“Go, Wills. Do not concern yourself with me! Go and bring me home a sister!”
* * *
Finally, having appeased her mother by her penitent withdrawal from her room, Lizzy was met by her father with a letter in his hand, while coming down the stairs.
“There you are. I was coming to find you. Come into my room.” She followed him thither and her curiosity piqued. “I have received a letter from Mr. Hamilton. His man delivered it this morning with some haste, and as it principally concerns yourself, you ought to know its contents. It seems he would care to remain on friendly terms with our family despite the inadequacy of the match…but listen to this,‘I still look with shame on my proposal and ask her forgiveness. Although my words were truthful, they were not the words of a gentleman and were spoken in anger at what I had discovered. I will not insult you by repeating them in a letter but ask your daughter to erase them from her mind. No lady of her integrity should ever have those accusations cast in her direction.’”
Mr. Bennet paused and looked at her. “What did he say to you, Lizzy? What could he have accused you of?”
She shrugged her shoulders and watched an unseen object outside the window. “Nothing of consequence, Papa, I assure you.”
Her father looked down his nose over her spectacles and said, “Well he does say he would be grateful to remain on friendly terms.‘It is with true charity that I wish Elizabeth joy in her life, and no ill will for her future.’ And, he also added a post script. ‘I also pass on the best wishes of the former Miss Anne de Bourgh. I was able to see her and her husband in London before their wedding trip to Scotland and Ireland. I felt it best to not air our private lives to our acquaintances as of yet, and therefore said I would pass on her best.’”
Her father looked up quickly at Lizzy’s sharp intake of breath and said, “You look as if you did not enjoy it. You are not going to be missish, I hope.”
“No, no. All is well. I am happy Mr. Hamilton holds no ill will.”
“I wonder how long it will be until your mother decides that Kitty or Lydia would do for him? He does have three or four thousand a year, you know.”
“Yes, yes. Pray excuse me, Papa,” Lizzy said as she walked out to escape the prison which had spread to every room in the house.
* * *
It was almost dusk. The sun had been creeping down behind the woods but Lizzy was loath to return to the house, fearing what she would face in regards to her mother’s silliness or her father’s indifference.
She had been sitting on the grass under one of her favorite oak trees wrapped in a cloak and the woolen tartan which had somehow found its way into her bag from Pemberley. Wishing the duties of her life involved more than finding a man who made three thousand a year, she lamented her position but not her decision.I have made the choice, and I do not regret rejecting James, even if I am to live my whole life alone as the maiden aunt.Her thoughts had wandered from moving to London to find employment to moving to Italy to become a Catholic nun.
Alas, I am not Catholic, so that would be very difficult. She snickered at her jokes and reflected back on James’ letter for the hundredth time. Or rather, she reflected back on only one part of his letter.I am glad that marriage agrees with Anne. She is a kind woman and deserves happiness.“Not that I am not a kind woman. I too deserve happiness and am sure someday there will be someone for me…”
But her words were hollow. She knew she was lying to herself, and it was better to face her mother than to sit out under this tree and catch her death of cold, wallowing in self-pity. And yet, she could not make herself move. She understood that whatever the future held for her would not containhim—the man whom she still dreamt of.Will I be married, with children of my own and still have him walking through my dreams?She sighed heavily.Most likely so, as the Fates are sometimes cruel.
Shivering, Lizzy watched as the shadows grew longer and realized there was no prolonging her present fate, knowing she could no longer avoid the complaints of her mother. Gazing up at the moon, she thought maybe she should write her aunt Gardiner to beg for an invitation.
* * *
Although Darcy had ridden hard, it was dusk when he arrived at the Kingsmill Arms in Meryton. Knowing full well it would be too late to call that evening at Longbourn, but unable to resist seeing her home with the knowledge she was inside, maybe thinking of him, he continued on toward his destiny. He cantered evenly down the road, pausing outside the gates of Longbourn and realizing what a scene it would cause if he did knock on the front door. He imagined Mrs. Bennet’s shrieking and the one sister with the glasses,Mary, solemnizing about propriety and decorum.No one would question my manners,he chuckled softly,as I asked Mrs. Bennet for her daughter’s hand. She would most likely sit down in shock.
He turned as he heard a horse behind him slowly coming down the road. Looking at the rider, he was surprised to see Mr. Bennet.
“Ah, Mr. Darcy. The rumors are true then. I was just in Meryton at my brother Phillips’ house on business and his maid had told him you were seen at the Kingsmill. Welcome back to the neighborhood, sir.”
“I thank you, Mr. Bennet.”
“Might I ask what brings you to Longbourn this evening? We were to understand from a correspondence today that you were on your wedding tour in Scotland with the former Miss de Bourgh.”
“No, sir. There has been a misunderstanding. You must mean my cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. I am yet unmarried.”
“Truly?”
“Yes, truly.”
A smirk appeared at the corners of the older man’s mouth. “Well, then I am sure there are at least two people in my home who will be eager to see you. Come, let’s not stand on ceremony. Besides” —the older man chuckled— “it will put my wife in a fine fettle, and that is something I attempt to do at least twice a week.”
The two men road amiably up to the house speaking genially of the weather and their respective estates before they were met by the stable boy who took both horses.
“Now, Mr. Darcy. Prepare yourself for a most ebullient welcome. Mrs. Bennet will look on you quite as the Odysseus lost to us for twenty years.”
Both men entered the house and could hear the wails of Mrs. Bennet coming from the drawing room.
