Page 48 of Compromise & Consequence
“We never discussed what happened that night. Your judgment was clouded by anger and you refused to see reason. I have heard Lizzy’s side of the story, are you prepared to give me your version of what took place?”
“Miss Elizabeth – excuse me, Mrs. Darcy – went onto the terrace. The night air was cold and I worried she had gone outside without a shawl or something else to keep her warm. I followed to encourage her to return before she caught a chill. At the same time, I thought I saw Wickham sneaking behind a bush.” Once more Darcy felt the same ripple of anger that had gone through his body that night. “Knowing the way his mind works, I became convinced Elizabeth was involved in an elaborate ruse to cheat money out of me, confirmed when she turned and fell into my arms.”
“I will shoot you with my own pistol if you intimate one more time my niece set you up for a compromise. Lizzy cannot stand the sight of you. She would never willingly shackle herself to the likes of you.”
She cannot stand the sight of you.
He blanched at those words and pushed the unpalatable thought aside. Mr. Bennet continued speaking.
“My niece’s only mistake was leaving the ballroom to ensure her flighty cousin had not slipped outside with an officer. She did not compromise you. She did not set you up, and she is now paying for that mistake with a loveless marriage to a man who is not tempted by her looks and finds her barely tolerable.” Once again, his horrid words came back to haunt him. Would he never be free from them? “She never sought your good opinion nor your approbation. She is very likely the only woman in the whole of England, besides my darling Jane, who cares not one bit for your money.”
“I have been a fool. What must she think of me?”
“She tried not to think of you at all. If it were not for the fact Miss Bingley, so desirous of casting my niece in a bad light, brought everyone’s attention to the tear in Lizzy’s gown,we might have been able to brush this whole thing off.” Bennet glanced down at the contentious papers in his hand. “As it was, you had to wed. There was no other way out of this debacle.”
“I did not help with the grievous settlement I forced you to sign.” He held Mr. Bennet’s gaze, hoping the man before him realized he was truly sorry for his past actions. “My history with Wickham is convoluted. Nothing but one misery piled on top of another. I cannot reasonably think of him, and Elizabeth became caught in the crossfire of our antagonistic relationship.”
Darcy rose and paced to the window, staring outside without seeing anything, his mind fully engaged on what had happened over the past few weeks, knowing he had to be completely truthful with his wife’s uncle.
“My family has always expected me to make a brilliant marriage, as in taking a wife from a titled family.” He turned slightly from the window and looked at Mr. Bennet. “My mother is the daughter of an earl, and my father’s grandfather is a duke. The expectation of me marrying within the first circles has never been spoken aloud, but fully expected.”
He turned back to the window.
“In vain, I struggled. I ardently admired Elizabeth and did not know what to do with these feelings. No matter the location, a house, a church, or a ball, I kept her in sight. I knew immediately when she went out onto the terrace and was truly concerned, she would catch a chill. When I mistakenly thought she was involved with Wickham, every good thought, every encounter, and conversation became twisted with hate. To think that someone I held in great esteem colluded with him tore me apart. I was now forced to marry a woman whom I believed was in a conspiracy with my greatest enemy. It became my mission to make her miserable. I could not touch Wickham, but I could break her. I have no other words to add. I behaved in a most ungentlemanlymanner. She has every right to hate me.”
He was startled when a hand fell upon his shoulder.
“There is no denying you made a mess of things for no other reason than hurt pride. I suspected all along you had strong feelings for my Lizzy.”
“How could you have known that?”
“You were far too angry for your feelings not to be engaged.” Bennet returned to his seat by his desk. “May I safely assume we can now stay in contact with Elizabeth with no reprisals from you?”
“Yes, of course. I never should have said she could not correspond with her family.”
“You said she could not have contact withherfamily members.”
Darcy’s attention was caught, further heightened by the gleam in Bennet’s eye.
“I assume she found a way to circumvent me?”
“Most definitely. As your cousin has probably informed you, Elizabeth is my brother’s daughter. She is not related to Mrs. Bennet’s side of the family. We had set up a way to funnel all correspondence through them as they are not direct family.”
Darcy shook his head. and murmured, “She is so very clever.”
“That she is and once the two of you have settled your difference, she will be a valuable ally and help meet.”
“I will always treasure her but cannot account for how society will take to her.”
Even with her estate and fortune, she was simply the niece of a country squire.
“Mr. Darcy – Fitzwilliam – I can tell you, with impunity, Elizabeth will sail through your high society like the lady she isand always has been. I do not tell people about her background. as they would treat her differently and we would have had every fortune hunter flocking to our door.” Bennet leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his stomach. “Elizabeth is the granddaughter of Count Frederick de Cortez of Luciana.”
Darcy was surprised to hear Elizabeth’s grandfather was a count. He knew he had missed something given the smile which spread across his father-in-law’s face.
“Do you know anything about Spanish nobility?” At Darcy’s shake of his head, Bennet continued. “When a Spanish noble has ‘de’in front of their name, it means they are of royal blood.”
He waited while Darcy digested this morsel of news. His wife had royal blood…How thick? was his next thought.
