Assumed Engagement (11 page)

"Your resolve?"

"I determined she would not be the most suitable wife for me, as I required someone from a more superior station in life with admirable family connections to be mistress of
Pemberley
. I resolved to have nothing more to do with her."

"Then you encountered her at
Rosings
."

"Yes, quite unexpectedly. It literally caught me off guard. I found myself waking each morning and plotting ways to see her. I could not shake the very thought of her from my mind, until finally, I determined to make my feelings known to her and I asked her to be my wife."

"Yes, and quite an interesting approach for a proposal, so I hear!"

Darcy sighed and brought his hand up to rub his forehead. "I was most detestable in my approach, yes. I had never proposed to anyone before. I arrogantly presumed that she would consent. I felt she needed to know how much of a struggle it had been for me to come to that decision. It was stupid, granted! I dwelled more on my conflict than on my love for her."

"So what do you plan to do now, man?" Bingley asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You have approximately two months before our wedding. That is when you will see her again. I suggest you fashion some plan between now and then to put yourself back in her favour."

Darcy looked at him, recalling
Elizabeth
’s exact words to him regarding Charles and Jane. "Bingley, I was never in her favour and I am quite certain she has no intention of being persuaded to love me by any sort of plan of mine."

"Darcy, I have never known you to give up so easily."

"I am only being realistic."

"In the matter of love, sometimes it helps
not
to be realistic!"

Darcy shook his head at the help his friend was trying to give him. "Thank you Bingley. I shall give it some thought. But that is all I promise."

"Good! Now, I shall leave in the morning to go to
London
, and then later in the week to
Netherfield
to talk with her father. I shall notify you what the wedding date shall be. That is, of course, if he gives his consent."

"If you get any resistance from Mr.
Bennet
, just go straight to Mrs.
Bennet
," Darcy said with a sarcastic tone.

"Darcy, that is cruel. You see, this is where your fault lies. You are so hasty to be critical of someone, just because they are not like you. You must learn to see more than just the outside of a person."

"And you have been able to get to the heart of Mrs.
Bennet
?"

"Well, let us just say that I am willing to try."

"And let us just say that I am willing to avoid her whenever possible."

Bingley laughed and shook his head at his friend. "Darcy, sometimes you can be so boorish! Pray, if you ever wish to win Miss Elizabeth’s heart, you might want to start by accepting her mother!" He laughed and shook his head. "Well, I need to be off now to get myself ready to leave tomorrow. I shall come back before I leave to say goodbye. You probably could use some more rest."

"Thank you Bingley. Until then."

*~*~*

As the
Pemberley
carriage turned down the long entrance that led away from the great house,
Elizabeth
gave one last, hasty glimpse back. Feelings of remorse threatened to consume her and she knew she could not give in to such feelings.
After transferring to a carriage in Lambton that would take them to Longbourn,
Elizabeth
settled in for a full day’s journey.

Elizabeth
turned to Jane. She would need her sister’s help in keeping her mind engaged on things other than
Pemberley
and its occupants. "Jane, I have not yet heard about Mr. Bingley’s proposal. Would you be so kind as to share all the delightful details with me?" She gave Jane a mischievous smile and leaned in to her with wide eyes.

Jane smiled. "I would be more than happy to oblige you. That morning, the two of us were in the dining room having a little breakfast. I believe you were still asleep after being up most of the night. All of a sudden word started spreading that Mr. Darcy had awakened. We were both very excited and relieved, asking the servants what they knew. Suddenly Charles stood up and told me to come with him. I anticipated us going straight to Mr. Darcy’s room to see him ourselves, but instead he escorted me outside.

"He told me he wanted to walk down to the lake. We had been there before and he had told me that had always been his favourite place to walk to whenever he came to
Pemberley
. When we got there, we sat down on a bench and talked for a bit.

"Then suddenly he turned to me, grasping both my hands in his, and told me how much he loved me, how much he had missed me these past few months, and asked if I would consent to being his wife."

"Could you believe it, Jane?"

"I thought I was dreaming, but I felt too happy for it to be a dream."

Elizabeth
looked at Jane and smiled, quite amazed. Bingley, it seemed to her, may have been prompted to ask for her sister’s hand upon hearing of Mr. Darcy’s recovery. She wondered if it may have been due to his being afraid of seeing him before securing her hand. Was he afraid of being talked out of it again? It angered her to think Mr. Darcy could have such a hold on him. But she was grateful he proposed despite his friend. No matter what influence Mr. Darcy had over him before, at least Bingley took a step in the right direction.

"Jane, I am so happy for you. Now we must prepare ourselves for Mother’s reaction. Do we dare tell her as soon as we get home, or do you suppose we should remain silent for a while and make her wait?"

"I think Mother will not even let us get out of the carriage before she asks if either of us has secured a proposal!"

"I think you may be right. Shall we each try and guess how long it takes her to broach the subject?" Both girls laughed at this.

The ride home took all day. When the carriage finally delivered them to their front door at Longbourn, all five members of their family greeted them, wanting to know what happened, how Mr. Darcy fared, and what
Pemberley
was like. But it was their mother’s questions that finally came to the point.

"Jane, was that fine, young man Mr. Bingley there? Did the two of you get reacquainted? Do I hear wedding bells ringing in the future?"

Jane blushed, and her mother then would not relent. "Oh, it is to be, is it not? I just knew it! Mr. Bingley proposed?"

Jane finally nodded an affirmative, and the volume of her mother’s voice resounded in all their ears. "This is the most wonderful news! Our Jane is to be married! I cannot wait to tell my sister, and the
Lucases
, and…"

"Mrs.
Bennet
," interjected her husband. "I do not believe you will need to tell anyone anything, as I am sure all of Hertfordshire has just now heard you announce it. Now, let us go inside before all the well wishers arrive."

Mr.
Bennet
walked over to his eldest daughter and told her how happy he was. She told him that Mr. Bingley would be coming in a few days to talk with him and get his consent and they would discuss arrangements then.

He then joined
Elizabeth
and looked in her eyes. "And tell me,
Lizzy
. How did things fare for you?"

"Well, Mr. Darcy did recover. For that we are all grateful."

"And once he recovered, how did he treat you?"

"He treated me as kindly as I deserved and expected to be treated."

No, she would not go into details about the misunderstanding; how he felt she had wronged his sister. She did not believe that he was angry with her anymore, but was quite certain he would never renew his offer of marriage to her!

Chapter 8

    
T
he next morning, an informally dressed Darcy walked by himself down to the dining room to partake in the morning repast with his sister and Bingley. He felt somewhat stronger, but was still under strict orders from Dr.
Brisby
not to overtax himself.

The three shared a hot breakfast together and then Bingley announced he would have to take leave of them. When Bingley stood up to leave, Darcy asked Georgiana if he could have a moment alone with him. She nodded politely and left the room.

"Bingley, I know that you will soon be often in Miss
Bennet’s
company. And I know that the two eldest Miss
Bennets
are very close. I would ask a simple request of you. Please do not attempt to plant any notions in Miss
Bennet’s
head about myself and her sister. I know she would only share it with Miss Elizabeth and I will not have her feeling ill at ease around me when I come for your wedding. I dare say she has had her share of awkwardness around me as it is. I would not want her to be troubled thinking I may come and renew my address to her."

"Can I not put in some good words for you, my friend? That should not hurt!"

Darcy shook his head.

"You shall have my word on it, then. And now, I must be off. How good it was to be here, Darcy. I am most grateful that you are on your way to a full recovery! And I must now thank your sister for her part in this past week." With that he winked at Darcy, who answered his friend’s gesture with a sigh.

Georgiana slowly walked out to the entryway with Bingley as Darcy followed. He watched them talking and laughing and could only imagine Bingley’s enthusiastic praise for how things turned out and how Georgiana should be credited for it all.

After final farewells, Bingley’s carriage drove off and Darcy took in a deep breath as he returned to the study. He knew he could sit in there alone; read, rest, attend to some business, or simply let his mind wander. This would do for now. In a few days he looked forward to getting out and walking the grounds and eventually getting his life back to normal. But then, what would be normal?

He knew what he would like normal to be. But no, he shook his head. That was not to be. Bingley had told him to come up with a plan to win
Elizabeth
’s heart. But he could not do that – he was not that clever. He was convinced that she would see right through him if he tried.

After Bingley departed, the presence, or was it the absence, of Elizabeth hung over Darcy and Georgiana, neither wanting to admit to the other how much they had been affected by her being at
Pemberley
. Darcy was sullen, blaming it on lingering weakness. He became more determined to gain back his full strength and looked forward to Dr.
Brisby
coming again, giving him a clean bill of health.

He noticed that his sister kept to herself, carrying around with her some book in which she often wrote. He wanted to ask her what it was, but assumed it was something Miss Annesley asked her to do. Miss Annesley had been asked to come directly to
Pemberley
to continue Georgiana’s studies after Darcy’s recovery. He wished to remain at their country estate until he was completely recovered and his sister did not want to leave his side.

Georgiana spent much of each day, when not in studies with Miss Annesley, pondering what she should do about her brother. She was hesitant to mention
Elizabeth
’s name. She was not certain whether he still suffered the stinging blow of her refusal, the pain of seeing her again at
Pemberley
, just plain love, or a combination of the three. She thought, though, that he behaved quite oddly at times. Georgiana would often catch him looking at something when she came upon him in a room and he would abruptly slip it away into one of his pockets.

She knew he was preoccupied with something, but was not able to determine if his thoughts were agreeable or not. She could not imagine how he felt when
Elizabeth
turned him down. Georgiana could easily sympathize with him, as she had been deeply disappointed when, after getting to know
Elizabeth
and finding her much to her liking, learned she was not going to marry her brother.

In those few days she spent with her, Georgiana had determined that
Elizabeth
was truly the most kind-hearted and amiable woman she knew. She was very different from any other woman her brother had ever shown an interest in and a vivid contrast to the many women who had shown an interest in him. And there had been many! How she would have loved having her as a sister. The thought that this was not to be truly crushed her spirit.

Yes, she believed she knew somewhat how he felt. What she did not feel, however, was the anger and humiliation that he must also have felt when she refused him.

At length, Darcy gained the strength to venture outside. He kept his walks short, simply walking the perimeter of the house. He would return fatigued, but strengthened by them. He felt the pulsating warmth of the sun pierce him through and drew even more vigour from it. When he returned to the house, he would sit in one of the rooms that had sunlight pouring in and would pull a chair into the sun’s beam and rest.

A few days after the
Bennet
ladies and Bingley left, Darcy and his sister sat together in the dining room after a meal.
Durnham
came in and announced that he and Mrs. Reynolds were going into town to pick up a few things, and asked if he required anything. Darcy picked up a piece of paper and wrote down a few items. "See if you can get these for me."

Durnham
looked at the list and then looked back at Darcy, quizzically. He pointed to one of the items on the list and Darcy commented, "You see what it is. See if you can get it!" With that,
Durnham
set off to go into town. Georgiana noticed her brother’s flustered look and slight blushing of his cheeks, but did not think it was her concern to inquire about it.

Two days later, Georgiana was drawn to the front of the house by some noise. She went to the window and found several under gardeners working feverishly to remove some shrubs by the front entrance that lined the marble staircase leading to the front door. She stepped outside and was somewhat surprised that they were removing perfectly good shrubbery and were replacing them with something else. She was so taken by this, that when she stepped back to turn the other direction, she found herself colliding with one of the young under gardeners.

"Oh, excuse me, I am so sorry!" exclaimed Georgiana.

"No, it was my fault Miss Darcy," expressed a flustered young man. "I should have been watching where I was going."

Georgiana smiled and then looked again. "Mr.
Bostwick
, is that you?" asked a startled Georgiana.

"None other," replied the young man. "It is a pleasure to see you."

"Thank you." Georgiana remembered playing with this young man as a boy when his father, who was the head gardener, brought him along with him. David
Bostwick
had to have been just thirteen the last time she saw him.

She was embarrassed now, not really knowing how to talk with a young man a few years her senior. "It must be quite a few years… since I have seen you."

"Indeed it has been quite a few years since we have talked. You are often in
London
and my studies have kept my away a great deal. However I have seen you on occasion from afar when I have come to help my father. I do try to help him out when I am in town and have the chance."

"I am sorry that I have not noticed you before."

"I perfectly understand. You probably would not have recognized me from a distance anyway." He struggled to know what else to say, wanting to keep her engaged in conversation, but feeling he was probably overstepping his bounds. He finally added, "I understand your brother is improving nicely. We are all grateful to hear that."

"Yes, thank you." She suddenly remembered her surprise when she had first come out and asked, "Mr.
Bostwick
, what is this that you are all doing?"

"We are removing all these hollyhock bushes and are replacing them with those gardenia bushes."

"But those hollyhocks look perfectly fine to me. Why would you do that?"

"We are all wondering the same. Mr. Darcy asked us to do it.

"He did? He has always left the landscape and gardening decisions to your father. Why the interest now?"

"We really do not know. But he is the master, so we do what he says. The hollyhocks are perfectly good so we are going to transplant them elsewhere."

Georgiana smiled at him, and thanked him for the information. He watched her leave with a pinch of admiration in his eyes for the pretty young woman into whom she had grown.

When Georgiana entered the house, she whispered, "That is all so strange."

Durnham
walked past and heard her utterance. "What is so strange, Miss Darcy?"

"Mr.
Durnham
, my brother has ordered gardenias to replace the hollyhocks at the entrance to the house."

"Gardenias you say?" He looked surprised.

She nodded.

"Hmmm. That is very interesting."

"What is?"

"That it is gardenias. He asked me the other day to pick up some gardenia scented toilet water while I was in town. I assumed he was buying it as a gift for someone. But you know, just today, I found the bottle stuck in the back of his armoire and it had been opened. Obviously, he is not planning to give that bottle to anyone. Now if you ask me,
that
is unusual!"

Georgiana shook her head in wonder at his sudden interest in gardenias.

As a revelation came to her, her eyes widened. She had often noticed that
Elizabeth
had a fresh, floral scent about her that she believed was gardenias! The very possibility made her smile. Her brother was a romantic at heart and he most likely did not even know it! Her heart lifted and she knew now that she had to go to her brother and urge him to talk about
Elizabeth
.

Georgiana had hardly played the pianoforte for her enjoyment since her brother had the accident. Miss Annesley would oblige her to play a certain amount of time each day for practice, but she had not played solely for her own satisfaction since that time when
Elizabeth
came upon her. Today however, she felt inspired to play the pianoforte. On her way to the music room, she passed her brother in the study. She knocked on the door and peeked in to say hello. She did not tell him what she was doing, but when she left, she purposely did not close the door all the way. She went to the music room, sat down, and began playing, a song that flowed from the joy in her heart.

Somehow she knew when he appeared in the doorway. She knew not if it was a sound she heard, a reflection of movement somewhere, or possibly a scent, but she knew he was there, listening. When she finished, she asked without turning around, "Did you enjoy it?"

"I did. You know I always enjoy your playing. It was good to hear you play so passionately; it has been a while." He noticed the smile on her face that caused her whole countenance to light up and it encouraged his heart. He had not seen her thus all week.

Georgiana played a few more songs for him, as he sat in one of the chairs listening with his eyes closed. She noticed that he absentmindedly went to his pocket and drew something out. There it was!

Abruptly she stopped and he opened his eyes to find her staring at him. "What is that in your hand, Fitzwilliam?"

She was quite surprised to see a look of embarrassment cross his features. "Nothing. Just a handkerchief," he replied as he stuffed it back into his pocket.

A handkerchief! A smile came to Georgiana’s face. It did not escape Darcy’s notice. "What are you smiling about, young lady?"