Chapter 1

D arcy sat in his travelling coach opposite his cousin, who was as close to being a brother as ifthey had been born of the same parents. The cousins were on their way to Kent for the annual visit to Rosings Park where they would attempt to undo some of the damage wrought by their aunt in common, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, since the previous visit.

The aforementioned cousin was Colonel the Honourable Richard Fitzwilliam of His Majesty’s Royal Dragoons. He was the second son of Lord Reginald and Lady Elaine Fitzwilliam, the Earl and Countess of Matlock, and the younger brother to Lord Andrew Fitzwilliam, Viscount Hilldale. Much to the disappointment of their parents, neither of their sons had ever shown any interest in selecting a bride. While the younger was not averse to marriage, his older brother had declared he would never enter that particular state with any of the insipid debutantes of the Ton .

“I say, William, why do you look down in the jowls, almost as if somebody shot your prize pointer?” the Colonel drawled. “Ever since your stay in the wilds of Hertfordshire, you have been far more dour than your normal cheery self. Do not think it has gone unnoticed by Anna, who I had to assure your moods have nothing to do with Ramsgate, and you have forgiven her fully.”

The Colonel was co-guardian with Fitzwilliam Darcy to Georgiana Darcy, called Anna by all who were close to her. Darcy was her much older brother. Thanks to Wickham’s manipulation, it had taken her many months to begin recovering her self-confidence, and still, almost nine months after the occurrence, it did not take much for their ward to burst into tears and retreat within herself. A new companion had been employed after her characters had been personally verified, unlike those of the faithless Mrs Younge. Mrs Annesley was a godsend, but Anna still had a long way to go in her recovery.

“Of course I have forgiven her. My disposition has nothing to do with Anna and Ramsgate,” Darcy insisted.

“How would the sprite know that?” the Colonel probed. “As you did before Ramsgate, you still try to protect Anna by withholding pertinent information. Had you not arrived two days early, how would that have worked when Anna did not know the truth about that bastard? She could have been lost to us. William, you are not protecting her sensibilities, rather, she is more vulnerable. You are making sure she is unable to make rational decisions with all relevant information.”

Knowing Richard was like a dog with a particularly meaty bone when he was seeking information, Darcy decided the best option was to tell Richard what, or rather, who, had been on his mind since he had run from Hertfordshire—an impertinent country miss with a rapier sharp wit, deep intelligence, and the most bewitching emerald-green eyes.

“I became infatuated with a wholly inappropriate country miss when I was visiting Bingley, and I have not been able to expel her from my consciousness,” Darcy confessed. If he thought that would be the end of it, he was sorely mistaken.

“Was she not the daughter of a gentleman?” the Colonel queried.

“She was,” Darcy replied tersely.

“Then you are equal. According to what you said, she is gently born, as are you. So what is the issue? Or has that improper Darcy pride raised its ugly head?” The Colonel paused. “By the by, how many months has it been since you saw this woman?”

“A little more than four months,” Darcy owned.

“Then you, my intrepid cousin, are in love with her. An infatuation would fade, and this most certainly has not.”

He chose to ignore the last, but rather Darcy addressed Richard’s prior point. “My late mother was your father’s sister, I am nephew to an earl, grandson of one, scion of a line of gentlemen stretching back to the Conqueror. For goodness sake, her mother is the daughter of a solicitor, one uncle is the local solicitor in the nearby market town, his wife is a vulgar inveterate gossip, while a second uncle is in trade and lives in Cheapside! The mother is mercenary and vulgar, pushing her five daughters at anything in trousers, and the father makes sport of his wife and daughters without checking them. Their estate is entailed to Aunt Catherine’s dunderheaded, sycophantic parson. No, Richard, we are not close to being equal.”

“And we are related to Lady Catherine who is a commoner who thinks she is a duchess. Do not get me started on mercenary. Do you think any of us are unaware the only reason she pushes that fantasy about a cradle engagement between you and Anne is for anything but avarice? They could have uncles to fill Cheapside, and they would not equal the ludicrousness of my father’s dear older sister. Or are you one of these hypocrites who excuses her behaviour because she is related to you and happens to be wealthy? Are money and connections not the basis for almost every marriage in the Ton ?”

As much as he wanted to refute his cousin’s words, Darcy could not. The only way he could was to abandon his maxim that disguise of any sort was his abhorrence. “It is irrelevant, she is married to the idiotic rector of Hunsford.”

“Did you attend her wedding?”

“No… ”

“Did you see a notice in the Times ?”

“I did not.”

“Then how do you know she is married?”

“Miss Bingley told me the lady was engaged to this Mr Collins when we departed Netherfield Park, and I am sure the mother would not allow her to refuse.”

“How do you know this? Also, last time I checked, in our society it is the father, not the mother who has the power to grant or deny requests for a daughter’s hand. And since when do you believe what Miss Bingley says? How many times have you told me that you cannot trust her to not shade the truth?”

Before he protested, Darcy remembered his comment about admiring fine eyes at Lucas Lodge, and Miss Bingley’s reaction to Miss Elizabeth from that time onward. Had he taken her at her word because it fit with his desires to stop thinking about the most handsome woman of his acquaintance? Suddenly he remembered he had been dishonest with Bingley with a lie of omission when he withheld the information about Miss Bennet calling at his house.

“I could have believed her because it fit with my desires to forget the lady,” Darcy owned. Silently he admitted his opinions of Miss Bennet’s feelings for Bingley may have been coloured by his need to separate himself from the temptation which was her younger sister.

“Does this paragon have a name?”

“Miss Elizabeth Bennet.” Darcy paused. “I have been kinder to Bingley than I have to myself.”

“Explain.”

He told his cousin of Bingley’s attachment to his latest beautiful, blonde, blue eyed, willowy angel. Darcy told all up to Sir William’s speaking of the expectations of the neighbourhood at the ball during his dance with Miss Elizabeth. “Bingley left for London on business the day after the ball. The Hursts, Miss Bingley, and I followed him thither the next day. Miss Bingley enlisted my assistance in convincing Bingley not to return and his need to break the connection to Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth’s older sister. I did so, and saved Bingley from a very unfortunate marriage.”

“And how did you achieve that end?”

“Miss Bingley concentrated on the lack of connections, no dowry to speak of, and what she determined was fortune hunting. I could not agree with her, and neither did Bingley, but what finally convinced him was when I told him the lady did not love him and would only accept him to obey her mother.”

“And how did you arrive at your infallible conclusions?”

“By observing Miss Bennet. I could detect no affection from her side, and the smiles for Bingley were the same as she gave others.”

“Just how long did you observe her in order to arrive at this conclusion?”

“For an hour or two at the ball.” Darcy no longer sounded so sure of himself. He did not enjoy it when Richard used the Socratic method on him.

“Am I to understand you were worried Bingley had formed an unfortunate alliance an hour or two after meeting the lady?” the Colonel pressed. “Even for one as capricious as Bingley that was fast.”

“Ahem. No, Bingley had known her for going on two months.”

“And you made this judgement after two hours of observation? William, you are an arrogant horse’s arse at times. Do you or do you not walk about with the inscrutable Darcy mask in place when you are in a public setting?” Darcy nodded as he tried to concentrate on the passing spring vegetation he could see from the window to which he was closest. “You must be a mind reader! What if this Miss Bennet was behaving with propriety and would not show more than was right and proper? Is it not for the man to speak? And if she had shown more than is acceptable within the rules of propriety, would you not have then condemned her for it?”

“You are reducing the honour of my triumph considerably,” Darcy whinged.

“What triumph? Bingley is a puppy who does not know his own mind. Are you telling me he gave the woman up based on yours and the harpy’s words?” Darcy gave a tight nod. “Then I have less respect for him now than I had before. Let me ask you something, William.” The Colonel did not wait for permission. “If you believed a woman was for you, would you give her up based on the word of anyone other than the lady herself?”

“No. No, I would not,” Darcy acknowledged.

“Then Bingley does not deserve this lady if he cannot follow his own inclinations.” The Colonel looked at his younger cousin for some moments, enjoying the squirming before him. “What is the true reason you were so keen to separate Bingley from his latest angel?” He saw Darcy was about to protest. “Come now, William, you have never been an effective liar, and you know I always know when one dissembles to me, so do not waste your time, or mine.”

Darcy sighed. As much as he hated disguise, trying to prevaricate to his cousin was all but impossible. “If Bingley was in Miss Bennet’s company, that would lead me to be in Miss Elizabeth’s, and I would be in danger of offering for her.”

“What are you not telling me? I can sense you are holding something back.”

“Miss Bennet was in London sometime in January, not long after Epiphany, and she called on Bingley’s sisters. They did not tell him, but they informed me, and I never mentioned anything to Bingley. ”

“So disguise is abhorrent to you except when you choose to use it?”

“There was no honour in what I did, was there?” Darcy asked a question, the answer to which he already knew. “There was something I omitted to tell you.”

The Colonel gave his cousin a quizzical look at the same time the coach slowed to indicate their arrival at the Bell in Bromley where they would refresh themselves while the team was changed. “Wickham is a member of the Derbyshire Militia; he is a Lieutenant.”

“ WHAT !” the Colonel thundered. “Why did you not inform me of his taking a commission prior to now?”

Before Darcy could reply, he was saved by the footmen opening the door.

“We will continue this conversation when we depart.” Darcy was well aware it was not a request.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

If his cousin had not been shooting him the gimlet eye, Darcy would have attempted to sleep as soon as the coachman guided his fresh team away from the inn. There was no such luck, Richard spoke at once.

“Tell me about Wickham in the army, and why I am learning about it months after the fact!” the Colonel demanded.

“Your reaction now is the exact reason I did not mention the libertine’s presence to you. You and I both know you will call him out, and then if you kill him, you would be tried as a murderer. Do you think I want that on my conscience, or to have to explain to Anna why you were to be hung?” Darcy insisted.

“If I had called him out, yes, you would have good reason to worry, but you forget I have many other ways at my disposal to punish the blackguard which do not include a duel. As a colonel in the army, I would have had him transferred to a regiment on the front lines. Not everything requires brute force, at times finesse is called for.”

For the next hour until their arrival at Rosings Park, each man was deep in thought. The Colonel was planning how he would make Wickham’s life a living hell without crossing the line into the illegal.

Darcy was seriously considering what, if anything, he would own to Bingley. Bingley was usually pliable, so Darcy did not think he would terminate the friendship. However, he had to decide if it was a chance he was willing to take. Next his mind drifted to Miss Elizabeth Bennet as her beautiful face invaded his thoughts. Regardless of what he told Bingley, what was he to do regarding Miss Elizabeth, if she was, in fact, not married to the bumbling fool his aunt had appointed to the Hunsford living.

On the one hand, he hoped she was not. On the other, if she was not, many of his notions he had arrived at about the Bennets would be overthrown. He had much about which to ponder.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

On their first day at Rosings Park, the cousins closeted themselves with the steward as they endeavoured to correct Lady Catherine’s worst errors. It was at breakfast the second day that their irascible aunt informed them she had invited those at the parsonage for dinner that evening. They were three in number including Mrs Collins’s young sister.

“Which of Mrs Collins’s sisters is coming to dinner? I understood there were four,” Darcy inquired after their aunt’s disclosure.

“Of whom do you speak? She has but one.” Lady Catherine waved her nephew’s question away. “Ahhh, you must be referring to the brainless Bennet chit who refused my rector’s proposal after her mother promised him she would accept him gladly. How her father would allow her to refuse such an eligible match, I have no idea. When that man passes away, I will instruct Mr Collins to cast the ungrateful chits into the hedgerows as soon as he arrives at his new estate. I will, of course, condescend to advise him on the best way to administer his inheritance.”

The Colonel shot his cousin an ‘ I told you so ’ look. Darcy felt relief like he had not expected to feel when it was made clear Miss Elizabeth was not married to the idiotic rector.

Next, the cousins looked at one another and fought to hide their mirth from their aunt. Miss Anne de Bourgh, the one and only child produced from the union with Sir Lewis was sitting on a settee with her heavy shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Her companion, Mrs Jenkinson, was making sure her charge was as comfortable as possible. Even though Anne never showed emotion, she was smiling at the nonsense emanating from her mother.

She no more intended to marry William than he intended to marry her. She knew that in her current state of health, there was no guarantee she would survive childbirth, and like the rest of the family, Anne was fully aware why her mother was trying to push her cousin and herself into matrimony. Her mother had her lackies check all incoming and outgoing post, hence, she had not been able to send a letter to Uncle Reggie. If she was not watched all the time, she would have sent one with her cousins when they departed.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

As Charlotte Collins, née Lucas, walked towards the manor house, next to her sister, Maria—the new Miss Lucas—she was engaged in convincing herself that she had accepted Mr Collins because not only did he have a respectable profession, a good house, and reasonable income, but he would one day be the master of Longbourn, and she its mistress.

As much as she hated to displace her friends from their home, Charlotte was well aware how much pleasure she would give her mother. Ever since the then Sarah Prenting had known Fanny Gardiner, there had been a competition in everything between them. It angered her mother when Fanny captured Thomas Bennet and surpassed her in consequence after she had married William Lucas, the owner of the mercantile in Meryton.

Lady Lucas had two things her friend did not, she had two sons and her husband was titled. Nevertheless, she always envied Longbourn which looked like a palace compared to the small manor house that was Lucas Lodge. When Lady Lucas had heard Mr Collins was the future heir of the property, she had ordered Charlotte to do whatever she needed to in order to capture Mr Collins and displace Fanny Bennet as the mistress of Longbourn one day.

She had obeyed, and now she was tied for life to the man lumbering ahead of them.