Fault or Virtue: An Imaginative Retelling of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' (12 page)

Elizabeth purchased three new novels for the carriage ride home so that she would
not allow herself a moment of time to dwell on recent events. Revisiting the kiss, or
guessing the reasons for it, would undoubtedly bring her worry and pain.

Upon arriving home, she was happy that her report of Jane and Mr. Bingley’s
rekindled acquaintance sent her mother into such wild hysterics that no other details were
demanded of her. She attempted to fall back into her normal routine, devoting more time
to Charlotte than ever in hopes that it would save their friendship. She was grateful that
no one had noticed Mr. Darcy’s partiality for her, for then she would undoubtedly be
bothered with many difficult and painful questions. As for her gloomy and reflective
tendencies, it could be credited to the approaching loss of her best friend and the absence
of her favorite sister.

Two weeks following Charlotte’s wedding and removal to Mr. Collins’ parsonage
brought news that Jane would be returning home. There was no announcement of an
engagement, but as her letter mentioned that Mr. Bingley was rumored to be returning to
Netherfield in the days following, Elizabeth knew that such an announcement would be
made after securing Mr. Bennet’s blessing.

To Mrs. Bennet’s great pleasure, Mr. Bingley, Miss Bingley, and Jane all arrived
in Bingley’s carriage from London. The Bingley's only stopped in for a short while to see
Jane settled at home, and at the urging of Caroline, Bingley left with the promise that he
would return the next day, desiring an appointment to speak with Mr. Bennet.

“Oh, Lizzy!” Jane exclaimed once they were left alone. “If I could see you so
happy! But of course I should not say, but I see you know already!” The sisters embraced
warmly and Jane divulged all that occurred since Lizzy departed London.

“I had almost forgotten, Mr. Darcy wished for me to tell you that he was relieved
to know you made it to Charlotte’s wedding. It was so very kind of him to express such a
thought, he was not at all like he was when we were first introduced.”

Elizabeth could no longer make out what Jane was saying.
Was Darcy happy that
I have gone?
No. She chased the thoughts away. She would not dwell on the past, nor
would she try and make sense of what she could in no way understand. She refocused on
Jane.

“And then Darcy himself left only a few days later, claiming a visit with his
family, which meant that Miss Bingley accompanied Charl…Mr. Bingley on nearly every
visit, which is why this homecoming took us two weeks, you see.” She blushed furiously
at this revelation.

“And let us hope that it is the last I have occasion to give such a one, for we are to
be her sisters soon.”
When the following day brought Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Bennet had worked herself
into such a state that the visit went more smoothly than the girls ever thought possible.
The engagement was announced and Mr. Bingley was allowed to leave with little harm to
his person as a result of violent congratulations. Within seconds, Jane was claimed for the
rest of her engagement in the tasks of wedding planning, and so Elizabeth stole away to
write to Charlotte of the news.
The next days brought Elizabeth in frequent company with Mr. Wickham.
Though this pleased her initially, she soon found his overfriendly attentions to be
unnerving. Where at first she had found his attentions pleasing and flattering, she found
his character and consideration lacking in comparison to another certain gentleman of her
acquaintance. Being in such frequent company of one who was so familiar with the very
gentleman she did not wish to think of was trying, made more so by Wickham’s frequent
mentioning of him. Home held no comfort as Jane was either busy with her mother or
detained by Mr. Bingley. Therefore, when she received an invitation to visit with
Charlotte at her new home for a few weeks, she happily accepted. Wickham’s parting
words again caused her anxiety for the coming trip, however, as he recalled the character
of Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
“I must warn you, Miss Bennet. Lady Catherine has the usual Darcy charm. I
would be hard pressed to say in whose company I am least happy. Her daughter Anne, I
fear, has gone the same way. She and Darcy are betrothed, you know. They are destined
to unite their two great estates.”
Betrothed!
Elizabeth tried to slow the breaking of her heart by convincing herself
she only felt anger.

All the mystery that Mr. Collins’ descriptions of his parsonage, Rosings, Lady
Catherine, and Miss Anne, dimmed in Elizabeth’s mind as she departed. Charlotte, she
hoped, would raise her spirits.

“When will they be married?” asked Charlotte when they had retired to her
private sitting room for tea.
“In two months time, which Mama still fears is not enough to coordinate the best
wedding breakfast Meryton has ever seen,” Elizabeth laughed, feeling much revived by
the apparent happiness of her friend.
“It’s best it is done as quickly as possible lest something else should stand in the
way,” Charlotte mused matter-of-factly.
“I quite agree, it should have taken place months ago in any case. I still do not
quite understand what all occurred, but surely Caroline Bingley had a hand in it.”
Elizabeth raised one eyebrow to accentuate the accusation.
The following days were spent very pleasantly in Charlotte’s company even when
Mr. Collins was around. Charlotte had a way of calming him, Elizabeth found, and was
quite puzzled with their relationship, as it seemed to be getting along much better than

!
&#!
she would have guessed. On the fifth day, they were all invited to dine at Rosings which,
she was convinced with a certain amount of effort by Mr. Collins, was one of the greatest
honors one could hope for in a lifetime.

At the instruction of her cousin and Charlotte, Elizabeth took great pains with her
appearance for that evening. Lady Catherine, Mr. Collins warned, was not used to the
truly humble, and therefore one must apply themselves to appear as good as their station
would allow. Leaving the parsonage took more effort than preparing for Rosings as
Collins had begun to think that his cousin Elizabeth might appear too well in her choice
of dress and hairstyle. At the reminder of his wife that Lady Catherine would be
disappointed if they were untimely, they immediately left the house and Collins was
forced to worry in silence as they made their way across the park.

Elizabeth’s excitement for her introduction to Lady Catherine grew as they were
taken through the over-decorated foyer. Elizabeth was pleased by what she first glimpsed
of the parlor where Lady Catherine would be waiting to greet them for it did not
disappoint her expectations in the least, appearing as ostentatious as the rest of the house.
She shuffled in after her cousin and Charlotte making their respective bows and curtsies,
but as her eyes lifted meet those of Mr. Collins’ esteemed patroness, she found herself
being presented to four people, one of whom she was familiar with: Darcy. Her cheeks
flushed scarlet with embarrassment, which at its height, evolved into a focused and
unnerving fit of anger. Darcy was the only one in the room who could identify her
reactions and he suddenly panicked. He was quite certain that she had never been this
angry before in her life,
and it is all directed at me! What would she do? What could I
do?
He felt utterly hopeless. Perhaps if she had not been so beautiful this evening, he
could think straight. As it were, he had never seen her looking so well, nor with so much
color in her face. No doubt the wedding planning at home must have forced her out of the
house for extra walks around Meryton.

Lady Catherine cut into their musings. “Miss Elizabeth Bennet, I presume.
Though I would have not recognized you by how you have been described.” She fixed
Collins and Charlotte with a disapproving glare.

“I hope I am not a disappointment to you, Lady Catherine, but I hope that in being
different than expected, I will be a more interesting guest.”
Lady Catherine sat back at this and Darcy smiled inwardly. This would prove a
very surprising evening.
And with any luck
, he thought,
my aunt’s ill-formed comments
will provide Miss Elizabeth with a target for her anger before I can decide what to do.
If
he had known, at all, that he would see her there, he may have taken steps to avoid it. But
this surprise meeting sealed his decision and he knew his fate. There would be no
forgetting, nor avoiding Miss Bennet.
All throughout dinner, Lady Catherine and Elizabeth dominated the conversation.
Darcy could see massive amounts of sweat rolling down Collins’ forehead as each and
every one of Lady Catherine’s comments was met with a witty, level headed, yet
challenging retort. He had never seen Miss Elizabeth in such fine form. It was
unfortunate, he acknowledged, that the main brunt of her effort was caused by anger she
felt towards him. He could not wish the conversation to cease, however, for he found
himself wishing that the two had met earlier. Elizabeth had the potential to do a lot a
good in the company of his aunt.

His cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, who sat opposite him and next to Elizabeth at
dinner, seemed to agree. Occasionally a small smile would escape between bites of food
either when Elizabeth had said something particularly clever or on the occasion that their
aunt was particularly flustered. Initially, Darcy was warmed to see the small signs of his
cousin’s approval, but as the meal wore on, Darcy began to grow weary of his cousin’s
growing fascination with
his
Miss Bennet.

“You have still not described to me in a thorough enough manner how you are
acquainted with my nephew,” Lady Catherine barked suddenly. Darcy’s head snapped to
attention and his eyes briefly met Elizabeth’s. She met his gaze for a substantial moment
before answering flatly, coldly, and simply.

“There is nothing to tell, Lady Catherine. We have had but a fleeting acquaintance
with one another during the time Mr. Darcy spent as a guest in his friend’s home near that
of mine. Charlotte was introduced to him under the same circumstances, as was Mr.
Collins.” This stung, and though Darcy knew he should not add to the conversation for
fear of alerting his aunt of his affections for Miss Bennet, he could not remain silent.

“Do not forget, our paths briefly crossed in London,” Darcy began, speaking
directly to Elizabeth before turning to his aunt, “Miss Elizabeth’s older sister has since
become engaged to my friend, Mr. Bingley. The very same gentleman that was letting the
house in her neighborhood.” Fitzwilliam began looking between the two of them
inquisitively, noting the particularity in Darcy speaking.

“One of your friends, Darcy?” Lady Catherine choked, not wanting to believe that
a person of their standing could be united with a family she knew to be low. Mr. Collins
cut in before Darcy could reply.

“Mr. Bingley, whose father was in trade, your Ladyship,” Mr. Collins mumbled.
“Oh, of course! Well that is something for your family, Miss Elizabeth.” All in
the room looked as though they wished to say something, but Lady Catherine continued
so that her statement would hold, “Darcy, when is Georgiana’s coming out?”
Darcy was rather taken aback by the two comments, and took considerable time
and effort to answer.
“Georgiana and I have discussed it at length and we have decided a year or two
more would be best devoted to her studies,” he ended on a rather matter of fact note with
the intention of dropping the subject.
Lady Catherine, however, was not pleased. “The sooner the better, Darcy. For
when Georgiana is out, the sooner you can marry and worry over your own matters of
property.” She looked to Anne and gave a decided nod. Colonel Fitzwilliam almost
snorted out his wine.
The remainder of the meal progressed rather uncomfortably as the conversation
rarely wavered from that of Darcy’s marriage status. Darcy twice locked eyes with
Elizabeth over the course of the meal, but this was, of course, as Elizabeth saw, an
apology for his aunt’s impertinent behavior, and nothing more. She began to wonder how
he could have looked upon her relatives with such hearty discontent when he himself had
his own trying relations.

!
&%!
“I would be delighted if you would play the pianoforte for us, Miss Bennet. I have
a fine ear for music, and I am curious as to what I shall hear of a girl brought up with no
governess.”

“I would rather not disappoint your ladyship,” Elizabeth bowed and attempted to
take a seat next to Charlotte. Darcy could not help but smile at her answer.
“Come, come!” Mr. Collins boomed, “Miss Elizabeth would be delighted to play
for you, Lady Catherine.”
Elizabeth could hardly stop from rolling her eyes. She was not nervous to play in
front of company, of course, but she was rather wary of the criticism and discussion it
might provoke. Lady Catherine had proven to be just what had gathered from Collins and
then some, and it had been a long evening already.
Fortunately, Colonel Fitzwilliam followed her to the pianoforte to turn the pages.
They had barely exchanged a word at supper and Elizabeth was interested in speaking
more with him.
“I hope I may prove to be of some use to you, Miss Bennet. I would be more than
happy to take the blame for any mistakes in your playing as I am rather ill adept at
turning the pages on time.” He smiled at her reassuringly and winked, and immediately
Elizabeth was relieved to find his manners so pleasing.
“Now that I simply cannot have, for I will only be a guest in this household once
or twice, whereas you will have to endure any censure for many visits to come,” she
smiled widely at him and began playing.
Mr. Darcy broke free from his aunt and cousin to stand at Fitzwilliam’s side.
Elizabeth directed her next statement to him without looking up.
“I hope you do not mean to intimidate me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all your
stateliness to hear me. Even if you are so closely related to some who play so well and
who hear so expertly, for I will not be tormented by a lack of talent which I do not
possess for a simple lack of practicing and natural enthusiasm.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam’s eyebrows rose considerably and he looked at his cousin in
astonishment to see how he would respond. By doing so, he also missed his page mark,
but Elizabeth only faulted for a moment, being rather familiar with the song.
“I am well enough acquainted with you, Miss Elizabeth, to know that I could not
intimidate you, even if that is what I wished to accomplish.”
“Goodness!” Exclaimed Fitzwilliam, “Miss Bennet, you seem to know my cousin
very well indeed.”
Mr. Darcy answered his cousin quickly, before he could surmise more on the
subject, “Whether or not that is true, you’ll find that Miss Elizabeth is a rather zealous
studier of character. I believe it took her rather less than a few minutes to sketch that of
mine, and I have been trying to erase that impression ever since.” The tension in the room
increased as Elizabeth pondered his words.
“I will have to be on my best behavior then,” Fitzwilliam added with another
wink to Elizabeth, earning a scowl from Darcy.
They were soon interrupted by Lady Catherine and did not have the opportunity
to speak again, and so, Elizabeth was allowed to gather her composure and prepare
herself for more meetings with Mr. Darcy.