One Thread Pulled: The Dance With Mr. Darcy (74 page)

“The wife of Mr. Darcy will most certainly draw attention.” Mr. Bennet said. “Elizabeth should taste the life she has agreed to before she is committed to it through sacred vows, uttered before both God and man. I would not have her jilt you, but neither would I have her enter into such a married state as you offer blindly, not when the lifelong happiness of a most beloved daughter is at stake.”

“What do you propose? How is this understanding to be gained?” Darcy gritted his teeth. “Are you denying your consent?”

“Calm yourself, Mr. Darcy! I grant my consent, of course I do, but I must impose conditions.” Mr. Bennet poured himself some more port.

Darcy exhaled loudly and pressed his hand over his heart-pocket before proceeding. “Name your conditions, sir.”

Mr. Bennet nodded. “After Jane's wedding, Elizabeth will return with her aunt and uncle to London and spend one season in town. There, she shall attend balls and soirees as arranged by her aunt and uncle. I advise you to arrange for invitations from those of your circle, as well, if you are serious about introducing her to that society. If she still desires to marry you at the end of the season in June, the wedding may proceed with no further impediment.”

“Why such a delay?” Darcy demanded. “If it is a merely a London season you wish for her, she may spend the season in far better style as a married woman than as an engaged one. What you ask is unreasonable, sir. An engagement of six weeks would suffice, but six months? This cannot be justified as a rational course, Mr. Bennet. It is unwise.”

“You claim your own course is rational, Mr. Darcy, yet you fail to see the folly in it. I could not bear to see Elizabeth caught in a marriage where she was unhappy. Your ability to support her—even, I daresay, provide her with a life far above the one to which she was born is not in question. Her contentment in the world to which she would be relegated, however, is not so certain.”

“I will devote myself to her happiness; of this you may be assured.” Darcy said stiffly.

“I can well believe it of you, but I must insist. There is one additional aspect of this condition we have not yet discussed, and that is the matter of secrecy.”

“Our engagement will be publicly acknowledged, on this point I will not bend.”

“We are in agreement on that point, at least. I would not condone a secret engagement. She will be introduced into society as your betrothed—no one in society will know that it is conditional upon her desire following the season ... not even, Elizabeth.”

“You would require me to keep the nature of your consent a secret from her? Such a beginning cannot be wise, Mr. Bennet.” Darcy objected. “I wish for our marriage to be laid in a foundation of mutual trust. To withhold this information is a betrayal from the very start. Can I not persuade you against the condition? I will agree to withhold the disclosure of this stipulation from the ears of the world, but Elizabeth, at least, should know of it.”

“I would not burden her enjoyment of the season with the weight of such a decision. I am resolved that she is not to know and insist on your cooperation in this. In June, I will visit with her, and if she is content to move forward, you may proceed with whatever haste you deem appropriate. If, however, she harbors doubts—as she well may, they must be resolved or my consent shall be withdrawn.”

“Mr. Bennet, this is most irregular!” Darcy said with a frown and began pacing the small expanse of floor available. “I mean no disrespect, sir, but I must inquire as to your reasoning. You will allow Bingley to marry Miss Bennet nearly the very moment the reading of the banns is complete, yet you impose this unhappy wait on us? It is unjust, sir, to treat your daughters so differently!”

“The justice of my decision is not open for debate, nor is it subject to negotiation. My mind is made up.” Mr. Bennet raised a brow at Mr. Darcy, as if daring him to object further. “Elizabeth shall have a season.”

“I might point out, sir, that the primary motive for a young lady to have a season in London is to secure a match from among the eligible bachelors present.” Darcy stopped his incessant march to and fro across the study and glared at Mr. Bennet. “This motive can no longer apply to Miss Elizabeth upon her engagement to me!”

Mr. Bennet peered at Darcy over his glasses. “Perhaps not.” He removed his glasses and set them on the desk. “Of course, you realize that the season consists of more than this. London is a source of extraordinary diversions. With the theater and opera, in addition to the balls and opportunities to dine, any young person would desire the chance to partake of these delights before they settled into married life, but this is not the reason I insist on this. It is the society that concerns me. Mr. Darcy, I understand that you have personally gained a degree of favor in the
 
ton
, a position that is highly envied by some whose status is above even your own. The expectations imposed on one who moves in those circles are nearly tyrannical when compared to what Elizabeth has experienced in Hertfordshire. Surely you realize that she will never be accepted of her own accord in that society. Her manners will matter not. With no dowry or so much as one worthy connection to her name, she will be ostracized by those who will see an alliance with you as ascension to a higher sphere than that to which she was born. She must see that sphere for what it is.”

Darcy replied softly. “Mr. Bennet, we would spend the majority of the year at Pemberley, not in London. Her association with that society will be insignificant.”

“Can you deny that she will encounter scorn among those in your circle? From the mothers who have pined to call you their own son to their daughters who have preened and primped for your benefit? Elizabeth will be the one who dashed their dearest hopes, which will not endear her among them, you may be sure! In the event of a hasty marriage, there will forever be whispers of scandal, rumors that my daughter used her feminine wiles to capture you! No, I could not bear for her name to be so tainted. Although it be false, it will not matter.” Mr. Bennet replaced his glasses. “A season will reveal to her the nature of her anticipated associations. She may then make an informed decision.”

Darcy sighed, concern creasing his brow. “You do not think she will be happy in such a marriage as I offer?”

“Elizabeth is accustomed to being
 
liked
 
Mr. Darcy. Indeed, in Hertfordshire she is admired and respected wherever she goes. While she may display a remarkable resiliency in the face of intimidation, to be slighted is another matter entirely, particularly if the insult is undeserved. It is your good fortune that you never gave her offense—she may have never overcome it.”

“Of course she is liked. Who upon knowing her could withhold their good opinion?” Darcy smiled at the thought of his own determination to resist her charms. “She shall be a triumph in London, Mr. Bennet, of that you may be certain.” Darcy smiled at the father of his bride-to-be. “It is said that a June wedding is fortuitous, smiled on by the mythical goddess of marriage, Juno. Of course, I am no worshiper of the Roman gods—merely a student of the legends. It is but a small consolation; however, I shall console myself with the idea. We shall marry in June, upon the satisfaction of your condition. I must however, insist on a condition of my own.”

“Do you?” Mr. Bennet's brows shot up in surprise. “What would that be?”

“While her wit and vivacity will shine as brilliantly as any among the
 
ton
, her wardrobe is dreadfully lacking for such a venture as you prescribe. If my intended is to be paraded before
 
le bon ton,
 
I insist that she be attired in clothing befitting her station as my betrothed. Consider it as her armor against the arrows of the opposition. I shall provide
you
the funds to do it. In this way, there is no question of the propriety of her outfitting, as it shall be her father who pays for her fashionable purchases in the eyes of the world.”

“Mr. Darcy, I ...” Mr. Bennet spluttered.

“I know—she will not like it, particularly as she will believe it is through your sacrifice that she is extravagantly clothed,” Darcy acknowledged grimly. “But, it cannot be helped. Her introduction to that society will be measured in large part by first impressions. You, sir, are an observer of persons—surely you cannot doubt the truth in what I say. Miss Elizabeth will find no possibility of acceptance in those elite circles unless she is presented as an equal. By your decree, she is to decide whether she can be happy in those circumstances. Dressed as a country maid, she will certainly be rejected before they can truly know her. Dressed as their equal in wealth and circumstance, her natural graciousness and charm will sweep her into the very bosom of that society without impediment. If she decides against it then, at least I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that it was not simply for want of a suitable frock.”

“Mr. Darcy, I have five daughters. I can hardly dress Lizzy as a peacock while the others are as drab as peahens. My wife....”

“I suppose such a disparity would hardly inspire sisterly affection.” Darcy pondered. “I shall include sufficient funds that your other daughters and even your wife may find additional fabrics and ribbons and lace at their disposal. This will have to suffice, as any more would raise suspicion as to the source.”

“I do not know how you did it,” Mr. Bennet muttered, glaring with some resentment at Mr. Darcy. “I had devised a plan that would expose the folly of this match to Lizzy, and now I am astonished, sir, to find that due to your designs on her, I shall be obliged to endure the subject of
 
lace
 
in perpetuity instead. This is a cruel blow to my peace of mind, but I suppose I must endure it, as I have no means of escape other than the closed door of this study.”

Mr. Darcy extended his hand to Mr. Bennet, who reluctantly grasped it, and they agreed to the terms with a handshake first, but then Mr. Bennet presented Mr. Darcy with the cup of port that had been poured earlier, but which had gone untouched until then. Darcy nodded, and the two men raised their cups and downed the port to seal their contract. Upon the completion of this rite, Mr. Bennet set his cup heavily on the desk and spoke grimly. “On your way out, please send Lizzy in to see me, Mr. Darcy. I wish to speak with my daughter.”

~*~

Mr. Darcy's exit from the study was an event of which the entire household was aware. Elizabeth stood just outside the door, anxiously waiting Mr. Darcy's return from her father's den. Her mother had joined her in the hallway shortly after Darcy had entered, and within a few short minutes, the assembly included the remainder of her sisters, Mr. and Mrs. Hill, the cook and the lady’s maid.

Upon his entrance into the hall, he exclaimed, “I had not expected to run the gauntlet today. Visiting Mr. Bennet was quite enough!” This declaration dispersed the occupants of the crowded hallway, except for Elizabeth and Mrs. Bennet. “Miss Elizabeth, your father has requested your presence in his study.” He bowed to her slightly as she searched his face for some indication of his success, but, instead, she encountered a look of firm resolve not to give his emotion away.

Elizabeth's eyes danced at the challenge of discerning. “Mr. Darcy, my father has requested my presence, and I will go to him, but I must know—do I go to him as one engaged, or shall I face him with disappointed hopes?” She tilted her head and arched a brow, her lips pursed in expectation of the answer.

“You are engaged,” Darcy nodded, as Mrs. Bennet gave a little shriek and ran into the drawing room.

Elizabeth and Darcy could hear her announcing their news to her sisters, and Elizabeth smiled indulgently down the hallway in the direction of the drawing room before she turned her countenance, her eyes lit with delight, on Mr. Darcy. “That is very good news.”

Darcy's expression thawed at the evidence of his beloved's pleasure in her circumstance and a gentle smile crossed his lips. It was with this impression that Elizabeth turned and made her way to her father's study.

~*~

Elizabeth had suspected that her father did not look on a match with Mr. Darcy favorably, an attitude that she failed to understand, so the frown that creased his brow when she next encountered him was no source of astonishment. Yet she found herself inexplicably saddened by this proof of his displeasure in her engagement. In the face of the intimidating prospect of the interview with her father, she braced herself and raised her chin in what he would recognize as a distinctly defiant attitude.

“Elizabeth, are you out of your mind to be accepting this man?” Mr. Bennet began. “He is rich, to be sure, and although your mother has most efficiently driven the importance of wealth into all of my daughter's heads, I have always believed you to have more sense than the other four put together. It is too hard, too hard by far, for me to see you, my dearest Lizzy, subjected to a marriage where you cannot be happy. How has this happened? Has he imposed himself on you?”