfully. "He only mentioned some dragons, but promised to be my own Saint George, so I am quite prepared."
"Indeed I have, for what it may be worth," Darcy replied as he gazed upon his wife's lovely, smiling countenance. "She needs no Saint George to protect her Fitz. It's all my own conceit to rather wish to be of service. The Earl is nothing, after all, to Lady Catherine."
As the light laughter subsided the Colonel thought for a moment that perhaps his father was correct and he did have a soft underbelly after all, because he could not at the moment recall anything so charming as the look of unabashed affection with which his cousin and wife were looking upon one another.
"Well," he said dryly, "perhaps Darcy was correct to leave out lions, Mrs. Darcy. After all, the Earl is really just an old goat when it comes down to it."
"An old goat!" Elizabeth laughed softly. "I hardly think, Colonel, that is quite the proper manner in which to refer to your father."
"Of course not Mrs. Darcy, but now that you are Darcy's wife you will have to allow me some leniency when we three are not in greater company. I cannot be anything but slightly irreverent and grossly inappropriate when I am in private company with Darcy and knowing you as I do I would expect it would take much more then that to offend or shock you. There is no person I am more intimate with then my cousin, Mrs. Darcy, so I would hope that you and I can be equally unreserved with one another."
"By all means," she replied with a warm smile. "To that end, you must know that my family all call me Lizzy."
"And Darcy calls me Fitz."
"Yes," Darcy replied. "Much to your mother's consternation."
"And why to her consternation?" Elizabeth inquired.
"She finds it lacks dignity," the Colonel bowed dramatically, his voice playfully serious. "But then, I find that I myself lack dignity, so it's quite appropriate."
"Well then, Fitz it shall be." Elizabeth's eyes were bright with goodwill.
"Very well, and Lizzy it shall be." The colonel added as he walked over to her chair and gallantly kissed her hand. Idly curious, he continued. "Darcy why don't you ever call her Lizzy? It suits her so well."
"I?" Darcy stammered uncharacteristically.
"Sometimes he does," Elizabeth replied quietly, blushing as Darcy looked at her and smiled a small, almost secret smile.
Sensing he had inadvertently touched on some intimacy and feeling unaccountably intrusive, the Colonel quickly changed course. "So, about the old goat."
Elizabeth rose from her chair. "Amusing as it would be to discuss the old goat, as you so shamelessly have named him, I am afraid, Fitz, that I must immediately abuse of our new found rules of intimacy and beg that you will excuse me. I have an appointment with my aunt and I am afraid that if I do not depart now, I shall be inexcusably late."
With a few parting words to her husband and a parting, lingering kiss on the hand bestowed by said husband, the Colonel and Darcy were left alone.
"I need not ask you how you are enjoying the married state Darcy. You look positively smug."
Darcy threw himself vigorously into a chair and sighed contentedly. "I can say with all sincerity Fitz that this last month has been the happiest of my life."
"I am truly pleased for you."
"She is in all ways delightful. It may be an old cliché, but there simply cannot be a man happier."
"Not even your friend Bingley?"
"Not even Bingley. Mrs. Bingley is a very pretty and very admirable lady in her own right, but she lacks Elizabeth's liveliness, her vivacity and wit. No, not even Bingley, Fitz, with all his natural tendency to good cheer."
"As I said, I am pleased, although after this evening you may not be so very content."
"As long as they receive her with respect, I shall be."
"That is all you desire?"
"Perhaps not, but my darling wife, in addition to all her manifold charms of person, is also astonishingly sensible. She has convinced me to give time to time. She is quite convinced that once our relations see that she has neither embarrassed the Darcy name by letting pigs roam the garden or some such peculiarity, nor led me into perfidy, misery or ruin they will come round. She sees no reason to push the matter, and I quite agree with her."
"Very sensible indeed. And quite generous."
"Not completely," he chuckled.
"What do you mean Darcy?"
"Having made the acquaintance of some of her family at the wedding, you may comprehend her notion that the good opinion of some relations is not much worth the bother of repining. She quickly established that for me those good opinions that would be worth repining do not go much beyond Georgiana and yourself-and perhaps your mother--so as long as the two of you are on good terms with her, she has determined that she shall certainly not allow our happiness to be sullied by concerning herself overly much with the rest."
The Colonel laughed heartily. "Yes, you are correct. Sensible and not stupidly generous, but still generous. In any case, the old goat will come round soon enough, particularly when he finds himself sharing a table with both your wife and my brother's intended. For whatever my father's many mysteries of character, that he does not suffer stupidity with much grace is not one of them. Therefore, it shall be his just deserved misery to have the utterly dim Lady Patience Faircloth as his daughter. "
"Is Edward promised at last to Lady Faircloth?"
"Indeed. Barely a fortnight ago it was all agreed upon, like the fine business transaction that it is. A more insipid creature I defy you to find Darcy. More the fool Edward!" the Colonel added crossly.
"Do not be so unbending Fitz. We all have our own expectations of marriage, and perhaps all your brother requires is a good name and a good dowry."
"I am surprised at you Darcy. You, who know better, would still advocate such a match?"
"I knew better Fitz only after I met Elizabeth. You know as none other does how entirely astonished I was by what I felt for Elizabeth when I first knew her in Hertfordshire. I quite simply had not known that I could love a woman with such passion, such abandon. I am grateful beyond words that I won her and that she returns my affections in full. But it does not follow Fitz that what I, upon finding Elizabeth, desired in marriage is what others desire. Moreover, Fitz, I have seen enough of the world to observe that it is not just conceit when I say that what Elizabeth and I share is not of the common way. Unless Lady Faircloth gives you cause to mistrust her, accept her as your sister gracefully and openly. She need not be your dearest friend, but for your brother's sake be open and receptive."
"As receptive and open as Edward has been to your wife? Come now Darcy, you must be softened by this love business after all."
"No," he chuckled good-naturedly. "I am sure I would suffer all fools as gracelessly as your father, I certainly have been known to in the past. But I have learned that for those we most esteem we must sometimes exercise equanimity."
"Yes well, I will abide by your good council, but it does not follow that I must think her any less insipid."
"Indeed it does not." Darcy laughed.
"Well enough on this, I have no patience for the topic of Lady Patience," he wryly remarked. "Tell me instead how does Georgiana? I quite expected to find her here."
"She should return shortly. She is shopping for sheet music with Mrs. Annesley. Speaking of, I assume that you are in accordance that Mrs. Annesley's services are no longer required now that I am married."
"Naturally. When will she depart?"
"Georgiana insists that she stay on until summer."
"Why through summer? If you return to Pemberley in a fortnight it hardly seems necessary."
"Yes, that is what Elizabeth and I have told her, but Georgiana insists that she wishes for Elizabeth and I to be unencumbered with her care when we are first at Pemberley."
"Well, I suppose there is something to that."
"Elizabeth and I disagree, but in any case, it is done. I trust you are well with the decision?"
"Darcy, I fully anticipate that now you are married my role as Georgiana's co-guardian is no more than a formality. It never has been much more then that as it is. Indeed, I would surmise that we will both shortly be displaced in her confidences, if that has not already occurred."
"They do get on rather well I am pleased to say. Although Georgiana has been somewhat surprised I believe at Elizabeth's teasing manner."
"Yes, she would be. Pemberley has been far too stoic for too long, Darcy. Your Lizzy will certainly liven the place up."
"That she will," Darcy smiled.
"Perhaps she could liven up the old goat as well. I suppose we'll see tonight the chances of that."
"Oh, perhaps not tonight," Darcy remarked almost dreamily, much to the Colonel's amusement. "But I can testify that she has a way of stealing your heart away quite without warning. I do not imagine the old goat will be as immune to her charms as he would like."
"No, I don't imagine he will be. But I say Darcy, it shall be a delight to watch him fall."
Part 2A: Conquest
Dinner in the lion's den
"Richard," the Earl intoned impatiently as he awaited the arrival of his first guests, "it has occurred to me. This Mrs. Darcy, she is not one of those simpering kinds, is she?"
"Oh no," the Colonel laughed, "not at all the simpering kind. Whatever made you believe that?"
"As I was dressing the thought was born that Darcy can be such a demanding fellow. I wondered if he would want a simpering sort to always have his way." The Colonel only laughed again. "She is not garishly bold either I hope."
"She is neither an Amazon nor a fainting flower. Why such impatience, father? They shall arrive shortly and all your questions will be answered of themselves."
The Earl and Lady Maria, much to Darcy's chagrin, had not been inclined to make the acquaintance of the now one month since Mrs. Darcy in an intimate, family setting. Instead they had merely included the Darcys as one more set of guests at a moderately large dinner party. There would be no shunning, nor were there to be special attentions. While it is true that prior to his marriage Darcy, accompanied by his sister, would have most certainly dined with the Earl and Lady Maria with some regularity while both family parties resided in Town, it is also true that Lady Maria's recent indisposition made the absence of such invitations not wholly unusual. Indeed, Darcy had long been on good terms with his aunt and uncle and it is not perhaps too much to suppose that the Earl and Lady Maria, in particular, had some unwillingly felt remorse at the unhappy words exchanged with their nephew upon the announcement of his engagement, and so perhaps they had wished to avoid the possible awkwardness of an intimate family setting. Whatever the case, the Colonel suspected Darcy's irritation with the arrangement was why he was so unaccustomedly late arriving this evening. Darcy was making a point, he concluded, by ensuring what he by nature loathed, the full attention of a room. Thereby plainly demonstrating to the Earl and Lady Maria that he was proud of his wife and that he would not abide with their ill conceived effort to push her unceremoniously into a corner, if you will, like a poor relation.
"Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, and Miss Darcy," intoned the footman neutrally. At that moment the Colonel was certain the entire room had taken a collective intake of breath in anticipation of the couple's entry. While Darcy's circle of friends in Town had, for the most part, happily made the acquaintance of the new Mrs. Darcy, this substantially more formal circle of which the Earl and Lady Maria where among the luminaries, had not, and curiosity was understandably peaked.
Darcy and Elizabeth, with Georgiana timidly behind, walked confidently into the drawing room. The entire assembled company turned their gaze upon the party and beheld what, with honesty, could only be described as an impressively handsome trio. The Colonel was at first concerned as he quickly noted that Darcy wore his most impenetrable scowl, but when he turned his gaze to Elizabeth, where the rest of the room's gaze had immediately and persistently gone to rest, he noted the playful, amused gleam in her eyes and concluded that it would be a very entertaining evening. He was sure, if nothing else, that some in the room were surprised by her appearance, anticipating, as they surely were, a slightly awkward and unrefined country girl. As a gentleman very partial to the ladies, the Colonel could, with a certain erudition regarding the fairer sex, measure her success with a degree of impartiality. If she did not look quite as sweetly, warmly alluring as she had that morning when he had found her alone with her husband, she was, undeniably, quite perfect this evening. Everything in her appearance was as it should be: neither too humble, nor too grand, she was faultlessly elegant. Her pleasing figure was becomingly dressed in a fine, pale yellow silk that bestowed upon her presence a distinct impression of lightness, of naturalness. She had adorned herself with only delicate pearls whose milky whiteness accentuated her bright, creamy complexion. Handsome and poised, with her hair arranged in a more sophisticated manner then had been her custom as an unmarried girl, her lovely, fresh countenance was beautifully framed and her eyes sparkled with mirth and intelligence. She gave the affect of a refreshing, crisp spring morning breeze sweeping through a too long closed drawing room. On the arm of her tall and elegantly attired husband she was, indisputably, a credit to her sex.
"May I have the honor of presenting my wife, sir, the former Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Mrs. Darcy, my uncle, the Earl of ____."
"Mrs. Darcy, an honor," the Earl replied coldly, with a stiff, slight bow.
"The honor is all mine, I am sure, your lordship," she replied with a perfect, deep curtsey. Raising her head she looked him squarely in the eyes and smiled. As she did so, the Colonel saw his father momentarily arrested, looking surprised.
Collecting himself, the Earl, without a word more of welcome or congratulations, an omission that did not go unnoticed, spoke blandly, almost indifferently. "Mrs. Darcy, how have you been enjoying your stay in Town? I understand you are just lately arrived."
"Lately, sir?" she replied innocently, eyebrow tellingly arched. "We have been in Town these three weeks now, sir."
"Hmm, yes," the Earl remarked roughly. "And you have been enjoying yourselves."
"Oh very much sir." Elizabeth's voice was tinged with that unique mixture of archness and sweetness that so often left her listener confounded regarding her meaning. "I have had the great honor of making the acquaintance of a number of Mr. Darcy's friends. They have all been so agreeable and welcoming. And of course, I have the delight of regular intimacy with my dear aunt and uncle who reside in town."
As she finished her statement she smiled again, an unassuming, warm smile and the Earl looked at her completely perplexed, while the Colonel and Darcy exchanged an expression of amusement. It was evident that the Earl did not know how to interpret her seemingly inoffensive commentary. He could not be sure, it was clear, if she was boldly chastising him for his own lack of attention or simply innocently describing her experiences in Town.
"Indeed," he finally replied as he shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other.
"Sir," Darcy mercifully interjected, "I beg you will excuse us, as I wish to introduce Mrs. Darcy to Lady Maria."
"Yes of course," he responded to their retreating figures.
"What did you expect sir? Two heads?" the Colonel chuckled.
The Earl looked at the Colonel, perturbed. "I am not sure what I expected, but she is not it. I do not know what she is."
"She is Darcy's wife, sir." The Earl huffed in response to his son's impertinence and went to speak to another guest.
As they went into dinner Elizabeth found herself seated across from her husband and with Colonel Fitzwilliam to her left. On her right sat one Sir Hamley. Sir Hamley was a gentleman of one and sixty, of an old family long accustomed to providing services to the crown, for which loyalty the portly gentleman was lately knighted. He had a loud but in no way displeasing voice that ran the course of the table with the determination of a gale.
The dinner was progressing in a customarily dreary fashion, thought the Colonel. He never could comprehend how his parents, generally intelligent and sensible as they were, could be such awful hosts-everything was of course the very best that station and rank could offer, the food, the wine, the place settings, the titled and well-connected guests. Everything but the conversation, he reflected, dominated as it was by talk of the latest society events on his mother's end of the table and talk of hunting at his father's. There was little wit, little enthusiasm, little genuine warmth; there was an excess of beautifully constructed phrases, devoid of meaning or originality. Everyone was professing the most proper opinions in the most proper language. What a bore, he mused. To his further irritation Elizabeth, his one hope of relief, was unusually quiet. Perhaps it was because she sensed that the Earl's eyes were constantly upon her, judging and watching and listening. The Colonel wondered if his father was seeking evidence of that oft remarked upon wit, the vaunted liveliness, the intelligence so unmistakable in her steady gaze and brilliant eyes.
Growing distracted, he almost missed Sir Hamley's dismissive retort, in his gale-like voice, to another diner's comment. "But then, what can one expect from a tradesman?"
'Excuse me, sir?" Elizabeth inquired politely.
The Colonel looked first to the Earl and then to Lady Maria and noted the former grasp his hand into a fist and the latter pale, as though all their greatest fears regarding Darcy's marriage to the unconnected, unknown quantity of a girl were about to materialize into disaster at their very proper and elegant table, as if the specter of her infamous connection to trade had obtrusively floated into their sanctified hall for all their guests to witness. Turning his attention to Darcy, the Colonel was surprised by the hint of amusement on his countenance, as though he saw the matter quite differently, as though he awaited in anticipation of the certain delight to be experienced in the deftness of his wife's mind and the subterfuge of her sweet address.
"Tradesmen, Mrs. Darcy, what are we to expect of them but such lowly behavior?"
It was not a universally known fact that the new Mrs. Darcy had a tradesman uncle; in fact, little was known about the former Miss Bennet, other than the verity that she was now Mrs. Darcy. She was established as the daughter of a southern county gentleman whose estate was too unimportant to be acclaimed beyond its own immediate vicinity. That remarkable fact was enough to entertain the gossips, who had long entertained the notion of a more illustrious match for the highly sought Mr. Darcy of Pemberley.
Elizabeth turned her lovely, vivacious countenance to Sir Hamley and replied in a firm and calm voice. "If I may be so bold Sir Hamley, I would expect from a tradesman exactly what I expect from a gentleman."
"Indeed you cannot be serious madam." Sir Hamley's voice boomed over the table and all other conversation swiftly desisted. "Surely you cannot anticipate a tradesman can ever exhibit the characteristics of a gentleman."
"Indeed I can and indeed I do. I believe the ideals of comportment of a gentleman--honesty, honor, generosity - are such that we should all strive for the same irregardless of our station in life. Perhaps we should not be so quick to deny a tradesman the same characteristics of honor and integrity we so freely bestow upon a gentleman, merely for the accident of his birth."
A faint murmur spread across the table as the diners tried to discern if the accident of birth clause referred to the tradesman or the gentleman. The Colonel glanced at Darcy and saw a small smile tugging at his lips as he gazed and listened admiringly to his wife.
"I disagree with you Mrs. Darcy, we can and ought to assume such a distinction because of rank."
"If I may broaden the argument sir, and if you, Colonel Fitzwilliam, will allow me the leisure to exploit your rank for my argument," she said, turning upon the Colonel a face alight with challenge and pausing for his acquiescence.
"Most happily at your service, Mrs. Darcy," he replied gallantly. As she turned her smiling countenance away from the Colonel, resting her eyes a moment on Darcy before continuing, the Colonel was swept by a wave of admiration. Although she was handsome, to be sure, she was not the most handsome of women, yet she had a quality, an alluring radiance that was captivating. I can testify that she has a way of stealing your heart away quite without warning, Darcy had said. The Colonel turned his attention back to her argument.
"If we anticipate brave and loyal service to the crown only from the officers of our army and navy, men such as Colonel Fitzwilliam, and not of our infantry, which is so often composed of young men of a lower rank, we could never anticipate victory. Should we anticipate that the Colonel would be a noble soldier because he is the son of an Earl but that a boy under his command, just a shopkeeper's son, perhaps, will not be? If we should follow such reasoning, we would then not anticipate our empire's greatness, rather we would anticipate its inconsequence. We must as loyal subjects wish for and anticipate the best from all men in uniform, not only those from the highest ranks of society. Would you not concur?"
"Naturally. But I fail to understand how that compares to what we are to expect from a tradesman."
"It is this sir, that we must judge a man by his conduct not by his place in society. Certainly there is as much a distinction between the man who keeps a shop dishonesty and without evenhandedness and so does not provide an honest living to those who must depend upon him and the man who runs a warehouse of goods from across the empire with such honesty and industriousness as to improve his lot in life, as there is between that latter tradesman and a profligate eldest son who squanders the very heritage he is born to promote and protect. If the first shopkeeper and the eldest son are both profligate, where lies the great distinction? Who then is the greater man, sir, the tradesman whose integrity, whose honorable conduct, allows him to rise in the world or the so named gentleman who, through his conduct, verily renounces all his rank affords and demands?"
Sir Hamley smiled broadly and turning to Darcy said in half jest, "Your wife is quite the democrat Mr. Darcy. Preaching the demise of rank she is. Quite bold in given company I dare say."
"Sir Hamley," Darcy replied calmly, "you have misapprehended my wife's meaning completely."
"How so? She preaches the rise of tradesmen and the confusion of rank."
"Indeed she said no such thing."
"Certainly I did not. I speak of individual men, not of a collective. Society cannot function if we have not some structure, if we do not all understand our role and our duties within it. It need not be so immutable, however."
"Instead I believe she has rightly suggested," added Darcy, "that as a society we might be better served to learn to judge men by their own merits and that we should expect from all men the same superior standards of behavior we commonly require of a gentleman. We would then be, as individuals and as a society, the richer for our resulting greater humanity."
"Of course, Sir Hamley," Elizabeth added ironically, "I have no other but a woman's reason.*"
"I shall not abide such feigned meekness from you, Mrs. Darcy!" Sir Hamley exclaimed cheerfully. "Instead I shall retort with my own words of the Bard and insist that, though she be but little, she is fierce."*
"Truth is truth," Darcy added dryly, while looking at his wife with an impish gleam in his eyes. "To the end of reckoning."* Whereupon the entire collected company shared in a delighted, if not entirely dignified tumult of laughter.
Throughout the exchange, the Colonel had closely observed his father and seen how his gaze was fixed upon Elizabeth with a look of cautious fascination. Therefore, when the party began to separate and the gentlemen moved toward the smoking room, the Colonel walked to the Earl's side and whispered into his ear. "Not at all simpering, eh father?"
"No, not at all simpering." The Earl's voice was curt and expressionless.
"She handled the situation quite well, would you not say? Very discretely defending the honor of her uncle without your guests being the more aware of it, without causing discomfiture to anyone at all, really. But neither allowing slight, by default, to fall upon her uncle. Loyal and intelligent perhaps, sir, but certainly not simpering."
"It was handled with grace and certainly does show an admirable inclination toward loyalty, as you suggest." The earl conceded the point, but dependably unwilling to admit error, he continued, "Nevertheless, it is really infamous that I should need be concerned with the honor of tradesmen at my table, Richard. Mrs. Darcy's evident merits of mind do not alter that had Darcy married a young lady from a more appropriate family your mother and I would have never had to endure such an awkward situation."
"I would venture to argue father, that you would not have had such an exceptional repartee at your table either. No stupidity there, sir."
"No. It would appear not. Although I wonder how maidenly a display it was."
"Sir, when have you ever admired squeamish, maidenly types?"
"Never. But your mother prefers ladies who are more reserved and quiet. Not so decided in their opinions."
"Perhaps sir, but clearly, Darcy does not." And with that the Colonel chuckled merrily as he made his way to the port. Glass in hand, he moved to join his cousin just as a conversation commenced between Darcy and Sir Hamley.
"Mr. Darcy, what a fine young wife you have found yourself. Not just a handsome creature but quite an agile, original mind as well."
Darcy bowed his head in acknowledgement, his expression impassive.
"Where ever did you find her?" Sir Hamley continued. "I do not recall her out in society. I would have never forgotten such a lively creature."
"Kindly desist, Sir Hamley, in referring to my wife as a creature," he replied disapprovingly.
"Such particularity Darcy. But then you are still newly wed. Charming as she is, as a husband you must learn that wives are for our amusement and they really are no better then any other creature we must tend to."
"I shall never learn such a barbarous and disrespectful attitude toward my wife and must insist that you abstain from this line of argument in my presence." Seeing Darcy's grave and brooding expression Sir Hamley, a generally gregarious sort, changed the course of conversation.
"I grant you she appears to be out of the common way of fashionable females. Where is she from? Who is her father? Who are her people?"
The Earl sent Darcy a knowing, disparaging smirk to which Darcy responded with no more than a steady cold stare as he responded in an even, indifferent tone. "Her father has a small estate in Hertfordshire. He has no taste for Town and so you are unlikely to be acquainted with him."
"Ah yes, unsullied country gentlemen," the Earl intoned derisively. "They can be such a singular lot."
Darcy simply turned away and pulled his cousin apart from the group. "Your father can be quite insufferable, Fitz," Darcy said haughtily.
"Do not allow it to bear upon you Darcy. The old goat is simply feeling quarrelsome finding all his predictions come to naught. You know how he abhors being in the wrong and he is, I am sure for I have observed him closely this evening, now finding it rather problematic to continue opposing your choice of a wife. I dare say he will be mortified when he sees his hand selected daughter by your Lizzy's side-such an insipid lady can only look the more so in your wife's delightful light." Darcy raised his eyebrow inquisitively. "The engagement ball, Darcy, not yet announced but it shall be soon enough. It will be an absolute bore. You must stay in Town another fortnight and attend. Say you and your wife shall attend. Come, for my sake old chap."
"I will inquire as to Elizabeth's preference. I will leave the decision in her hands."
"Oh then you shall stay, I will make sure of it." Darcy shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
Half an hour later the gentlemen joined the ladies in the drawing room, the cousins making their way directly to Elizabeth who sat in conversation with Lady Maria, Georgiana and a plump, gray-haired lady--a Mrs. Greystock.
"Darcy," the Colonel jibbed, "I shall save Georgiana and you must save Lizzy. Why the former looks quite terrified and the latter quite bored, much as each is trying to dissemble their state."
"Yes Fitz, after all, I did promise my wife that I would be her own Saint George."
"You mustn't disappoint then." Darcy bowed to the Colonel mockingly and went to his wife's side.
"Mrs. Darcy, the fire is particularly strong this evening and I fear the room may be too warm for your liking. Should you care for a refreshing turn about the garden?"
"In this cold, Darcy?" Lady Maria intoned with disbelief.
"It is a lovely evening, madam, not at all cold. Mrs. Darcy?" he repeated, disregarding his aunt's disapproving look.
Elizabeth replied with some evident relief. "That would be most welcome, Mr. Darcy."
The Colonel, proving less successful in his mission, began to wander the room aimlessly. As he watched the customary flow of intercourse he reflected upon the deficit of emotion, of excitement, the absurdity of it all, and unexpectedly felt the constant drone of banal conversation, practiced flirtations and the undisguised pursuit of interests oppressing.
"Richard! Come!" Edward called lazily to his brother and motioned for his attention. "You have orders. Go fetch that singular cousin of ours, mother would like to have some music and you know how she insists that every guest attend."
"Singular?" was the Colonel's sole reply.
"Why yes, brother. Imagine taking his precious wife out into the cold like this." He paused, and then added dismissively, "Of course, she is a country bride and must be accustomed to such roughness. Perhaps that's why he married her, a little roughness can have its rewards for a man."
"Don't let Darcy hear you speak in such a manner, Edward."
"Will he challenge me if he does?" Edward replied sarcastically.
"You, dear brother, are merely envious, realizing as you have how far superior a woman Mrs. Darcy is to your Lady Patience Faircloth." He was silent for a moment. "Or is it, brother, that Darcy's acting in the interest of his own happiness, without regard to the censure or pleasure of others, too painfully reminds you of your own cowering to father's demands when your happiness had been so nearly in hand?"
"Oh, just go fetch them Richard," Edward responded coldly.
The Colonel quietly made his way out into the large, walled garden, pausing before making his presence felt. With a guilty smile he observed them, curious to see this heretofore unknown side of his cousin and friend. He had no recollection of having ever seen his cousin flirt-putting aside the peculiar, not strictly flirtatious intercourse he had with his now wife in Kent. Using all the stealth of his military training, he moved forward along the side of the house. Darcy's low, full laugh rose from a far end of the garden. From his dark corner, the Colonel could see them clearly, standing in front of a stone bench, in the moonlight, face to face, her hand playing familiarly with the buttons of his waistcoat, her head slightly inclined to one side, while he held her other hand within his own.
"Do be serious, Elizabeth. Has it been very awful?" Darcy asked tenderly.
"To the contrary, my love, it has been rather enlightening."
"Indeed?"
"Very much so."
"Will you not indulge me and tell me how so?"
"Happily." She looked him in the eyes and smiled. "I now need never wonder again at your wishing to marry me."
"I thought we had already established why I wished to marry you."
"Oh yes, that you ardently admire and love me," she replied playfully, waving her hand in the air as if dismissing the import of his ardor. "Perhaps I should say I have gained more clarity as to why you love me so."
Darcy smiled. "And what have you deduced, my darling wife?" He lifted her hand and bestowed a lingering kiss upon it.
"If this evening, together with what I saw in Kent, is any indication of how your relations always interact, of the dinners you commonly attended, why it's quite clear you needed me desperately," she replied flirtatiously.
"And so I did, but why do you think so?" Darcy insisted, his smile growing ever wider.
"Such excessive cold propriety, my love, such reserve and perfection of behavior." Her tone was teasing and mocking. "Why, now I think of it, even sweet Georgiana holds you in such high respect that she dare not tease you as any sister rightly should. Clearly, my dearest husband, you were in want of some cheerfulness, a little improper exuberance." In a quieter voice, she added, "Dare I say some happiness?"
Darcy took her face into his hands, held it devotedly within his grasp, and in a voice rich with emotion responded to her with passionate gravity. "Dearest, loveliest Elizabeth. I did need you desperately. I needed your liveliness, your warmth." He paused and laughed. "And of course your frankness." Her hands began to creep around his waist as they moved closer together. "Elizabeth! My darling wife! It shall always be thus. With you at my side I experience the most extraordinary sense of being alive as though for the first time, as though my soul had never breathed before your beautiful eyes smiled upon me. My darling, darling wife!" he repeated as he lowered his head and took her lips within his own, lovingly, confidently, joyfully.
"And do not mistake the matter, William," she replied softly. "For I need you just as desperately."
She laid her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and softly kissed her hair. "My Lizzy!" he whispered.
As her name floated into the air the Colonel suddenly recalled Darcy's strange stammering that very morning when asked why he never called his wife Lizzy. He recalled Elizabeth's blush and he understood. Lizzy. Darcy said it with such an excruciating tenderness, such a soft, caressing intimacy that it was as though the Colonel had breached the sanctity of their very bedchamber.
Darcy lifted her head from his chest, another barely whispered Lizzy escaping with his breath as he kissed her again and the Colonel was overwhelmed with shame for having spied on such a private exchange, but somehow grateful that he had. He hoped fervently at that moment that he could find something akin to what Darcy had. It was so warm and affectionate, intense and self-contained that he felt suddenly bereft as he recalled his expectation that as a second son he would marry for more pecuniary reasons. Oh yes, he mused, Darcy certainly has made a wiser choice then Edward.
Recalled to his brother and his mission, he quietly returned toward the door and made as if just entering the garden, this time noisily so that they would not be surprised as he summoned them back into the music room.
"Darcy," he called out into the garden, "You must come rescue your sister. Mother is determined to have her perform and Georgiana looks quite ill at ease."
They entered the music room to find Georgiana indeed ill at ease, if not yet in tears. "Oh dear!" Elizabeth cried and swiftly made her way to Georgiana's side, Darcy and the Colonel following close behind.
"Georgina," Lady Maria was saying in a not unkind but persistent tone, "you must overcome this silly fear. Why trouble yourself with becoming so accomplished if you will not perform. There are only family and friends here this evening. It is not such a very large party after all. Come, you must not embarrass your brother by refusing to perform and showing yourself a simpleton."
Elizabeth quickly sat at Georgiana's side and placed her hand reassuringly on her forearm. "I do not believe that Mr. Darcy would be displeased with Georgiana if she did not perform, Lady Maria," Elizabeth said sweetly, but firmly.
"Indeed I would not," came Darcy's deep and commanding tenor as he took a place at his sister's side.
"Darcy you mustn't coddle the girl so much. How will she ever take her place in society if she cannot perform even a simple traditional song. She need not play a concerto, but she must perform. I insist. I will be quite offended if you refuse me Georgiana."
Georgiana looked into her folded hands with trepidation. Her voice came soft and meek. "But the company is so large, aunt."
"Georgiana," Elizabeth intoned in a gentle voice that could not but impress Lady Maria with its warmth and compassion. "Is it that you do not wish to sing or that you do not wish to perform at all?"
"Oh Lizzy, I could certainly not sing in such company."
"Would you be comfortable accompanying me, Georgiana? We could perform one or two of those charming airs we have been amusing ourselves with these last days. Shall we then?" Her voice was so unimposing, her manner so kind and open that one could not help but be reassured.
"Oh yes Lizzy," Georgiana exclaimed, her large, blue eyes alight with gratitude and admiration. "I should not feel so afraid if you would perform with me."
"Would that be acceptable, Lady Maria?" Elizabeth asked politely.
"That would be delightful, Mrs. Darcy. I am pleased you have been more successful then I in encouraging the dear girl. I find it unacceptable that she should suffer such bouts of timidity. It is hardly befitting a girl of her station."
Darcy visibly smarted at Lady Maria's harsh assessment of his sister. "She is but sixteen, Lady Maria."
"Old enough, Darcy," was the curt response.
Elizabeth rose from her seat and before moving to the instrument turned to Lady Maria and remarked in a firm, quiet voice, "I am certain, your Ladyship, confidence will come with time if she is but allowed the opportunity to develop it at her own pace."
Lady Maria stared at Elizabeth, shocked at her boldness, but as Elizabeth walked passed Darcy he took quick possession of her hand and pressed it softly, whispering "thank you," before releasing his grasp.
The Colonel, having escorted his young cousin to the pianoforte was about to take a spot within the room to have a prospect of the fair performers, when he paused to listen to Elizabeth's final reassuring words. "You see Georgiana, while I sing the room will be so focused on my imperfect voice as to quite ignore your perfect execution at the instrument. So you have no need for trepidation my dear."
Georgiana smiled appreciatively.
The Colonel had heard Elizabeth play the pianoforte when they were acquainted in Kent, but he had not heard her sing, and as she began his surprise was certainly equal to that of all in the room but Darcy himself. Darcy, for his part, was plainly rapt, gazing on his wife with an adoration that could neither be bound nor disguised, most particularly when she turned to face him and with a steady gaze upon him, sang the gentle, sweet Ben Johnson verse.
Drink to me only with thine eyes
And I will pledge with mine.
Or leave a kiss within the cup
And I'll not ask for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove's nectar sip,
I would not change for thine.
Her lush alto voice was perhaps not the strongest one could hear, nor with the widest range, but its tone was so honeyed and artless, so suggestive and alluring, so wholly unaffected as to be far more captivating than many a more accomplished voice. She rested one of her small hands gracefully on the instrument, while gently moving the other as she sang, causing her pearl bracelet to provocatively slide up and down the elegant line of her round, creamy arm. She exuded a light, pleasing grace in every small movement. The entire affect of her carriage and sweet song was so thoroughly enchanting that as the evening came to a close the Earl and Lady Maria could not but acknowledge that she was, if nothing else, certainly no cause for mortification. If only her connections were not so very unfortunate.
*The Bard
Part 2B: Conquest
In which the Colonel returns to London and encounters a particularly giddy Darcy.
Christmastide was long past and the winter season was quickly drawing to a close. The Colonel mused upon the approaching ides of March and wondered that his brother would agree to having the Engagement Ball, which had been postponed due to the unfortunate passing of Lady Patience Faircloth's godmother, set for such an ill fated date. But then, he recalled regretfully, his brother had long ago abandoned any pretense of an independent will and there was something so fantastically pathetic about a grown man doing so that he found he could not respect his elder brother, much as he would desire the contrary. He simply could not admire him, particularly when he thought on what Edward had released without even the simulation of a fight, without a defense even of his own right to determine some part of his own fate; that he, the future Earl, the future master of a comfortable fortune and a fine old estate, should bend so unfailingly to the current Earl's will like he was no more then a blade of grass underfoot was a capitulation the Colonel could not but find odious in the extreme, particularly as he clung with such persistence to the limited rule he, as a second son, could wield upon his own prospects. Miss Vye had been such a sweet, pretty and tenderhearted girl, and her serenity and delicacy had delighted Edward from the first, but when her brother's gambling brought the family to ruin Edward had made no argument against the Earl's: It would appear that Mr. Vye has lost everything but his frock coat and Miss Vye shall be required to seek employment if she is not taken under the protection of some relation, which appears unlikely. Are you truly suggesting, Edward, that the future Earl of ___ shall be wed to a lady's companion? Nothing more had been said and Miss Vye had been abandoned by Edward at her moment of greatest need before any promises had been made, but not before one heart was left betrayed and the other, at the very least, sincerely touched. As the Colonel continued his brisk walk in the invigorating, crisp morning chill he determined to think on it no more. Why, if his brother could pass on without remorse, why must he feel it in his stead?
Arriving at Darcy's door for the first time after a near three month absence from London, he was greeted by the butler and directed to the upstairs sitting room which was a private room for the family's use and never one in which general callers were received. As he entered the room he noted absently that it had been recently redecorated and felt more inviting, more intimate then heretofore, although had he been asked to identify why he would have been at a loss to explain.
"Georgiana, do I find you unaccompanied?" he inquired as he took his young cousin's hand and kissed it gallantly.
"Yes, cousin Richard." To both Darcy and Georgiana the Colonel's unexpected calls were never unexpected. He was perpetually appearing in their home without warning or intention, whether they be residing in Town or at Pemberley, and he was always greeted with the welcome and familiarity their absolute sympathy afforded, more brother than cousin as he was.
"Your brother and his lovely young wife are not at home?"
"They have gone to the book dealer this morning. I expect they shall return shortly."
"They did not ask you to attend them? They have left you all alone? How monstrous!" he added playfully.
"Oh no, cousin," Georgiana laughed softly, "they did indeed invite me to join them but I thought it best to let them time alone."
"Very sensible, young lady."
"They wish to include me in everything, cousin, that I might not feel myself too much in solitary, I am sure. Mrs. Annesely is attending upon a niece who is unwell, you see. But I am not such a girl as not to understand that they wish to have time unaccompanied."
"As I said, very sensible, young lady. Now will you be more so and ring for some tea for your old cousin? There's a girl."
As Georgiana put aside a piece of embroidery she had been executing upon his arrival and rose to ring the bell for tea, the Colonel took a seat across from his young cousin's and observed her in silence. What was it about these Darcy cousins, he wondered, that so pulled at his heart. For Anne he felt nothing but pity and for his mother's nephew and nieces a sort of good-natured indifference, yet these two creatures, these Darcys, stirred him in a strange and profound manner. He, always the open and gregarious gentleman, could not, had never been able to keep distance from the reserved brother and the sweet, timid sister. It had been thus for years. Pemberley, he remembered well, had always been infused with an excess of reserve, what with Mrs. Darcy's long illness and Mr. Darcy's perfection of behavior, and perhaps it was the resulting perpetual restraint of the Darcy children that had always impressed him, attracted him, fascinated him. Or perhaps it was the inevitable forlornness of two children more then ten years apart residing in that vast building that had awed him when his own home, so much smaller then Pemberley, older though it was, felt so much more intimate by comparison. Not that Mr. and Mrs. Darcy had been pitiless or unfeeling. They had been kind to their children, honest and caring parents, yet not perhaps affectionate. Darcy had learned from them, most particularly from his father, who in all else was a most excellent man, that distrust of others and their motivation, that imperiousness of carriage that expected a Darcy of Pemberley's intentions and honor would never, indeed could never be doubted or questioned. And none had, not even the Colonel, until a country gentleman's daughter endowed with a forceful personal integrity, had.
As the Colonel watched his young cousin, he hoped she, as had her brother, would be made the better, be taught the better by the same association. Although he considered if perhaps the change required was more fundamental for Georgiana. Darcy had not become a wholly different man under Elizabeth's influence, rather he had become a better man, a man who understood himself more fully and therefore was able and desirous of striving to rectify his faults and to nurture his virtues. The Colonel sensed the changes he would wish for in Georgiana were not betterment, but change. The Colonel wished Georgiana could learn greater confidence, could learn to lift her eyes and meet the gaze of others without trepidation, to speak to those outside her immediate circle without mortification and to glory in her gifts with honesty and yet without conceit. She had been too much out of the world, what with mourning a mother's death and then a father's, her wretchedness at her own loss of prudence after the near elopement, and then always so protected by both a devoted brother and a dotting cousin. She had been motherless and sisterless, and as a girl requiring from a guiding hand tenderness and affection she found not but unbending aunts and well meaning, but inevitably awkward young men. The Colonel lifted his eyes from her and looked about the room again, again noting the new softness. Was it the colors, was it the placement of the furnishings that the occupants of the room might feel greater intimacy, was it the Constable landscape that now dominated the room and brought the light and freshness of the country inside? Whatever the cause--he had not the understanding for such matters--clearly it came from the influence of the new mistress of the house. The Colonel smiled. Not, this time, for Darcy, but for Georgiana.
"Now tell me, Georgiana, now that you have had time to grow accustomed to it, how do you like having a sister?" He inquired as she prepared him a cup of tea.
"Oh cousin Richard, she is in every way delightful. Lizzy is so kind to me, so warm and affectionate."
"And shall you at last have a confidant, my dear girl, more appealing then your brother or I?"
"Cousin that is not right to say, I am sure. You and my dear brother have always been kind and good to me. I shall always be most grateful and I should never have that change."
"But I would, my dear. You can speak openly and frankly with Lizzy about concerns you would justly not feel comfortable speaking of with your brother, much less with me. Particularly now that you are no longer a girl, but a beautiful young lady. You shall always look to us as your guardians, but she can be your friend, your confidant."
"Would she wish that, cousin Richard?"
"Do you have reason to suppose she would not?"
"Oh no! As I said, she has been most kind and open. It is only I who have not dared, but perhaps I shall find the courage."
"I hope you shall, Georgiana. I am certain you shall find in her a true friend and sister. They have been married these four months now. Are you still unsure of her that you require courage?"
"Not of her, but of myself and my place."
"Your place, Georgiana, is what it has ever been. As Darcy's sister that has not changed, regardless of his marriage. Surely he has shown you this much, assured you of this, and I cannot imagine that she has been selfish or surly with you, I did not think that her manner at all."
"Please do not misapprehend my meaning, cousin Richard. I do not wish to imply that either my brother or his wife have been unkind or ungenerous. Not at all. It is I who wish not to be an imposition, an impediment to their happiness."
"An impediment, Georgiana?"
"I am not a child. I understand that a newly married couple would wish for time alone, without the impediment of a charge."
"Georgiana, you are no mere charge and I am confident neither sees you as an impediment to their happiness. Quite the contrary, you are a requirement. You are Darcy's sister and you are fully aware that you are his heart's delight. The fact that you must now share him with Lizzy makes you no less dear to him, no less necessary, and as you are necessary to his happiness so you become so for Lizzy as well."
"I know this, cousin Richard, and please do not repeat what we have spoken to my brother. I only want so very much to see him have all that he has long deserved."
"Very well, I shall keep this as our confidence, but only if you promise to disregard such childish notions in the future. Tell me instead, is she also kind to your brother? Does he continue with that infuriating air of smugness about him?"
Georgiana smiled warmly at the Colonel's portrayal of her brother. "He is very happy, cousin."
"And what of you, dear girl?"
"I am well enough. In truth, my greatest joy is to see my brother so."
"Is he very happy then?"
"Indeed, I have never seen him so before." Georgiana paused a moment before continuing with some reluctance, unsure as to the propriety of the observation she wished to share. "I must say, however, he allows Lizzy the most shocking liberties, cousin."
"Shocking liberties? In your presence? Why, whatever do you mean, Georgiana?" The Colonel's tone was severe with concern.
"Oh I did not mean to imply anything by it," she stammered, suddenly embarrassed and blushing profusely. "I meant only that she speaks to him in a manner I have never heard him spoken to before. In a manner I would have expected him to find objectionable."
"My dear girl," the Colonel laughed. "Of course she teases him beyond all measure, she has from the beginning you see. It is part of why he delights in her. I am sure he is weary of so much obsequiousness as he has endured since, well, always really. He finds her teasing, I am sure, charming."
"I could never behave in such a manner," she replied almost defensively.
"You could never behave in what manner, dear sister?" Darcy's strong and deep voice filled the room as he and Elizabeth appeared in the doorway. "Fitz," he continued, "you are still her guardian. I trust you are not leading her into mischief."
"Not at all," he chuckled as he rose to greet them. "She was just remarking on Lizzy."
"Oh no cousin, please." Georgiana blushed in mortification.
"Silly girl, whatever you were speaking of is certainly of no matter. Elizabeth will not be offended, I am certain." As Darcy spoke the Colonel looked at him with curiosity. There was something amiss as Darcy spoke, a strain in his tone, a strange bridled ebullience seemingly bucking against restraints.
"Now I am quite curious," Elizabeth interjected in her naturally lively manner. "Fortunately, I know Georgiana is too generous to be unkind, I am sure to my undeserved advantage."
"Georgiana wonders about how teasing you are with her brother is all," the Colonel replied lightheartedly. "She is rather shocked by your manner and is sure she could not be so bold herself."
Elizabeth laughed and walked to Georgiana's side. Georgiana, blushing deeply and unable to raise her eyes, whispered an apology. "Pray forgive me Lizzy, I did not intend to offend you."
Elizabeth took Georgiana's hands reassuringly into her own. "You, sweet girl, could never offend me. As regards teasing your brother, do not listen to your cousin's encouragements. He knows not of what he speaks. I believe you are wise to withhold on such teasing ways yourself for the moment."
"Why?" Georgiana asked with genuine interest as she turned her large, blue eyes upon Elizabeth's face.
"Georgiana, a man may permit liberties from his wife that he will not permit from a sister, particularly one more then ten years his junior. Brothers, I am told by friends who suffer them, are far from the perfectly tolerant creatures they all pretend to be."
Elizabeth turned to Darcy and arched her eyebrow impishly. Darcy responded with an exaggerated grimace while approaching his sister and placing his hand dramatically on her shoulder he said, in a mockingly superior tone: "A veritable ogre I am!"
"Yes, a veritable ogre!" Elizabeth smiled. "No, Georgiana, I believe that while you would not be amiss allowing your affection for your brother to overwhelm your respect for him from time to time, he is still not so very accustomed to teasing and might not know how to respond to a sister's affectionate impudence. Allow me to tutor him a while longer if you will and then you shall have your try when he is not such an ogre any longer."
"If I am a veritable ogre, my darling wife," Darcy responded with a laugh, as he took her chin into his hand, "you are a veritable minx!" He then joyfully and unceremoniously kissed his wife soundly on the lips, leaving her as nearly astonished as were the Colonel and Georgiana. Apparently unmindful to this uncommonly open and not wholly proper display of his affections, Darcy turned to the Colonel and spoke as though nothing remarkable had occurred.
"Fitz, what brings you to London?" Eyes alight with some unrelated enthusiasm and his tone sardonic, he continued, "I supposed you to be on your way south carrying important messages for your esteemed General."
"Ah Darcy, such a regrettable lack of respect you hold for the services I provide for the greater glory of the crown!"
"I cannot imagine why," Darcy replied dryly.
Waving his hand to dismiss the retort, the Colonel informed the room of his new orders. He was to remain in Town through April to be available to provide vaguely expressed services for Major General Wharton.
"Ah, well then," Darcy turned to Elizabeth, "we shall be seeing a great deal of Fitz, my dear. When he is in Town on business for the General he rarely has any actual business to conduct and he is therefore frequently bored and restless. Of course, while in Town purportedly on said concerns for the General it would hardly do for him to be seen about the Clubs ever day for the entirety of the day. As a result he spends a great deal of time at our billiards table, or, alternatively, at our dinner table."
"I am here now, at any rate, ready to challenge you at the rapiers if you are so inclined and most definitely prepared to share in your repast tomorrow evening, which, I understand from my mother, shall be a very elaborate affair. I trust, Lizzy, one more setting will be no trouble at all and will not unduly disrupt your seating arrangements."
"Not unduly," she remarked wryly. "Although I hasten to add that your mother should not have excited your anticipation. There shall be food, wine, conversation and music. No different, I am sure, then countless other dinners you have attended."
"I am inclined to suspect otherwise," he replied with a smile.
With some cajoling, the Colonel soon had Darcy on his way to the club for a session at the rapiers. As they made their way along the busy, chilly streets, the Colonel watched and listened to his cousin in some confusion. Darcy was displaying the same strange energy he had witnessed in the house, as though the man were barely able to contain some profound, roiling emotion. He spoke incessantly, erratically, distractedly the entire way to the club, speaking now on the wonderful briskness of the late morning air, now on what a delightful evening the morrow promised to be with his wife as hostess, for she was a most charming hostess, now on how Elizabeth had taken to Pemberley and Pemberley to her, now on his desire to purchase a new mare for Georgiana, now on the state of war and peace on the Continent. The Colonel had never seen him so unbound and finally determined the only word to describe Darcy's unusual demeanor was giddy. His strong, reserved and often taciturn cousin was verily bursting with giddiness and the Colonel could not determine whether he found it more amusing or disquieting to witness.
The Colonel and Darcy always enjoyed fencing together. They were well matched. While the Colonel had the better of training, Darcy was by nature more athletic and agile; both were equally desirous of winning and both approached the exercise with a matching solemnity. However, as this particular match progressed the Colonel's bewilderment with Darcy increased. Darcy always utilized his natural reserve to good measure when in competition of any sort-fencing, cards, billiards, whatever the game--never displaying satisfaction, surprise or alarm. Today was quite different. Every point gained was accompanied by an exclamation of satisfaction and every point lost with some such equal exclamation of displeasure.
"I do not know what to make of you today, Darcy," the Colonel intoned at last.
"How so, Fitz? I have not done so very poorly."
"Surprisingly, no you have not."
"Surprisingly? And why, pray, surprisingly? I have been known to best you, and quite frequently at that."
"You have no concentration at all today. Why, you are positively giddy. And I am quite certain that in the entirety of our lives I have never known you to be giddy."
Darcy chuckled. "Giddy it is then!"
"That's it? Giddy it is then! Come, Darcy. You must explain or I shall think you have gone mad."
"Not mad at all, Fitz. However, giddy, while completely lacking in dignity, may be quite inevitable. At least for today. I am sure by tomorrow I will have recuperated my dignity, fear not."
The Colonel lifted his rapier in invitation and placed himself in just distance. "I challenge you, Darcy! Should I win the next point you will tell me what has you in such a state."
"Accepted, Fitz! En guard, then"
The Colonel quickly and easily won the point.
"Unquestionably mad!" the Colonel laughed in response. "Not only am I fairly certain that I have never seen you giddy, but I am absolutely certain that I have never seen you give me a point, and this you have done now without even so much as a pretense of countering."
"I must then," Darcy bowed dramatically, "honor my debt."
With his free hand, Darcy grabbed his cousin by the shirt and pulled him close. "Fitz, you shall keep this information private for the moment, but I shall, with pleasure, honor my debt to you."
"Go on then, Darcy!"
Darcy released his hold on his cousin and as Darcy spoke, his voice quiet but fervent, the Colonel beheld a face utterly glowing with rapture. "This very morning, my dearest, most darling, most wonderfully delightful wife."
"Yes, yes. Sheer perfection she is, Darcy. Now get on with it already!"
With a broad smile Darcy finally revealed the source of his profound delight. "My most excellent wife has informed me that she suspects she is with child! Now is that not some cause for giddiness, dear cousin?"
"Suspects or is?"
"Confidently suspects."
"So soon, Darcy?"
"Soon! Why we have been married these four months now. More then time enough."
"Well then," the colonel returned with a smile, "allow me to say what excellent, speedy work, Darcy."
Darcy smiled mischievously. "No work involved, Fitz. Unlike other unfortunate fellows of our ilk, I married a woman I adore to distraction! There is no work involved in loving my wife."
"Oh Darcy! Now I know you are most certainly gone mad, that you, of all men, should make such a comment, such an allusion!"
"Giddy, mad. Call me what you will, but come September you will call me a father, for I shall have a son. An heir!"
"A son, will you? Such confidence. But is not your delightful wife one of five daughters?"
"Inconsequential detail, Fitz. Cannot you military men recognize precedent and such? I am the eldest child as was my father before me, as was his father before and as was his father before. It is quite inconceivable that my eldest should be anything but a son as well."
"Oh yes," the Colonel laughed merrily, "quite inconceivable!"
"Speaking of fathers, if you are of a mind to skip dinning with your own and are more inclined to return with me to Grosvenor Square you will be required to first accompany me to Bond Street."
"To Bond Street?"
"Yes. I am much inclined to purchase a gift for my wife. Perhaps one of those fine shawls from India for her morning walks at Pemberley. Shall you return with me then or will you indulge the old goat with your charming repartee instead?"
"Oh I shall return with you, Darcy, most definitely. I do not believe I have ever seen anything as amusing as the sight of you giddy, mad and delirious with joy. It is a remarkable sight indeed! Whereas back at the old goat's house I have only the tiresome droning on about arrangements for the wretched Engagement Ball from mother, father's persistent satisfaction with the match and my brother's utter indifference to all of it."
"Your poor, wretched brother. If I thought a marriage of convenience distasteful when the family was so exasperatingly pushing Anne upon me, imagine my view on it all now. Your father maintains that I am a new fangled romantic, that I have abandoned all reason. Whatever it is that I am, I clearly made the wiser choice. Now that I have Elizabeth and know what it is to be married to the woman one loves, to have her always at your side and to freely imbibe of her very presence, I cannot but pity the poor fellow to never know the better of it all."
"I would not waste your sympathy on Edward, Darcy. No man deserves what he will not defend."
"No, indeed!" Darcy replied, adding thoughtfully, "I would wish, Fitz, that you never need make such a choice."
"Do not be anxious on my behalf. I shall surely remain a bachelor and live off what the army gives me. On that, and of course, on the generous indulgence of you and your wife!"
"I can promise you this, Fitz. Should it ever be necessary, you shall never want for anything that I can rightly provide you. Now accompany me if you would to Bond Street and then home that you might partake of that indulgence of which you just spoke."
Soon enough the gentlemen were back at Grosvenor Square. Darcy eagerly and affectionately presented Elizabeth with her gift and she of course received her beautiful Indian shawl with tender appreciation. As he made his way back to the Earl's in the evening, the Colonel did not think he had ever enjoyed a meal at Darcy's table quite so thoroughly and he was replete with anticipation to see Elizabeth as hostess. He was sure it would be as far from an ordinary evening as he was slowly discovering that she was far from an ordinary lady and that his cousin's marriage was far from an ordinary union.