I know the last set of chapters was very hard, I hated when I was writing this to separate them…. but it was the story that spoke to me.
XOXOXO Elizabeth Ann West
Chapter 16 - By Consequence of Marriage, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
Vexed with Charles, but understanding of his friend’s care, Darcy had mounted Alexander as the first rays of sun streaked the horizon. Three hours of steady riding allowed him to dwell in his thoughts. Alternating between joy over Georgiana’s rescue, yet admitting the pain of leaving the company of Elizabeth Bennet, the journey to London proved to exhaust his emotions. It was not until both he and the horse felt the taxing twenty-five miles of decent road that Darcy had reached the outskirts of London.
The morning bustled with merchants and errand boys scurrying about with their wares in the street. Darcy slowed Alexander to a mere trot. His bones ached from a lack of sleep and the early morning ride as he maintained his posting with each step. Within city limits, there was no telling who might see him arrive and he couldn’t appear to be distressed.
Before rushing into his town home, Darcy made sure to pat his trusty steed and thank the Lord for his safe passage. The master’s boots tread heavily on the entryway wood and Mrs. Potter hurried to the door, wiping her hands on her apron as she bustled his way.
“Mr. Darcy, sir, we are most relieved to see you well. Let me take your coat. Have you eaten this morning?”
“Where is my sister?”
Mrs. Potter’s lip quivered as another loud crash could be heard from the study and an inhuman yelp of pain. “Upstairs. In her room,” the housekeeper managed to explain before Darcy rushed past her.
Darcy climbed the stairs working hard to stem his anger as he had no doubt where the villain resided. The worn green carpet of the hallway cushioned his steps and he veritably barged into Georgiana’s room.
“Geo-George? George?” Georgiana rose from the pillow she had been sobbing into, hoping to find a man other than her brother before her. Involuntarily, Darcy bit his fist to find his sister, bedraggled and thin, a mere wisp of the girl he knew last summer. He opened his mouth to speak, but could not find his voice. Before he could gather his wits, another’s hand touched his shoulder.
“Come away, Fitzwilliam. I have interviewed her.” Lady Matlock’s voice was strong and gentle at the same and her nephew backed away from the ghost of a girl still screaming for her beloved George.
As the white door clicked shut in place, Darcy turned around and collapsed into his aunt’s arms. The woman comforted him for moment, before making a sniffing sound and Darcy pulled pack.
“Forgive me.”
“Whatever for? She is a shock to behold, that is for certain.” Lady Matlock’s observation came across in an icy tone that startled Darcy’s anger back into action.
“Now wait just a moment, she is an innocent! He took her –”
“Cease that nonsense or so help me, I’ll take her out of this house this instant. The only way this situation improves is when both you and Richard accept that the conniving trollop in there sought a man’s attentions and favors all summer long without writing one word to either of her guardians. She was not taken, she absconded. She brooked no sympathy from me, and she shall not enjoy such protection from you.”
“She . . . all summer?” His aunt nodded in the affirmative. “And now she asks for him?”
“I’m relieved you see the situation as it is for I fear my son is still laboring under false impressions. Come, let’s prevent a murder from occurring in your study.”
When Darcy and his aunt entered the study, Richard was in the process of striking Wickham while the latter remained tied to a chair. Without looking at either of them, Richard growled this was no place for women.
“Certainly not if you are going to behave like that, so I suggest you modify your behavior, son.” Lady Matlock walked forward to search George Wickham up and down. “He finished school, Darcy?”
“Yes. Just.”
“Well, that’s a start.” Lady Matlock stepped back with disgust and took Darcy’s normal seat behind the desk. Immediately, she began scribbling. The two Fitzwilliam men shared the same visage of abject horror.
“Now mother, this does not concern you. Darcy and I are Georgiana’s guardians and we will see to this piece of rubbish.”
“And will you toss out the baby as well?” She continued to write, pausing every moment here and there to reflect before continuing her work.
“I am to gain a child, a Darcy heir to boot?” a bloodied George Wickham spat out, leering about the room. Richard kicked his chair, causing the injured Wickham to groan against his restraints.
“Quiet!”
“How injured is he, son?”
Richard shifted irritably like a young schoolboy in trouble for knocking down the sparrow’s nest in his mother’s garden with a rock all over again. ” A few missing teeth, a number of bruises, and perhaps a dislocated shoulder.”
“Fetch the doctor.”
“But mother.”
Lady Matlock pierced her son with the gaze he’d copied to scare the living daylights out of his newest recruits. “Are you asking me to repeat myself, Richard James?”
“No, madam. I shall fetch Dr. Matthews.”
Lady Matlock smiled and handed a note for Richard to take. Richard shook his head at the skillful planning of his mother, but took his orders in stride. Before leaving, he made another move toward Wickham, but Darcy stepped before him. Richard frowned, wishing his cousin luck in dealing with his mother, and bowed to the grand lady.
“Fitzwilliam, sit.” Lady Matlock motioned to the remaining chair in front of his desk that was not being used to restrain a man. “We will marry them in a few days, but that won’t matter. On paper, they will have been married since this summer.”
“But, my sister, she’s only fifteen!”
“Yes, and others marry as young as thirteen or fourteen. Either way, our choices and what we wish are not compatible.”
“But must they marry?” Darcy was close to frantic in his pain. In the span of just moments his dearest sister had changed from child to wife and he still could not grasp the new reality. “Indeed, even with a babe, we could find a family . . .”
“Darcy, your sister chose this man. If you deny her this marriage, she will simply run again. You make her your enemy there is no salvaging the Darcy name. You make her an embarrassing marriage it’s talked about, but it dies down.” Lady Matlock clapped her hands with a wiping motion to show the matter would be finished.
Darcy shook his head. A keen pounding in his ears thundered and the room shrank as if closing in. “But if we deport him, she cannot follow.”
“And when she falls in love with her tutor? The gardener? The girl flouted your authority most grievously. Worse, she was a mere five blocks from this very house. Not once did she seek help. Not once did she send you a note. I sought to spare you the worst of it.”
“There’s worse news than my unmarried sister, still but a child, carrying that demon’s spawn?”
“I resent that!” Wickham yelled.
“Be quiet or I delay the doctor. Do not think for a moment I am pleased with you.” Lady Matlock addressed Wickham with her years of experience raising four boys. “Richard had to recover your mother’s cross from the family jeweler.” Lady Matlock handed over the golden engraved cross to Darcy’s hands, finding a reason to return to her letters while her nephew again struggled to remain in control of his emotions.
After a few moments, Darcy returned to his proper posture and made a final decision. “She is truly lost.”
“It does not have to be so, Darcy. He can at least pass for a gentleman, when he’s cleaned up and behaving.” She emphasized the last word. “Kept on a short leash, I do believe we can salvage this as an ill-conceived love match. Your chore is to hie to Longwell and Sons and speak to Longwell Senior, no other. He will provide you with the necessary documents and safeguards we must take to protect the family’s interests.”
“But I cannot leave you with this villain. Even tied up, I do not trust him.”
Lady Matlock shooed her nephew out the door. “There is not time to lose, Fitzwilliam. Go attend to the legal matters I cannot. Leave this one to me.”
“But aunt—“
“I brought Seamus with me, he will load that baggage into my carriage and ride with me to Matlock House. There, I am sure my sons will be more than happy to protect me further.”
“Why should he go to Matlock House? This is my burden to carry.”
“You want me to leave him here in the house with Georgiana while you spend all day at the solicitor?”
Darcy sighed and pinched his brow just over his nose. “Georgiana. I cannot leave her.”
“She is in good hands. This last hour’s interview she was tended by Mrs. Potter, who is the closest thing to a second mother as Mrs. Reynolds. Let her calm, be fed a proper meal and then you need to sit down and come to an understanding. Brother and sister, not as guardian and charge.”
Taking one last glance at his aunt and reserving a disgusted countenance for Wickham, Darcy took his aunt’s letter for the solicitor. He found an enormous amount of sympathy for Charles Bingley regarding the lack of control one could wield over a willful sister.
Now alone, Lady Matlock took full stock of Wickham’s predicament and walked over to untie his ropes.
“You’re quite brave to untie me, madame. What if I hurt you to make my escape?” Wickham leered at the grand woman just as a six-foot, eighteen stone Irish footman entered the study as he was instructed to do once Richard and Fitzwilliam had gone.
“I believe I’m perfectly safe. But please, by all means, do try and lay waste to my well-laid plans.” The lady nodded to Seamus who gruffly lifted Wickham from the chair to escort him out. As he was being dragged away, Wickham made one last lame attempt at charm.
“Wait! Before we go, may I just say how thankful I am that you interceded on my behalf? I’m not so certain that the Colonel and Darcy wouldn’t have just killed me.”
Lady Matlock laughed with genuine humor, causing the great bulk of a footman to smile at his mistress’ pleasure. “You shouldn’t be thanking me, George Wickham. I merely commuted your death sentence to a life in prison.”
Chapter 17 - By Consequence of Marriage, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
Dinner in the Bennet household was a tense affair. Not only was the mysterious cousin, Mr. Collins, in attendance, but Mr. Bingley had indeed accepted his invitation. Elizabeth found herself seated next to the sweaty, irritating man that Lydia and Kitty had earlier described. The serene Jane appeared content next to Mr. Bingley and their father. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was stuck between Mr. Collins and her mother at the other end of the table.
“Mr. Bingley, you must invite the militia to your ball! They would be a lovely addition!” harped Lydia.
Mr. Bingley leaned over his plate and turned his head to speak to the youngest Bennet daughter down the table. “I shall do just that. I believe your sister Elizabeth should be healed enough for a dance in a few weeks?”
“For a ball, I should find myself healed tomorrow!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
“Cousin Elizabeth, you must not place yourself in such danger. A lady of your delicate constitution must take the necessary precautions to preserve your health. Why the daughter of my esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, rests no less than four times per day. Ladies take much longer to heal than sturdy men from similar injuries,” interjected Mr. Collins.
Elizabeth dropped her fork with a clatter, her mouth open in shock. Her father, Mr. Bennet, intervened before Elizabeth could retort. “I believe it will be at least another month, Lizzie, before any dancing will be in your future. I’m sure we can find some activity to occupy your time.” Her father raised an eyebrow before continuing to eat his meal.
“Oooooh, a Christmas ball, how splendid! Mr. Bennet, the girls must secure new dresses, and a trip to London, to shop for Jane’s trousseau!” Mrs. Bennet began making plans aloud.
“Careful my dear, Mr. Bingley and I are yet to come to terms. I should like to see a settlement document before any commencement of shopping. Our Jane only accepted his suit this afternoon.”
Elizabeth gazed down at her plate and smiled. By her observations, Jane had accepted Mr. Bingley long ago, possibly not longer than a week after her accident. There was no arguing that matters had not been settled until that very day.
“I suppose to wait a spell shall not hurt, after all, we do have four weeks until the ball. Perhaps by then even you may select a few things for your wedding, Elizabeth.” Mrs. Bennet opined, as Elizabeth choked on the mouthful of mutton she attempted to swallow.
“MY wedding?!?!” she managed. “Excuse me, Mama, I believe you are confused. Mr. Darcy has not offered for my hand.”
“Mr. Darcy? What is he to do with this aside from injuring you with his horse? No, silly, your wedding is to be with Mr. Collins!” Mrs. Bennet took a moment to smile at their cousin.
“Fanny, I had not spoken to Elizabeth yet about our discussion.” Mr. Bennet warned.
Elizabeth stared at Mr. Collins who appeared to be sweating even more profusely than before. This short man she had barely spoken two words to was to be her husband? Elizabeth’s mind began to race as the room felt much smaller and numerous voices converged over the news. The cacophony reached a fevered pitch before Elizabeth found her voice once more.
“May I please be excused from the table?”
“I may have spoken too hastily, while I do intend to hold a ball, it is imperative I speak with my sister Caroline before any concrete plans are made. I hope you understand,” Mr. Bingley’s face reddened, as he looked to Jane for support. She nodded, but Mrs. Bennet interrupted the peace.
“You most certainly may not, Elizabeth! This is a family matter and as such may be discussed in front of your family. Although, Mr. Bingley is not family at present, I am sure he is happy to lend his support to your father and I. After all, he has his own sister to marry off, and an advantageous match does not simply fall into one’s lap, Elizabeth Bennet. Tell her, Mr. Bennet.” For a woman of little sense, when it came to the marriages of her daughters, Mrs. Bennet was a brilliant tactician.
Elizabeth glared at her father at the other end of the table, waiting for his reprieve. He had never insinuated to any of his daughters that he was interested in auctioning them off to the highest bidder. Holding her tongue, Elizabeth silently mouthed a plea for her father to stop this madness. Mr. Bennet cleared his throat.
“While it is certain Mr. Collins is a steady sort of fellow, and we know him capable of supporting any of our girls he should so choose as a wife, let us save this issue of who may be his lucky bride for another day, my dear. All this talk of matrimony spoiled my appetite, and I do so enjoy Cook’s partridge pie. Mr. Bingley, I understand your friend is lately gone from our neighborhood. Would you care to shoot tomorrow with Mr. Collins and I?”
“All of God’s creatures are indeed noble, but noblest is the creature to sacrifice for one’s table; for the sustenance of the Lord be far greater than simply word and hymns.” Mr. Collins offered more of his deep wisdom, eliciting more giggles from the younger girls at the table and making Elizabeth shrink in her chair.
As she stabbed at an errant garden pea with her fork, Elizabeth reflected that her father did not quite say she was NOT to marry Mr. Collins, and the only solace she found was that he had not said she MUST marry Mr. Collins. The rest of dinner she did her best to minimize her role in further discussion on any subject matter. With any luck, she could feign exhaustion, and avoid the parlor for after dinner activities. Putting her plan in action, she began to yawn loudly, even going so far as to comment to the bombastic Mr. Collins how taxed she was from dinner.
As Hill began to clear the plates from the last course, and her father invited the men for a brief visit to his study, with no further prodding Mr. Collins performed splendidly in Elizabeth’s mind. That is, until he laid out the particulars of his desires.
“Mrs. Bennet, I wonder if I might be of service in carrying Cousin Elizabeth to retire to her room? It seems her injuries still weigh upon her energies, and my patroness, Lady Catherine, would scold me most thoroughly if I were lax in performing a gentleman’s obligation for a maiden in need.”
As Mrs. Bennet happily agreed to the scheme, Elizabeth’s stomach dropped somewhere below her knees. She tried to protest, but there were no alternative options. The twinkle in her father’s eye communicated that he was in no mood to alleviate his daughter’s embarrassment at the expense of his own amusement in the ordeal. With a huff and a frown, Elizabeth fixed her arms to provide an easier position for Mr. Collins to lift her.
He managed to maneuver around the table with Elizabeth, but a quarter of the way up the stairs, his stamina began to fail him. The experience was nothing like the evening Mr. Darcy carried her down and up again at Netherfield. There were no broad chest muscles, so taut and masculine, for her to feel just under his shirt. The plump parson’s scent was not like spice and the outdoors. He reeked of awkward ambition.
Near the top of the stairs, the man actually did falter, and Elizabeth soon found herself dumped upon the floor. Thankfully, they had reached high enough that she was on the floor of the second story, and not falling down the rest of the stairs. Mr. Collins however, did indeed slide a step or two in increased embarrassment and damage to his dignity.
“Cousin Elizabeth! My deepest apologies, I fear my foot must have slipped. Perhaps the stairs had some moisture upon them. Are you all right?”
Elizabeth’s laughter tinkled like delicate crystal. She was still the daughter who shared her father’s sense of humor. And the sheer ridiculousness of her situation cascaded over her senses so much so that she must laugh if only not to cry. “Quite comfortable, Mr. Collins. If you would like to retire downstairs, I believe I may manage the rest on my own.”
“Of course not! Here, I shall lift you again, and carry you straightaway to your quarters.”
With a look of intense gravity, Elizabeth abruptly ceased her laughter. “Sir, you have done quite enough. Now spare me further embarrassment and potential injury, your attentions are not needed. I only ask for the privacy I am owed as I crawl my way to my bed.” For a moment, Elizabeth seriously considered kicking the man the rest of the way down the stairs with her good leg, but the fantasy was for naught, because what little sense Mr. Collins possessed did indeed carry him down to the parlor.
Only after he was gone, and no one else passed in the hall at the base of the stairs, Elizabeth was comfortable to roll over from her sore behind, and indeed crawl down the hall to the last room on the left. When she reached her bed, she pulled the treasured book of Mr. Darcy’s possession from underneath her pillow and cast it to the bottom of her trunk. With tears she could not keep from falling, for the first time in a long while, alienation from her family ripped her heart. No one argued for her happiness. No one came when her bottom fell with a thump out of the arms of Mr. Collins. She had become as inconsequential as her sister Mary, and the pain of losing her father’s affections tormented her as she struggled to find sleep.
NEW RELEASE
For the Love of a Bennet
What if Elizabeth Bennet traveled with Lydia to Brighton?
A reimagining of Jane Austen’s most beloved tale, Pride & Prejudice, join author Elizabeth Ann West as she writes the romantic adventure story she always wanted! When Lizzy and Lydia arrive in Brighton, it’s very clear that the younger Bennet sister came with very serious plans towards Mr. Wickham. Thankfully, an old ally is also in town, with problems of his own to solve. After Mr. Darcy, himself, is summoned to Brighton to hopefully solve two dilemmas with one wealthy member of the gentry, the whole militia is thrown into an uproar by Wickham’s most dastardly deed, yet. Together, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy have to save Lydia from her own undoing, or it will mean more than just mere reputations are ruined.
For the Love of a Bennet is a novel length story, currently being posted chapter by chapter on Elizabeth’s author site. This story was originally conceptualized in 2019 as a part of the All Go to Brighton challenge.
Chapter 18 - By Consequence of Marriage, a Pride and Prejudice Variation
The candles burned low in Mr. Darcy’s study as he sat in the tufted leather chair his father had sat in before him, years ago, when he was master of the Darcy family. Richard had never returned from Matlock House; there had been no word on the status of George Wickham. All Darcy had to show for his efforts was a patched up marriage settlement for the cad to sign while the lawyers worked on a fraudulent marriage license.
He gulped his third glass of whiskey, his private reserve from his estate in Scotland, mulling over how neat a plan it would be to send his ungrateful wench of a sister and her lover to the Northern lands and be done. Let her marry in front of the blacksmith, or better yet, suffer Wickham’s abandonment when the money jingled in his purse. Three times he had trekked upstairs to talk with her, and each time she had rebuffed his attempts. There was simply no reasoning with her!
The study door opened, and for a moment he was hopeful it would be Richard, but instead it was his man Simmons.
“Pardon me, sir, but I knocked a double set and you did not answer. I thought perhaps you had fallen asleep.”
“No, no, I was lost in my own thoughts. Come in, what is it man?”
“I only wished to say your evening attire is laid out and wondered if you require my assistance for the evening?”
Darcy eyed his valet suspiciously. Simmons would never be so bold as to ask his master to retire for the evening, his staff was loyal and respectful. He had no doubt Mrs. Potter was pulling these puppet strings, attempting to care for his well-being when he had no intention of remaining sober. “Go on to bed, I might be going out later.”
“Out sir?” The valet and Darcy glanced to the mantle clock’s late hour, knowing there was no chance of the steady, dependable Mr. Darcy leaving at such a late hour to begin an evening of entertainment.
“Yes, out! I don’t answer to you, Simmons, OR ANYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER!” he roared. The valet blinked a few times as Mr. Darcy stood there, spent in anger, and immediately apologetic for his outburst. With a small nod, the valet closed the door.
Darcy sank back into his chair, covering his face with his hands. He pulled and tugged at the skin, willing himself rid of the desperation and loss. How? How had his sister been led so easily astray?
The correspondence piled on his desk from his months of searching for her and then pretending not to search for her mocked him from their perfectly organized stacks. The buzzing in his ears grew to such a noise, the master of Carver House, Darcy House, and Pemberley could not hear his own thoughts. How many of these invitations and falsely offered extensions of friendship would coil back and sneer once they heard of his misfortune? How many would laugh and jibe in their lounges and parlors at his ruined sister? The rage again rebounding inside his chest, with a great bellow of frustration, he knocked everything – letters, quills, ink, and stamps – to the floor, clearing the shiny, cherry desk of every responsibility, request, and report. It was clean. It was calm. He was free.
Leaning back for a moment, he heard the clock strike the hour with a single chime. Dog tired and drunk, Fitzwilliam Darcy pushed himself out of the great chair for great men with a heave and shaky balance. Plodding his feet one after the other, he stared at the door as his ultimate goal, but found himself mildly distracted by the splattering of blood stains on the oriental. With a laugh, he lost his footing and landed haphazardly on the sofa that lined one wall across from the fireplace. Deciding it was as good a place as any, in moments he was fast asleep with a snore loud enough to wake the dead.
You’ve been reading By Consequence of Marriage
By Consequence of Marriage, Book 1 of the Moralities of Marriage
a Pride and Prejudice novel variation series
Release Date: December 23, 2014
65,000 words, ~334 pages in print.
When his horse throws a shoe, Fitzwilliam Darcy misses rescuing his sister, Georgiana Darcy, from the clutches of George Wickham by only one day. Now on the hunt to find them both, the gossip beginning to swirl in London forces him to abdicate the search to his cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, while he plays the wayward gentleman in Hertfordshire with his friend Charles Bingley. After a collision with his future, Darcy struggles to satisfy his attraction to a pair of fine eyes and keep his family’s scandal hidden.
Elizabeth Bennet dreams of nothing more than remaining close to her sister, Jane. When a rich gentleman, Charles Bingley, enters the neighborhood, it seems certain that Jane will make a match with him. After all, Jane Bennet is the sweetest and most beautiful woman in the county! But Elizabeth’s efforts to find her own local match go awry and she feels abandoned by the first man to cause stirrings in her heart. Her parents attempt to marry Elizabeth off to her cousin, William Collins, who is set to inherit the estate. But when she refuses, she soon finds herself In London with relatives, forced to find her own happiness.
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A Jane-of-all-trades, mistress to none! Elizabeth Ann West is the author of 8 novels and 11 novellas, 18 of which are story variations of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice.
Enjoying each character as they reveal so much of themselves among their interactions; now understand when phrase “she is lost” is used;
I just started reading ur story and love it a lot ..thanks for this
YAY! I’m so grateful to hear that!
Its kind of weird georginas character in this story but hoping shes gonna pass through it how mistaken she was …
This series changes Georgiana more into a Lydia type character. 🙂
Wheres the chapter 20?
I forgot the portfolio thing broke but I fixed it to show all chapters at the bottom.