Once my mother passed away, Lady Catherine tried to claim that she and her sister had agreed to betroth us. My father roundly refuted that as a lie. After my father joined my mother in heaven, my aunt attempted to claim the engagement again. My father left a letter refuting her claims. My uncle, the Earl of Matlock, added his voice, agreeing with what my father said in his missive. You said that Wickham told you this. He was well aware that it is not true, as he was present when my Uncle Reggie sent Lady Catherine away with a flea in her ear.
You stated I was the last man in the world you would agree to marry. I repeat your words, not because they give me pleasure; however, if we replace ‘man’ with ‘woman’, you will discover my sentiments regarding offering for Miss Caroline Bingley.
I am sure when I was in your neighbourhood you did not miss the way I attempted to avoid her company whenever possible. I have told her brother that not even a compromise would induce me to marry her.
I thank you for mentioning Miss Bingley’s prevarications about her brother in ANY way courting my sister. I am sure that you can tell fromwhat I wrote of her near miss above that my sister is not ready to court anyone. She is not even out and will not be for several years to come. I will not force her into society until she is ready.
Miss Bingley will not be happy when I confront her with her lies. I do have one favour to ask your sister, which I know is an impertinence after I kept her presence in London from Bingley. If she is willing, I would ask that she send the missive to Darcy House, or I am quite willing to go collect it from her.
By the way Jane’s eyes had been opened to the truth about Miss Bingley, Elizabeth was sure that Jane would not object to providing Mr Darcy with the letter.
She once again felt the shame of her accusations when she implied that he was a dishonourable and vindictive man. Even in his actions regarding Jane, as much as she did not agree with them, he had acted honourably in what he believed, was in service of a friend. She could tell from his letter that he was a very honest man. The truth be told, as soon as she began to release her prejudices, she admitted that she had seen evidence of his honourable character even while in Hertfordshire.
It seemed that her absolute belief in the infallibility of her character sketches was, in fact, fallible. Elizabeth eventually began her walk back to the parsonage, deep in contemplation.
Chapter 5
Richard Fitzwilliam, when he was not deadly serious commanding soldiers, either training them or leading them into battle, was a very affable man some would describe as jovial. He and his cousin, William Darcy, had recently departed Rosings Park in Kent. At that moment, they were passing the parsonage of the ridiculous sycophantic parson who would break into nonsensical and inaccurate paeans about Aunt Catherine at the slightest encouragement. The man was standing in his garden, bowing so low that Fitzwilliam was convinced the portly man’s face was touching the grass as they went by his home.
He did not miss the longing look his cousin shot towards the parsonage or, Fitzwilliam thought, towards one of the occupants of that house. “I did wait for Miss Bennet to confirm anything she asked, but she did not return before I joined you at the mansion,” Fitzwilliam stated. “Come now, Cousin, out with it. I know when you are brooding about something, and you know I will get it out of you sooner or later. So why do we not save the time and trouble, and you just tell me?”
“She refused me, Richard! The daughter of an insignificant country squire rejected my proposal,” Darcy stated, almost absentmindedly. “She does not like me. No, it is more than that; she hates me.”
“William, you seem to be the only one who did not see that Miss Bennet did not enjoy your company. Even our obtuse aunt did, why do you think she did not ring a peal over MissBennet’s head for distracting you from yourdutyto Anne? She thought that your pride would never allow you to offer for one so low and who also disliked you. You know, I attempted to raise her estimation of you, but it did not seem to have the effect I desired.”
“Richard, of what do you speak?”
“Two days past, I was taking my tour of the park like I do each year. On my return, I met Miss Bennet in one of the groves. Somehow Bingley’s name came up, and I tried to demonstrate how you care for your friends by telling her how you congratulated yourself on separating Bingley from a very imprudent match.”
“The lady in question was Miss Elizabeth’s older sister and the one she is closest to in the world.”
“You must know had I been aware she was related to Miss Bennet; I would not have said a word. That explains her vociferous reaction when I told her. I am so very sorry, William. I should not have said anything.”
“Unlike Miss Bingley, I never thought Miss Bennet was a fortune hunter. I thought she had no feelings for Bingley, as I did not detect any.” Darcy paused and stared out of the window next to him, seeing nothing except a pair of emerald-green eyes in the face of a woman he still loved dearly. “You know how I always say that I abhor disguise?”
Fitzwilliam nodded that he did.
“I knew she was in London; that is the eldest Miss Bennet. Not only did I not tell Bingley, but I conspired with the shrew and invited him to reside with me at Darcy House so there would be no chance of him seeing Miss Bennet when she called.”
“William, that was badly done!” Fitzwilliam exclaimed. “As far as Miss Bennet goes, how longwas thisintensestudy of her?”
“Ahem, part of the night of the ball at Netherfield Park,” Darcy admitted.
“And you, who shows no one what you are truly feeling, made a judgement after a few hours? William, you amaze me. Are you so used toladieslike Miss Bingley who flout propriety and chase after you like she is hunting a prize stag, that Miss Elizabeth’s sister, behaving as a young woman should, is judged as having no feelings?”
“Yes, I did,” Darcy admitted as he leaned forward and held his head with his hands while his elbows rested on his knees. “I was wrong, was I not? If that was the only reason, I may have been able to overcome her objection.”
“Tell me all.”
“The first night I arrived, we attended an assembly in Meryton. Bingley tried to importune me to dance…” Darcy told his cousin all without hiding his bad behaviour in Hertfordshire. When he related the parts concerning Wickham, Richard growled, but did not interrupt his retelling. “I know; I should have written to you as soon as the bastard joined the militia. Again, I was wrong.” Darcy noted that Richard gave him a tight nod. “If all of that were not enough, I think my proposal left much to be desired…”
As he talked about his insulting proposal, Darcy did not miss that Richard was fighting to maintain his equanimity, as he was quite amused. “By the by, if I am completely honest with myself, it is possible my advice to Bingley was in part driven by my need to escape what I then considered, an inappropriate woman for me.” When he reached the part about Miss Elizabeth mentioning that she knew about his so-called engagement as well as Miss Bingley’s assertion he was about to propose to her, Darcy saw Richard shake his head. Next, he related what the termagant had claimed about herbrother and Gigi.
All humour vanished from his cousin’s face, and it was replaced with a cold fury.
“I will ask Mother to ruin the shrew! It is something she has been willing and wanting to do for a long time, but she has held back because of your friendship with the puppy.”
“I used to object to any action which would impact Bingley. This time, I will not. I will only ask Aunt Elaine to wait until I see if Miss Bennet will be willing to provide us the letter. At the very least, I owe it to Bingley to speak to him before his sister receives her comeuppance.”
