Page 20 of First Impressions (Passion and Perseverance #1)
From the corner of her eye, she peered at Mr. Darcy, who looked almost as shocked by the awkward statement as she was. It took him a moment to recover himself and figure out how to respond to such a degrading comment.
“I appreciate your… err… concern ma’am, but I already have a guest in mind. Thank you.” The last said a bit more forcefully in his attempt to indicate that this discussion was over. Unfortunately, he didn’t know that a discussion wasn’t over until Irene said so.
“Well, I can’t say I’m glad to hear that. Are you sure that you’ve made the right choice?”
“Of course he has, mom,” Beth interjected with a sarcastic laugh. “I’m confident that Mr. Darcy always makes the right choice, otherwise he would have to admit fault, which I can’t imagine him capable of.” Even though it was said under the guise of a joke, Beth meant every word and Darcy knew it.
For the first time all evening, his eyes locked with hers as his anger flared; the same anger he’d just released in the hall and the one that wanted to spank her for provoking him the last time.
She knew she was pushing his buttons but she was angry and hurt and tormented by the things he had said to her; things that he couldn’t bring himself to admit to regretting.
“I didn’t become who I am without suppressing any faults of mine as much as possible. When you become this successful, you can’t afford any mistakes that someone might use against you to bring you down.” A hard stare accompanied the haughty defense of his personality.
“And do you think being too proud is a fault, Mr. Darcy?” She was instigating his temper again, but she was too angry and humiliated to care .
“When you are actually superior in the areas that you are proud of? No, absolutely not.”
“Well, then you’ve convinced me, Mr. Darcy; I believe you to be perfect, completely without fault,” she decried with a laugh to hide the tears welling up inside.
Before she risked total humiliation by crying in front of everyone, she excused herself to use the ladies room hoping that her abrupt exit wasn’t noted with too much interest by the rest of the table.
As she walked out of the dining room, she paused as it appeared Mr. Darcy was going to respond to her comment whether or not she was present.
Resting her emotionally traumatized body against the wall, she listened to his reply and focused on not crying.
“No, unfortunately, I do have faults. I’ll admit my temper has a short fuse which has caused me problems more times than I care to count.”
“That I can vouch for. I’ve had to pry him off of a few unfortunate souls in the past,” Charles said with a laugh. “Thankfully it has gotten better since our Harvard days.”
Beth re-entered the room as everyone was laughing at Charles’ comment.
Darcy’s smile faded as he looked directly at her and said, “I hold very high standards of everyone I meet and tend to judge harshly those who don’t exceed them.
I also don’t believe in second chances; I find I can’t forgive a grave mistake of character or action. ”
“Well, though your faults are limited, it’s a shame that they leave you predisposed to see everyone you meet as a disappointment,” Beth countered, calmly retaking her seat.
“At least I don’t misjudge them.”
By that point, the tension between them was palpable and Mrs. Bennet, stunned from the dispute she had provoked, was blessedly silent, unsure of how to redirect the conversation.
Thankfully, Mr. Bennet stepped in and suggested, “Gentlemen, why don’t we move into the study for some scotch? I’d like to discuss how we announce the merger to the rest of the firm and then our most important clients at the Charity Ball. ”
The men vacated the room, leaving the Bennet women at the table in silence.
Beth felt all the strength leave her body in one breath as she watched Darcy walk out.
Before her mother regained her thoughts enough to interrogate Beth about what had just happened, Beth stood and said that she and Jane were going to head home.
Knowing Beth needed to get out of there, and not wanting to leave her alone, Jane emphatically agreed that she was really tired and wanted to go.
“Are you still coming shopping with us tomorrow?” Lydia asked the oldest sisters as they said their goodbyes.
“Uhh… sure. Where should we meet you?” Beth asked, not wanting to deal with the questions had she refused.
“Well we were thinking of going to Saks for noon and then to Bergdorfs from there if we need more choices.”
“Ok, we will see you there,” Jane quickly responded as Beth rushed her out of the house.
Jane put her arm around Beth the whole ride home in comfort as she saw her sister’s silent tears flow abundantly down her cheeks.
Jane knew there was nothing she could say, nothing Beth would want her to say, to make her feel better so she let her cry.
She gently supported Beth until they made it inside their apartment, helped her change, removed most of her make-up, and finally tucked her into bed.
Jane heard her sister’s sobs through the wall for a half an hour before Beth had finally cried herself to sleep.