Page 44 of Elizabeth’s Choice

Darcy chuckled, “Remind me to never cross you. You are dangerous when you are angry.”

“She is here! And,” she checked the time on her pocket watch, “twenty minutes late. She is a true harridan.”

Elizabeth, in her full gentleman’s ensemble, walked towards Bingley and his sisters and laughed to herself to hear the gentleman scolding them.

“…me into your shame? Apologise to Lady Elizabeth right now and she might spare my life,” Bingley demanded. “You need to put a stop to this, now!”

Caroline scoffed, “I refuse. I will never apologise to her. It is a joke that she is a Lady when she dresses like a man and it is all her fault that Mr. Darcy despises me now. I should be betrothed to him. I should have Pemberley!”

Bingley turned to Louisa and asked, “And you, are you in agreement with Caroline?”

Mrs. Hurst lifted her nose in the air and answered, “Of course, I am! If not for this woman dressing like a man, such terrible rumours about Mr. Darcy would not have spread and we know Mr. Bennet lied about the whole arrangement with the late Mr. Darcy. Not one of the Bennets are trustworthy.”

Bingley pointed his fingers at both of his sisters and snarled, “If I survive this, you are both dead to me. If I die, Hurst will be in charge of you both and you will be miserable in York. I wash my hands of you.”

Elizabeth faced the three siblings and enquired, “Are you ready, Mr. Bingley? Our weapons are in the chest under the tree.”

Bingley nodded as he walked to the tree. He opened the box and pulled out one bow and two arrows.

Caroline squealed, “Bow and arrow? I thought you would be using a sword or a pistol! It is not fair! She is the best archeress in all of England!”

Darcy laughed loudly, “She has bested me in fencing and can use a sword better than Colonel Fitzwilliam after I taught her everything I know.”

“And my father taught me to shoot a rifle and pistol since I was six years old,” Elizabeth added. I was the son he never had and my education was as any son would have been taught. Mr. Bingley chose archery, since he has the highest likelihood of survival from it.” She went to the trunk and lifted her bow and one arrow, “Mr. Bingley will have two chances to shoot me, while I will have only one arrow. I will give you one final chance to apologise to me. Your future is very bleak either way, since you will lose your brother, whether he lives or not.”

Caroline defiantly retorted, “I refuse because I know I am right. Your father lied and you are unworthy to take my place at Pemberley! She is only a woman! She will not be able to shoot you, Charles!”

Bingley growled, “You are a fool, Caroline, and you have killed me.” He turned to Elizabeth, “Lady Elizabeth, I offer you my apology once again. Let us get this over with. Perhaps when I am dead, my sisters will come to their senses.”

Elizabeth gave her instructions and they stood back-to-back in the middle of the field, and the Bingley Sisters watched as Darcy counted in an agonising pace from one to thirty as the duellers stepped apart to distance themselves. As the count neared the final count, Miss Bingley, in a moment of clarity, realised that her brother appeared terrified, while Lady Elizabeth was full of confidence.

Darcy called out, “Twenty-nine, thir…,” when Caroline shouted, “I am sorry! I apologise!”

But it was too late and as soon as Elizabeth turned around, she took aim at Bingley and shot her arrow straight into his chest.

Caroline and Louisa could hardly believe their eyes to see their brother fall back and collapse onto the ground. There was nothing but silence for several moments and then Louisa immediately fainted, while Caroline began sobbing as she spoke to Elizabeth, “I did not think you would shoot him! I am so sorry! I was only jealous and made up all these stories about you because I was bitter. What have I done? I cannot lose my brother!” She began to rush to where her brother had fallen in utter despair when suddenly, Charles Bingley jumped up from the ground and stood on his feet.

“Could you not have apologised before twenty-nine? It hurt to get shot in the chest, Caroline!” Bingley complained as he took off his jacket and waistcoat to reveal a lump beneath his lawn shirt, with the arrow still sticking straight out from his chest. He pulled out the arrow and lifted up his shirt to show his sisters the bandages wrapped around his torso with raw meat over a silver tray.

“Most accurate aim, Lady Elizabeth,” Bingley grinned. “Thank you for sparing my life. Now, Caroline, I do hope your apology was heartfelt. You will let everyone know that you spread your lies and will publicly apologise to Lady Elizabeth. I will have several words about your future but you will be exiled to York for at least a year and I will be paying Hurst handsomely to keep you there until you have learned your lesson.”

Caroline shamefully nodded her head, “I am sorry, Lady Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. I am sorry, Charles. I never thought about actually losing you and was a fool to think that I would always have my way. Thank you for sparing my brother,” she turned to Elizabeth, “You had done nothing wrong against me but I was jealous from the beginning and I will make it right. Please forgive me.”

Elizabeth calmly replied, “I will not take your word for it but prove yourself to me and I might forgive you someday. You will likely become my sister’s sister so show me your repentance through action and you just might find your own happiness.”

Louisa Hurst jolted from the ground, where she had been lying after she swooned, and seeing Bingley standing up, screeched, “It is the ghost of my brother!” and promptly fainted again.

~*~

Wickham and Lydia’s wedding was a very dull affair, nothing at all like the young bride had expected, and it was over within five minutes, with the newly wedded couple boarding the carriage that would take them directly to Northumberland to begin the lieutenant’s assignment. Lydia could be seen crying as her husband shouted at her and Elizabeth shook her head in disappointment for the foolish girl who only thought of herself and became the first to marry but would have a miserable life due to her choices.

She held Darcy’s arm as they strolled from the church to his townhouse and sighed, “Stupid girl. She thought of nothing but herself and has no skills to run a household. What does she know how to do other than gossip and dance? She will be without a friendly face for three hundred miles and she chose for herself this future. I pray that Wickham will not be cruel to her.”

“We will be close enough that if we hear of any mistreatment that we can intervene, or at least put the fear of God into Wickham,” Darcy assuaged her. “They will have enough to live on as long as Wickham does not gamble it away and from what I could see in your sister, she will not allow him to get away with much. She has a bit of stubbornness that seems to run in the family.”

Elizabeth burst out laughing, “You know us so well! Yes, we are all wilful, even Jane who usually appears unnaturally serene still has her own stubbornness to be too accommodating.” She began giggling and covered her mouth to continue, “Papa said that mama threatened Lydia with visiting her and staying with her for a full six months next Spring. That should be enough punishment for both Lydia and Wickham!”

They laughed together and discussed travelling back to Hertfordshire the following day, when Darcy suddenly stopped walking and exclaimed, “That is my aunt’s carriage. What is she doing here?”