Mr. Darcy's Decision: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Read online

  My communication herein prompts you to perhaps look for those little signs, which young ladies are often ill-qualified to conceal, of an attachment.The young man in question has had the pleasure of your acquaintance and calls himself Mr. Robert Price. My sense of better judgment prevents me from confiding in you any personal sentiments about the gentleman, but my sense of loyalty to the de Bourgh name compels me to again warn you of a romantic involvement, which may, if I am correct in my suppositions, be to your own disadvantage. May I just add at this juncture that you must now, on receipt of this letter, realize that despite the unpleasant little incidents that are now passed I retain a genuine, dare I say, worshipful respect of your ladyship’s excellence.

  Yours Sincerely,

  William Collins

  CHAPTER 24

  “Why, if he came only to be silent, grave, and indifferent,” said she, “did he come at all?’”

  Although she had not been fond of him, Elizabeth was grieved to hear that Mr. Hurst had passed away.

  “Poor Louisa,” she said to Darcy. “Poor Jane! Imagine Netherfield in mourning and everyone in weeds.”

  “While my sympathies are with Jane, for all she will have to endure, I rely on you, Elizabeth, you know the form, send our regrets to the widow and the rest of the family,” Darcy said.“I am for town on business this afternoon, I expect to be a few days at least.”

  With only this terse statement Darcy left her. How she yearned for the return of his warmth and his affectionate manner. He seemed to her so consumed with anxiety. How she longed for the approval in his gaze, the tenderness behind his firm touch, his breath on her neck. Oh ruinous imagination!

  That he should return to her thus seemed at once a distant fantasy, a girlish dream made up of impossibilities, the more sensual her instincts the further the dream removed itself from reality. His recent address, so concise, bore no resemblance to the passion she had known and inspired in him.Where was his responsiveness? The detachment that now replaced it tore her heart to shreds. For his kiss, a thousand fortunes she would have paid, for that look of desire, so particular to him, she would have laid down her life.What rapture it was for Elizabeth to recall all this, and in that moment she was satiated by having the knowledge, by memory at least, of his appetite, of the unbridled want he was now restraining.

  More still, her doubts were surfacing; the troubles with Lydia and Wickham must surely be viewed by Darcy as proof of the inequality of their own marriage, of her inferiority in breeding, connections, and fortune.All this she had considered inconsequential, yet now she felt on the threshold of owning defeat. One kiss could rally her spirits and set her up again to fight the battles she was facing.Was he regretful? How hard it was to read him. Painfully she recalled the words he had spoken to her on his first proposing. Oh, how clearly she could see their application now. How clouded her judgment then.The hurt she had suffered when he said, “Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections? To congratulate myself on the hope of relations, whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own?” Oh the bitter thought. But I am beneath him, thought she, we are not yet a year married and see how much he has endured for the sake of me. From passion to regret her heart lurched, the way to appease him eluded her. Turning her mind to practicalities, she took to the task of writing a small card to Netherfield but she felt ashamed that whilst expressing the expected sympathy she harbored more than a small measure of guilt at her own selfishness. “I fear this will prevent Jane’s coming, and I long for her to be here.”

  Mr. Drummond had called with regularity at Pemberley to visit both expectant mothers and had most recently declared Mrs. Wickham to be in sound health and Mrs. Darcy fatigued and frail.

  “Be careful, my dear,” he advised,“now is a time for rest. I know you are a strong and active sort of young lady but with only a week to wait it would be foolish in the extreme to take risks.”

  Elizabeth sighed. “Strong and active?” she asked, for she felt in every way dissimilar to the description.“I cannot imagine I appear so now.”

  “You are a little pale, my dear, take fresh air by way of the window, but the walks must cease,” he warned sternly.“I shall speak to Darcy about it.”

  “You spoil all chance of disobedience on my part, Mr. Drummond,” said Elizabeth playfully.

  The old man regarded her fondly and took her hand. “Your husband loves you, child, he is naturally protective, rejoice in it, I have seen many a man less caring.You have what you deserve in Fitzwilliam.”

  “Indeed I have,” said Elizabeth thoughtfully.

  When her husband’s trunks had been put in the carriage ready for his leaving, Darcy came to bid his wife farewell.

  “I shall hate it with you gone,” she said.“I need you, the child is so near now.”

  Darcy held her hand and looked into her eyes, she searched his for signs of ardor but found only a look of resolve that was in no way equal to the affection she sought.

  “I intend to return shortly, Elizabeth,” he vowed. “I shall be here, depend upon it, until then you have Mrs. Quinn, she would sooner let a rat near a birthing mother as a husband, you know her starched notions.”

  Elizabeth managed to laugh. “Oh yes, if Mrs. Quinn has her way I shall never see you again.”

  He kissed her more tenderly than she had anticipated and within a few moments she was watching as the carriage drew away to take him to town.“How he must suffer,” she said quietly, not far from tears.

  Had they known it Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr. Hanworth would have gained some diversion from the knowledge that both were eager to propose to their loved ones but both determined to wait until Elizabeth and Darcy had their child safely delivered and started in life. In delaying thus, both men’s affections were increased, affirmed, and heightened.

  So near to delivering herself, Lydia was moved back from the cottage and into her rooms at Pemberley though with reluctance. “I was quite happy where I was, it only vexes me to be so in the middle of things I cannot enjoy.”

  How swiftly spread ill feeling is. Lady Catherine, now in receipt of Mr. Collins’s letter, had taken his allusions most seriously and began, without due subtlety, to make an investigation into Mary’s intentions.

  “So, you quite relish that young clerk’s company, Mary?” she asked with disapproval.

  Mary, although mindful not to give undue emphasis to her inner feelings of delight, could not contrive to control her smile. “He does seem a pleasant gentleman,” said she in elation. It was rare for Mary’s outward appearance to be altered by internal felicity. It has, however, long been acknowledged that expressions of joy worn on a face so unaccustomed to them have the effect of rendering the features almost unrecognizable.The marks of happiness, the smiles, the brightness of the eyes, and the natural glow of the complexion make beauty easily found in the plainest of women. For how much more pleasing unexpected loveliness is!

  Lady Catherine observed the glow of Mary’s cheek, never had she seen so rosy a threat. She remarked coldly, “Mr. Price may well be pleasant, my dear, but do you plan an engagement? Has he made any offer to you?”

  Mary could not hide her embarrassment. “No, madam, he has not, I am afraid I do not understand where your questions lead to.”

  Lady Catherine narrowed her eyes and looked at Mary.“When I first agreed to your position here I thought I made myself quite clear about proper behavior.You do recall, I hope, that I outlined to you my dislike of flirtatious young women.”

  Mary nodded and remained silent.

  “Then can you assure me,” urged Lady Catherine bitterly,“that I am not to have the misfortune of seeing you stoop so low as your sisters have? I would be most put out.”

  “But I am not engaged, ma’am, and should I be so I would have expected your blessing, marriage is a sanctified union recognized by the church and in the eyes of God.”

  “Yes, yes,” said Lady Catherine, “but it will not do. It would be most inappropria
te... for Anne!”

  Mary was at once disturbed by Lady Catherine’s harsh tone of disapproval but felt flattered and hopeful about the possibility of marriage. But what had inspired Lady Catherine to assume an engagement? Robert Price had been attentive during his visits but they had not spent much time in each other’s company and now he was gone back into Hertfordshire. He had made a promise of writing but Mary had, as yet, received no word from him. She wrote again to Mr. Collins, this time expressing her concerns about the possibility of losing Lady Catherine’s patronage.

  By the time her letter reached him her concerns were over, she had heard again from Robert Price and this communication so enraged Lady Catherine that the girl was sent immediately back to Meryton. Mrs. Jenkinson once more took to the task of being companion to both Lady Catherine and her daughter and tranquility resumed, there was no possibility of the former’s loyalties being shaken by love and her employer considered this fact with great satisfaction.

  Rational consideration of the indignity of her dismissal would have been mortification indeed for Mary, but her purpose was all lost! Lady Catherine, in the full belief that deprivation of her approval was the greatest tragedy any soul could endure, addressed Mary coldly. “I never expected you to betray us, Mary Bennet, I confess to being shocked but perhaps I should not be so. I had high hopes for you! I gave you the opportunity to prove yourself above your family and despite my generosity and kindness you have forsaken good sense and deceived me. You have done little more than to prove to me that you have the Bennet traits, the worst of them, in full measure. Believe me, young lady, they will be your downfall.To think,” she lamented, “that I allowed poor Anne proximity to such a girl!”

  With delightful sensations of liberation, Mary departed from Rosings Park, from its fireplaces, from its grandeur, and from its inhabitants. It was only Anne who felt the loss of Mary and it was only Anne who mourned losing her.

  A little humbleness must come upon a girl who finds herself obliged, for any number of reasons, to return to her parents having left them, but the subtleties of submissive, conciliatory behavior that such a girl might be advised to display, might be overlooked if one or the other of the parents are not inclined to observe them. Mrs. Bennet made a great deal of her daughter’s return and Mr. Bennet sought to tease. “So, you have upset Lady Catherine eh?” he said. “Well done, Mary, I would have believed it of your other sisters but never of you.You were always so intent on being good, I daresay now you will be more inclined to mischief!”

  His wife could not approve her husband’s suggestion. “Oh, Mr. Bennet, that is just like you to praise her for troublemaking,” cried she.

  “I did not make trouble, mama,” Mary protested.

  Mrs. Bennet shook her head. “Well Lady Catherine seems to think you did, not that I like the woman myself. No indeed, I find her most disagreeable,” and quite forgetting Lady Catherine she leveled at Mary,“So, Robert Price has taken a fancy to you, has he?”

  Mr. Bennet frowned. “Take heed! This young man’s fancy for Mary may have been induced by nothing more than her having been the only girl in Kent, now he is back in Hertfordshire he may be inclined to desert her. Pray, Mrs. Bennet, do not marry Mary off before there is at least some certainty in the situation.”

  Mrs. Bennet looked at her husband with exasperation.“You do not know me at all, as if I would be prone to such rashness.You think me hasty, do you?”

  “No, no, my dear,” said her husband,“but let us look back over the previous year. I daresay you have forgotten what the expectation of our other girls’ nuptials did to your infamous nerves.”

  “Oh! Mr. Bennet, you do not fool me with your concern for my poor health, I believe you think only of yourself and fear the expense of a wedding.” She looked at Mary. “You see, your father would have you die an old maid to keep the extra pounds in his purse, that is his selfish nature for you.”

  “You are quite wrong, my dear,” said Mr. Bennet. “I would be more than happy to see our little Mary married. Sillier girls have managed it before her, whoever the fellow may be he will be warmly welcomed here.”

  Mrs. Bennet became angrier.“Whoever he may be? What kind of talk is this? You know very well that he is Robert Price, my brother’s clerk.You speak as if Mary had a queue of gentlemen to choose from. No indeed, Robert Price will do just right for Mary.”

  “I daresay he will and being in the enviable position of having no competitors, he will be confident, in recommending himself, of acceptance,” said Mr. Bennet. “And you know both of them are rarely without their noses in a book. Neither are they handsome enough between them to invite unwanted attention, I should say it would be a perfect alliance.”

  Mrs. Bennet insisted on continuing the conversation although no formal offer or proposal had yet been made.This did not deter her. By tea time she had informed Mary that silk would be most suitable for a wedding dress although much depended on what time of year she married, in which case some of the finer cottons and muslins would be perfectly acceptable.“But I suggest, my dear, that you marry sooner rather than later, grasp the opportunity Mary, for you are unlikely to get another.”

  “I have had no proposal, mama,” pleaded Mary.

  “I am never wrong about these things, Mary, trust me,” said Mrs. Bennet. “Oh, to think I should return from the lakes to find you in all this state, I do not know how I cope.”

  By the following afternoon, Mr. Price had indeed called at Longbourn to seek an address with Mary.With what trepidation did the young man approach Longbourn. He was there, at the door, smoothing his hair and straightening his waistcoat by eleven o’clock.

  “See if I am not right, Mr. Bennet,” said Mrs. Bennet knowingly, when a good while had passed. “They have been in the drawing room for a full half an hour.You wait, if he is not in your library asking for her hand in five minutes I shall retire to my bed forever.”

  Mr. Bennet smiled.“Then I hope, my dear, that he has called to comment on the fine weather we are having for this time of year and makes no more of the occasion than that.”

  “Oh, Mr. Bennet, you cannot vex me with your silly jokes, they are not in the least funny.”

  “Well, my dear, I am sorry you feel that way, but you do not discourage me, for I make sport for my own amusement and in that sense it serves me very well.”

  Mrs. Bennet ignored her husband and went to the library door. “Ssh!” said she.“He is coming, I hear him.” She opened the door to leave but turned back again to her husband and said in a harsh whisper,“No jokes, Mr. Bennet, you do not want to put the young man off, if you do we may never get Mary settled.”

  Mrs. Bennet then went to sit with her daughter in the drawing room, while Mr. Bennet welcomed Mr. Price into his library. In a great state of excitement Mrs. Bennet instructed Hill to make some alterations for the evening’s table. “For although it may seem presumptuous, I think we shall have one extra. Oh, hang it all!” she cried on glancing at the mantle clock, “we are too late to think of that leg of mutton! Still, Mr. Price is not so high that he will not be grateful for a piece of pie.” She caught Mary’s eye. “There is no need to look at me like that, Mary, the pie will do very nicely, this is not Mr. Darcy we are entertaining. I see no need to worry over the quality of the wine! I keep as good a table as the next person, better I daresay, and without the advantage of a French chef.”

  Mary, who could have eased her mother’s suffering by confiding that Mr. Price had proposed and was indeed requesting her father’s consent, elected to say nothing.

  By dinnertime Mrs. Bennet could no longer have any doubts and she made no delay in telling Mr. Price how delighted she was at the news. Nor was she reticent about expressing her hopes for another of her daughters.

  “Kitty next, Mr. Bennet, I flatter myself that not a single one of my daughters will end an old maid.”

  “You could be right, Mrs. Bennet, and what intricate plan do you have laid out for our Catherine?”

  Mrs.
Bennet, although eager to rebuke her husband, turned instead to Mr. Price and made a great display of laughing the matter off. “You will forgive my husband, Mr. Price, he has a curious preference for absurd comments, he would have you think me calculating. Indeed he would! However, the joke prompts me to ask if you do have any brothers, Mr. Price.”

  The young man could not give a reply before Mr. Bennet had intervened. “Mrs. Bennet will never be easy until she has rid us of Kitty as well, I hope you will not disappoint my wife by being an only son?” he said.

  “Sadly I think I shall, I have three sisters only,” said Mr. Price.

  “Oh what a shame,” said Mrs. Bennet. “Never mind, all is not lost, I may make a little suggestion to Lizzy, when I write with this news, that she take on the assignment of introducing Kitty to some suitable gentleman whilst she is in Derbyshire.”

  Robert Price greeted Mary’s offer to play with enthusiasm and turned pages for her.