{"id":2386,"date":"2018-03-29T19:47:42","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T23:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elizabethannwest.com\/author\/?p=2386"},"modified":"2021-12-17T13:09:36","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T18:09:36","slug":"chapter-23-25-if-mr-darcy-dared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elizabethannwest.com\/author\/wip\/chapter-23-25-if-mr-darcy-dared\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 23-25 If Mr. Darcy Dared"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Wickham just always ruins everything, doesn’t he \ud83d\ude09\u00a0

<\/span>XOXOX Elizabeth Ann West<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Chapter 23- If Mr. Darcy Dared<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Starting his Christmas leave early, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam became a constant fixture at Darcy House in London. When he was not listening to Georgiana play piano and sometimes singing along with his deep baritone, he spent the day irritating his cousin, Darcy. Mr. Darcy poured himself into his work as a means of distracting himself from being away from Elizabeth Bennet.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Richard had just settled himself in his favorite chair by the fire for a short nap when the butler knocked on the door.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“I know you said not to be disturbed, sir, but this express just arrived. I believe it is from Miss Bennet.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Darcy hastily stood up from his desk to snatch the express from the silver tray as Richard also stirred from his chair. The letter was lined in black.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“Do you wish for me to read it first?” Richard gallantly offered as Darcy gave him a look of annoyance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“No, I believe I can handle any disappointment,” Fitzwilliam said, as he tried to hide his shaking hands when he opened the letter. His eyes flitted to the bottom where the note was indeed signed by Elizabeth. His Miss Bennet, not the Miss Bennet, at least until she married Mr. Bingley next week.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Dearest Fitzwilliam,<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Forgive me for lining this letter in black, but as I’m compelled to share this news with you, I realized the contents might be distressing to your family. So please do not believe that I think highly of Mr. Wickham, but that I acknowledge he did grow up in your home and I am sorry to relate that he has died.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Darcy paused his silent reading to satisfy the Colonel. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

“Wickham is dead,” Fitzwilliam said, flatly. In spite of himself, he smiled, not because he took much joy in the man’s death, but that Elizabeth would be so considerate as to think about his family and how others not acquainted with Wickham’s worst deeds might feel about the news.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“Well, this is cause for celebration!” Richard began to look around for drinks to pour. “You know, now that he’s dead, we should not have to waste around here. I vote we go bother Bingley.\u201d Richard found the decanter and pulled the glass top out, taking a strong whiff before he poured. \u201cMeet this lady of yours and give him a proper stag night.” <\/span><\/span><\/p>

Richard\u2019s abilities in strategy allowed him to leap swiftly from the solution of one problem to circumstances that would make him more comfortable. But Darcy shook his head as he continued to read.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

I wish I could tell you his death was accidental, or at least perhaps peaceful. But I am afraid it was neither. My sisters and I were in Meryton for Jane’s last fitting when I visited my Uncle Phillips. Captain Carter had brought Mr. Wickham to my uncle\u2019s home for some minor transgression that needed Colonel Forster’s attentions. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

I discovered my two sisters, Kitty and Lydia, without a chaperone, unabashedly entertaining Mr. Wickham as he sat in the parlor awaiting his fate. I became cross and ordered them to the carriage as I went to seek counsel with my uncle.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

But it is I who was mistaken. Kitty and Lydia are perhaps either the most intelligent members of my family or merely the luckiest. They had conspired to flirt with Mr. Wickham up to such a point that he commanded to pen that he wished to elope with Lydia.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

I am confident you are shocked, as am I, as to what could possess my sisters to engage in such a reckless and dangerous game with the man. I can only feel grateful for the outcome that did not bring such a burden as my sister running away from our family. As soon as Lydia received the letter, she pressed it into Captain Carter’s hands to bring it to Colonel Forster. I believe Mr. Wickham must have seen the exchange when the captain passed him in the parlor or else I cannot explain what happened next.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

We heard such a commotion that we rushed out the front door only to see Mr. Wickham stealing my family’s carriage! Lydia and Kitty had been roughly removed from the equipage with minor injury, along with our driver, Mr. Nash. This had to be an act of desperation as it was but an hour later both the militia and a posse of village residents came upon Mr. Wickham just one town over in Berkhamsted.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Mr. Wickham was delayed in his attempt to sell the carriage and horses. I am to understand he was quickly apprehended, but as is common with militias that drill and practice for an enemy that might not come, a sense of anticipation is said to have overwhelmed one of the soldiers.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

It pains me to share this with you, but I also cannot help but think of the pain-and-suffering your family has been through, and so I share this truth as it has been related to me in hopes that it eases your suffering. One of the soldiers shot Mr. Wickham in some kind of scuffle as he was apprehended, claiming the man was resisting arrest. It was this one-shot that set off a volley of similar firings. Before the smoke cleared, Mr. Wickham’s body was riddled with musket balls, and poor Colonel Forster received an ill-aimed effort in his right shoulder. They were able to use my family\u2019s carriage to bring Colonel Forster back to camp where the surgeon managed to remove the ball and sew up the wound, but there was no help to be had for Mr. Wickham.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Darcy had read the account in a solemn voice, as even Richard had calmed down from his excitement once he had heard the costly end for Mr. Wickham. His face white as both men could clearly imagine Wickham’s demise thanks to Elizabeth’s words, Richard downed his drink in a single gulp.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“I shall go tell Georgiana. I will explain to her that he committed a senseless crime and then suffered the exuberance of a band of young soldiers,” Richard said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“I should be the one to tell her; I am her brother,” Darcy said but Richard shook his head.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“You are the one who had to be there when she nearly eloped. Allow me to share some of the responsibility.” Richard set the empty glass on Darcy’s desk. He nodded to the rest of the letter before he left. Darcy continued to read.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

There was some concern that perhaps holding Jane and Mr. Bingley’s wedding so soon after the incident involving our carriage and my sisters were in poor taste, but many in our village do not know Mr. Wickham well. What they have learned of him has not endeared his memory to anyone wishing to mourn. His crime of theft has perhaps made it easier for none to regret his passing. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

I can only add in this letter how much your absence pains my heart, and I am anxious to join you in London as soon as I may manage. If this sad news can allow you to visit the neighborhood once more, I shall be even more delighted than I can give credit with words.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

With My Tender Regards,<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Elizabeth Bennet<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Before Darcy could close his eyes and reflect on the last time he was in Elizabeth’s company to enjoy her affection, the door of his study burst open. The room became filled with the loud voice of his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and the stammering apologies of his butler.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cI told you I needed no further assistance!” The grand lady shuffled past the fumbling butler and walked decidedly with her cane to stand in front of her nephew’s desk.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“Aunt Catherine? What a pleasure to see you,” Darcy said as he rose from his chair to provide respect to his elder.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Lady Catherine did not accept his platitudes. Instead, she raised a bejeweled finger and pointed it directly at him, as her other hand gripped her walking cane most fiercely. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

“Do not play the foolish simpleton, Nephew. I have come as a report of an alarming nature has reached me. Gossip, and intrigue, that you keep some mistress in Meryton,” Lady Catherine scolded. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

Darcy began to argue, but she hissed so that she might continue. “Furthermore, my parson, Mr. Collins, says that you have plans to marry this woman that you have compromised so publicly. This is not to be borne! I have come here to collect you and take you back to Kent immediately where you will fulfill your obligations to this family and forget this woman.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Incensed, Mr. Darcy took a half dozen slow breaths, finding the scent of his aunt\u2019s perspiration and her penchant for violet perfume particularly revolting. For years, he had respected, and honored Lady Catherine as a sister of his dear departed mother. But she had long ago proven she could provide no warmth or love as Lady Anne Darcy had offered her children.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cYou have overstepped your bounds, madam,\u201d Darcy said, as he diligently worked to control his temper. He had maintained an annual visit to his aunt\u2019s estate, Rosings, to verify proper management, not as an intention to feed his aunt\u2019s gross fantasies that he would marry her sickly daughter named after his mother.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cI insist on this report to be universally contradicted,\u201d Lady Catherine demanded.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn is not my mistress nor has she ever been. I met her this autumn while visiting my friend Bingley at an estate nearby to her father’s.\u201d Mr. Darcy began to contradict his aunt\u2019s claims, and almost felt a thrill of revenge as her expression softened to one of smugness. Then he continued and shattered her dreams of uniting their households. \u201cI have made her an offer of marriage, and she has accepted and to that end, madam, the only obligation I shall be fulfilling is my promise to her!” Mr. Darcy shouted. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

All of the yelling had attracted the attention of others in the household. Richard and Georgiana suddenly appeared in the doorway.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“Have you gone mad? Yes, yes, you must have lost your reason. I can think of no other explanation that you would fail to listen to the wisdom of almost your nearest relation. The shades of Pemberley cannot be thus polluted by your marrying some girl of no consequence and threatening this poor child’s future!” Lady Catherine attempted to cast guilt over Fitzwilliam about his marriage prospects harming Georgiana. But her words sounded like a threat to both men in the room. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

Protectively, Richard took a step to block his ward from their shared relative, but Georgiana pushed his arm aside and stood in front of him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“You are wrong to come here and deny my brother his happiness. My brother has always done what is best for me even when I have made mistakes. My loyalty lies with him and . . .and . . . and as his actual nearest relation, I fully support his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Bennet!” Georgiana said, without flinching.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“Hush child, you are too young to understand the full implications of what I speak,” Lady Catherine said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“But I am not. You are unaware of my knowledge in many subjects for you have never bothered to take an interest in either of us since our father died unless it suited you. If it had not been for my brother, I would have eloped this summer\u2013”<\/span><\/span><\/p>

“Georgiana!” Mr. Darcy interrupted his sister but the damage had been done.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Lady Catherine narrowed her eyes and considered her young niece who still wore her hair down about her shoulders like a young maiden. “What is this? Are you saying these men neglected your care and you were nearly harmed as a result?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cNo, that is not what I said\u2013\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>

Lady Catherine\u2019s eyes flashed with anger and she cackled. \u201cThis is not over, Fitzwilliam. Not over, I say!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cLady Catherine you will leave my home this instant or I will be forced to order you tossed out,\u201d Mr. Darcy threatened.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cNo need to call a footman, Darcy. I\u2019m happy to remove old baggage,\u201d Richard finally did move Georgiana behind him in a protective stance, anxious to escort their most disliked aunt.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cYou have no stake in this, Richard. And wait until your mother hears how you have behaved . . .\u201d Lady Catherine said, trailing off as she left the room without taking any leave of any of them. As she walked down the hall, she continued to yell and abuse the servants who aided her path out of the house. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

The battle over, Darcy picked up his note from the desk and began to put on his coat.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cAre you leaving, Brother?\u201d Georgiana asked, visibly shaken by her outburst. Darcy leaned over and pecked her cheek.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cI must. Richard, you will stay?\u201d Darcy asked.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Richard nodded. \u201cCertainly, and I\u2019ll see to it we have a nice dinner spread, with Georgiana\u2019s help.\u201d He gave his younger cousin a wink.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Darcy tucked the letter from Elizabeth into his breast pocket and pulled out a few other missives from his drawer. \u201cHow domestic of you.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cAye, and here\u2019s a fair bit more. Where are you off to? Lady Catherine can do nothing about taking Georgiana away; she is all bluster and no bite.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Darcy nodded, running his hands over his pockets in a silent inventory of his person. \u201cI\u2019m aware, but I need to see my uncle,\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cThe judge?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Darcy grinned. \u201cHe should be with our godfather, and I find I must burden him with a task of nepotism.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Georgiana\u2019s eyes lit up and she began to clap. \u201cI\u2019ll go pack my trunks!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Richard turned his head furiously between the two Darcy siblings, struggling to keep up with the unspoken link between those two statements. Suddenly, he broke into laughter.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cOf course, a special license from the Archbishop. I suppose I too shall pack. When do we leave for Hertfordshire?\u201d Richard called as now it was Darcy leaving down the hall.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cTomorrow!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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