“We look forward to seeing Anne?” Darcy began.“Why do you not just pronounce the vows while you are about?”
“Do you suppose Lady Catherine still expects a marriage proposal?” Edward teased.
“She has,” Darcy moaned,“thought of nothing else since Anne and I were children. My father took up the practice of allaying her ‘hopes,’ but with his death, I havenoprotection, it seems.” He shot his cousin a frustrated glance.
Edward spoke a bit too enthusiastically. “You do not wish to marry our cousin?”
“If I were to take a wife I did not love, I would want a woman whose health might withstand childbirth. An heir for Pemberley has to be one of my concerns,” Darcy was matter-of-fact.
“Anne is just suppressed by our aunt. She has good manners and money. Her attributes are many,” Edward cautioned.
Darcy could not believe Edward presented Anne as a reasonable proposition.When did Edward take up Lady Catherine’s cause?“Anne is tolerable, but her wealth and station will not tempt me to favor her when she has been previously . . .” Darcy froze with the realization he recently said something very similar about Elizabeth Bennet; he changed his mind about Elizabeth’s charms. Could Anne have charms of which he was not aware? He shook his head and said,“Never mind,” and then excused himself quickly to his chambers.
Behind the chamber door, Darcy was angry with himself for allowing Elizabeth’s memory to invade his being once again. He had not even seen her, and Darcy already had trouble ending his preference for the woman. He must master his romantic thoughts.
The first evening at Rosings passed slowly. Lady Catherine required divine attention; Darcy applied to her vanity although it vexed him most wholly to do so. His cousin Anne barely managed a greeting; the least effort seemed to drain Anne of her energies. Darcy noted she was a bit more animated when Edward plied her with humorous anecdotes of his military service. She smiled at Edward briefly for a fraction of a second.Yet, all Darcy could see was the futility of a match with his cousin. Even if affection was not a prerequisite for his marriage,Anne could not oversee Pemberley; the task would be too daunting for her.
On the morning after their arrival at Rosings, Mr. Collins presented himself to the gentlemen. Lady Catherine was making calls on some of her tenants. Collins fawned and preened as Colonel Fitzwilliam found amusing the obvious insincerity of the man.
“Do you return to the Parsonage?” Darcy asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Indeed, Sir, I do.”
“Then may my cousin and I join you? I would like to give my congratulations to Mrs. Collins, and the colonel here has not had the pleasure of meeting your wife or your cousin.”
Collins was beside himself. “You do my household a great honor, Sir. We would deem it our pleasure to share our humble abode with two gentlemen of such consequence.”
“Then it is settled,” Darcy bowed slightly. “Come, Edward, we are off to Hunsford to pay our respects.”
Edward looked at Darcy in total disbelief. Never had his cousin considered it necessary to pay his respects to anyone of such asinine tastes before—he might have shown disdain, but respect—that was out of the question. “Yes, I am looking forward to the pleasure of the acquaintance,” Edward added with some uncertainty.
The doorbell announced the three gentlemen. Collins led the way into the room, followed closely by Colonel Fitzwilliam; Darcy came last. He tried not to look directly at Elizabeth as soon as he entered the room; steadying his nerves, he took on his usual reserve and first offered compliments to Mrs. Collins, and then with an appearance of composure, which belied his actual thoughts, he likewise did the same toward Elizabeth.Their eyes locked momentarily, and he noted the usual flash of curiosity, but Elizabeth merely curtsied to him without saying a word.
Edward stepped forward saying,“Mrs. Collins and Miss Bennet, it is with great pleasure we finally meet. My cousin spoke most fondly of his time in Hertfordshire. It is nice to be able to put faces to some of his stories.”
“Did he now?” Elizabeth began, and Darcy anticipated more,but she was quickly stifled by her friend’s grasp on her arm.
Edward let the tone of her brief remark pass. “Yes, indeed,” he added quickly. “Mrs. Collins, your improvements to the Parsonage are duly noted. I never saw it look so much like a home. Do you not agree, Darcy?” he prompted.
“Yes, Mrs. Collins, the place, I find, took on new life,” he stammered. “It is as if I am seeing it for the first time.” Darcy could not recall ever being to the Parsonage before. He felt so foolish; could he not hold a conversation in the woman’s presence without guarding his every word and thought?
Edward enjoyed the humor developing out of his cousin’s presence at Hunsford. He knew Darcy never before would consider paying “respects” to Mr. Collins. He was not sure what the situation was, but he planned to find out. For right now, he continued his assessment of Darcy’s behavior, wondering why he was so anxious to come to Hunsford if he was not going to say anything once he got here. Eventually, Elizabeth Bennet interrupted these thoughts.“Come, Colonel, tell us more about you.”
Without realizing what was happening, Darcy’s agitation increased; Elizabeth gave her attentions to someone else again. He allowed himself to appear in control as he watched his cousin engage Elizabeth with his usual readiness while Darcy made small talk with Mr. and Mrs. Collins, but, try as he may, Darcy spoke very little to anyone. He could not stop staring at his cousin and Elizabeth; his response dwelled on anger, but he really had nothing of which to be angry. Elizabeth did not belong to him; she was free to choose whomever she pleased, but he did not think he could tolerate her choosing his cousin. She would then be a part ofhisfamily, but she would not belong to him. In fact, the thought of her choosing anyone else repulsed him.If Elizabeth could not be his,he started, but he could not finish the thought. The sound of soft laughter came from the corner in which Darcy watched his cousin and Elizabeth. It was that delightful gurgle of hers, which he so enjoyed. Wanting to be a part of what they were saying, he found himself moving toward them. Not sure how to begin, he offeredup the required pleasantries. “May I inquire, Miss Elizabeth, as to the health of your family?”
“My family was in health, Sir, when I left Hertfordshire,” she answered in the usual manner. “Thank you for asking.” Then he watched as a thought flashed through her eyes.“My eldest sister has been in town these three months. Have you never happened to see her there?”
Did she know his involvement with Bingley and her sister, or was she just making conversation? Either way, her words chilled Darcy to the bone. His attempt at engaging her in conversation diverted to his prejudice toward her connections. He faltered,“Regrettably, Miss Elizabeth, I did not have the good fortune as to meet Miss Bennet there.” And as quickly as he moved to speak to her, Darcy withdrew. He could not speak to her on so delicate of a subject without betraying his part in her sister’s separation from Bingley. With little else to discuss, Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam finally left for the great house.
Darcy cursed himself for getting caught up in the unknown that was Elizabeth Bennet. Being near her made him feel he was on trial; did she take such great joy in tormenting him? He nearly showed himself; he flirted with his own destiny. He vowed to be rid of Elizabeth; this was to be his test. Both his cousin and Elizabeth waited for his response. Could they read his face? He foolishly succumbed; that was decidedly brutal honesty; Darcy could not soften the truth. Hemustnot let it happen again.
He spent a week buried in the paperwork of his aunt’s estate. He passed his time sequestered from everyone else in the household and, more importantly, in the neighborhood. Mentally exhausted, he took some pride in having avoided Elizabeth. It did not mean she was not a consideration in his every choice, but he succeeded in placing some immediate distance between them.
While Darcy was busy with the estate’s business, his cousin Edward either drove out with Anne in the carriage or paid a call on the Parsonage. Neither prospect appealed to Darcy. Spending timewith his cousin would increase Lady Catherine’s desire for a marriage proposal. Spending time at the Parsonage would only prove as much as he denied his feelings for Elizabeth, his heart had its own ideas.She is not what I need in a wife.She cannot be!Yet, he knew he cared for Elizabeth as he cared for no one before.
Lady Catherine oversaw Easter Sunday services with Mr. Collins jumping around and performing like a puppet. Because society demanded it, Lady Catherine asked the Collins’s household to Rosings for tea in the evening. Darcy placed himself away from Elizabeth, but the distance could not prevent his attention being drawn toward her. He spent the last few days jealously listening to his cousin enumerate Elizabeth’s charms, desperately wanting to hear the least fragment Edward offered. Yet, whenever Edward spoke of Elizabeth, he entertained images of tossing his cousin into the nearest pigs’ sty for his obvious interest in the woman. Darcy summoned his habitual reserve, but as on the first evening at the Parsonage, Elizabeth’s presence played havoc with his emotions. He could not draw his attention away from her.
Colonel Fitzwilliam seemed really glad to see them all; anything was a welcome relief to him at Rosings.The colonel enjoyed Elizabeth Bennet’s company; she was the type of woman with whom a man could talk easily; they compared notes on Hertfordshire and on Kent; they discussed places they visited; and they considered the possibilities of new books and music.
