“I do not know, but your housekeeper says he will not speak to me or anyone.” Darcy paced in the vestibule. Mr Bennet could not have mistaken his expressed interest in Elizabeth during dinner. Could the man be so uninterested in the dealings of his family that he had failed to notice that a gentleman had ridden from London twice in two weeks to spend time in conversation with his second daughter?
“Mr Darcy?”
Was Mr Bennet so decided against him as a suitor for Elizabeth that he would not give him the opportunity to petition for her hand?As if anything in this world could prevent me from bringing Elizabeth home to Pemberley as my wife, now that I am assured of her love.
“Fitzwilliam?”
Was refusing to grant him an interview a source of amusement for Elizabeth’s father? Must they wait until Elizabeth turned one-and-twenty so her father’s refusal would no longer be a hindrance?
“Dearest! Stop pacing!”
Elizabeth grabbed his arm. He had forgotten she was with him in the hall. She let go of him but then wrapped her arms around his waist and stared at him with expressive eyes that, at this moment, communicated her alarm.
“You must suppress that desire, Fitzwilliam.”
“I do not understand.”
“You are attempting to solve our problems yourself. I admire your decisiveness, and I am sure it has served you well, but I insist we address the issue of my father together.”
He felt astonished. Not since he was a child had anyone insistedhe do anything. “I am not accustomed to being spoken to in such a way.”
“Did you admire me for my compliant nature?” His expression answered for him. “No, I did not think so. I cannot watch you attempt to resolve a problem that is connected to me without my being involved in its solution.”
“Elizabeth, I have hundreds of tenants and servants under my protection. Do you know the number of people’s happiness in my guardianship—the number of decisions I make in the course of the year that I must make authoritatively and unaided?”
“I do not doubt your ability to make those decisions, nor do I wish to intrude upon them. But thismatter with my father concerns me, and I insist on our addressing matters that concern metogether.”
He allowed a smile to grace his lips. “You are a singular woman, Miss Bennet. Does a husband not have the right to expect obedience from his wife?” Elizabeth’s countenance relaxed as he teased her.
“Husbands may have the right to expect obedience from their wives, but they should treat wives as their best earthly companions. Can you agree to that?”
He raised an eyebrow as he tightened his hold on her. “You would not prefer to be unbothered by my masculine concerns and left to netting purses and spending your pin money?”
“I am a rational creature, and before you are resolved to carry me off to Gretna Green, I suggest you allow me to speak to my father.”
“The hour grows late, and Georgiana and I must leave. Do you not wish for me to secure your father’s consent today? I will not be able to return until Bingley opens Netherfield in a fortnight.”
“Perhaps my father thinks you are partial to me while I still dislike you. I suspect he finds this entertaining. I had been pointed in my abhorrence of you for so long that he may think I would marry you without affection. But if that is true, then he does not know me at all.” Tears had welled up in her eyes, but Darcy could see she had no intention of allowing them to fall.
“You need not keep up appearances with me, Elizabeth. I may require obedience, but I do not require you to appear perpetually cheerful,” he teased. She gave an empty laugh, placed her head against his chest, and held him tighter. Darcy’s heart swelled at the thought of her taking comfort in his presence. The exciting novelty of being able to touch and hold Elizabeth had not diminished yet.
“Convince your father of our attachment, and I shall ask for his consent when Bingley and I return.” He wished he could resolve this now, but forcing the issue would only infuriate Mr Bennet and show Elizabeth he did not trust her judgment.
ChapterNine
It was not until two days later that Elizabeth found the opportunity to speak with her father. He had retired to his library after every dinner with instructions not to be disturbed and had not taken breakfast with his family. Mrs Bennet attempted to speak to her husband about Mr Darcy every moment she encountered him, but he always refused to heed her. When she returned from her solitary morning walk, Elizabeth heard her mother shrieking at the closed library door.
“You tear my nerves to pieces! Mr Bennet? Mr Bennet!”
“I have no desire to listen to your effusions on this subject” was the reply from behind the door. Mrs Bennet, seeing Hill bearing the tea things on a tray for the master, begged her for the smelling salts. Elizabeth offered to take in the tray and left her mother to the tolerable care of Hill. Her father’s eyes narrowed when he saw his daughter, and not the servant, bring his tea, but he said nothing. She laid the tray on a side table and sat uninvited.
“I am anxious to have my library to myself,” he said sharply. “It is the one place in this house I may be sure to have leisure and tranquillity.”
“Papa, I would speak to you on a matter of great importance.”
He did not raise his eyes from his book.
She did not wish to cause pain to anyone, but her father must be brought to reason. “Papa, I must speak to you regarding Mr Darcy.”
