Fault or Virtue: An Imaginative Retelling of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' (4 page)

“Mr. Darcy, I feel it is my duty to inform you that your cousin, Miss Anne de
Bourgh is doing very well. I have often remarked to Lady Catherine that your fair cousin
was born to be a duchess, for she has all the accomplishments and manners as those of
that rank.”

Darcy repositioned himself in his chair before replying. “I thank you, Mr. Collins,
for taking it upon yourself to report the status of members of my family as well as your
praise of them.” Elizabeth wondered if this was meant to be a joke, but her thoughts were
interrupted momentarily when Collins continued.

“I feel particularly bound to pay such compliments, and I have always found that
they are pleasing to the ladies.”
Elizabeth jumped in again. “Enlighten me, Mr. Collins, do these pleasing
attentions proceed from the moment or are they result of previous study?”
All eyes were on Elizabeth, whose eyes had brightened with anticipation and
humor.
“Though I often amuse myself with arranging such delicate compliments, I
always endeavor to give them an unstudied an air as possible, Miss Elizabeth.” He fixed
Elizabeth with an uncomfortably direct stare. Darcy’s deep voice frightened Collins from
his study.
“You do so admirably, Mr. Collins. I see why my Aunt has appointed you as
rector of her estate and encourages you to visit your relatives for such a lengthy amount
of time,” he stopped, noticing that he had drawn the attention of all the room.
Mr. Collins sat in awe of the alleged compliment, and all remained quiet,
digesting the statement. Elizabeth hid her smile with her hand and glanced at Darcy,
determined to find humor in his expression if any indeed existed. Darcy felt her stare and
they locked eyes. Elizabeth was soon too lost in her study to remember her intention.

Later, Elizabeth and Jane discussed their dinner companions.
“Indeed not for all of Derbyshire, not even the miserable half, dear sister!” she
whispered to Jane later between fits of giggles. “I suppose he is handsome,” she said,
once her mind was made up. All of their important discussions took place by candlelight
under their sheets.
“Mr. Darcy is very handsome,” Jane agreed.
“But I would settle for a grinning sweetheart for half the income all the same,”
prodded Elizabeth, wishing for her sister to admit her feelings for Bingley.
“Elizabeth!” Jane cried, playfully slapping her. “We hardly know our new
acquaintances! I should not say such things if I were you, and I will not admit to agreeing
with you just yet!”
“Then will you admit to wanting to spend more time with him?” Elizabeth
demanded.
“I would, but only because Mr. Bingley is everything every young man out to be.
Handsome, amiable…”
“Rich,” continued Elizabeth.
“But that is yet all we know,” Jane finished.
“Indeed, in a few weeks he might turn out to be as disagreeable as his friend, or
his sister.” Elizabeth laughed heartily.
“They are not so bad, Lizzy. Though I still cannot believe what Mr. Darcy said
about you.”
“It is of no consequence. I can admit that he is handsome despite his slights
against me, so I must be the better for it.”

“For your sake, I am relieved of his departure to town, but I dislike being only
able to think ill of him when he goes.”
“You will soon be in the company of Mr. Bingley again, and you’ll be allowed no
other thoughts at all.”
Their conversation dissolved into fits of giggles as each became preoccupied with
their thoughts of certain gentlemen.

Elizabeth found herself wide awake rather early the next morning, and, fearing
that she may meet Mr. Collins if she stayed at home, slipped out of bed and set out for a
long walk. Thoughts of dinner the night before distracted her from any one particular
direction, and she soon found that she was directly in line to meet a tall figure upon the
same path. She could not make out who it was in the early morning light, but was sure
that his company could not be avoided as he surely would have spotted her already.

“Miss Elizabeth,” Darcy bowed.
“I’m surprised to see you, sir,” she said. She felt a small pang of embarrassment
recalling that she had deemed him handsome the night before. More embarrassment
washed over her as she noticed that he was even better looking than she had given him
credit for.
“I’m sure that you’re rather closer to Netherfield than Longbourn,” he assured
her.
Elizabeth looked around and was shocked to see that she had indeed wandered
very close to Netherfield.
“I had not realized my direction, I must be quite distracted this morning.”
“Are accomplished walkers allowed such leniency?” he asked playfully. When
she made no reply, however, he said, “I am stretching my legs before my journey to
London.”
They continued on slowly together, back in the direction of Longbourn. She did
not yet know how Darcy would behave at this meeting. So far he had been congenial, but
in the past he had been rude, taciturn, mischievously comical, but not all at once and not
any for very long. Elizabeth, weary of guessing which it would be, was just about to
suggest he return to Netherfield and prepare for his journey, when he spoke first.
“How long will your cousin be in town?” he asked carelessly.
“I hardly know. We did not expect him for a few weeks, he was not direct with
his intentions,” she trailed off, working out what made him ask such a question. When he
chose to speak, he did not display any conversational skills befitting his station. Elizabeth
was known as impertinent, but she at least stuck to suitable topics.
“I found him to be rather direct,” he said pointedly and in all irony.
“In character, yes. Since we have all been rather reticent to bring up the subject of
his length of stay, however, he has failed to mention it himself. Perhaps your Aunt, Lady
Catherine, has advised him on what would be the ideal length of visit, and therefore the
subject will come up in time,” she glanced at him to see a reaction, but he seemed as far
away as ever. She reproached herself for the slight stab of disappointment she felt in not
having made him laugh or even reply.

Perhaps he was not as rude as he had made himself appear on the night of the
assembly, but his behavior still did not highly recommend him as a gentleman. Compared
directly with his friend Mr. Bingley, he would always come up wanting.

“Have you ever met him before?” he asked after a while.
“Never. Why do you ask such a question?” she stopped and studied him, making
neither heads nor tails of his behavior. She noticed that when he spoke it seemed very
calculated on his part, but to her, it was done so for reasons unknown. It was a cruel, one
sided game he played, and she wanted no part of it.
“To make out the character of your relationship,” he looked uncomfortable but
continued, “he made it very clear last night that he intends to align himself with one of
you so as to, as he said, ‘propose a compromise that would please everyone.’ It seemed a
rather an awkward situation in the context of the future, or perhaps ill timed,” he stopped
abruptly at the noticeable reddening of Elizabeth’s cheeks.
“Whether or not he intends to align himself with my family is of no consequence
to us, for I am sure my father would not allow it and none of us would ever consent. Mr.
Collins is ridiculous. Besides the fact that he is a under the direction of your Aunt, I do
not see that this is any of your business.” She could only gather that he had returned to
voicing his disapproval of her family, “I wish you had warned me that you wished to
return to the subject of berating my family when we first met this morning so that I could
have continued in the opposite direction.”
And I believed impertinence to by my folly!
She
thought as she hurried away.
How could he speak of such things to me?
Darcy could see that yet again the conversation between himself and the second
Miss Bennet had gotten very far away from his control, just as all previous ones had.
“I meant no offense, Miss Elizabeth.”
“You claim that you do not yet your actions and choice of words betray you, Mr.
Darcy. Either say nothing at all or own to it.” Darcy shut his eyes and tried to think of
some way he could mend the situation, but Elizabeth continued, “As uncouth as you find
my family to be, we are not one of us willing to align ourselves with a man of means
whom we do not respect. If he, as you say, is in search of a wife and under the guidance
of your Aunt, they will soon be disappointed. My younger sisters are far too young and
Jane…”
“Is meant for Mr. Bingley,” the words tumbled from his mouth before he could
stop them.
Do I enjoy provoking her?
“I do not dare presume such a match and neither does she,” she answered directly,
“or did we somehow give you that impression?”
“It was fairly obvious that Mr. Collins was encouraged away from her and turned
towards you so that she remains available for Mr. Bingley.”
“Fairly obvious? You speak much on subjects of which you know little,” she
fumed. “As I said before my sisters and I will not tolerate the attentions of a man whom
we do not respect no matter the material worth. This includes Mr. Collins and any other
visitor attired as a gentleman who has nothing but his pocket book to offer. Not even for
ten thousand a year would my mother desire that we go to a man deemed to be
disagreeable.”
His mouth fell open. This was perhaps the greatest evidence of his behavior.
Indeed his conduct must have been boorish if it were enough to discourage Mrs. Bennet

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from forcing an alliance between himself and one of her daughters. It was indeed a feat to
avoid the effusions of Mrs. Bennet.

She continued, “I am so sorry that the world you see is so plagued with people of
such ill-intent, I hope you find it more agreeable in London.” She stormed off and he
followed her.

“Miss Elizabeth!” he shouted, not knowing what he could say. “I do not possess
the alacrity for conversation such as you. This, I hope, offers an explanation for my
behavior at the night at the assembly as well as my poorly worded concerns I have voiced
just now. I only wished to see that Mr. Collins’ presence would not trouble you for long. I
meant to say that…”

“Before you do, I must warn you to not speak ill of my cousin. He is the only one
in the neighborhood who will be sorry to see you go,” her eyes flashed dangerously and
she continued, “forgive me, I forgot
your
Miss Bingley,” she added icily.

Bennet.”
How could she have thought such a thing?
He wondered.
“Perhaps only with yours, Mr. Darcy, but I have stopped trying.”
Darcy took a deep breath and stepped closer to her, speaking very slowly. He

clenched his fists tightly, trying to remain calm, and leaned down so that his eyes were
even with hers. Elizabeth was unnerved by his proximity. Never had she been so close to
a man. When he spoke, she could feel his hot breath on her face.

“What I wished to have said, Miss Elizabeth, is that it is unfortunate to have such
a relative avail himself upon you and your family while he sizes up the prospects of his
future inheritance without consideration to its current inhabitants. It must be a very
uncomfortable situation, and I’m sorry for you and your family.” He did not move away
from her and it was clouding her senses.

“An apology from you is unnecessary, sir, but thank you,” she could say nothing
else. She felt neither pity nor regret for what she had said, but she wondered at his utter
inability to express himself. If what he just voiced was in fact, what he originally wished
to say, then perhaps he had meant well all along. Why did he not always speak so well?

His manners, however, had been so haughty, so ungracious, that she could not
fully believe his words to be true. His current expression, however, was nothing but
kindness, and Elizabeth could not help but trust the integrity of his sentiment. Perhaps it
was just the beauty of his dark blue eyes, the look of understanding she thought she
glimpsed in them.
What does he see when he looks in my eyes?
She wondered before selfconsciously looking away.

“I believe it is. You are not acquainted with my Aunt, Miss Elizabeth, but I have
no doubt that this was all her doing.”
Darcy was surprised at his relief when some of the humor returned to Elizabeth’s
eyes and she answered, “I don’t know, Mr. Darcy, having spent a full day with Mr.
Collins, I would say I’m well acquainted with your Aunt and I know her to be one of the
most remarkable women of all time.” She was, in turn, surprised to see a small smile
playing on his lips, but just as quickly as it had appeared, it dissolved into something sad.
“Then perhaps I may hope that his opinion of me will restore my reputation in the
neighborhood within the week.”
“I don’t know, we may run him out of the house before then,” the small smile
returned, and for a moment, Elizabeth was left to wonder why did he did not smile more

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often. If she could but forget his offences and saw his smile displayed more frequently,
forgiveness would surely be at hand. She was again transfixed by the look in his dark
eyes.
Yes
, she thought back to her and Jane’s exchange,
he is most decidedly handsome.

Darcy returned to Netherfield from his brief walk drained and irritated.
What was
he to make of Miss Elizabeth Bennet when at each turn he was bombarded with wit,
sarcasm, accusations, and intelligence?
He could not compete with her, nor could he
converse with her, it seemed. He sought Bingley immediately, determined to hear his
account of the assembly. Fortunately, Bingley was not yet in the company of Miss
Bingley, so they were allowed momentary privacy.

“My, Darcy, you look rather morose,” Bingley jeered. Darcy frowned, already
knowing the answer to his question. “Having second thoughts about leaving so soon?
You know I wish you to stay.”

“I’m afraid I must depart, Bingley, but I appreciate the invitation. I have not been
in a peaceful frame of mind of late, and I’m hoping some of my anxiety will be eased
when my business is finished in London.”