Elizabeth slipped inside and sank into her favorite chair.
“Papa,” she began at once, “I have been thinking. What if you send me to Uncle Gardiner’s this morning on the mail coach? He can help me find employment, perhaps as a governess or a companion. Then I need not marry Mr. Darcy or Mr. Collins.”
Bennet shook his head. “It will not do, Elizabeth. You have four unmarried sisters. If you do not marry Mr. Darcy or Mr. Collins, Sir William will begin to talk. You know how he is. He lives to gossip. If he speaks, not only will you be ruined, but all your sisters will be ruined along with you. Is that the life you want for Jane?”
Elizabeth sat still, thinking of Jane. She could not do such a thing to her. Nor to Mary or any of the others. Bennet saw that he had engaged her sense of duty and continued in the same vein.
“Lizzy, who would you rather marry? It is not too late to accept Mr. Collins. I advised him to try for Miss King last night and praised her as a simple, amiable girl with a ten-thousand-pound fortune, because I knew you had no wish to marry him. Shall I tell him you have changed your mind?”
Elizabeth stared at her father, though she scarcely saw him; she saw Mr. Collins’s feral eyes instead as they roved over her. She feared being subject to him as his wife. There was something ungoverned in him, though he wished her to believe him respectable.
Then she saw Mr. Darcy in her mind. He was proper and reserved. He thought ill of her, yet she believed he would at least treat her with outward respect, even if he did not like her. She shuddered as she considered the two men and their failings.
She drew back from her thoughts and fixed her gaze upon her father. “One man seems wicked and unbridled, and the other is proper and cold. Though Mr. Darcy has told me that I am beautiful, he holds me in contempt for being beneath him in society and has twice insulted me for my want of beauty. He confuses me, and I know not what to think.”
She hesitated, her voice softening. “But perhaps I would fare better with Mr. Darcy. I do not fear him as I fear Mr. Collins, who is not respectable, and in whom I sense a wildness that repels me.”
Mr. Bennet nodded. “Very well, Lizzy. Then I will meet with Mr. Darcy at ten o'clock as planned, and I shall not speak to Mr. Collins.” He took her hand. “As for Mr. Darcy’s insults, perhaps he does perceive your beauty, as any man in his right mind must, yet for reasons of his own, he resists admitting it, even to himself.”
She took his hand. “Thank you. Thank you for seeing me through this.”
“Go upstairs, Elizabeth. You and Jane must begin packing. Mr. Darcy means to take the two of you to Netherfield after we settle matters.”
Elizabeth rose, but then paused in front of the closed door. “Pray tell Mr. Darcy that I was shocked by his announcement of a betrothal. He took away my ability to choose my own husband. And tell him I wish Jane and Mary to live with me when we go to Pemberley, at least until I have come to know him better. I donot know Mr. Darcy well enough to submit to him in the married state.” She flushed, and her eyes dropped to the floor. “That is to say, I do not wish to consummate the marriage until I have come to know him. Do you think this is a reasonable request, sir?”
Mr. Bennet studied her face. She was frightened. He began to understand then how very hard it must be for a young woman to leave her parents, her home, and all she knew, and go away with a man with whom she was barely acquainted.
“I will negotiate for you, my dear. If he will not agree, then the marriage will be off, and we shall see what course to take in that eventuality. But do not fear. I saw last evening that Mr. Darcy means to have you, and for that reason, I believe he will agree to your terms.”
Elizabeth threw her arms about him, kissed his cheek, and pressed her face against his shoulder, then turned to leave. A knock sounded at the door. Mr. Bennet opened it, and Mr. Darcy stood tall in the doorway. His gaze traveled over Elizabeth, from her face to her feet and back again, and one corner of his mouth lifted in a slight smile.
Elizabeth curtsied and slipped past him, then hurried upstairs to tell her sisters to pack.
Elizabeth went first to Mary's room and tapped on the door before slipping inside. Mary was already dressed and seated at her little table, reading her morning prayers. Elizabeth spoke in a hurried whisper. “Come, sister. Come to Jane’s room. I have something of great urgency to tell you.”
Mary rose at once and followed her to Jane’s chamber. Elizabeth knocked. Jane called out, “Come in,” and the two sisters entered. Jane looked surprised to see both women looking grave.Elizabeth motioned for Mary to sit, and she herself began to pace.
“I have something dreadful to tell you. Last night at the ball, Mr. Collins compromised me. It was foolish, and entirely accidental on his part.”
She paused and looked at her sisters. “Jane, you recall when Miss Bingley insulted me? I danced with Mr. Grayson afterward, and it took all my strength not to give in to tears from the mortification I had suffered. When the set ended, he returned me to Papa, and after a few minutes, I stepped away. I went to the library in search of a quiet place to compose myself, but instead I began to weep. I did not know that Mr. Collins had been watching. He, too, heard the insult, and he followed me to the library, where he attempted to console me. By the worst possible fortune, Sir William Lucas walked in and found us together. Mr. Collins had his hands upon my arms. It must have appeared quite scandalous, for Sir William at once declared that I was compromised and insisted Mr. Collins must marry me.”
Elizabeth pressed her handkerchief to her eyes. “I felt utterly undone, though I had done nothing but foolishly place myself alone with a man. It was enough. I should have remained at Papa’s side, weeping, even if it meant all in the ballroom saw me. That humiliation would have been better than what has now befallen me.”
Jane rose and drew Elizabeth to sit beside her on the bed. Mary wrapped an arm around her waist on the other side. Elizabeth continued haltingly.
“Papa entered the room then, and I ran to him. Sir William was already insisting upon the marriage. I fainted. When I woke, Mr. Darcy was kneeling beside me. He helped me to the couchand then threatened Sir William with a lawsuit should he tell anyone what he believed he had witnessed. Then he announced a betrothal between himself and me.” Her voice trembled. “I was never so shocked in my life. I fainted again. When next I woke, Papa was with me. Mr. Darcy is below stairs at this very moment discussing the settlements, and I begged Papa to negotiate on my behalf.”
She looked from Jane to Mary. “I asked that he invite both of you to live with me at Pemberley while he and I become better acquainted. He is nearly a stranger. I cannot imagine submitting myself to him as a wife when I scarcely know him.” Her voice broke. “And you heard Miss Bingley’s words. According to Mr. Darcy, Mama has more wit than I have beauty.”
Elizabeth covered her face with her hands and began to sob. “How can I marry a man who thinks so meanly of me? Why would he claim an attachment when he does not even like me? How could he bring this misfortune upon me?”
Jane took her hand gently. “All will be well, Lizzy. It seems a dreadful confusion now, but Mr. Darcy appears a respectable gentleman. In time, you may come to like him, perhaps even love him.”
Mary held her more firmly. “Lizzy, I would rather see you married to Mr. Darcy than to Mr. Collins. I have observed the way Mr. Collins looks at you. There is something untamed in his gaze. He has made me shiver for you once or twice when he stared too boldly. His thoughts are not pure.”
Elizabeth lifted her head quickly. “Then you saw it too. I have caught him looking at me in that manner, and it makes me feel unclean. I could not bear to be under his power in marriage. It is why I chose Mr. Darcy.” She looked between them, earnest andfrightened. “Now I only pray Papa will persuade him to take you both with me, and that you will both agree to come.”
In his study, Thomas Bennet gestured to Lizzy’s chair, and Mr. Darcy sat down with an air of assurance. “Sir, you wished to discuss the marriage settlement. These are the points I propose to have my solicitor include in the contract, if they meet with your approval.” Mr. Darcy laid a paper on the desk, which Bennet took up and read. He looked at the young man seated across from him. “This is a very generous settlement, sir. Forty thousand pounds as her widow’s portion. You have also set aside estates for up to four boys, and you plan to set aside thirty thousand pounds for dowries for two daughters.” He studied the young man’s face. “Sir, you and my daughter were not betrothed. It likely never entered your mind to attach yourself to a woman so much lower than yourself. Please help me understand why you have embroiled yourself in this misadventure created by Sir William Lucas and my cousin. As far as I know, you had nothing to do with any of it.”
