Page 56 of Heiress of Longbourn (Pride and Prejudice Variations)

Bingley jerked in surprise at these words, causing his brandy to splash on his breeches. He yanked out a handkerchief and quickly scrubbed at the droplets on the fine fabric. He allowed himself to take a full minute on this tiresome task as his brain struggled to make sense of his friend’s words.

He had tried to forget Miss Bennet, he truly had. He had attended many balls and assemblies and had asked many a pretty, well-dowered, young lady to dance. None held a candle to Miss Bennet. It was not her beauty which had so attracted him, though she was perhaps the most handsome woman of his acquaintance, but her gentle spirit and generous speech. She did not denigrate her companions or boast of her own accomplishments.

He missed her dreadfully.

“What about Miss Bennet?” he demanded harshly of his friend.

“I was wrong. She did love you,” Darcy declared baldly.

Bingley frowned and took another slow sip of brandy. “What makes you think that?”

“Miss Elizabeth Bennet told me.”

The younger man stared in astonishment. “Miss Elizabeth? When? And how could it be that she would share such ... such private information about her sister?”

Darcy moaned dismally and confessed, “She told me when I asked her to marry me.”

“Marry you?” Bingley nearly shrieked, leaping to his feet. “What?!”

Darcy groaned again and also rose to his feet. “I am telling this very poorly, I fear. Miss Elizabeth was staying with Mr. and Mrs. Collins, the former of whom is parson to my aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. I went to Rosings for my usual visit and saw Miss Elizabeth there; my previously kindled attraction to the lady burst into open flame, and I found myself entirely enamored to the point that I asked for her hand in marriage. She refused me, most vociferously, citing my separation of you and her sister as one of the reasons.”

Bingley gaped openly at the master of Pemberley for a full minute, Darcy looking increasingly uncomfortable at his friend’s baleful stare.

“You asked Miss Elizabeth Bennet to marry you,” Bingley finally said.

“Yes.”

“After you heartily discouraged me from asking for the hand of her older sister because of her lack of connections and fortune.”

“Y... es, though truly, Bingley, truly I thought Miss Bennet indifferent to you.”

“But you are quite sure she is not.”

“Yes, I am now. According to Miss Elizabeth, Miss Bennet was entirely broken-hearted when you did not return to Netherfield last winter.”

Bingley wandered to the window and stared out unseeingly at the vibrant flowers massed in tidy beds behind his house.

“What must I do?” he finally asked.

“I do not know,” Darcy returned honestly. “My initial advice was so poor that I see no reason why you should trust further suggestions from me. Do you still care for her?”

Bingley looked gravely into his now empty cup, noting the way the light danced and played on its inward curved surfaces. “I never stopped loving her, Darcy.”

Darcy felt his formerly rigid body relax in relief. “Good.”

Bingley turned around to consider his friend thoughtfully. “Why does it matter to you?”

“Erm, well, first, I ... well, I feel quite badly steering you wrong but in addition, thanks to the kind interference of my relatives, Miss Elizabeth has consented to ... to a courtship with me to see if we might begin our acquaintance anew, so to speak. I hoped that I could stay at Netherfield with you, Bingley, and that both of us could pursue our loves.”

“Which relatives interfered?” Bingley demanded, focusing on the first part of this remarkable speech. “I have great respect for the Bennets, of course, but given your contempt for their connections, I would expect all of your relatives to entirely disdain the family!”

“Colonel Fitzwilliam, for one,” Darcy said hesitantly.

“Well, I suppose as a colonel in the army, your cousin is used to rubbing elbows with men from every class. I know he was in Kent with you; I assume he met Miss Elizabeth?”

“Yes, and found her charming.”

“Naturally he would; Miss Elizabeth is all that is pleasing, though of course I prefer Miss Bennet. Whom else is in favor of the match?”

“My cousin, Anne.”

“What!? I thought Miss de Bourgh anticipated marrying you!”

“That ... turned out not to be true, Bingley. She decided long ago we would not suit.”

“Darcy, I must say I am happy for you. If Miss de Bourgh and the Colonel are in your corner, I hope you are able to better tolerate the outrage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh.”

Darcy opened his mouth, shut it, and opened it again to say meekly, “Lady Catherine is also in favor of the match between me and Miss Elizabeth.”

“What?!”

***

Elizabeth had surprised herself by taking a long nap. By the time she awoke and refreshed herself, it was time for dinner. Afterwards, her small cousins greatly desired to play with her, and she had gladly accommodated them by playing several rousing games of spillikins.

Thus, it was not until the children were in bed that she found herself in a cozy sitting room with her aunt and uncle Gardiner and Jane, all of whom had been darting curious glances at her throughout the evening.

“Well, Elizabeth,” her uncle began, “why have you returned from Kent a full week before expected?”

Elizabeth bit her lip as she struggled to gather her tumultuous thoughts. “I hardly know where to begin, Uncle.”

“I suggest at the beginning,” her aunt suggested with her gentle smile.

“Very well,” her niece responded, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin. “Three days ago, Mr. Darcy of Pemberley proposed marriage to me.”

There were gasps from her sister and aunt, and Mr. Gardiner leaned forward, his brow furrowed. “Did he indeed?”

“Yes, and I refused him, most stridently. In fact, I must confess I was thoroughly discourteous.”

“That was not well done, Elizabeth,” her aunt chided. “For all that you dislike the man, he did you a great honor in asking for your hand.”

The girl huffed indignantly. “You should have heard his offer, Aunt. He spent all of five seconds professing his love, and the next minutes informing me that his adoration was tempered by his shame in asking for the hand of such a one as I, with ties to trade and a vulgar family. Oh, he was quite infuriating. I was also angry with him over the matter of Mr. Wickham and ... and ... I discovered that he was instrumental in separating Mr. Bingley from you, Jane.”

Miss Bennet paled noticeably. “He told you that, Lizzy?”

“Yes, rather proudly, at least initially,” her sister returned, her cheeks flushing. “He was quite convinced that you did not care for his friend, and would marry him for financial reasons alone. Thus, he followed Mr. Bingley to town last December and convinced him that you did not love him; Mr. Bingley, discouraged, chose not to return to Netherfield.”

“I see,” Jane replied, bowing her head.

“So I presume you left Kent because to remain was too difficult after you spurned Mr. Darcy?” Mr. Gardiner inquired.

Elizabeth shook her head. “No, it is far more complicated than that. The next day, Mr. Darcy gave me a letter...”

“A letter! That was hardly proper!” her aunt exclaimed.

“Yes, but he said it was required to defend his honor regarding Mr. Wickham.”

“What about Mr. Wickham, Lizzy?” Jane asked anxiously.

Her sister grimaced. “I was entirely wrong about Mr. Wickham. He is an untrustworthy, perfidious individual. Mr. Wickham told us all that Mr. Darcy denied him a valuable living in Derbyshire, one that Mr. Darcy’s own father intended for his godson. But he deceived us; Mr. Wickham asked for, and received, three thousand pounds in exchange for giving up all rights to the living in Derbyshire! Furthermore, Mr. Darcy tells me, and Colonel Fitzwilliam concurs, that the man is intemperate, greedy, dishonest, and does not ... does not treat women well.”

There was silent shock from her two female relatives at these words, and Mr. Gardiner shook his head grimly.

“There are certainly men like that,” he related. “They use their good looks, fine figures, and charm to fool those around him.”

Elizabeth dashed a quick tear from her eye with one hand. “I most definitely feel a fool. I thought myself far wiser than you, Jane, in treasuring up Mr. Wickham’s vile words about his godfather’s son. It did not so much as occur to me that it was entirely inappropriate for Mr. Wickham to share such slanderous information about Mr. Darcy to a new acquaintance. I was blinded by Mr. Darcy’s initial insult at the Meryton assembly. I have come to realize that I truly never knew myself until now, that I pass judgment and embrace my superiority over those with fewer social graces.”

“Now, now, Elizabeth,” Mrs. Gardiner soothed, “you must not be too severe upon yourself. You are a bright young woman, but you are not yet one and twenty years of age. Mr. Darcy did insult you, which was poorly done of him.”

“Thank you, Aunt. I am most grateful for your encouragement, and certainly it is not in my nature to be despondent for long, but I hope that I will learn something important from my errors. But I must continue with my story unless we are to be up all night. I approached Colonel Fitzwilliam to ascertain his view of Wickham, and then we went to see Mr. Darcy, and ... and Lady Catherine and Anne de Bourgh were swept into the conversation. When the dust settled, so to speak, we agreed that Mr. Wickham needs to be stopped before he harms anybody else, and in pursuit of that, I have agreed to a courtship with Mr. Darcy.”

A stunned silence fell upon her assembled relations, to be broken by Jane a full thirty seconds later.

“What?” she whispered.

Elizabeth let out a slightly hysterical giggle and then said apologetically, “You do look quite stunned, which is no surprise. The truth of the matter is that Mr. Darcy wishes to return to Hertfordshire to assist in stopping Mr. Wickham, and furthermore, I realize that I was quite unfair to the man, so yes, I agreed to a courtship.”

Mr. Gardiner frowned in disapproval. “That also seems rather unfair, Lizzy, unless you think you might actually marry the man.”

“I might,” his niece asserted boldly. “I thought Mr. Wickham the finest of men based on his outward appearance and gentle speech. I was wrong. I am not certain if I can love Mr. Darcy enough to wed him, but Lady Catherine and Miss de Bourgh have told me of his diligent oversight of Pemberley, of his generosity with the poor, of his fine mind.”

Jane’s pretty brow was creased in confusion. “I understood from Mr. Collins that Miss de Bourgh was intended to marry Mr. Darcy.”

“I thought that as well,” Elizabeth concurred, “but Miss de Bourgh concluded some time ago that they would not suit and should not marry.”

“You say that Mr. Darcy wishes to stop Mr. Wickham?” Mr. Gardiner demanded. “How and why?”

“How has yet to be determined, but why is simple enough; the man is a cheat and a liar. He runs up debts and I fear he has ... seduced women in the past.”

Jane gasped, her eyes filled with horrified tears. “Can it be, Elizabeth? Truly? He has such a kindly demeanor!”

“Yes, Mr. Wickham has all the outward appearance of goodness with the soul of a serpent, Jane.”

Jane sighed sadly. “It seems quite incredible. I am also concerned – is it possible that Mr. Wickham wished to start over, to turn a new leaf? Would it not be unfair to oppose him in Hertfordshire when he has succeeded in carving out a new life?”

“If he was bent on reforming, he would not have slandered Mr. Darcy, Jane,” Mr. Gardiner declared sternly. “I fear a man like Mr. Wickham is far more likely to continue his godless ways if he is not stopped.”

Jane bit her lip and wrinkled her brow, obviously pondering her uncle’s words, while Elizabeth, with her mind drifting back to her conversations with Lady Catherine and Anne de Bourgh, could only nod in wordless agreement.