Mr. Darcy's Bite (17 page)

“I am in complete agreement with the part of your statement that mentioned Mr. Darcy's goodness, decency, and his attention to those he cares about, but as for being an enemy of fun, Mr. Darcy and you probably have very different definitions of the word.”

“No doubt about that, Miss Bennet,” he said chuckling, and after a quick kiss of Elizabeth's hand and a prolonged kiss of Mrs. Gardiner's, Antony, Lord Fitzwilliam, departed.

After collapsing into a chair, and with a sigh of relief, Mrs. Gardiner commented on their extraordinary visitor. “I have never met anyone like him.”

“I don't think there
is
another like him,” Lizzy said, amazed at His Lordship's performance.

“Elizabeth, I do believe he was flirting with us.”

“Oh, he wasn't flirting with me, Aunt Gardiner. He was flirting with
you
. Apparently, he only seduces married women. I am sure he has justified their seduction because they are not maidens.”

“I can hardly believe that an earl was in my home, flirting with me, the mother of four children,” Mrs. Gardiner said, giggling. “It really is too bad that Mr. Gardiner was not here to see it. However, I shall make up for his absence by providing him with every last detail of our afternoon.” A dreamy smile appeared on her face, and while her aunt was thinking about their unique visitor, Lizzy was wondering how Mr. Darcy was faring in Kent.

***

“I forbid it!” an outraged Lady Catherine said. “You will never have my consent to marry that unfeeling, selfish girl. She will be the ruin of you in the opinion of all your friends, and she will make you the contempt of the world.”

Darcy and Georgiana had been at Rosings Park for three days before any mention was made of Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and when her earlier visit to Kent was discussed during the evening meal, Lady Catherine had nothing good to say about such a headstrong young lady who dared to answer her questions truthfully. But on the fourth day, all was revealed, and the storm rolled in.

“Aunt, that is
your
opinion, and one I do not share,” Darcy said in a calm voice. His aunt could go on as long as it pleased her. Since nothing she said would change his mind, he was determined not to become angry. She was his mother's sister, and as such, deserved his respect.

“Fitzwilliam, I am almost your nearest relation, and I can assure you that your mother would be opposed to this match.”

“I disagree,” Georgiana said in a soft voice as she came to her brother's defense. “I do not remember very much about my mother, and most of my knowledge of her comes to me by way of my father and brother, but this I do know. My mother and father were in love, and Mama would want for her son to be in love with his wife.”

“Nonsense! Your mother's marriage to your father was arranged between the Fitzwilliam and Darcy families, one noble and the other with ancient ties to the monarchy. It had nothing to do with love. In your conversations with Anne, I have made note of your ridiculous romantic notions of men and women falling in love, but the reality is that only peasants marry for love, as they have nothing else to offer.”

“You say that my parents' marriage was arranged, and I believe you, but the fact is that they did fall in love and that is what they would want for Will,” Georgiana quickly rebutted, her voice growing stronger.

Darcy admired his sister's attempt to change the mind of their aunt Catherine, but she was up against a woman who had no experience with disappointment, except in her own marriage.

“Aunt Catherine, the thought of being estranged from you is painful to me,” Darcy began, “however, if you will not receive Elizabeth at Rosings, then I shall not come here until you do. It is your choice.”

“Fitzwilliam, I see that you have been taken in by Miss Bennet's arts and allurements, and in a moment of infatuation, you have forgotten what you owe to your family. She has drawn you in.”

“‘Drawn me in.'” Darcy said, smiling. She most certainly had drawn him in. “If that is how you wish to phrase it, I shall not quarrel with you. But I know this. I love Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and it is the kind of love that is strong and good and will weather all storms. I am less than a perfect man, but she has accepted me, with all my faults.”

“Your faults? What nonsense. You have none. But Miss Bennet does. Not only is she presuming to quit the sphere into which she was born, she is dragging you into a family tainted by scandal. Do not think I do not know of her sister's patched-up marriage to the son of your father's steward. Of what are you thinking?”

Darcy was about to bring this conversation to a close when he saw Anne rise from her chair near the fire. “Stop! Mama, I insist that you stop!”

Anne had remained silent throughout the exchange. While watching the drama unfold, she had hoped that her dear cousins would be able to convince her mother to recognize the marriage without her becoming involved, but this had gone on long enough.

“Anne, please…” Darcy said, concerned for his cousin. After such an angry exchange of words, he would have to leave Rosings, but Anne would be left behind to deal with her enraged mother. He did not want that.

“No, William, I have something to say, and I mean to say it.” Then she turned her attention to her mother. “Mama, I love you, and I loved Papa. But you did not love each other, and I can assure you that it was painful for me to have my father living most of the year in London while you and I remained here in the country. I do not want that for William.

“As for Miss Bennet, she is a warm, charming, gracious, and giving woman, and she loves William—deeply—and is committed to him with all of her heart and soul. She asks nothing of him, except his love. Now, you say that such an emotion exists only in the lower classes, but you are wrong because I have seen it with my own eyes.”

For the whole of Anne's speech, Lady Catherine remained quiet. She loved her daughter more than anyone or anything, and she lived in fear of losing her at any moment to illness or disease. It was not her intention to upset her, but she was unalterably opposed to the mingling of classes and said as much.

“Mama, you do not go up to town as often as I do because if you did, you would see that trying to prevent the ‘mingling of classes' would be like attempting to hold back the tide. Impoverished aristocrats are marrying their sons to the daughters of merchants
every
day. When I was in town on my return from Derbyshire, I learned of Lord Corman's engagement to a Miss Abernathy, whose father made his fortune in herring! Now, if the son of a duke can marry the daughter of a purveyor of fish, you certainly cannot object to the marriage of a gentleman's son to the daughter of a gentleman.

“And I have one more thing to add. William is not asking for your permission to marry. He is here as a courtesy to you. With or without your blessing, Elizabeth and he will marry on December 24th. I, for one, shall wish them joy, and if you wish to see Georgie and William again, you should do the same. Do you really want to be estranged from yet another family member? Is it not enough that Antony and you do not talk or that his sisters rarely visit because they are afraid of you? Think of the consequences before you say another word.”

With that, Anne sat down, and the only sound was the clock ticking away the minutes. After an uncomfortably long silence, Darcy went over and took hold of his aunt's hand, but she would not look at him.

“I hope you will take Anne's advice because
nothing
will change my mind about marrying Elizabeth. However, I do not wish to impose upon your hospitality, so Georgiana and I will leave in the morning as there is much to do. Elizabeth and I will have a reception at Longbourn in the spring, and I hope you will attend.” Darcy then signaled to his sister that they should retire.

The next morning, with her mother still in her bedchamber, Anne was the only one to see her cousins on their way.

“Oh, William, I wish I could be there for your wedding, but as you know, I do not travel well in the winter. By the way, when is the next full moon?”

“On the twenty-eighth. But you need not worry as Elizabeth borrowed a book on astronomy from the circulating library in Meryton and wrote down all the dates for the full moon for the next two years.”

“Then you are obviously in good hands.”

“Anne, you seem quite chipper this morning. Considering that things did not go well last night, I find your good cheer puzzling.”

“Oh, I disagree. I think things went very well. You managed to have the last word with Mama. Can you ever remember that happening before? And because of that, I am hopeful that we shall see you in the spring.”

Darcy nodded his head in agreement as well as in admiration of his fragile cousin who had taken the field and won the battle, if not the war.

The day after Lord Fitzwilliam's visit, Lizzy and Mrs. Gardiner ventured out with Madame Delaine, Georgiana's modiste, who knew where all the best warehouses were located. Since Lizzy and Mrs. Gardiner's French was only marginally better than Madame's English, it proved to be an interesting experience for all parties, but by the end of the day, Lizzy had the material for her dress, and some of the “whatnots,” as Mr. Darcy put it, to go with her bridal attire, all of which was put on his account.

“I told Mr. Darcy that Papa put away one thousand pounds for my dowry,” Lizzy explained to Mrs. Gardiner, “but he said that because of Lydia's marriage to Wickham, he had no doubt that it would become necessary for her to ask our father for assistance, and the money for my dowry would be there to help her.”

“That is very generous of Mr. Darcy, but of course he is a man with real assets, unlike Lord Fitzwilliam, who apparently does not have the money to pay the coalman.”

An enjoyable morning was followed by an equally pleasant afternoon. When Lizzy arrived at the Gardiner residence, there was a letter waiting for her from Mr. Darcy. However, with the memory of his previous letter fresh in her mind, she put it in her pocket to be read in the privacy of her bedroom.

After supper, thirteen-year-old Margaret, the older of the two Gardiner daughters, treated her cousin to a number of delightful pieces, including a Scottish air, on the pianoforte. Following the completion of her performance, their governess escorted her four charges upstairs, and Lizzy and her aunt shared their shopping experiences with Mr. Gardiner, who was polite, but clearly uninterested in their excursion. To engage her husband's attention, Mrs. Gardiner told him of Lord Fitzwilliam's visit, and he laughed so hard that he nearly popped a button on his waistcoat. After wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes, he managed to sputter, “Do I have anything to worry about, Mrs. Gardiner? Should I work at home to keep the wolf at bay?”

That comment reminded Lizzy of Mr. Darcy's letter, and she excused herself. But before closing the door behind her, she could hear Uncle Gardiner saying to his wife, “All I can say, my dear, is that Lord Fitzwilliam has damn fine taste in women, and he has definitely put an idea in my head. Shall we retire early tonight?” Lizzy could hear her aunt giggling.

Once in bed, Lizzy stared at the letter. Surely, it must be better than the one he had written to her on his journey home from Scotland, and after another moment's hesitation, she broke the seal.

Dearest Elizabeth,

Be not alarmed, on receiving this letter, by the apprehension of its containing any repetition of those words which were so repugnant to you when last I wrote. I write without any intention of paining you.

And Lizzy hugged the letter to her chest and thought how clever he was to open his missive by mocking that first awful letter he had written to her when she was at Hunsford Lodge.

Being unsure if I would have the time to write to you once I was in Kent, I penned this letter while in town, and so it will contain no news, only my love.

I have never written a love letter (and you can attest to that fact). So what do I say after I confess that my love for you is so strong that no wind could bend it nor rock could break it? I imagine that most gentlemen would make reference to that wonderful moment when he first saw his lady love. But I cannot do that because I was abominably rude to you at the assembly, and the first time I saw you smile was when you were laughing at me for being such a boorish man. I must also omit references to Lucas Lodge, the ball at Netherfield (where you were the prettiest girl in the room), and, most definitely, Hunsford Lodge.

So I must move past our unfortunate beginning to the day I saw you at Pemberley. You were sitting on a bench without a bonnet. (Didn't your mother warn you about getting freckles from being out in the sun without a bonnet or parasol?) Your face was turned toward the sun, and because your eyes were closed, I was able to gaze upon your freckled countenance for several minutes. When you opened your eyes to find me staring at you, I thought that you might run away, but you did not, and in that moment you sealed your fate because I knew exactly what you were feeling, and it wasn't anger, animosity, or dislike; it was something quite different.

Lizzy treasured the memory of her visit to Pemberley. She had been sitting in the garden, and with the sun warm upon her face, she had been thinking about the Hunsford letter. In it, Mr. Darcy had admitted that he had interfered in Jane and Charles's relationship, but not for the reasons she had suspected. And if he had failed to properly judge the depth of her sister's affection for Mr. Bingley, she had been completely blind to Wickham's true character. If Mr. Darcy's behavior had been less than exemplary, there was certainly enough criticism to go around, as she had these preconceived notions about him, every one of which had proved to be wrong.

But on such a beautiful day, thinking unhappy thoughts was unpardonable, and so she had set them aside. While waiting for her aunt and uncle to come down the garden path, she had been thinking of what it would be like to be embraced and kissed by the handsome owner of this beautiful estate, when she sensed that someone was nearby. Upon opening her eyes, she found Mr. Darcy standing not more than twenty feet from her, holding his jacket and with his shirt opened, and she had been both embarrassed and…

“Oh my God! That's what he meant by, ‘I knew exactly what you were feeling, and it wasn't anger, animosity, or dislike; it was something quite different,'” She remembered the sensation that had spread throughout her body when she had seen his exposed chest and the heat she had felt that had nothing to do with the sun. And he knew it! She quickly scanned the letter to find her place. Were there other revelations to be found in its pages?

And because I knew what you were thinking, I felt comfortable in engaging you in conversation, and for the first time since I left Kent, I had hope. There was, of course, a major hurdle to be overcome, and after I saw your face when I revealed all, I again despaired. But on that first night of nightfall, when you came out onto the terrace, I saw a ray of light in a bleak landscape. And you know the rest.

Do I need to tell you how much I want you? How I suffer each night because I sleep alone? When I told you in the study that I wanted to taste and touch every inch of you, I was not speaking figuratively…

Lizzy felt her temperature rise, and she used the letter to fan herself and wondered what her wedding night would be like? On more than one occasion, Lizzy had overheard her mother's conversations with Aunt Philips and the other hens from Meryton speaking of their own wedding nights. Although they were laughing when they shared their “pointed” comments and their “probing” questions, they still spoke of the discomfort and embarrassment they had experienced that first time.

Would she be embarrassed? She did not think so. William had talked about how Nature provides for its creatures. If stripped of the overlay of shame and guilt placed on making love by society, it could be a pleasurable experience for both men and women. But would it hurt? That was a different matter altogether. When he had lain on top of her in the study at Pemberley, his manhood seemed to be a third of the length of a broomstick, but again, he had explained that Nature prepared a woman to receive a man
if the woman was receptive
. Lizzy decided to stop thinking about it. She would know soon enough and continued reading.

At night, as I lie awake, I think of the words from Shakespeare's forty-third sonnet:

All days are nights to see, till I see thee.

And night's bright days when dreams do show thee me.

My darling, you have become the reason for my existence. Without you, there is no Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Yours always, Will

Lizzy let out a sigh, quite pleased with the contents of the letter, and as she tucked it under her pillow, she thought how few nights there were left when he would sleep alone.