Second Glances: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Continues (Tales of Less Pride and Prejudice) (13 page)

“I do not know how you can remain so calm! Never have I been more terrified in my life, including the time we started a fire in that old barn and were nearly trapped inside.”

“It was entirely my fault,” claimed Sir James guiltily, “as was too often the case. What a terror I was!”

“You may have had the idea, but I wanted a private store of gunpowder just as much as you did. I should be thankful you saw to our exposure so early in the game, for otherwise we surely would have suffered a far worse fate than any punishment Mr. Winters could devise.”

Sir James laughed. “Poor man! I am certain he thought his position as bad as it could be, and I must fault my father for engaging so slight a tutor for two such hardy boys as we, though he did learn from his mistake when he took on Mr. Ballymore.”

Mr. Brooks shuddered, his current cares momentarily forgotten. “I can still feel the smart of that flogging he gave us the night we snuck into the village for the pantomime.”

By this time they had reached the house in Curzon Street, where they were surprised to be met at the door by Mr. Darcy. Sir James expected some degree of teasing, under the circumstances, from his friend, but the look on his face showed that he was the bearer of ill tidings. “What is wrong, Darcy?” he demanded, suddenly all anxiety. “The ladies are all well, are they not?”

“Yes, but we must speak. Won’t you gentlemen join me in my study?”

He invited them to sit down, but Sir James was too excited to remain still. “Tell me, Darcy; I know something has happened. Be quick about it,” he pled.

“I am not sure how to tell you this, James,” he began hesitating.

‘Miss Bennet is angry at me?” he asserted.

“Yes. She found out you were at Longbourn and now believes you deceptive. I spoke with her last night and there is no budging her opinion. I never knew Kitty was so much like Elizabeth,” he confessed uncomfortably. “Never were there two more stubborn ladies. Between us, we managed to convince Miss Bennet to at least give you an audience. It was the best we could do”

“So why are we closeted in the study?” Sir James questioned wearily.

Darcy leveled his gaze upon him. “I could not let you go to her unprepared. She is very angry, James, at myself and Elizabeth, too, for keeping it from her. I feared this might be the consequence of withholding knowledge of your visit from her, and I have never been more sorry to see my concerns justified.”

Mr. Brooks put his hand on Sir James’ arm. “You may convince her to change her mind yet, you know.”

“I will do my best,” he replied with a forced smile, “but it looks like you were right to chide me for overconfidence. You shall have to propose and get married on your own now, Simon.”

Mr. Brooks flushed, glancing at Mr. Darcy uncomfortably, “I did want to have a word with you on my own, sir, regarding Miss Darcy, but perhaps, under current circumstances, I had best wait until you return from Kent.”

“Nonsense!” declared Sir James. “Why are you to be punished for my foolishness? Simon is head over heels in love with Georgiana, Darcy, and he is the best of fellows, that I can assure you.”

Mr. Darcy nodded knowingly, “I do not need your reassurances, James, for I have seen the truth myself. Mr. Brooks, you’ll find the ladies in the parlor. Tell Mrs. Darcy I said you might speak with my sister alone.”

Mr. Brooks bowed and offered Darcy his hand, which was shaken warmly, before departing to confront his fate.

“Why do you not stay here, James,” said Mr. Darcy as he rose. “I will bring Miss Bennet to you.”

“I appreciate all you have done on my behalf, Darcy.”

He shook his head sadly, “I suppose it was not meant to be. You know I was looking forward to having you in the family.”

“Do not think you have quite gotten rid of me yet,” he declared with a slight smirk. “You know I do not give up so easily.”

Darcy patted him on the back. “Good luck.”

Kitty entered as white as the painted moldings. Her eyes were red from a night of shedding tears, and Sir James had to hold himself back from folding her into his arms. Instead he quipped, “You are not dressed for riding.”

“I am afraid I cannot accompany you today, Sir James,” she said stiffly. “Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience you have incurred.”

“If you must dismiss me, Miss Bennet, I do hope you will do so plainly and not hide behind formality,” he said gently, and she looked up to see the pain in his eyes. For a moment she wavered, not wanting to let him go from her life, but then she remembered her purpose.

“I have learned that you introduced yourself to my parents without my knowledge, Sir James, and colluded with them to determine my fate,” she said steadily. “I do hope you and my father enjoyed your laughter at my expense, but as I do not wish to provide such entertainment, it is best we do not continue to enjoy each other’s company in the future.”

“Is that what you think we did?” he exclaimed, a bit relieved. “I assure you it was nothing of the sort. We only did not tell you of my visit there because your father did not want you to feel any undue pressure on the subject. I should never have gone there, I see that now, but we should not let one such mistake spoil our happiness. Please Miss Bennet – Kitty – forgive me. I want nothing more than to marry you!”

“And I assure you, sir,” she said, emotion now quavering in her voice, “that I have seen what an unequal marriage looks like, and it is not the kind of life I wish to lead. Please!” an upheld hand stifled those impassioned words which might have changed the outcome, “I can say no more on the subject. Accept my apologies if I have caused you any undue pain,” and she fled the room, leaving a shattered Sir James behind her.

--

Other occasions prove more theatrically satisfying. One might suppose the engagement of Miss Darcy to Mr. Brooks to be a simple affair, as everyone who had the slightest interest in the matter had long predicted it, but it proved more complex and fueled with tension than anyone could have guessed. Mr. Brooks found himself alone with Miss Darcy, her loving gaze bolstering his confidence. He spoke with simple elegance: “My darling Miss Darcy, you know what I wish to say, do you not? Never have I so admired any lady as I do you. Please say you will make me the happiest of men, and I will spend all my days striving to return the favor.”

“Oh! My dear Mr. Brooks! I am so sorry, but it is not possible. Not now,” she replied.

Her aspect was so calm that he thought he must have misheard her, but seeking clarity in her eyes, he saw the truth. “You are rejecting me?” he confirmed, his voice thick with his heart, which seemed to have lodged itself there.

“I cannot accept you right now, and so I must.”

He blinked at her. “Miss Darcy, I think an explanation is necessary.”

“Certainly, Mr. Brooks. I knew you would want to discuss this rationally. It is one of the many qualities I so admire in you.”

This made him feel stronger.

“You see, it is the timing that I object to, not the proposal. How can I celebrate my own happiness when the very act must be heartrending to my dear Miss Bennet?” A deep breath steadied her self-command. “I understand that I may never be so fortunate to receive another proposal from you, Mr. Brooks. In acting as I do, I severe any obligation you might be considered to owe me, but I do hope you will be so kind as to ask me again, in happier times, for I should very much like to be your wife.”

All organs restored to their rightful locations, Mr. Brooks laughed merrily and grasped her hand, “Miss Darcy! I would ask you again and again – one thousand times over, if necessary – if that is what you require.”

She blushed and smiled, her relieved happiness abundantly evident. “It seems wrong to enjoy ourselves, does it not? I am so distressed by this turn of events. Sir James should not have acted as he did, but I did hope Kitty would relent!”

“She might yet!” he insisted as they found seats on the sofa, hands still clasped. “Sir James is very persuasive, you know. Besides, Miss Bennet told me how distasteful she found Mr. Collins. Perhaps she will look upon James more favorably following a week in his company?”

Georgiana laughed softly while shaking her head. “No. She is intractable. You cannot know how devastated she is. You agree it would be impossible to solidify our understanding while our friends our in the depths of despair?”

He smiled. “The timing is momentarily awkward, but I would not give up on James quite yet. When Miss Bennet returns from Kent, Sir James will try again.”

She looked wary. “I really think he had better keep his distance. A gentleman must know when to desist after firm rejection, lest he make himself a nuisance.”

“My dear Miss Darcy! You know as well I do that he is the best fellow in the world. Surely Miss Bennet will change her mind.”

“She feels he cannot be trusted, and you must admit that he has given her ample reason. It is all so silly! What in the world possessed him to introduce himself at Longbourn?”

Mr. Brooks sighed. “Do not waste time trying to comprehend the actions of Sir James Stratton. I have wasted too many years in that futile endeavor.”

“I have tried to convince Kitty otherwise, but she is determined to relinquish him, though she loves him quite dearly, you know. This is all terribly painful to her!”

“Then she should not reject him. They love each other and have ample means: everything that promises perfect happiness and contentment. Who would willingly relinquish such opportunity? Why forsake good fortune?”

“A happy marriage is not based on love and money alone,” Georgiana said in a tone of admonition, dropping Simon’s hand and folding her own in her lap. “Without a foundation of trust, even the strongest love would be hard pressed to survive.”

“You are loyal to your friend, as I am to mine. We mustn’t quarrel over this, you know.”

“Of course not,” she agreed readily. “Though they cannot find happiness together, with time they both may do so elsewhere.”

He shook his head, unwilling to give up hope. “You must allow me to wish that they do make amends soon, for I do not like to think what will happen to James otherwise.”

“I will say nothing further to dash your optimism,” she vowed in a tone thick with pessimism.

“Come now, Miss Darcy!” he declared in frustration. “You must admit that their marriage would be the best thing for both, as well as all their connections! We should do all we can to secure a happier conclusion to the affair than that which Miss Bennet has so foolishly insisted upon!”

“I admit to nothing of the sort!” her voice rose with her, as she relinquished her seat. “You are quick to call a woman’s reservations foolishness, yet when I confessed my own just a few minutes hence, you acceded to them readily, just as you ought! If you wish to provide assistance, you might offer Sir James a few lessons in gentlemanly comportment!”

“Very well then!” he replied tersely, struggling to suppress his anger. “I have your answer to my proposal, and there seems little else to be said. You return from Kent in a sennight, correct?”

“So I am told!”

“Then I had best mind my manners and not overstay my fifteen minutes. I am sure you have much to do before your journey,” and instead of the intimate farewell they might have opportunistically seized, the young lovers parted in irritation. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy watched Mr. Brooks storm away with foreboding. All seemed in order for a perfectly wretched ride to Rosings.

Unfortunately, even in the course of lives most blessed, troubles will come in clusters. Wednesday dawned gray and damp: a colorless expression of the atmosphere in Curzon Street. Elizabeth rose feeling the ill-effects of her condition for the very first time. She tried to consume her breakfast as she and Mr. Darcy attended to the mail, but the dower expressions on both Kitty and Georgiana’s faces did little to render her appetite anything but dismal.

“John Lucas is courting Miss King,” she commented, hoping to distract Kitty. “It is all Charlotte writes of, so disturbing is the notion to her. She and Mary have never gotten along very well. It is a good match, according to the world, for he has a small estate and she has a small fortune: just the kind of thing for everyone to rejoice in it, excepting a dependent sister. Poor Charlotte!”

“Mary King is an odious girl. She once stole my doll,” was all the reply she received for her efforts, and so she lapsed into silence, dwelling gloomily on the ordeal ahead. So occupied was she with negativity that Mr. Darcy’s increasingly gaunt aspect almost went unnoticed. When finally perceived, she was taken aback by the severity of his face.

“Fitzwilliam!” she exclaimed in surprise. “Whatever is amiss?”

He looked up at her sorrowfully, silently handed her a letter, and left the room.

“What is it, Lizzy?” questioned Kitty, suddenly alert at the most inconvenient time. She watched her sister stare at the paper in her hand.

“Nothing at all,” came the quiet reply. “The Bingleys have left town unexpectedly. Some business called them away. We will miss them very much. Do finish quickly, girls. We need to be on our way within the hour. Excuse me.” Elizabeth left the room, abandoning her barely touched plate, and sought her husband in his study, where she knew she should find him.