Consequences (31 page)

“Mrs. Bennet,” he said with a bow, “it is a pleasure to see you again. I trust your family is in good health?”

Darcy could see he had discomfited the woman, and she had to shut her open mouth before she could give a curtsey in return. “Yes . . . ah . . . thank you, Mr. Darcy,” she stammered. “We are . . . yes, we are all well.”

“Good. Very good,” Darcy said with a pleasant smile. He then turned to the pair of her daughters, who had followed her down the stairs, and he gave them a similar bow. “Miss Katherine, Miss Lydia,” he greeted them.

Before conversation could progress further, the butler came back into the hallway and announced, “Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bennet will see you now.”

“Yes, thank you. Please excuse me, madam, ladies.” With another civil bow, he left them and entered Mr. Bennet’s study. Mrs. Bennet looked at her daughters and they looked back at her, all of them amazed and more than a little perplexed, both by Darcy’s presence and by the nature of his greeting.

***

Darcy hid a mirthless smile as Mr. Bennet greeted him with a surprise equal to that of his wife. Courteously, he invited Darcy to sit and inquired whether he should order tea.

“Thank you, Mr. Bennet, but I think not, unless you desire it yourself. Tea is much too mild for the seriousness of my errand today, yet it is too early for brandy.”

Mr. Bennet’s eyebrows rose. “I begin to be alarmed, sir,” he responded with a wry grin. “Perhaps you should quickly come to the point, ere I begin to draw conclusions from my imagination.”

“To that, sir, I wholeheartedly agree.” Darcy drew himself up straight in his chair. “I have come here today, Mr. Bennet, to seek the hand of your daughter Elizabeth in marriage.”

“My daughter?” Mr. Bennet stammered in astonishment, caught completely off his guard. In no way could he ever have expected such a statement from a man like Darcy.

“Yes, sir. Your daughter Elizabeth,” Darcy said seriously.

Mr. Bennet was now so far beyond wonder that he literally had nothing to say for a full minute. Darcy said nothing more, recognizing the older man was trying to come to grips with what he had been told. He well knew Elizabeth was her father’s particular favourite due to her intelligence, wit, and liveliness, all the same qualities that had made her so attractive to him.

Finally, Mr. Bennet managed to choke out, “Lizzy? You want to marry my Lizzy?”

“Yes, sir, I do. We of course were acquainted during my visit to Netherfield last autumn, and I was surprised and pleased to renew the acquaintance when I was visiting my aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, in Kent. There my attraction deepened, and I eventually proposed marriage. Your daughter has done me the singular honour of accepting that proposal, and, knowing that she is not yet of age, I have come to most earnestly request your consent and your blessing to our marriage.”

Mr. Bennet’s shock was deepened by this forthright and polite expression of affection from such as Mr. Darcy, and he was not even aware of the manner in which he gaped at the young man across from him who had just delivered such earth-shattering news.

Withdrawing Elizabeth’s sealed letter to her father, Darcy slid it across the desk to Mr. Bennet. “Your daughter asked me to give this to you,” he said gravely. “She knew you would be surprised and said that it would answer many of your questions.”

Mr. Bennet left the letter lying on his desk for some seconds, glancing back and forth between Darcy and the letter. At last, he reached out and picked it up, cursing the manner in which his hand trembled. He noted the seal on the back, imprinted with his daughter’s thumbprint, and glanced up at Darcy. Obviously, this young man had no idea this was a private signal between Lizzy and himself, informing him to keep the contents of the letter absolutely secret and show it to no one else.

He sighed to himself, steeling himself for a distasteful task, and broke the seal.

Dearest Father,

Since you are reading this letter, I know Mr. Darcy has called on you and informed you of his proposal of marriage and of my acceptance of that proposal. Since I know you must have a multitude of questions, most of which would be directed to me, I wrote this letter to acquaint you with the particulars of what has transpired.

I know the amazement with which you must receive this information. I know you are very likely thinking I must be bereft of my senses, considering the liberality with which I have maligned Mr. Darcy’s character on so many occasions. I received his proposal with an amazement equal to yours since I believed he despised me and only looked at me to find fault. Thus, initially I was sorely tempted to give in to my contempt for the man and angrily reject his proposal. But, due to his assurance of his affection and the onset of a headache, I begged to delay until the next morning before I gave him a reply, and he was agreeable to my request.

Later, in my room, I thought on what he had told me and discussed it with Charlotte for much of the night. On the one hand, Charlotte argued the need for me to marry well for the benefit of my mother and sisters. The fact that my mother obsesses on the matter does not change the seriousness of the situation we face. On the other hand, I have been offered marriage by a man of both substantial social standing and wealth. A marriage to Mr. Darcy would secure the future of my mother and my sisters. In addition, I had to consider the fact my own children will have advantages they would not otherwise possess, both as to fortune and position.

In the end, the decision came down to a choice between emotions and prudence. Though I had reservations, I chose prudence and, therefore, have accepted Mr. Darcy’s proposal of marriage.

I can almost hear you, Father, as you catalogue Mr. Darcy’s faults, and I have previously agreed with your analysis. Yet Charlotte, who was in Mr. Darcy’s company almost as much as I, does not agree at all. She says he is quiet and reserved and does not like crowds, that his pride may well be justified at least somewhat by his situation, and that, even if he counselled Mr. Bingley against a connection with Jane, still Mr. Bingley cannot be absolved of the responsibility of his own actions. In the matter of Mr. Wickham, she does not like or trust him, and I am inclined to believe some parts of her assessment.

In addition, Charlotte has forced me to acknowledge the possibility that I have been at least partially mistaken as to Mr. Darcy’s character. Certainly, Mr. Bingley, when questioned by Jane, asserted Mr. Darcy to be a most honourable man and blameless in the affair with Mr. Wickham. For my part, in the whole of my acquaintance with Mr. Darcy, I have never seen anything that betrayed him to be unprincipled or unjust nor possessing either irreligious or immoral habits. Among his own connections, he is esteemed and valued, and even Mr. Wickham allowed him merit as a brother. I personally have heard him speak of his sister with a deep and abiding affection, which shows him capable of at least some amiable feeling, despite my dissatisfaction with his manners.

In any case, I have made my decision. I have determined to put my previous opinions of Mr. Darcy aside and to make this point the start of my relationship with him. I must also ask you, dear Father, to accept my decision in this matter as a settled fact—I will be the wife of Mr. Darcy, and I will spend my life with him. I will leave Longbourn and go with him to his home, and I will make him a good and faithful wife. I will bear and raise his children and manage his home. I will also provide for my mother and my sisters to the degree necessary. Mr. Darcy has spoken with me on this last matter, and not only did he agree with my condition, he affirmed that he knew that such would be necessary even before he made his offer to me. I will depend on his honour on this, for, whatever else I may feel towards him, I am now convinced he is a most honourable man.

In addition, dear Father, I must beg you not to give Mr. Darcy a difficult time in securing your consent to our marriage, for it is a settled fact that we will marry, even if we have to wait until July when I come of age. You will only make my situation less pleasant since my decision is firm. And Father, please do not take offense when I also ask you to restrain your satirical nature toward Mr. Darcy. Remember how alike we are, you and I, in our character and inclinations, so I know how tempted you will be, but please understand that Mr. Darcy is not insensible like Mr. Collins. You will not make sardonic remarks at his expense that he will not understand. I do not want my beloved father and my husband to be estranged and unable to be in each other’s presence. That would necessarily restrict my ability to visit or to receive you at our future home.

There is actually reason to believe my future life will not be nearly as unpleasant as you might otherwise believe. Mr. Darcy obviously loves me greatly, and my acceptance of his suit has produced a degree of happiness and amiability in his manner I never even suspected. He also pressed his suit despite the fact I have no fortune or connections which might benefit him, and he has done so despite the anticipated disapproval of more than a few of his family and friends. So his constancy, at least, deserves approbation. And, as I said previously, the degree to which I have been mistaken as to his character is still in doubt. I certainly had no suspicion of just how uncomfortable he is with crowds of people and in many social situations. So, please make haste, dear Father, to give Mr. Darcy your consent and, hopefully, your blessing.

Sincerely, your loving daughter,
Elizabeth

Mr. Bennet sighed as he laid the letter down and looked at the solemn young man across from him.

What am I to do in this situation?
he asked himself.
It is not the same as with Mr. Collins; Lizzy refused the foolish man’s ill-considered proposal, and only my wife demanded they marry. Now, it appears Charlotte Collins has talked Lizzy into accepting “this” man’s proposal because it is “prudent.” But, unlike the previous case, Lizzy has accepted his offer, and she makes it clear she has absolutely no intention of being dissuaded from her choice.

“Mr. Darcy,” Mr. Bennet said after some moments’ thought, “you may be correct in saying it is too early in the day for brandy, but I am going to have one anyway. It is not every day a young man whom I hardly know appears in my library to ask for the hand of my favourite daughter.” He peered at Darcy quizzically over his glasses. “You do know, sir, that Lizzy
is
my favourite daughter?”

“So I understand, sir,” said Darcy seriously.

“And I hope I have not offended you by saying I hardly know you?”

“Not in the slightest, sir,” Darcy said without a single change to his expression. “I hardly know you either, Mr. Bennet.”

Mr. Bennet looked at Darcy sharply, and Darcy gazed back imperturbably. It was only the slightest gleam in Darcy’s eye that informed Mr. Bennet the young man had deduced what he was thinking and responded in the same wry manner. He had to chuckle at the way his jibe had been reflected back at him.

“Well, I see Lizzy is right. She said you were not like Mr. Collins, and I would not be able to make satirical remarks at your expense.”

Darcy smiled slightly at Mr. Bennet’s remark and nodded his head in appreciation.

Mr. Bennet again looked closely at Darcy. “You do know Mr. Collins made an offer of marriage to Lizzy, do you not?”

That got through Darcy’s controlled exterior, and he sat bolt upright. “No, sir, I had no idea anything of that nature occurred.”

“She refused him, of course, and thankfully so,” said Mr. Bennet thoughtfully. “Now, young man,” he said more briskly, “since I am going to have a brandy, you would not make a bereaved father losing his favourite daughter drink alone, would you?”

“I would not think of it, sir,” responded Darcy immediately. “But you must not think of it as losing a daughter, sir.”

“And why would I not think that, young man?” Mr. Bennet said, as he removed the stopper from the brandy bottle. “Will she not be leaving my home and be going far to the north where your estate lies? Who will be able to provide any relief once she is gone, leaving me in a house full of silly females?”

“Those do sound like serious circumstances, sir,” said Darcy, taking the glass, “but instead of dwelling on losing Miss Elizabeth, you should consider you are gaining access to a fine library at my house in town and an excellent library at Pemberley.”

“Bribery, Mr. Darcy?” said Mr. Bennet, looking over the edge of his glass.

“Is it sufficient, sir?” said Darcy with a slight smile. In actuality, he was enjoying the verbal fencing, especially since this interview was going so well. He could see how and where Elizabeth’s wit and lively nature had been formed, though Mr. Bennet was much more reserved and sardonic than she.

“At least my daughter informed you of my price,” Mr. Bennet continued. “Now then, since I have been at least partially fortified by a little liquid courage, perhaps we should move on to the formalities.”

“Certainly, sir,” agreed Darcy.

“First, since my daughter also instructed me in her letter that I should not give you a difficult time in securing my consent, I do now formally consent to your marrying my Lizzy.”

Darcy nodded silently to this point, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Second, for most other young men, I would want to discuss his ability to support a wife and family since Lizzy does not bring a substantial dowry to the marriage. But my daughter said you have already discussed that, so I do not think we need spend any time on that matter.”