An Unknown Quantity of a Girl

a Jane Austen fan fiction vignette

by Lucy

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"Yes, Miss Bennet, interest; for do not expect to be noticed by his family or friends, if you wilfully act against the inclinations of all. You will be censured, slighted, and despised, by every one connected with him. Your alliance will be a disgrace; your name will never even be mentioned by any of us.”

Jane Austen

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Darcy marries Elizabeth against his family's wishes, but Colonel Fitzwilliam is determined to support his cousin, while Darcy is confident that Elizabeth will, with time, win their esteem.

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Dinner in the lion's den

"Richard," the Earl intoned impatiently as he awaited the arrival of his first guests, "it has occurred to me. This Mrs. Darcy, she is not one of those simpering kinds, is she?"

"Oh no," the Colonel laughed, "not at all the simpering kind. Whatever made you believe that?"

"As I was dressing the thought was born that Darcy can be such a demanding fellow. I wondered if he would want a simpering sort to always have his way." The Colonel only laughed again. "She is not garishly bold either I hope."

"She is neither an Amazon nor a fainting flower. Why such impatience, father? They shall arrive shortly and all your questions will be answered of themselves."

The Earl and Lady Maria, much to Darcy's chagrin, had not been inclined to make the acquaintance of the now one month since Mrs. Darcy in an intimate family setting. Instead they had merely included the Darcys as one more set of guests at a moderately large dinner party. There would be no shunning, nor were there to be special attentions. While it is true that prior to his marriage Darcy, accompanied by his sister, would have most certainly dined with the Earl and Lady Maria with some regularity while both family parties resided in Town, it is also true that Lady Maria's recent indisposition made the absence of such invitations not wholly unusual. Indeed, Darcy had long been on good terms with his aunt and uncle and it is not perhaps too much to suppose that the Earl and Lady Maria, in particular, had some unwillingly felt remorse at the unhappy words exchanged with their nephew upon the announcement of his engagement, and so perhaps they had wished to avoid the possible awkwardness of an intimate family setting. Whatever the case, the Colonel suspected Darcy's irritation with the arrangement was why he was so unaccustomedly late arriving this evening. Darcy was making a point, he concluded, by ensuring what he by nature loathed, the full attention of a room. Thereby plainly demonstrating to the Earl and Lady Maria that he was proud of his wife and that he would not abide with their ill conceived effort to push her unceremoniously into a corner, if you will, like a poor relation.

"Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, and Miss Darcy," intoned the footman neutrally. At that moment the Colonel was certain the entire room had taken a collective intake of breath in anticipation of the couple's entry. While Darcy's circle of friends in Town had, for the most part, happily made the acquaintance of the new Mrs. Darcy, this substantially more formal circle of which the Earl and Lady Maria where among the luminaries, had not, and curiosity was understandably peaked.

Darcy and Elizabeth, with Georgiana timidly behind, walked confidently into the drawing room. The entire assembled company turned their gaze upon the party and beheld what, with honesty, could only be described as an impressively handsome trio. The Colonel was at first concerned as he quickly noted that Darcy wore his most impenetrable scowl, but when he turned his gaze to Elizabeth, where the rest of the room's gaze had immediately and persistently gone to rest, he noted the playful, amused gleam in her eyes and concluded that it would be a very entertaining evening. He was sure, if nothing else, that some in the room were surprised by her appearance, anticipating, as they surely were, a slightly awkward and unrefined country girl. As a gentleman very partial to the ladies, the Colonel could, with a certain erudition regarding the fairer sex, measure her success with a degree of impartiality. If she did not look quite as sweetly, warmly alluring as she had that morning when he had found her alone with her husband, she was, undeniably, quite perfect this evening. Everything in her appearance was as it should be: neither too humble, nor too grand, she was faultlessly elegant. Her pleasing figure was becomingly dressed in a fine, pale yellow silk that bestowed upon her presence a distinct impression of lightness, of naturalness. She had adorned herself with only delicate pearls whose milky whiteness accentuated her bright, creamy complexion. Handsome and poised, with her hair arranged in a more sophisticated manner than had been her custom as an unmarried girl, her lovely, fresh countenance was beautifully framed and her eyes sparkled with mirth and intelligence. She gave the affect of a refreshing, crisp spring morning breeze sweeping through a too long closed drawing room. On the arm of her tall and elegantly attired husband she was, indisputably, a credit to her sex.

"May I have the honor of presenting my wife, sir, the former Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Mrs. Darcy, my uncle, the Earl of ____."

"Mrs. Darcy, an honor," the Earl replied coldly, with a stiff, slight bow.

"The honor is all mine, I am sure, your lordship," she replied with a perfect, deep curtsey. Raising her head she looked him squarely in the eyes and smiled. As she did so, the Colonel saw his father momentarily arrested, looking surprised.

Collecting himself, the Earl, without a word more of welcome or congratulations, an omission that did not go unnoticed, spoke blandly, almost indifferently. "Mrs. Darcy, how have you been enjoying your stay in Town? I understand you are just lately arrived."

"Lately, sir?" she replied innocently, eyebrow tellingly arched. "We have been in Town these three weeks now, sir."

"Hmm, yes," the Earl remarked roughly. "And you have been enjoying yourselves."

"Oh very much sir." Elizabeth's voice was tinged with that unique mixture of archness and sweetness that so often left her listener confounded regarding her meaning. "I have had the great honor of making the acquaintance of a number of Mr. Darcy's friends. They have all been so agreeable and welcoming. And of course, I have the delight of regular intimacy with my dear aunt and uncle who reside in town."

As she finished her statement she smiled again, an unassuming, warm smile and the Earl looked at her completely perplexed, while the Colonel and Darcy exchanged an expression of amusement. It was evident that the Earl did not know how to interpret her seemingly inoffensive commentary. He could not be sure, it was clear, if she was boldly chastising him for his own lack of attention or simply innocently describing her experiences in Town.

"Indeed," he finally replied as he shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other.

"Sir," Darcy mercifully interjected, "I beg you will excuse us, as I wish to introduce Mrs. Darcy to Lady Maria."

"Yes of course," he responded to their retreating figures.

"What did you expect sir? Two heads?" the Colonel chuckled.

The Earl looked at the Colonel, perturbed. "I am not sure what I expected, but she is not it. I do not know what she is."

"She is Darcy's wife, sir." The Earl huffed in response to his son's impertinence and went to speak to another guest.

As they went into dinner Elizabeth found herself seated across from her husband and with Colonel Fitzwilliam to her left. On her right sat one Sir Hamley. Sir Hamley was a gentleman of one and sixty, of an old family long accustomed to providing services to the crown, for which loyalty the portly gentleman was lately knighted. He had a loud but in no way displeasing voice that ran the course of the table with the determination of a gale.

The dinner was progressing in a customarily dreary fashion, thought the Colonel. He never could comprehend how his parents, generally intelligent and sensible as they were, could be such awful hosts—everything was of course the very best that station and rank could offer, the food, the wine, the place settings, the titled and well-connected guests. Everything but the conversation, he reflected, dominated as it was by talk of the latest society events on his mother's end of the table and talk of hunting at his father's. There was little wit, little enthusiasm, little genuine warmth; there was an excess of beautifully constructed phrases, devoid of meaning or originality. Everyone was professing the most proper opinions in the most proper language. What a bore, he mused. To his further irritation Elizabeth, his one hope of relief, was unusually quiet. Perhaps it was because she sensed that the Earl's eyes were constantly upon her, judging and watching and listening. The Colonel wondered if his father was seeking evidence of that oft remarked upon wit, the vaunted liveliness, the intelligence so unmistakable in her steady gaze and brilliant eyes.

Growing distracted, he almost missed Sir Hamley's dismissive retort, in his gale-like voice, to another diner's comment. "But what can one expect from a tradesman?"

"Excuse me, sir?" Elizabeth inquired politely.

The Colonel looked first to the Earl and then to Lady Maria and noted the former grasp his hand into a fist and the latter pale, as though all their greatest fears regarding Darcy's marriage to the unconnected, unknown quantity of a girl were about to materialize into disaster at their very proper and elegant table, as if the specter of her infamous connection to trade had obtrusively floated into their sanctified hall for all their guests to witness. Turning his attention to Darcy, the Colonel was surprised by the hint of amusement on his countenance, as though he saw the matter quite differently, as though he awaited in anticipation of the certain delight to be experienced in the deftness of his wife's mind and the subterfuge of her sweet address.

"Tradesmen, Mrs. Darcy, what are we to expect of them but such lowly behavior?"

It was not a universally known fact that the new Mrs. Darcy had a tradesman uncle; in fact, little was known about the former Miss Bennet, other than the verity that she was now Mrs. Darcy. She was established as the daughter of a southern county gentleman whose estate was too unimportant to be acclaimed beyond its own immediate vicinity. That remarkable fact was enough to entertain the gossips who had long entertained the notion of a more illustrious match for the highly sought Mr. Darcy of Pemberley.

Elizabeth turned her lovely, vivacious countenance to Sir Hamley and replied in a firm and calm voice. "If I may be so bold Sir Hamley, I would expect from a tradesman exactly what I expect from a gentleman."

"Indeed you cannot be serious madam." Sir Hamley's voice boomed over the table and all other conversation swiftly desisted. "Surely you cannot anticipate a tradesman can ever exhibit the characteristics of a gentleman."

"Indeed I can and indeed I do. I believe the ideals of comportment of a gentleman--honesty, honor, generosity--are such that we should all strive for the same irregardless of our station in life. Perhaps we should not be so quick to deny a tradesman the same characteristics of honor and integrity we so freely bestow upon a gentleman, merely for the accident of his birth."

A faint murmur spread across the table as the diners tried to discern if the accident of birth clause referred to the tradesman or the gentleman. The Colonel glanced at Darcy and saw a small smile tugging at his lips as he gazed and listened admiringly to his wife.

"I disagree with you Mrs. Darcy, we can and ought to assume such a distinction because of rank."

"If I may broaden the argument sir, and if you, Colonel Fitzwilliam, will allow me the leisure to exploit your rank for my argument," she said, turning upon the Colonel a face alight with challenge and pausing for his acquiescence.

"Most happily at your service, Mrs. Darcy," he replied gallantly. As she turned her smiling countenance away from the Colonel, resting her eyes a moment on Darcy before continuing, the Colonel was swept by a wave of admiration. Although she was handsome, to be sure, she was not the most handsome of women, yet she had a quality, an alluring radiance that was captivating. I can testify that she has a way of stealing your heart away quite without warning, Darcy had said.

The Colonel turned his attention back to her argument.

"If we anticipate brave and loyal service to the crown only from the officers of our army and navy, men such as Colonel Fitzwilliam, and not of our infantry, which is so often composed of young men of a lower rank, we could never anticipate victory. Should we anticipate that the Colonel would be a noble soldier because he is the son of an Earl but that a boy under his command, just a shopkeeper's son, perhaps, will not be? If we should follow such reasoning, we would then not anticipate our empire's greatness, rather we would anticipate its inconsequence. We must as loyal subjects wish for and anticipate the best from all men in uniform, not only those from the highest ranks of society. Would you not concur?"

"Naturally. But I fail to understand how that compares to what we are to expect from a tradesman."

"It is this sir, that we must judge a man by his conduct not by his place in society. Certainly there is as much a distinction between the man who keeps a shop dishonesty and without evenhandedness and so does not provide an honest living to those who must depend upon him and the man who runs a warehouse of goods from across the empire with such honesty and industriousness as to improve his lot in life, as there is between that later tradesman and a profligate eldest son who squanders the very heritage he is born to promote and protect. If the first shopkeeper and the eldest son are both profligate, where lies the great distinction? Who then is the greater man, sir, the tradesman whose integrity, whose honorable conduct, allows him to rise in the world or the so named gentleman who, through his conduct, verily renounces all his rank affords and demands?"

Sir Hamley smiled broadly and turning to Darcy said in half jest, "Your wife is quite the democrat Mr. Darcy. Preaching the demise of rank she is. Quite bold in given company I dare say."

"Sir Hamley," Darcy replied calmly, "you have misapprehended my wife's meaning completely."

"How so? She preaches the rise of tradesmen and the confusion of rank."

"Indeed she said no such thing."

"Certainly I did not. I speak of individual men, not of a collective. Society cannot function if we have not some structure, if we do not all understand our role and our duties within it. It need not be so immutable, however."

"Instead I believe she has rightly suggested," added Darcy, "that as a society we might be better served to learn to judge men by their own merits and that we should expect from all men the same superior standards of behavior we commonly require of a gentleman. We would then be, as individuals and as a society, the richer for our resulting greater humanity."

"Of course, Sir Hamley," Elizabeth added ironically, "I have no other but a woman's reason."

"I shall not abide such feigned meekness from you, Mrs. Darcy!" Sir Hamley exclaimed cheerfully. "Instead I shall retort with my own words of the Bard and insist that, though she be but little, she is fierce."

"Truth is truth," Darcy added dryly, while looking at his wife with an impish gleam in his eyes. "To the end of reckoning." Whereupon the entire collected company shared in a delighted, if not entirely dignified tumult of laughter.

Throughout the exchange, the Colonel had closely observed his father and seen how his gaze was fixed upon Elizabeth with a look of cautious fascination. Therefore, when the party began to separate and the gentlemen moved toward the smoking room, the Colonel walked to the Earl's side and whispered into his ear. "Not at all simpering, eh father?"

"No, not at all simpering." The Earl's voice was curt and expressionless.

"She handled the situation quite well, would you not say? Very discretely defending the honor of her uncle without your guests being the more aware of it, without causing discomfiture to anyone at all, really. But neither allowing slight, by default, to fall upon her uncle. Loyal and intelligent perhaps, sir, but certainly not simpering."

"It was handled with grace and certainly does show an admirable inclination toward loyalty, as you suggest." The Earl conceded the point, but dependably unwilling to admit error, he continued, "Nevertheless, it is really infamous that I should need be concerned with the honor of tradesmen at my table, Richard. Mrs. Darcy's evident merits of mind do not alter that had Darcy married a young lady from a more appropriate family your mother and I would have never had to endure such an awkward situation."

"I would venture to argue father, that you would not have had such an exceptional repartee at your table either. No stupidity there, sir."

"No. It would appear not. Although I wonder how maidenly a display it was."

"Sir, when have you ever admired squeamish, maidenly types?"

"Never. But your mother prefers ladies who are more reserved and quiet. Not so decided in their opinions."

"Perhaps sir, but clearly, Darcy does not." And with that the Colonel chuckled merrily as he made his way to the port. Glass in hand, he moved to join his cousin just as a conversation commenced between Darcy and Sir Hamley.

"Mr. Darcy, what a fine young wife you have found yourself. Not just a handsome creature but quite an agile, original mind as well."

Darcy bowed his head in acknowledgement, his expression impassive.

"Wherever did you find her?" Sir Hamley continued. "I do not recall her out in society. I would have never forgotten such a lively creature."

"Kindly desist, Sir Hamley, in referring to my wife as a creature," he replied disapprovingly.

"Such particularity Darcy. But then you are still newly wed. Charming as she is, as a husband you must learn that wives are for our amusement and they really are no better than any other creature we must tend to."

"I shall never learn such a barbarous and disrespectful attitude toward my wife and must insist that you abstain from this line of argument in my presence." Seeing Darcy's grave and brooding expression Sir Hamley, a generally gregarious sort, changed the course of conversation.

"I grant you she appears to be out of the common way of fashionable females. Where is she from? Who is her father? Who are her people?"

The Earl sent Darcy a knowing, disparaging smirk to which Darcy responded with no more than a steady cold stare as he responded in an even, indifferent tone. "Her father has a small estate in Hertfordshire. He has no taste for Town and so you are unlikely to be acquainted with him."

"Ah yes, unsullied country gentlemen," the Earl intoned derisively. "They can be such a singular lot."

Darcy simply turned away and pulled his cousin apart from the group. "Your father can be quite insufferable, Fitz," Darcy said haughtily.

"Do not allow it to bear upon you Darcy. The old goat is simply feeling quarrelsome finding all his predictions come to naught. You know how he abhors being in the wrong and he is, I am quite sure for I have observed him closely this evening, now finding it rather problematic to continue opposing your choice of a wife. I dare say he will be mortified when he sees his hand selected daughter by your Lizzy's side—such an insipid lady can only look the more so in your wife's delightful light." Darcy raised his eyebrow inquisitively. "The Engagement Ball, Darcy, not yet announced but it shall be soon enough. It will be an absolute bore. You must stay in Town another fortnight and attend. Say you and your wife shall attend. Come, for my sake old chap."

"I will inquire as to Elizabeth's preference. I will leave the decision in her hands."

"Oh then you shall stay, I will make sure of it." Darcy shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

Half an hour later the gentlemen joined the ladies in the drawing room, the cousins making their way directly to Elizabeth who sat in conversation with Lady Maria, Georgiana and a plump, gray-haired lady--a Mrs. Greystock.

"Darcy," the Colonel jibbed, "I shall save Georgiana and you must save Lizzy. Why the former looks quite terrified and the latter quite bored, much as each is trying to dissemble their state."

"Yes Fitz, after all, I did promise my wife that I would be her own Saint George."

"You mustn't disappoint then." Darcy bowed to the Colonel mockingly and went to his wife's side.

"Mrs. Darcy, the fire is particularly strong this evening and I fear the room may be too warm for your liking. Should you care for a refreshing turn about the garden?"

"In this cold, Darcy?" Lady Maria intoned with disbelief.

"It is a lovely evening, madam, not at all cold. Mrs. Darcy?" he repeated, disregarding his aunt's disapproving look.

Elizabeth replied with some evident relief. "That would be most welcome, Mr. Darcy."

The Colonel, proving less successful in his mission, began to wander the room aimlessly. As he watched the customary flow of intercourse he reflected upon the deficit of emotion, of excitement, the absurdity of it all, and unexpectedly felt the constant drone of banal conversation, practiced flirtations and the undisguised pursuit of interests oppressing.

"Richard! Come!" Edward called lazily to his brother and motioned for his attention. "You have orders. Go fetch that singular cousin of ours, mother would like to have some music and you know how she insists that every guest attend."

"Singular?" was the Colonel's sole reply.

"Why yes, brother. Imagine taking his precious wife out into the cold like this." He paused, and then added dismissively, "Of course, she is a country bride and must be accustomed to such roughness. Perhaps that's why he married her, a little roughness can have its rewards for a man."

"Do not let Darcy hear you speak in such a manner, Edward."

"Will he challenge me if he does?" Edward replied sarcastically.

"You, dear brother, are merely envious, realizing as you have how far superior a woman Mrs. Darcy is to your Lady Patience Faircloth." He was silent for a moment. "Or is it, brother, that Darcy's acting in the interest of his own happiness, without regard to the censure or pleasure of others, too painfully reminds you of your own cowering to father's demands when your happiness had been so nearly in hand?"

"Oh, just go fetch them Richard," Edward responded coldly.

The Colonel quietly made his way out into the large, walled garden, pausing before making his presence felt. With a guilty smile he observed them, curious to see this heretofore unknown side of his cousin and friend. He had no recollection of having ever seen his cousin flirt—putting aside the peculiar, not strictly flirtatious intercourse he had with his now wife in Kent. Using all the stealth of his military training, he moved forward along the side of the house. Darcy's low, full laugh rose from a far end of the garden. From his dark corner, the Colonel could see them clearly, standing in front of a stone bench, in the moonlight, face to face, her hand playing familiarly with the buttons of his waistcoat, her head slightly inclined to one side, while he held her other hand within his own.

"Do be serious, Elizabeth. Has it been very awful?" Darcy asked tenderly.

"To the contrary, my love, it has been rather enlightening."

"Indeed?"

"Very much so."

"Will you not indulge me and tell me how so?"

"Happily." She looked him in the eyes and smiled. "I now need never wonder again at your wishing to marry me."

"I thought we had already established why I wished to marry you."

"Oh yes, that you ardently admire and love me," she replied playfully, waving her hand in the air as if dismissing the import of his ardor. "Perhaps I should say I have gained more clarity as to why you love me so."

Darcy smiled. "And what have you deduced, my darling wife?" He lifted her hand and bestowed a lingering kiss upon it.

"If this evening, together with what I saw in Kent, is any indication of how your relations always interact, of the dinners you commonly attended, why it is quite clear you needed me desperately," she replied flirtatiously.

"And so I did, but why do you think so?" Darcy insisted, his smile growing ever wider.

"Such excessive cold propriety, my love, such reserve and perfection of behavior." Her tone was teasing and mocking. "Why, now I think of it, even sweet Georgiana holds you in such high respect that she dare not tease you as any sister rightly should. Clearly, my dearest husband, you were in want of some cheerfulness, a little improper exuberance." In a quieter voice, she added, "Dare I say some happiness?"

Darcy took her face into his hands, held it devotedly within his grasp, and in a voice rich with emotion responded to her with passionate gravity. "Dearest, loveliest Elizabeth. I did need you desperately. I needed your liveliness, your warmth." He paused and laughed. "And of course your frankness." Her hands began to creep around his waist as they moved closer together. "Elizabeth! My darling wife! It shall always be thus. With you at my side I experience the most extraordinary sense of being alive as though for the first time, as though my soul had never breathed before your beautiful eyes smiled upon me. My darling, darling wife!" he repeated as he lowered his head and took her lips within his own, lovingly, confidently, joyfully.

"And do not mistake the matter, William," she replied softly. "For I need you just as desperately."

She laid her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and softly kissed her hair. "My Lizzy!" he whispered.

As her name floated into the air the Colonel suddenly recalled Darcy's strange stammering that very morning when asked why he never called his wife Lizzy. He recalled Elizabeth's blush and he understood. Lizzy. Darcy said it with such an excruciating tenderness, such a soft, caressing intimacy that it was as though the Colonel had breached the sanctity of their very bedchamber.

Darcy lifted her head from his chest, another barely whispered Lizzy escaping with his breath as he kissed her again and the Colonel was overwhelmed with shame for having spied on such a private exchange, but somehow grateful that he had. At that moment he hoped fervently that he could find something akin to what Darcy had. It was so warm and affectionate, intense and self-contained that he felt suddenly bereft as he recalled his expectation that as a second son he would marry for more pecuniary reasons. Oh yes, he mused, Darcy certainly has made a wiser choice then Edward.

Recalled to his brother and his mission, he quietly returned toward the door and made as if just entering the garden, this time noisily so that they would not be surprised as he summoned them back into the music room.

"Darcy," he called out into the garden, "You must come rescue your sister. Mother is determined to have her perform and Georgiana looks quite ill at ease."

They entered the music room to find Georgiana indeed ill at ease, if not yet in tears. "Oh dear!" Elizabeth cried and swiftly made her way to Georgiana's side, Darcy and the Colonel following close behind.

"Georgina," Lady Maria was saying in a not unkind but persistent tone, "you must overcome this silly fear. Why trouble yourself with becoming so accomplished if you will not perform. There are only family and friends here this evening. It is not such a very large party after all. Come, you must not embarrass your brother by refusing to perform and showing yourself a simpleton."

Elizabeth quickly sat at Georgiana's side and placed her hand reassuringly on her forearm. "I do not believe that Mr. Darcy would be displeased with Georgiana if she did not perform, Lady Maria," Elizabeth said sweetly, but firmly.

"Indeed I would not," came Darcy's deep and commanding tenor as he took a place at his sister's side.

"Darcy you mustn't coddle the girl so much. How will she ever take her place in society if she cannot perform even a simple traditional song. She need not play a concerto, but she must perform. I insist. I will be quite offended if you refuse me Georgiana."

Georgiana looked into her folded hands with trepidation. Her voice came soft and meek. "But the company is so large, aunt."

"Georgiana," Elizabeth intoned in a gentle voice that could not but impress Lady Maria with its warmth and compassion. "Is it that you do not wish to sing or that you do not wish to perform at all?"

"Oh Lizzy, I could certainly not sing in such company."

"Would you be comfortable accompanying me, Georgiana? We could perform one or two of those charming airs we have been amusing ourselves with these last days. Shall we then?" Her voice was so unimposing, her manner so kind and open that one could not help but be reassured.

"Oh yes Lizzy," Georgiana exclaimed, her large, blue eyes alight with gratitude and admiration. "I should not feel so afraid if you would perform with me."

"Would that be acceptable, Lady Maria?" Elizabeth asked politely.

"That would be delightful, Mrs. Darcy. I am pleased you have been more successful then I in encouraging the dear girl. I find it unacceptable that she should suffer such bouts of timidity. It is hardly befitting a girl of her station."

Darcy visibly smarted at Lady Maria's harsh assessment of his sister. "She is but sixteen, Lady Maria."

"Old enough, Darcy," was the curt response.

Elizabeth rose from her seat and before moving to the instrument turned to Lady Maria and remarked in a firm, quiet voice, "I am certain, your Ladyship, confidence will come with time if she is but allowed the opportunity to develop it at her own pace."

Lady Maria stared at Elizabeth, shocked at her boldness, but as Elizabeth walked passed Darcy he took quick possession of her hand and pressed it softly, whispering "thank you," before releasing his grasp.

The Colonel, having escorted his young cousin to the pianoforte was about to take a spot within the room to have a prospect of the fair performers, when he paused to listen to Elizabeth's final reassuring words. "You see Georgiana, while I sing the room will be so focused on my imperfect voice as to quite ignore your perfect execution at the instrument. So you have no need for trepidation my dear."

Georgiana smiled appreciatively.

The Colonel had heard Elizabeth play the pianoforte when they were acquainted in Kent, but he had not heard her sing, and as she began his surprise was certainly equal to that of all in the room but Darcy himself. Darcy, for his part, was plainly rapt, gazing on his wife with an adoration that could neither be bound nor disguised, most particularly when she turned to face him and with a steady gaze upon him, sang the gentle, sweet Ben Johnson verse.

Drink to me only with thine eyes

And I will pledge with mine.

Or leave a kiss within the cup

And I'll not ask for wine.

The thirst that from the soul doth rise

Doth ask a drink divine;

But might I of Jove's nectar sip,

I would not change for thine.

Her lush alto voice was perhaps not the strongest one could hear, nor with the widest range, but its tone was so honeyed and artless, so suggestive and alluring, so wholly unaffected as to be far more captivating than many a more accomplished voice. She rested one of her small hands gracefully on the instrument, while gently moving the other as she sang, causing her pearl bracelet to provocatively slide up and down the elegant line of her round, creamy arm. She exuded a light, pleasing grace in every small movement. The entire affect of her carriage and sweet song was so thoroughly enchanting that as the evening came to a close the Earl and Lady Maria could not but acknowledge that she was, if nothing else, certainly no cause for mortification. If only her connections were not so very unfortunate.

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In which the Colonel returns to London and encounters a particularly giddy Darcy

Christmastide was long past and the winter season was quickly drawing to a close. The Colonel mused upon the approaching ides of March and wondered that his brother would agree to having the Engagement Ball, which had been postponed due to the unfortunate passing of Lady Patience Faircloth's godmother, set for such an ill fated date. But then, he recalled regretfully, his brother had long ago abandoned any pretense of an independent will and there was something so fantastically pathetic about a grown man doing so that he found he could not respect his elder brother, much as he would desire the contrary. He simply could not admire him, particularly when he thought on what Edward had released without even the simulation of a fight, without a defense even of his own right to determine some part of his own fate; that he, the future Earl, the future master of a comfortable fortune and a fine old estate, should bend so unfailingly to the current Earl's will like he was no more then a blade of grass underfoot was a capitulation the Colonel could not but find odious in the extreme, particularly as he clung with such persistence to the limited rule he, as a second son, could wield upon his own prospects. Miss Vye had been such a sweet, pretty and tenderhearted girl, and her serenity and delicacy had delighted Edward from the first, but when her brother's gambling brought the family to ruin Edward had made no argument against the Earl's: It would appear that Mr. Vye has lost everything but his frock coat and Miss Vye shall be required to seek employment if she is not taken under the protection of some relation, which appears unlikely. Are you truly suggesting, Edward, that the future Earl of ___ shall be wed to a lady's companion? Nothing more had been said and Miss Vye had been abandoned by Edward at her moment of greatest need before any promises had been made, but not before one heart was left betrayed and the other, at the very least, sincerely touched. As the Colonel continued his brisk walk in the invigorating, crisp morning chill he determined to think on it no more. Why, if his brother could pass on without remorse, why must he feel it in his stead?

Arriving at Darcy's door for the first time after a near three month absence from London, he was greeted by the butler and directed to the upstairs sitting room which was a private room for the family's use and never one in which general callers were received. As he entered the room he noted absently that it had been recently redecorated and felt more inviting, more intimate then heretofore, although had he been asked to identify why he would have been at a loss to explain.

"Georgiana, do I find you unaccompanied?" he inquired as he took his young cousin's hand and kissed it gallantly.

"Yes, cousin Richard." To both Darcy and Georgiana the Colonel's unexpected calls were never unexpected. He was perpetually appearing in their home without warning or intention, whether they be residing in Town or at Pemberley, and he was always greeted with the welcome and familiarity their absolute sympathy afforded, more brother than cousin as he was.

"Your brother and his lovely young wife are not at home?"

"They have gone to the book dealer this morning. I expect they shall return shortly."

"They did not ask you to attend them? They have left you all alone? How monstrous!" he added playfully.

"Oh no, cousin," Georgiana laughed softly, "they did indeed invite me to join them but I thought it best to let them time alone."

"Very sensible, young lady."

"They wish to include me in everything, cousin, that I might not feel myself too much in solitary, I am sure. Mrs. Annesly is attending upon a niece who is unwell, you see. But I am not such a girl as not to understand that they wish to have time unaccompanied."

"As I said, very sensible, young lady. Now will you be more so and ring for some tea for your old cousin? There's a girl."

As Georgiana put aside a piece of embroidery she had been executing upon his arrival and rose to ring the bell for tea, the Colonel took a seat across from his young cousin's and observed her in silence. What was it about these Darcy cousins, he wondered, that so pulled at his heart. For Anne he felt nothing but pity and for his mother's nephew and nieces a sort of good-natured indifference, yet these two creatures, these Darcys, stirred him in a strange and profound manner. He, always the open and gregarious gentleman, could not, had never been able to keep distance from the reserved brother and the sweet, timid sister. It had been thus for years. Pemberley, he remembered well, had always been infused with an excess of reserve, what with Mrs. Darcy's long illness and Mr. Darcy's perfection of behavior, and perhaps it was the resulting perpetual restraint of the Darcy children that had always impressed him, attracted him, fascinated him. Or perhaps it was the inevitable forlornness of two children more then ten years apart residing in that vast building that had awed him when his own home, so much smaller than Pemberley, older though it was, felt so much more intimate by comparison. Not that Mr. and Mrs. Darcy had been pitiless or unfeeling. They had been kind to their children, honest and caring parents, yet not perhaps affectionate. Darcy had learned from them, most particularly from his father, who in all else was a most excellent man, that distrust of others and their motivation, that imperiousness of carriage that expected a Darcy of Pemberley's intentions and honor would never, indeed could never be doubted or questioned. And none had, not even the Colonel, until a country gentleman's daughter endowed with a forceful personal integrity, had.

As the Colonel watched his young cousin he hoped she, as had her brother, would be made the better, be taught the better by the same association. Although he considered if perhaps the change required was more fundamental for Georgiana. Darcy had not become a wholly different man under Elizabeth's influence, rather he had become a better man, a man who understood himself more fully and therefore was able and desirous of striving to rectify his faults and to nurture his virtues. The Colonel sensed the changes he would wish for in Georgiana were not betterment, but change. The Colonel wished Georgiana could learn greater confidence, could learn to lift her eyes and meet the gaze of others without trepidation, to speak to those outside her immediate circle without mortification and to glory in her gifts with honesty and yet without conceit. She had been too much out of the world, what with mourning a mother's death and then a father's, her wretchedness at her own loss of prudence after the near elopement, and then always so protected by both a devoted brother and a dotting cousin. She had been motherless and sisterless, and as a girl requiring from a guiding hand tenderness and affection she found not but unbending aunts and well meaning, but inevitably awkward young men.

The Colonel lifted his eyes from her and looked about the room again, again noting the new softness. Was it the colors, was it the placement of the furnishings that the occupant's of the room might feel greater intimacy, was it the landscape by the young Constable that now dominated the room and brought the light and freshness of the country inside? Whatever the cause--he had not the understanding for such matters--clearly it came from the influence of the new mistress of the house. The Colonel smiled. Not, this time, for Darcy, but for Georgiana.

"Now tell me, Georgiana, now that you have had time to grow accustomed to it, how you like having a sister?" He inquired as she prepared him a cup of tea.

"Oh cousin Richard, she is in every way delightful. Lizzy is so kind to me, so warm and affectionate."

"And shall you at last have a confidant, my dear girl, more appealing then your brother or I?"

"Cousin that is not right to say, I am sure. You and my dear brother have always been kind and good to me. I shall always be most grateful and I should never have that change."

"But I would, my dear. You can speak openly and frankly with Lizzy about concerns you would justly not feel comfortable speaking of with your brother, much less with me. Particularly now that you are no longer a girl, but a handsome young lady. You shall always look to us as your guardians, but she can be your friend, your confidant."

"Would she wish that, cousin Richard?"

"Do you have reason to suppose she would not?"

"Oh no! As I said, she has been most kind and open. It is only I who have not dared, but perhaps I shall find the courage."

"I hope you shall, Georgiana. I am certain you shall find in her a true friend and sister. They have been married these four months now. Are you still unsure of her that you require courage?"

"Not of her, but of myself and my place."

"Your place, Georgiana, is what it has ever been. As Darcy's sister that has not changed, regardless of his marriage. Surely he has shown you this much, assured you of this, and I cannot imagine that she has been selfish or surly with you, I did not think that her manner at all."

"Please do not misapprehend my meaning, cousin Richard. I do not wish to imply that either my brother or his wife have been unkind or ungenerous. Not at all. It is I who wish not to be an imposition, an impediment to their happiness."

"An impediment, Georgiana?"

"I am not a child. I understand that a newly married couple would wish for time alone, without the impediment of a charge."

"Georgiana, you are no mere charge and I am confident neither sees you as an impediment to their happiness. Quite the contrary, you are a requirement. You are Darcy's sister and you are fully aware that you are his heart's delight. The fact that you must now share him with Lizzy makes you no less dear to him, no less necessary, and as you are necessary to his happiness so you become so for Lizzy as well."

"I know this, cousin Richard, and please do not repeat what we have spoken to my brother. I only want so very much to see him have all that he has long deserved."

"Very well, I shall keep this as our confidence, but only if you promise to disregard such childish notions in the future. Tell me instead, is she also kind to your brother? Does he continue with that infuriating air of smugness about him?"

Georgiana smiled warmly at the Colonel's portrayal of her brother. "He is very happy, cousin."

"And what of you, dear girl?"

"I am well enough. In truth, my greatest joy is to see my brother so."

"Is he very happy then?"

"Indeed, I have never seen him so before." Georgiana paused a moment before continuing with some reluctance, unsure as to the propriety of the observation she wished to share. "I must observe, however, he allows Lizzy the most shocking liberties, cousin."

"Shocking liberties? In your presence? Why, whatever do you mean, Georgiana?" The Colonel's tone was suddenly severe with concern.

"Oh I did not mean to imply anything by it," she stammered, suddenly embarrassed and blushing profusely. "I meant only that she speaks to him in a manner I have never heard him spoken to before. In a manner I would have expected him to find objectionable."

"My dear girl," the Colonel laughed. "Of course she teases him beyond all measure, she has from the beginning you see. It is part of why he delights in her. I am sure he is weary of so much obsequiousness as he has endured since, well, always really. He finds her teasing, I am sure, charming."

"I could never behave in such a manner," she replied almost defensively.

"You could never behave in what manner, dear sister?" Darcy's strong and deep voice filled the room as he and Elizabeth appeared in the doorway. "Fitz," he continued, "you are still her guardian. I trust you are not leading her into mischief."

"Not at all," he chuckled as he rose to greet them. "She was just remarking on Lizzy."

"Oh no cousin, please." Georgiana blushed in mortification.

"Silly girl, whatever you were speaking of is certainly of no matter. Elizabeth will not be offended, I am certain." As Darcy spoke the Colonel looked at him with curiosity. There was something amiss as Darcy spoke, a strain in his tone, a strange bridled ebullience seemingly bucking against restraints.

"Now I am quite curious," Elizabeth interjected in her naturally lively manner. "Fortunately, I know Georgiana is too generous to be unkind, I am sure to my undeserved advantage."

"Georgiana wonders about how teasing you are with her brother is all," the Colonel replied lightheartedly. "She is rather shocked by your manner and is sure she could not be so bold herself."

Elizabeth laughed and walked to Georgiana's side. Georgiana, blushing deeply and unable to raise her eyes, whispered an apology. "Pray forgive me Lizzy, I did not intend to offend you."

Elizabeth took Georgiana's hands reassuringly into her own. "You, sweet girl, could never offend me. As regards teasing your brother, do not listen to your cousin's encouragements. He knows not of what he speaks. I believe you are wise to withhold on such teasing ways yourself for the moment."

"Why?" Georgiana asked with genuine interest as she turned her large, blue eyes upon Elizabeth's face.

"Georgiana, a man may permit liberties from his wife that he will not permit from a sister, particularly one more then ten years his junior. Brothers, I am told by friends who suffer them, are far from the perfectly tolerant creatures they all pretend to be."

Elizabeth turned to Darcy and arched her eyebrow impishly. Darcy responded with an exaggerated grimace while approaching his sister and placing his hand dramatically on her shoulder he said, in a mockingly superior tone: "A veritable ogre I am!"

"Yes, a veritable ogre!" Elizabeth smiled. "No, Georgiana, I believe that while you would not be amiss allowing your affection for your brother to overwhelm your respect for him from time to time, he is still not so very accustomed to teasing and might not know how to respond to a sister's affectionate impudence. Allow me to tutor him a while longer if you will and then you shall have your try when he is not such an ogre any longer."

"If I am a veritable ogre, my darling wife," Darcy responded with a laugh, as he took her chin into his hand, "you are a veritable minx!" He then joyfully and unceremoniously kissed his wife soundly on the lips, leaving her as nearly astonished as were the Colonel and Georgiana. Apparently unmindful to this uncommonly open display of his affections, Darcy turned to the Colonel and spoke as though nothing remarkable had occurred.

"Fitz, what brings you to London?" Eyes alight with some unrelated enthusiasm and his tone sardonic, he continued, "I supposed you to be on your way south carrying important messages for your esteemed General."

"Ah Darcy, such a regrettable lack of respect you hold for the services I provide for the greater glory of the crown!"

"I cannot imagine why," Darcy replied dryly.

Waving his hand to dismiss the retort, the Colonel informed the room of his new orders. He was to remain in Town through April to be available to provide vaguely expressed services for Major General Wharton.

"Ah, well then," Darcy turned to Elizabeth, "we shall be seeing a great deal of Fitz, my dear. When he is in Town on business for the General he rarely has any actual business to conduct and he is therefore frequently bored and restless. Of course, while in Town purportedly on said concerns for the General it would hardly do for him to be seen about the Clubs ever day for the entirety of the day. As a result he spends a great deal of time at our billiards table, or, alternatively, at our dinner table."

"I am here now, at any rate, ready to challenge you at the rapiers if you are so inclined and most definitely prepared to share in your repast tomorrow evening, which, I understand from my mother, shall be a very elaborate affair. I trust, Lizzy, one more setting will be no trouble at all and will not unduly disrupt your seating arrangements."

"Not unduly," she remarked wryly. "Although I hasten to add that your mother should not have excited your anticipation. There shall be food, wine, conversation and music. No different, I am sure, then countless other dinners you have attended."

"I am inclined to suspect otherwise," he replied with a smile.

With some cajoling, the Colonel soon had Darcy on his way to the club for a session at the rapiers. As they made their way along the busy, chilly streets, the Colonel watched and listened to his cousin in some confusion. Darcy was displaying the same strange energy he had witnessed in the house, as though the man were barely able to contain some profound, roiling emotion. He spoke incessantly, erratically, distractedly the entire way to the club, speaking now on the wonderful briskness of the late morning air, now on what a delightful evening the morrow promised to be with his wife as hostess, for she was a most charming hostess, now on how Elizabeth had taken to Pemberley and Pemberley to her, now on his desire to purchase a new mare for Georgiana, now on the state of war and peace on the Continent. The Colonel had never seen him so unbound and finally determined the only word to describe Darcy's unusual demeanor was giddy. His strong, reserved and often taciturn cousin was verily bursting with giddiness and the Colonel could not determine whether he found it more amusing or disquieting to witness.

The Colonel and Darcy always enjoyed fencing together. They were well matched. While the Colonel had the better of training, Darcy was by nature more athletic and agile; both were equally desirous of winning and both approached the exercise with a matching solemnity. However, as this particular match progressed the Colonel's bewilderment with Darcy increased. Darcy always utilized his natural reserve to good measure when in competition of any sort—fencing, cards, billiards, whatever the game--never displaying satisfaction, surprise or alarm. Today was quite different. Every point gained was accompanied by an exclamation of satisfaction and every point lost with some such equal exclamation of displeasure.

"I do not know what to make of you today, Darcy," the Colonel intoned at last.

"How so, Fitz? I have not done so very poorly."

"Surprisingly, no you have not."

"Surprisingly? And why, pray, surprisingly? I have been known to best you, and quite frequently at that."

"You have no concentration at all today. Why, you are positively giddy. And I am quite certain that in the entirety of our lives I have never known you to be giddy."

Darcy chuckled. "Giddy it is then!"

"That's it? Giddy it is then! Come, Darcy. You must explain or I shall think you have gone mad."

"Not mad at all, Fitz. However, giddy, while completely lacking in dignity, may be quite inevitable. At least for today. I am sure by tomorrow I will have recuperated my dignity, fear not."

The Colonel lifted his rapier in invitation and placed himself in just distance. "I challenge you, Darcy! Should I win the next point you will tell me what has you in such a state."

"Accepted, Fitz! En guard, then"

The Colonel quickly and easily won the point.

"Unquestionably mad!" the Colonel laughed in response. "Not only am I fairly certain that I have never seen you giddy, but I am absolutely certainly that I have never seen you give me a point, and this you have done now without even so much as a pretense of countering."

Darcy bowed dramatically. "I must then honor my debt."

With his free hand, Darcy grabbed his cousin by the shirt and pulled him close. "Fitz, you shall keep this information private for the moment, but I shall, with pleasure, honor my debt to you."

"Go on then, Darcy!"

Darcy released his hold on his cousin and as Darcy spoke, his voice quiet but fervent, the Colonel beheld a face utterly glowing with rapture. "This very morning, my dearest, most darling, most wonderfully delightful wife."

"Yes, yes. Sheer perfection she is, Darcy. Now get on with it already!"

With a broad smile Darcy finally revealed the source of his profound delight. "My most excellent wife has informed me that she suspects she is with child! Now is that not some cause for giddiness, dear cousin?"

"Suspects or is?"

"Confidently suspects."

"So soon, Darcy?"

"Soon! Why we have been married these four months now. More than time enough."

"Well then," the colonel returned with a smile, "allow me to say what excellent, speedy work, Darcy."

Darcy smiled mischievously. "No work involved, Fitz. Unlike other unfortunate fellows of our ilk, I married a woman I adore to distraction! There is no work in loving my wife."

"Oh Darcy! Now I know you are most certainly gone mad, that you, of all men, should make such a comment, such an allusion!"

"Giddy, mad. Call me what you will, but come September you will call me a father, for I shall have a son. An heir!"

"A son, will you? Such confidence. But is not your delightful wife one of five daughters?"

"Inconsequential detail, Fitz. Cannot you military men recognize precedent and such? I am the eldest child as was my father before me, as was his father before and as was his father before. It is quite inconceivable that my eldest should be anything but a son as well."

"Oh yes," the Colonel laughed merrily, "quite inconceivable!"

"Speaking of fathers, if you are of a mind to skip dinning with your own and are more inclined to return with me to Grosvenor Square you will be required to first accompany me to Bond Street."

"To Bond Street?"

"Yes. I am much inclined to purchase a gift for my wife. Perhaps one of those fine shawls from India for her morning walks. Shall you return with me or will you indulge the old goat with your charming repartee instead?"

"Oh I shall return with you, Darcy, most definitely. I do not believe I have ever seen anything as amusing as the sight of you giddy, mad and delirious with joy. It is a remarkable sight indeed! Whereas back at the old goat's house I have only the tiresome droning on about arrangements for the wretched Engagement Ball from mother, father's persistent satisfaction with the match and my brother's utter indifference to all of it."

"Your poor, wretched brother. If I thought a marriage of convenience distasteful when the family was so exasperatingly pushing Anne upon me, imagine my view on it all now. Your father maintains that I am a new fangled romantic, that I have abandoned all reason. Whatever it is that I am, I clearly made the wiser choice. Now that I have Elizabeth and know what it is to be married to the woman one loves, to have her always at your side and to freely imbibe of her very presence, I cannot but pity the poor fellow to never know the better of it all."

"I would not waste your sympathy on Edward, Darcy. No man deserves what he will not defend."

"No, indeed!" Darcy replied, adding thoughtfully, "I would wish, Fitz, that you never need make such a choice."

"Do not be anxious on my behalf. I shall surely remain a bachelor and live off what the army gives me. On that, and of course, on the generous indulgence of you and your wife!"

"I can promise you this, Fitz. Should it ever be necessary, you shall never want for anything that I can rightly provide you. Now accompany me if you would to Bond Street and then home that you might partake of that indulgence of which you just spoke."

Soon enough the gentlemen were back at Grosvenor Square. Darcy eagerly and affectionately presented Elizabeth with her gift and she of course received her beautiful Indian shawl with tender appreciation. As he made his way back to the Earl's in the evening, the Colonel did not think he had ever enjoyed a meal at Darcy's table quite so thoroughly and he was replete with anticipation to see Elizabeth as hostess. He was sure it would be as far from an ordinary evening as he was slowly discovering that she was far from an ordinary lady and that his cousin's marriage was far from an ordinary union.

| | | |

Wherein nobleman and tradesman share a repast

"You are cheerful this evening," Lady Maria smiled as her son entered her drawing room and sat by her side. "Certainly it is not the anticipation of a pleasant evening. I know these affairs of society often bore you."

"They only bore me when the guests are a bore, mother. I am anticipating a very pleasant evening."

"This evening is in many ways, Richard, quite filled with unknowns, so I would not anticipate anything."

"Whatever do you mean mother?"

"We do not know how Mrs. Darcy will perform as a hostess at such a large gathering. I cannot imagine that she has much experience."

"Are you concerned?"

She paused for a moment before answering. "Perhaps not."

"That reply appears to indicate some change of opinion on the subject of Darcy's wife."

"Are you aware that Mrs. Darcy has called on me various mornings since their return from Pemberley?"

"Has she? And upon further acquaintance what is your opinion?"

"She is certainly unlike the ladies of my common acquaintance. Mrs. Greystock, who was visiting when she last called, quite agreed. Perhaps that is why Darcy wished to marry her. He has always had a vein of singularity under that reserve he so carefully wears."

"In what manner do you find her unlike your usual acquaintance?"

"She has a forthrightness that is somehow uncommon."

"Is that so very terrible?"

"Not at all. Yet it is not her forthrightness itself that I find uncommon, rather the manner of it. It is mixed with a sort of sweetness that seems peculiar to her. I confess that I begin to understand what you told me before they were wed, that I must learn to see this all differently. Perhaps I was wrong to be so concerned."

"You are not yet convinced?"

"After this evening I may very well be, Richard. You must understand, while I may have appeared unfeeling in this situation, my concern has been what is best for Darcy and when he first became engaged I could not in good faith believe this marriage to be in his best interest."

The Colonel took his mother's hands within his own and kissed her affectionately on the cheek. "I never thought you unfeeling, mother, I only disagreed regarding the importance of her connections."

"You pay too little mind to these matters. This is an important evening for the Darcys."

"This is not the first time since they have been wed that they entertain."

"But it is the first time they entertain on this scale. Hitherto they have entertained only intimates."

"I can comprehend why then this is an important evening for Mrs. Darcy, who remains unknown to many, but why for Darcy? He is a known quantity."

"He remained an unmarried man for nearly six years after coming into his inheritance and had no sister of appropriate age to act as his hostess. Therefore he has entertained only as befits an unmarried man—small parties of family and friends. This evening is as much his debut as it is hers. As a married man he takes on a distinctly new role. His reputation, his place within society will be impacted, therefore, by the success or failure of the evening. Should the evening be a success I imagine that his marriage will be deemed acceptable and she will be firmly established simply as Mrs. Darcy, the mistress of Pemberley and the daughter of a modest country gentleman, and he will take the place long reserved for him as one of the leading figures of society. However, should she fail, the whispers of doubt which have accompanied his marriage will become louder and more direct questions then have thus far been raised will be raised regarding his choice. Even with his fortune, his reputation will not withstand a failure and he would be reduced in stature and hereafter considered no better then the plethora of undistinguished gentlemen that plague London society."

"You make it sound quite forbidding."

"Richard, we live in an unforgiving society."

"Do you not exaggerate the importance?"

"Perhaps. Will her tradesman uncle be in attendance?"

"I would assume so. I hardly imagine that she would not invite them. I am given to understand that she esteems him quite highly, as does Darcy."

"Curious," she muttered. "Well, it is time we make our way to Grosvenor Square. If all goes well this evening, I promise Richard that I will admit my error, but do not expect the same from the Earl."

"Very well, mother. But in time he will come round as well. It is inevitable. He admires people who are forthright, intelligent and loyal too much for it to be otherwise."

"We shall see. Now let us make haste."

As the Fitzwilliam party walked into the Darcy townhouse the Colonel whispered a stunned "Oh my!" causing both Lady Maria and the Earl to turn their attention to what held his: Mrs. Darcy.

Never had Elizabeth looked as well as she did this evening. Her face was verily radiating joy and her eyes, always the most disarming feature of her pleasing countenance, were remarkably brilliant. Her hair was elegantly coiffed so as to accentuate the graceful lines of her face and neck. She wore a silk gown of a dark, aubergine color, with a delicately embroidered geometric pattern of a slightly lighter shade; the unusual color of the gown heightened the attractive, faint flush of her complexion. The neckline was deep and adorned with a slight lace tucker of exquisite workmanship. Wearing no necklace and thus leaving her beautifully creamy skin unspoiled by ornamentation, she wore only a small diamond brooch in the shape of a flower pinned in the vicinity of her heart. Everything about her attire was proper and elegant, and yet the cumulative affect was so very alluring, so very distracting as to be quite provocative.

The Colonel took in her appearance with unguarded admiration and could not help but reflect that few women could appear to such advantage with so little adornment. But perhaps it was that very lack of adornment, the rejection of fashionable turbans and feathers, which made her style of dress appear so personal and appealing. While her gowns were certainly made of the finest fabrics her new station allowed and, indeed, required, and while she now frequented the best dressmakers in London, her appearance overall seemed so effortless as to be wonderfully pleasing.

"Richard!" He turned and saw his mother looking upon him with concern.

"Yes, mother?"

"Pray, be cognizant that your attentions will not go unnoticed."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your attention, Richard, has been quite fixed upon Mrs. Darcy since we entered. I will say no more for the moment, but I would hope that I will not, at some future date, need feel concern with this growing admiration."

"Oh mother, please!" the Colonel replied disbelievingly. "She does look remarkably well this evening, but my admiration goes no further then that of any gentleman's upon seeing a handsome woman."

"I will take you at your word. Now, let us greet Mr. and Mrs. Darcy appropriately. We have been standing about in a stupid manner and it must appear quite awkward to anyone with the mind to observe."

The greetings were soon made, and as they turned to make their way into the drawing room Darcy pulled the Colonel toward him and whispered into his ear. "That suspicion, Fitz, is no longer just a suspicion. So you shall congratulate me properly."

The Colonel smiled broadly and looked from Darcy to Elizabeth. "So then, Darcy, it is not just the mere joy of a dinner party that has you and your wife looking so well this evening, eh?" With a firm handshake he left his cousin to other arriving guests.

The Earl having passed on ahead of them, the Colonel escorted his mother into the drawing room where others were already milling about. Lady Maria examined the room with the practiced eye of an experienced and respected hostess. Upon considering one notably impressive floral arrangement, she nearly gasped. "Wherever did she acquire those?"

"What would that be mother?"

"Peonies. In March. I am not aware of any hot house that produces peonies in March."

The Colonel shrugged his shoulders. "Is that so important?" He asked as he escorted her around the room.

"Perhaps not to the gentlemen in attendance, but to the ladies it is noteworthy. It shows a desire to indulge and please her guests that is gratifying."

"They are merely flowers, mother."

"Nothing is merely anything when a lady hosts her first large evening at home."

"Has she made a good start of it at least?"

"Yes, I am pleased to say. She herself, as you so obviously noted, looks remarkably well. The arrangements appear to be quite elegant without being ostentatious. Therein, my dear boy, is the importance of the peonies. The flowers go a long way toward setting the tone. A more fragrant and lovely flower is difficult to find, and yet it is not an extravagant flower, it is graceful and unpretentious. Yet to have procured them now, in March, makes them unusual and it shows that she strives to ensure that her guests are well served."

"I must be lacking in all perception, mother. For I was quite convinced that all that mattered was the quality of the port."

"Richard, you persist in tormenting me. I am sure I educated you better than this. Now escort me to the opposite side of the room. I see Mrs. Bromley and I wish to greet her."

The Colonel deposited his mother in the company of Mrs. Bromley, a highly regarded hostess whose good opinion could do much in the more rarified circles of London society. Indeed, as he looked about the room the Colonel realized that this evening indeed was much more than an easy party of friends and acquaintances. While he saw and conversed with a number of Darcy's Cambridge intimates, he noted in attendance more than one from the established bevy of society's adjudicators. It struck him as peculiar that Darcy should go to such lengths, as he knew that Darcy abhorred many of these people, and certainly found the entire presumptuousness of said adjudication distasteful. Yet, for the first time since Darcy's engagement had been announced the Colonel apprehended that his parents' concern had not been born merely of displeasure with Darcy's display of determined independence. Society would judge and that judgment would impact not only Darcy's future standing and that of his wife, but the future standing of their children as well, and more immediately, Georgiana's. The Colonel, a man of the world, felt suddenly peculiarly naïve, as silly and soft in the belly as one of these newly fashionable romantics. And he recognized as well that although Darcy and Elizabeth had stood against expectations when they wed, they nevertheless acknowledged the peculiar consign society held upon a person's fate and they were, this evening, confidently confronting those who would be arbiters.

As the Colonel thus ruminated dinner was announced. He watched as Darcy offered his wife his arm and they proceeded to lead the guests to dinner. He was momentarily flooded with admiration. Not for either individually, but for the two together. It was not because they made a handsome pair, although they certainly did, but that they seemed possessed of an enviable, almost tangible bond. He wondered if it was his own fancy or if others could sense it as well, could see that powerful silent communion that inhabited every look and every gesture they shared.

"What is that expression for?" Georgiana inquired as she approached her cousin and claimed his escort into dinner.

The Colonel smiled. "I have discovered of late, dear girl, that I am a sentimental fellow after all."

"I could have told you that long ago." Georgiana's large blue eyes smiled upon him and the Colonel felt anew that these Darcys truly were where all his tenderness dwelled.

At dinner the Colonel found himself accompanied by Lady Maria and Miss Greystock, the daughter of his mother's intimate friend. Although an ordinary looking girl, she was a good sort of girl and he always found her conversation pleasant. Across from him sat Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, whose acquaintance he had made at Darcy's wedding. He noted that the Earl sat to Elizabeth's right, and to her left sat one of the other highly ranked guests, the Earl of Egremont*, whose great estate of Petworth was home to a distinguished collection of art.

As the guests took their places and the army of servants began to serve the first course, the Earl of Egremont, a courteous man, respected and admired by all who knew him, bellowed to his host down the length of the table with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, ensuring that the guests who lined either side of the table would be silent to allow ease of conversation between the host and one of his more distinguished guests.

"Mr. Darcy," he began, "I did not know that you were an admirer of Mr. Turner." He indicated a large painting on the opposite wall, depicting a winter morning in the country. "That is a remarkable piece you have. You shall forgive me if I am so delighted as I look upon it that I disregard all conversation."

"I am only newly drawn to Mr. Turner's work, your Lordship. Indeed it was Mrs. Darcy who found this painting appealing when we lately visited the Royal Academy. She was so entranced with this particular work that I could not very well leave it behind."

Egremont turned to Elizabeth enthusiastically. "Are you then, Mrs. Darcy, a connoisseur of painting? Although he has achieved some success, sadly many do not find the appeal in Mr. Turner's work, finding fault with his luminosity and color."

"I can claim no great understanding, your Lordship," Elizabeth replied with sincerity. "I merely found the work captivating. In truth, it is the very luminosity which appeals to me. People often mistake the winter landscape as one bereft of beauty, yet he has shown the fiction of that assessment and captured instead the particularly unique form and texture of winter's light. You see, sir, I am very fond of walking in the country and this painting simply reminds me of that pleasure. I have often seen just such a morning as he depicts, in which the dawning light promises one all the pleasures of nature if we will but look. It is perhaps an unsophisticated cause for admiring a work, but such it is, your Lordship."

"Then it is your innate discernment that I must commend. I had not seen this particular painting before. I am a great admirer of his works and find this one particularly moving."

"Then your lordship should feel yourself at liberty to come and enjoy its beauty at your pleasure," she replied with a smile.

"I believe I shall do just that Mrs. Darcy. I thank you for the generous invitation." He looked at her for a moment in silence, with a sincere and appreciative smile.

The Colonel leaned close to his mother and whispered, "At least one luminary has been charmed, mother."

From thence the conversation flowed with ease. Painting led to the fashion of romanticism in poetry, which led to the theatre, which moved Elizabeth, Mr. Gardiner and Sir Patrick MacLaighid, an amiable Irishman Darcy had befriended at Cambridge, to lead a prolonged and especially witty discourse on the human condition and an argument as to whether Shakespeare or Moli?re deserved more credit for the faithful depiction of its folly.

The hostess, of course, always sets the tone for an evening and as this evening progressed the Colonel, not alone among this large party of society's influential, was well neigh inebriated by the tone. Such warmth and lively amiability, coupled with unassuming wit and intelligence was not always to be had around a table in London society. Not a word was said on the current fashion as regards the length of sleeves on a lady's gown, neither did the men find time to wander into the art of hunting pheasant. Conversation flowed easily between and among the small groups of dinner companions and the larger assembled party, and throughout a meal in all ways pleasurable was served with the unobtrusive efficiency of the skilled staff.

But it was not just Elizabeth that charmed the Colonel. Across from him sat the Gardiners. Although the Colonel had made their acquaintance at the wedding in Hertfordshire, he had not spent a great deal of time in their company, finding himself, as he had, subjugated by the attentions of one Miss Caroline Bingley. The addition this evening of Elizabeth's aunt and uncle, and most particularly her quick and gregarious uncle, was most contributory to the excellence of the evening. Indeed the Colonel was so taken with his dinner companions and the general conversation that he did not take the time, as he so frequently had of late, to observe his father in interaction with Mrs. Darcy. If he had he might have been amused by the disobedient convivial smile that tugged at his father's lips with some regularity.

Indeed the Colonel spared not a thought for the Earl until after dinner as the ladies made their way to the drawing room and the gentlemen to the smoking room.

"What a delightful evening. Are you enjoying yourself father?"

"I confess I am, such splendid discourse is not always to be had. Although I am concerned about that fellow there," he replied curtly, with a nod of the head.

"What fellow?"

"That one speaking now so familiarly with Darcy."

"Mr. Gardiner?"

"Yes. I do not understand how Darcy can be so easy and open with him."

The Colonel anticipated many things from his father, but not this sort of intractable scorn, as though Darcy would dare snub his wife's uncle in his own home, particularly such an agreeable gentleman as he was, tradesman or not. "Father, he is a charming gentleman. I do not believe I have ever had such a thoughtful and yet witty discussion regarding that nasty little man we are so righteously aiming to defeat as I had with Mr. Gardiner over dinner."

"I grant you he speaks quite well, but charm can deceive. When a gentleman comes into Darcy's home and treats his wife with such effrontery I would expect that Darcy would not be encouraging."

"Whatever are you speaking of?" Inquired the Colonel in confusion.

"Did you not see how he has interacted with Mrs. Darcy the entire evening, the excessive familiarity of his address."

"Father!" the Colonel cried in disbelief. "You greatly misunderstand the matter."

Stopping his son in mid-sentence and ignoring all attempts at interruption, the Earl continued in a hurried whisper. "I have done no such thing. This is the consequence of poor connections. Yes, I grant you that one and all find Mrs. Darcy charming. Indeed how could one not. She is handsome, witty and in all manners agreeable, but do they respect her? Do they treat her as an equal? It is a disgrace that Darcy should come to this, to allow such familiarity toward his wife and in his own home. Wherever did he even find this gentleman?"

The colonel was astonished by his father's outburst, but had not an opportunity to correct his peculiar misconstruction as Darcy and Mr. Gardiner were immediately in their company. Darcy had begun offering the room a selection of cigars. As the Colonel turned to his father in an attempt to make known to him Mr. Gardiner's connection to Elizabeth they were interrupted by the general approval that arose regarding the unusual excellence of said cigars and a desire by all to know where some such more might be procured.

"You must inquire of Mr. Gardiner," Darcy replied. "That is, if he will reveal his source. He recently gave them to me as a gift and has stubbornly refused since to tell me how or where he procured them."

"The stock is limited my good man," Mr. Gardiner smiled. "Should I reveal my source you shall all go searching it out and I will not have you running out the supply. Mr. Darcy, you know perfectly well where to find me whenever you desire more," he added with brotherly ease.

"I would urge you to be more forthcoming, Mr. Gardiner," the Earl interjected as he savored the smooth, mellow flavor of the finely wrapped cigar. "Such a fine stock is not easily found."

"It is not so difficult. Simply a matter of knowing the right people," Mr. Gardiner responded with a wink and a playful glimmer in his eyes that reminded the Colonel very much of Elizabeth.

"You mean finding the correct tradesmen?" the Earl inquired innocently, oddly ignorant as he still was to Mr. Gardiner's identity.

Mr. Gardiner merely smiled. "How would we survive without tradesmen?"

The gentlemen laughed in response and dispersed again into smaller circles for conversation. Darcy continued with his two uncles and his cousin. "While Mr. Gardiner will not appease us regarding the cigars, sir," Darcy said, "perhaps he would be more generous with my aunt. Lady Maria was evidently curious as to the source of the flowers this evening. It was Mr. Gardiner who led Mrs. Darcy to the supply. Indeed, with his connections he promises to provide Mrs. Darcy and I quite enviable access to many scarce items."

"Such lengths I have gone to for my niece, Darcy. Peonies in March! Although I am always pleased to oblige her, I must acknowledge she has not generally been so fanciful in her requests."

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Gardiner, your niece?" the Earl stammered inelegantly. The Colonel watched his father's face pale in recognition of his severe error in judgment.

"Sir, did I not inform you that Mr. Gardiner is Mrs. Darcy's uncle when I made the introduction?" Darcy inquired.

"It would appear not."

"What an unforgivable omission. My apologies, Mr. Gardiner."

Mr. Gardiner shrugged his shoulders. "It is of no consequence, you had many invitations with which to occupy yourself this evening. And it would appear, you now have other matters requiring your attention," he said gesturing across the room.

As Darcy walked away to attend to his other guests, the Earl muttered angrily to the Colonel: "That would explain the familiarity I witnessed and you said nothing to correct my gross misapprehension."

"I beg your pardon?" Mr. Gardiner asked in confusion.

"You appear to be very attached to your niece," the Colonel interjected.

"Lizzy is a great favorite in my home."

"I noticed no resemblance." The Earl remarked.

"I am her mother's younger brother, and we Gardiners are as fair in coloring as the Bennets are not. Lizzy is in every way her father's daughter."

"You are her mother's brother?" The Earl understood at last that this was the infamous tradesman uncle and he could not disguise his amazement at the revelation.

"That is correct."

"If I may observe, Mr. Gardiner, you appear to have a rather remarkable degree of intimacy with my nephew. I confess to some surprise. He is not easily intimate and since they have been married they have spent little time in London, and here in London I understand you reside."

"He and I have had the opportunity to understand each other quite well from quite early in our acquaintance. I must say, I have never had the pleasure of acquaintance with a finer man."

"He does have a great estate," the Earl replied, mistaking Mr. Gardiner's meaning.

"I have had the pleasure of visiting Pemberley and indeed it is a great estate, but I referred to his character, your Lordship, not his situation. He is a man of steadfast loyalty and deep affections, honorable, honest, intelligent and generous."

"Oh, yes of course," the Earl remarked.

"I suppose," continued Mr. Gardiner, "I have given him what my wife would call a most flaming character."

"Indeed!" chuckled the Colonel.

"In truth," Mr. Gardiner continued with his customary openness, "Lizzy is very dear to my wife and I and so it is a great pleasure to see her married to a man of such excellence of character."

"The excellence of situation is, I am sure, equally pleasing to your niece," the Earl retorted callously.

Mr. Gardiner stiffened with indignation and replied curtly, "While I have had the honor of sufficient intimacy to understand your nephew's character, evidently your Lordship has not had a similar opportunity to come to understand my niece's or you should never have made such an insinuation."

"And when I understand her better, what shall I find?"

"A young lady of great integrity, a woman unimpressed by excellence of rank, situation or connections where it is not matched by excellence of character; you will find a young lady guided by her honesty, her principles and her affections."

The Colonel could not fathom his father's intentions as he heard him reply sarcastically, "I imagine a woman who appeared such could make herself quite enticing to a man of my nephew's character."

"Sir, we are both men of the world, let us not mire ourselves in innuendo. I am well aware of your position regarding the marriage between your nephew and my niece. As you were unable to prevent it, perhaps it would behoove you to recognize that, for whatever the difference of their family situation, in character, in principals and affections they are remarkably well suited."

"And I should forsake at last my reservations as they are wasted at the end?"

"Were we not discussing Shakespeare at dinner? Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediment."

The Earl stared at Mr. Gardiner for a moment, holding the gaze of Mr. Gardiner's clear, intelligent and resolute gray eyes. "Might I be so bold as to observe, Mr. Gardiner, that both you and your niece are two most surprising individuals. You both defy category. You are both quite outside of definition."

"Not at all, sir, we are merely two people who strive to live with honesty and integrity. If that is unusual then it is merely an unfortunate commentary on the quality of our society." Mr. Gardiner paused and then, in a desire to return levity to the exchange, added, "If your Lordship is truly interested in singular characters then you must wait to make the acquaintance of Lizzy's father. Now there is a singular gentleman."

"Indeed!" Replied the Earl with sincerity. "Then I shall await the opportunity with anticipation."

With an elegant bow Mr. Gardiner excused himself and made his way to the port, where he was soon in jovial conversation with two of Darcy's Cambridge intimates.

"So that is the infamous tradesman," the Earl remarked almost indifferently to his son.

"So it would seem."

"A surprising gentleman to be sure."

Soon thereafter the gentlemen joined the ladies and a request for music was quickly made. While Elizabeth encouraged Miss Greystock to perform, the Colonel joined his mother.

"You seem pleased."

"I am Richard. She has been in every way an excellent and charming hostess this evening. I am quite impressed with her ease. I did not anticipate it. And Mrs. Gardiner is a very refined lady as well. Mrs. Darcy has indeed made a success of it."

"Do you then admit your error, mother?"

Lady Maria only smiled. After a few pieces were agreeably performed the soft and even voice of Lady Maria filled the room.

"Mrs. Darcy, we have been honored by such fine performances this evening. Will not you grace us with your own as well. You sang so delightfully when you last dined at our home. Perhaps Miss Darcy would be willing to accompany you again."

Lady Maria's tone was so soft and familiar that those in the room who had heard rumors of a chilling of relations between the two houses as a result of Darcy's marriage could now not but dismiss them. Having now, as she so much as admitted to her son, seen her error, Lady Maria was prepared to use all her not unsubstantial skill and understanding to promote Mrs. Darcy, and thereby the futures of both Darcy himself and Georgiana. Her change and her intention did not escape Darcy's notice and as his wife and sister--the latter reluctantly--made their way to the instrument, he approached her and took her hands into his own. "Am I correct, my dear aunt, that you have come to see things my way?"

"Oh, hush my dear," she replied with a smile. "You and Richard are quite determined that I shall not enjoy any of this evening's performances."

Darcy smiled and moved to a position where, the Colonel suspected, he might have a better view of the two objects of his affection.

Although others who had performed that evening were better trained, Elizabeth, who indeed looked quite beautiful this evening, sang again with such a sweetness of tone and such an artless joy that the room was captivated.

Love, thou art best of Human Joys,

Our chiefest Happiness below,

All other Pleasures are but Toys;

Musick, without thee, is but Noise,

And Beauty but an empty Show.**

"I now admit my error," Lady Maria whispered to the Colonel as the room filled with appreciative applause.

It was some time later that the Colonel wandered down the empty hallway and considered whether to simply depart or whether to ascertain if Darcy was still up and about. He inquired of a footman still at his post and learned the master and mistress had not yet retired and could be found in the music room. Approaching quietly he came to the door of the music room and leaned against the door unnoticed.

They sat together, very closely, very neatly upon a sofa that faced away from the door, and Elizabeth's head was resting against Darcy's arm. A soft, banter played back in forth between them.

"I recall that someone once said to me, long before I thought so well of you as I do now, that you could be very charming when you wished. Indeed, I believe I have never seen you as charming as you have been this evening."

"Never?" he asked provocatively. She giggled as he lifted her arm and diligently set to kissing the inside of her wrist and the underside of her round, velvety forearm.

"Well, perhaps I should amend my statement and say never while in company."

"My darling Lizzy, as long as you find me charming I am quite indifferent as to what the rest of the world's opinion may be."

As Darcy lifted her head from his arm and softly kissed her mouth, the Colonel loudly cleared his throat. "But Darcy you are ever so charming!"

He felt a pang of remorse when he saw Elizabeth's deep blush, but lost it as soon as Darcy spoke.

"Fitzwilliam!" Darcy roared as he stood and turned a look of ire upon his cousin. "What in the devil are you doing lurking about my house in such a fashion? Why are you still here? Our guests departed more than half an hour ago."

"Such a temper Darcy!" the Colonel chuckled. "I decided I absolutely must enjoy another of those remarkable cigars you procured before I departed for the Earl's. Really, such a fuss. Sit down," he replied succinctly as he entered the room.

"May I congratulate you, Mrs. Darcy," he said with a formal bow before taking a seat across from her. "This was a most delightful evening."

As Darcy sat down again the Colonel noted with amusement the glower that emanated from his eyes. All three were silent.

"Fitz," Darcy finally remarked in a steady, even tone.

"Yes, Darcy?"

"Go home."

"Are you tossing me out of your house, Darcy?"

"Yes."

"Into the dangerous London night?"

"Yes."

"I suppose I would not be much of a soldier if I could not get myself home safely."

"No, you would not be. Now leave."

"A soldier can always follow orders." Both made as if to stand and the Colonel motioned for them to be still. "Do not trouble yourselves. I can see myself out."

As he was walking out to the foyer, he turned on his heals and on a whim silently returned to the door of the music room and looked in. Engaged in what appeared to be in all ways an enthusiastic kiss, neither noticed either his return or his retreat. As he ambled back to the Earl's he reflected, as he often had of late, on the delightful situation in which his cousin now found himself and he wondered if it was really so very impossible to find a woman who was in possession of both charm and a fortune.

| | | |

In which we attend an engagement ball

Edward Fitzwilliam, the future Earl of ____ was far more handsome than his younger brother, Colonel Fitzwilliam. He was tall and well-figured as was characteristic of the Fitzwilliams. He was possessed primarily, however, of a certain hardness of mien which ensured that his less handsome but more amiable brother was forever considered the more attractive of the two. This evening as the Colonel walked into the drawing room and found his brother in full sartorial splendor for the evenings Engagement Ball he thought Edward had never looked so cold.

"I suppose after this evening you will be verily promised, Edward." He remarked casually as he dropped himself into a chair inelegantly.

"Sometimes, Richard, you really are a stupid fool." Edward spit out the words with disdain. "You are fully aware that this engagement was published in the papers a full fortnight ago."

"Ah yes, and has been universally acclaimed since as a most excellent match. But tell me, are you quite reconciled?" The Colonel inquired in a sympathetic tone.

"What nonsense is this? Reconciled to what?" Edward replied frostily.

"I would think that is quite patently obvious. To life as Lady Patience Faircloth's husband."

"She shall be my wife, I shall not be her husband. When I am Earl I shall have a rank superior to hers, as you are well aware."

"Now who speaks nonsense, for surly you shall be as much her husband as she will be your wife, and I believe your rank will be shared. But if you prefer to see it in those stark terms, may I remind you that she has a fortune superior to what yours shall be."

"What is your proposition, or are you just wishing to disturb my peace?"

"I cannot disturb what you do not have, brother."

"Further nonsense."

"Come, if you can not confide in your brother, Edward, then in whom?"

"You do not confide in me. You have Darcy. Why should I spare the trouble when your loyalty has always been given first and foremost to Darcy, when it rightly should reside with your own brother."

"That is unfair Edward. You well know that I have attempted to give you council on matters of great import and you have always chosen to ignore it. Behold now the results. Tonight we celebrate your engagement to a woman you neither love nor esteem."

"What has love or esteem to do with it. I respect her."

"For her rank and her fortune."

"For whatever reason, I respect her. And when she is my wife I shall respect her for being my wife."

"And you really have no regrets Edward, that you forsook Miss Vye?"

"What would you have had me do? Her profligate brother gambled away the family fortune in the most disgraceful manner. Was I, a future Earl, to align myself to a family so debased?"

"What of Miss Vye? You do not repine her?"

"What does it matter?"

"You loved her."

"Love is a mere flight of fancy; a poet's delight and a gentleman's torment."

"You know that is not so. You have Darcy there for the truth of it."

"Darcy! You spend far too much time with Darcy." Edward turned indignantly on his heal and began to exit the room, and then stopped and spoke to his brother in a tone rich with disappointment and resentment. "We are not all masters of our own destiny as he is, so do not come to me with Darcy's romantic notions. You would be best to put them behind yourself. You cannot marry a penniless girl. Your habits are quite as expensive as mine. And pray do not torment me mercilessly with memories of Miss Vye. Tonight I shall be publicly promised to Lady Patience Faircloth and I wish to never again hear the name nor even a suggestion of Miss Vye pass your lips."

As Colonel Fitzwilliam watched his brother disappear into the festooned hallway Darcy's words came unexpectedly back to him. She need not be your dearest friend, but for your brother's sake be open and receptive. Perhaps Darcy had been correct. Edward was a miserable, pathetic enough fellow as it was, it would hardly be brotherly to remind him of his misfortune when he would soon have daily proof in the form of Lady Patience Faircloth's regular company. With a cynical beware the ides of March muttered under his breath he joined his family in anticipation of the throng of invited guests.

The engagement of Lady Patience Faircloth, daughter of Lord Randolph Faircloth and the long deceased Lady Hyacinth Faircloth, of Goodstone Park, to the Viscount Edward Fitzwilliam, future Earl of ____, was considered by London's high society as one of the most well constructed matches in many a season. It was to the advantage of all. One offered more prestigious rank, while the other offered greater fortune, neither came with hands empty, and both were most advantageously connected. It was an alliance in all manners to be admired. It had been accomplished through the diligence of the two elder noblemen pursuant to the claim of duty to heritage with the full acquiescence of the betrothed who, in point of fact, were not much more than passing, indifferent acquaintances.

The first word a person was want to select to describe Lady Patience Faircloth was inevitably the same: long. She was surprisingly tall and with a figure so thin and lanky as to accentuate her already generous height. Everything about her was long and thin: her figure, her face, her neck, her hands. She dressed with great attention to the latest fashion plates, but with a discernment which ensured she never looked ridiculous nor awkward. She had a particular fondness for turbans. She was not pretty, neither was she wholly unappealing. Indeed, had she been a woman of character, this character, in conjunction with the always flattering blush of youth, could have made her, if not handsome or beautiful, certainly notably attractive in an intriguing manner. Unfortunately for her, hers was a figure and a countenance that was in need of character, nay, that demanded character to display to its greatest advantage. Lady Patience Faircloth had no such great character, instead in her countenance was more often than not to be found an expression of distraction accentuated by a perpetually slacked lower lip. And in her large and lovely toned dark blue eyes there was but a certain blank, emotionless quality. Lady Patience Faircloth neither wished ill on any person nor wished particularly well; she was neither malicious, nor petty, nor generous, nor broad minded. She was simply a relentlessly bored lady of four and twenty who had been obliged to exert herself only as far as the basic requirements of her station, and so never developed the habits of a just mind or a solid character. There was, in short, nothing to fault her for, and just as surely nothing of particular note to praise her for.

And this insipid creature, Colonel Fitzwilliam mused, was to be his brother's wife and he recalled with sadness for his brother the pretty and sweet Miss Vye who would have been the wife of Edward's heart had he had but the courage. As the Lady arrived he watched as his brother proffered a perfectly executed bow to his intended before leading her into the ball. Propriety had called for the Colonel to greet Lady Faircloth and her father with the rest of the family and he had barely been able to withstand the displeasure, all the while wondering again when he had become such a silly, sentimental fellow. Disgusted, he turned away to find himself being approached by Darcy and Elizabeth. The contrast was too stark to avoid and as he watched his cousin Darcy approach with his wife on his arm he admired him afresh for having had the courage to take love where he had found it, regardless of what less then desirable connections had come with it.

"Lizzy," the Colonel bowed, "You look lovely this evening."

And she did look lovely, in that peculiarly effortless manner that the Colonel found so agreeable. Indeed, he had suspected when they first wed that she might have become overwhelmed by Darcy's significant wealth, reduced by the weight of it, rendered capricious by the excess of possibilities and thereby lose some of her charm, but he had underestimated the steadiness of her character. Here she was now, the wife of a very wealthy man, and all her attire and presentation now subtly suggested that wealth—the fabrics of her gowns, the jewels, the highly trained maids to set her hair to perfection—and yet she had not lost a bit of that artless grace that she had had as an unmarried country girl living in a home of reduced means, she had not lost a bit of her freshness, she had, incontrovertibly, retained that unpracticed elegance, that natural playfulness that a gentleman could not but find enchanting. She was not subjugated by his wealth as a weaker mind may have been; she simply remained Elizabeth, Lizzy.

"Mrs. Darcy?" he inquired formally after compliments had been exchanged. "May I have the honor of the first two dances?"

"I am afraid Fitz," Darcy laughed, "your gallantry is wasted. They are taken. Indeed I am almost certain her dance card is entirely full. Is that not so, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth smiled becomingly at her husband. "So it would seem."

"Oh come Darcy, you cannot dance with her the entire evening."

"I certainly may. It is one of the many advantages of being married. I need never disguise my preference."

"But you have always despised dancing, surly you will allow me the pleasure of dancing with your wife if for no other cause than to release yourself of the burden!" The Colonel laughed affably.

"Fitz, you shall learn yourself at the most unexpected moment that with the right partner there are no such burdens." Elizabeth blushed as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, you shall at least dance once with Lady Patience Faircloth out of respect for your cousin, will you not? And, if I may most ungraciously add, to save him the necessity of too many dances with her as well. It will hardly do for her to be sitting out a dance at her own Engagement Ball and I cannot imagine any gentleman desiring to dance with her now her dowry is claimed."

"You are very cruel this evening," Elizabeth scolded.

"Perhaps, but Darcy must do his cousinly duty. After all Edward has a lifetime of insipid conversation before him, we might save him from his own disastrous future for half an hour. At that time, I claim your hand Lizzy."

They continued on in congenial discourse with Elizabeth and the Colonel providing the majority of the repartee while Darcy looked on with easy pleasure. The Colonel was in the midst of an amusing anecdote about some new foolishness of his General when he saw the look of ease suddenly disappear from Darcy's face, only to be replaced by a hard stare of utter antipathy. He stiffened entirely and as Elizabeth followed his eyes, her own open and easy countenance developed an infrequently exhibited reserve. The Colonel turned to see what had occasioned such a change and saw looking toward them with equal hostility their aunt, Lady Catherine.

As Darcy made to turn and walk away in the contrary direction, Elizabeth halted him with a subtle grasp of his arm. "William!" the Colonel heard her whisper in a voice so controlled and taut that he barely recognized it as hers. "Her presence is no surprise and we had settled that this is no place to cosset your indignation. What lies between is our own personal concern and I will not have you parading it for the sport of Lady Maria's guests. Lady Maria does not deserve such a discomfiting display of incivility among members of her own family. Please, William, let us acknowledge Lady Catherine. This is no moment for resentment."

Throughout Elizabeth's reasoning Darcy remained perfectly still, his eyes not leaving the cold, challenging stare of his aunt. He made no audible reply to his wife, he merely placed his hand atop hers, which rested on his arm, and escorted her across the room to Lady Catherine. The Colonel watched, incredulous, as they exchanged perfect civilities.

Rushing to the Earl's side, he whispered into his ear with almost boyish anxiety. "Father! Did you not observe?" The Colonel directed the Earl's attention to the exchange occurring not a few feet away.

"Well," The Earl intoned with something akin to impatience. "At any rate, Lady Catherine has the sense not to heave their discord into the open. Although I confess to some surprise that Darcy would put his resentment aside even for the evening. Lady Maria will appreciate their effort to maintain propriety I am sure."

"You are incorrect, father, in your assumptions. My aunt and my cousin simply stared at each other with barely disguised animosity when they discovered one another's attendance. It was Mrs. Darcy that insisted upon the civilities."

"Is that so?" The Earl remarked, watching Elizabeth with a new respect until he was distracted by the attentions of one of his guests.

If the Earl was pleasantly surprised by Mrs. Darcy's tact and forbearance, Lady Catherine was perhaps not so very much pleased by the general ease with which she moved about the room, nor with the frequency with which she was recognized, acknowledged and, distressingly, admired. She could not but reflect on that ill-conceived interview at Longbourn in which Miss Elizabeth Bennet had dared to contradict her and had confidently calculated that society would be too wise to share in any scorn should she, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, marry Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Lady Catherine did not at all enjoy, it can be surmised, to be thus proven so mistaken in her understanding and so she remained only as long as propriety demanded, claiming a need to return to the side of her poor, dear, sick girl.

Before the Colonel could enjoy his promised dance with Elizabeth, he himself was required to pay his respects to his future sister and so soon found himself partnered with Lady Patience Faircloth for the better part of half an hour, and never had a set seemed so tediously long and dull. She executed each move with perfectly unfeeling flawlessness; she replied to his inquiries with no originality, no enthusiasm and no effort whatsoever to charm. As he contemplated her daily presence at the Earl's table he searched for an explanation as to why his father should have pushed this mindless, insipid creature upon the family and was quite baffled. He was equally so as to how anyone who sincerely esteemed Edward could consider this an excellent match. Sometimes, the Colonel thought, society quite confounds me.

Freed at last from the monosyllabic Lady Patience Faircloth, he claimed his dance with Elizabeth as Darcy himself was left to partner with his future cousin. As they were but a few steps into the first dance the Colonel noted Elizabeth barely able to contain her laughter.

"What has you so amused, Lizzy? While I understand my cousin dances quite well I hope I am not so very lacking in skill?"

"Oh pray forgive me Fitz," Lizzy smiled warmly, her eyes alight with merriment. "I was contemplated the sight of my poor anguished husband."

"What ever do you mean?"

"Why, just look at him." The Colonel turned his head and watched his cousin dancing with his future sister. Darcy's face was immobile from the tedium, which gave to his mien the impression of a fierce haughtiness. "I have not seen him wear that expression in ever so long and I find it rather amusing now."

"Now?"