Page 24 of Obligation and Redemption
Mr. Bennet set aside two glasses and poured up his best. Whether or not Mr. Darcy required any fortification to weather the conversation at hand, he did; the small glass of port he partook with his daughter, not nearly adequate for this occasion.
After handing the glass to Darcy, he determined to be patient as he awaited the man’s purpose in coming.
Darcy drank the brandy with appreciation and commented upon its merit.
Mr. Bennet merely bowed his head in acknowledgement, as he abided the continued deferment.
Mr. Bennet was adept at watching and waiting for the proper moment for intercession, but his imperturbability was waning.
This man before him had procrastinated in his duty long enough, and Mr. Bennet was ready to conclude the business at hand.
At length Darcy, having finished his drink, began, “Mr. Bennet, I have no doubt that you apprehend the reason for my call. Indeed, you must have anticipated this interview for some time now.” Mr. Bennet stared at the man, revealing no emotion.
Darcy took a deep breath and continued, “I have come to offer for your daughter’s hand in marriage. ”
Mr. Bennet was in no mood to let this occasion pass without causing a little grief. “Do you now? And which daughter would you like as your partner in life?”
Confused, Darcy responded, “Miss Elizabeth, of course.” He did not like to be toyed with.
“Yes, Lizzy. She is my favourite, you know, meritorious of any present distress that this unfortunate circumstance has caused you. I have no doubt that you will find her admirable qualities worthy of even a man of your heritage.”
“As your daughter, I have no doubt that you see her as such.”
“Her being the daughter of such an indolent man as I, or silly a woman as her mother, is not what makes her commendable. Had you been found by Lydia, she would have run straightaway to Longbourn to share the tale and forgotten what she was about halfway home, as she began to think about the bonnet she would refashion upon her arrival; or by Mary, who would have offered you her advice on carelessly running across the countryside on an uncontrollable mount, and how putting yourself at risk is an affront to God; or Kitty, who would have stood stock-still crying and wishing her sister, Lydia, were there to tell her what to do. Then there is Jane, who would have held your hand and provided soothing relief until your end was at hand. No, you were quite fortunate that Elizabeth was the one who came upon you. Her determination and courage have served her well these twenty years, and although her mother depicts her as not being as beautiful as the angelic Jane, I confess that I see in my second daughter the charisma and fascination of the divine.” Mr. Bennet was determined to let Mr. Darcy know the true value of the woman who would become his bride.
“Mr. Darcy, if you allow her to thrive under your care, you will discover a charming lady of both intelligence and grace. You could not in all of England find a woman with more estimable qualities than my Lizzy.”
Darcy listened on, showing no emotion in the face of this degree of doltish disillusionment.
He determined to display to the man charity because he could appreciate the difficulty inherent upon losing a daughter to a man he felt the need to placate.
For all Mr. Bennet knew, Darcy could be one of the many men of England who physically abused their wives and exploited the women for pleasure alone.
He was not such a man, and even more, he had steeled himself to give the respect due a wife of an esteemed gentleman, but that could not delude him adequately at this point to forget her origins or to see virtues where they did not dwell.
He had just seen her running across the estate in a dishevelled state with dirty hems and tattered slippers.
Perhaps in the town of Meryton, such unseemliness was given merit, but not by his standards.
“Sir, I can assure you that your daughter will not be treated with anything but courtesy due the daughter and wife of a gentleman.”
“Can you promise the same from your family? Will they also treat her with regard?”
“Mr. Bennet, I cannot claim to know how my family will react to this compulsory union. They know that I would never lower myself to marry into a family so decidedly beneath my own without contrivance. How they welcome or spurn Miss Elizabeth cannot be helped at this point. My hope of course is that they will come to accept the situation as it is and learn to look beyond her provenance.”
“And what about you? Can you look beyond her origins? Can you in honesty promise to love, comfort, honour and protect her, Mr. Darcy?”
“I promise to do my very best. But you must understand that by marrying your daughter, I am going against the wishes of my friends, family, and indeed against my own inclinations. Forgive me, but disguise of every sort is my abhorrence, nor am I ashamed of the feelings which I relate. They are natural and just. Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of her connections? To congratulate myself on the hope of relations, whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own?”
Mr. Bennet felt himself growing more angry every moment, yet he tried to the utmost to speak with composure when he said, “You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose yourself superior in any way, other than consequence, to my daughter. I watched you with much amusement when you arrived into Meryton, peacocking around the assemblies, above your company, exhibiting your hauteur. Elizabeth is not impressed by your vainglorious displays, rather she finds diversion in the absurdity of your pretension.”
By now thus affronted, Darcy stood up before the older man behind the desk.
“Mr. Bennet, I will thank you to hold your tongue. The pride that you deride is the only thing that has brought me thus today to save your family from the ruination brought about by your daughter’s stratagem and spreading of scandalous reports.
” Darcy began pacing to calm his indignation, the mild residual pain in his ankle forgotten.
Finally, when he at last succeeded in calming his emotions, he continued, “I suggest that we call the banns at church in two days’ time and then set the date the Tuesday following the final call, giving us just over a fortnight to complete the task.
The sooner we conclude this business, the better.
You understand that I am a most eligible bachelor, and there will be no peace anytime soon concerning the forthcoming announcement.
This amount of time should be adequate to prove to the populace that no issue was derived from the day I spent in isolation with your daughter, while hastening an end to the scandalous rumours.
I intend to leave for town Monday morning with the goal of telling my sister and family my plans before the papers can publish the story.
When I return to Netherfield in one week’s time, I will have the settlement papers prepared and ready for you to review.
I am certain you will approve of the provisions that your daughter will receive.
Indeed, I plan on being quite generous in spite of the situation. ”
Mr. Bennet had been sitting, staring at Mr. Darcy’s display.
He knew that he had lost his temper, something seldom seen at Longbourn.
He was attempting to keep his composure as well.
At the end of Darcy’s speech, he was ready to end the conversation, having no reason to disagree with the proposal that Darcy had obviously already predetermined.
Mr. Bennet was astute enough to realise that Mr. Darcy was trying to make good on a disturbing situation, but he could not condone any discredit to his daughter.
He stood and walked around his desk, holding out his hand to Mr. Darcy, a silent acknowledgement of the arrangements.
“Until Sunday, sir. I wish you the best of health.”
As Darcy closed the door to Mr. Bennet’s study, Mr. Collins intercepted him with a solemn bow.
Darcy’s astonishment at being so addressed was very evident to anyone who might have been present, excepting Mr. Collins himself.
“Mr. Darcy, you must allow me to apologise for not being available to receive you properly when you arrived at Longbourn. Your estimable aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, gifted to me the living at Hunsford, the paling of which is shared by your aunt’s own estate, Rosings Park, surely the grandest house in all of Kent.
” He went on to observe that he was very fortunate in his patroness whose attention to his wishes, and consideration for his comfort, appeared very remarkable; then he protested that he had never in his life witnessed such behaviour in a person of rank, such affability, as he himself experienced from Lady Catherine.
“And, I am happy to report to you that the fine Lady was in perfect health not three weeks ago.
“You may wonder at the coincidence at finding someone connected to your own family temporarily residing here at Longbourn.” Darcy was eyeing him with unrestrained wonder, and when at last Mr. Collins allowed him time to speak, replied with an air of distant civility as he attempted to make his way around him to the front entrance.
Mr. Collins, however, was not discouraged from speaking again, and Mr. Darcy’s contempt was abundantly increasing with the length of his second speech up until Mr. Collins finally got to the point.