Page 29 of Most Truly the Gentleman

Both readily agreed. Fitzwilliam said, “Aunt Beresford has made me her heir. She mentioned the notion to me while I convalesced, and as of today, her will has been altered in my favour. However, as my mother was her heir until now, my father has long held the expectation that the Abbey would in time devolve to my dear brother and become part of the earldom. Mother wishes to carefully select the time at which he will be informed of the change. It shall be soon, though I suspect she means to wait until Mrs Beresford departs for Warwickshire next week.”

Darcy was surprised, though he swiftly understood that he should not be. Mrs Beresford had always been close to her niece, Lady Matlock, and with Fitzwilliam’s sister very well settled and his brother in expectation of all the wealth and holdings of Matlock, it was natural that the lady should consider changing her will to favour her most deserving and least well-provisioned great-nephew.

“You have jested about the need to pursue an heiress before,” Bingley commented, grinning, when his and Darcy’s congratulations had been satisfactorily conveyed. “Now, I fancy the ladies shall pursue you! Will you return in the autumn to enjoy their attentions, or will you be avoiding your father?”

“No, he will reconcile himself to it soon enough; my mother will ensure the information is presented to him in the most advantageous manner. She has managed his temper these five and thirty years, and she will manage it now. As to the autumn, if I am yet unattached, perhaps I shall go to town. But first, there is a lady in Hertfordshire I like very well, and now that my change in circumstances is official, I mean to know her better.”

Bingley whooped with delight and immediately set about teasing Fitzwilliam for being so sly, but Darcy hardly heard a word of it. Though he had not named the lady, it was easy to see to whom he must refer. They had been good friends from the beginning, always laughing together, their opinions and wit neatly aligned. His cousin meant to court Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and though he knew he had no right to wish either of them anything less than perfect happiness together, he found that he could not.

19

RETURN TO HERTFORDSHIRE

Fitzwilliam Darcy was not in the habit of changing his mind once it was made up, but his recent resolution to avoid Hertfordshire and Miss Elizabeth Bennet lasted only hours after his cousin’s announcement. He had lain awake far into the night, contemplating the image of Fitzwilliam courting and perhaps—very well, most likely—winning Miss Elizabeth. He had in time come to the conclusion that, however much he might despise the very idea of watching it unfold, he must, and not for his own sake, but for theirs.

Colonel Fitzwilliam, though the son of an earl, was not the sole or even the primary gentleman responsible for the credit of his family’s name, and his future estate, while handsome, produced but half Pemberley’s income. Nor would he also be responsible for two smaller estates and the invested wealth of several generations. He could marry a lady of no renown and slip into comfortable near-obscurity.

If they became sincerely attached, each to the other, he would find a way to reconcile himself to the fact that his cousin had secured the only lady ever to have truly captured his own interest. He would learn to regard her as a cousin, and an example of what a lady ought to be, and nothing more. He feared, however, that Miss Elizabeth would be pressed to accept Fitzwilliam even more strongly than she would have been pressed to accept Mr Collins, had not they intervened. And how different that scheme appeared in retrospect! Fitzwilliam’s interest in freeing Miss Elizabeth from Mr Collins’s attentions was explained by more than disinterested care for the happiness of an amiable acquaintance.

If she saw Fitzwilliam merely as a friend, he dreaded the eventuality that they might be unhappy together, a probable outcome where one is in love and the other merely likes, and both were too clever to misunderstand the other’s feelings for long. Darcy resolved that he would remain at Netherfield Park for as long as it took to determine whether Miss Elizabeth truly welcomed Fitzwilliam as a suitor. If she did not, he would do everything in his power to extricate Fitzwilliam before his honour was engaged.

Bingley’s business could not be fully settled until Monday, so it was only on Tuesday morning that the Darcy carriage once again moved north towards Hertfordshire. It carried not only the three gentlemen, but two ladies as well: Georgiana Darcy and her companion, Mrs Annesley, who were to spend the Christmas season at Netherfield Park. Following behind were Mr Hurst, his wife, and her sister, in Bingley’s carriage.

Though Bingley’s sisters had strenuously objected to leaving town, Miss Bingley had in the end been swayed by the knowledge that Mr Darcy would be fixed there through Twelfth Night at the very least, and Miss Darcy with him. Mrs Hurst, as was usual, followed where her younger sister led, and Mr Hurst, as always, was perfectly happy to go wherever he was promised good food and drink.

Darcy’s sister had been distressed to learn that they would spend the Christmas season apart and had all but begged him to secure an invitation for her to visit Netherfield. He had then been forced to explain that Wickham was in the area, and though there were plans afoot to remove him from the county within days of their return, he could not with absolute certainty state that she would not catch a glimpse of him. She accepted this information with a quiet dignity quite removed from the summer’s sighs and tears, and remained unmoved in her wish to pass Christmas wheresoever her beloved brother and cousin might be.

As the carriage made its way along the Great North Road, Georgiana questioned Bingley and Fitzwilliam about the ladies of the area, her interest piqued by a suggestion of Bingley’s that she could look forward to making new friends during her stay. The eldest two Bennet sisters and Miss Lucas were particularly recommended to her as sensible young ladies, and the Miss Gouldings and Miss Longs were acknowledged as perfectly amiable also, while the younger Bennets, Miss Harrington, and Miss Maria Lucas were admitted to be rather silly.

“I much prefer a silly girl to a mean-spirited one,” Georgiana said, upon receiving this verdict on the girls closest to her own age in the neighbourhood. “I expect I shall get along with them well enough.”

“I am certain you shall, Georgie,” replied the colonel. “And they will be eager to know you. It is not often that new people enter such a small neighbourhood. I hope you will not allow their excitement to make you mute.”

Expecting his sister to duck her head and mumble a response to this tease, Darcy was surprised when she smiled and replied, “I may surprise you, Cousin. My aunt and Mrs Beresford both took me on calls to their friends while you were away, and several of the households included young ladies who were introduced to me. I believe I have learnt how to better conduct myself when forming new acquaintances.”

“What a fine thing!” Bingley exclaimed. “And did you like any of the young ladies?”

“I did, as it happens. There are two I hope to know better, if our time in London coincides in the future.”

“That is the trouble with having only gentlemen as your guardians, I suppose,” Fitzwilliam commented wryly. “Once you have friends, you may call upon them with your companion, but we have lesser means of putting you before those who might become friends than ladies do.”

“You are taking me to a neighbourhood where there are several young ladies of whom you approve, are you not?” she retorted kindly. “Now, tell me what I truly wish to know—do any of them love music?”

The next morning, Darcy and Fitzwilliam visited the militia camp, and met with Wickham in Colonel Forster’s office to present him with his new commission and his ticket on the post-coach to join his new regiment in two days’ time. The two colonels were diligent in impressing upon the man that failure to appear would be considered desertion, and to advise him of the penalties for such an act. Wickham, of course, appeared entirely unconcerned, and declared himself more than ready to take up his new post and, as he put it, ‘see a bit more of the world than stuffy old England’. The smug satisfaction with which he spoke inclined Darcy to believe that Fitzwilliam’s prediction had been realised, and the man expected to rub elbows with nabobs and make himself agreeable to their well-dowered daughters.

Perhaps he would, in time. Colonel Parker had seemed certain they were bound for a rather isolated outpost, but where they might be moved during their stay, it was impossible to predict. It was also impossible to shield the whole world from him. They had put him in a position where it should be much less likely that he would have the opportunity to defraud or seduce anyone for some months at least; after that, it would be fate, the army, and Wickham himself who determined the rest.

They would be in Meryton to see Wickham off—to verify that he left as planned, rather—on Friday morning, but until then, Darcy resolved to forget the man as best he could and turn his thoughts to assisting Bingley with his estate, attempting to ensure his cousin’s happiness, and enjoying the daily company of a most beloved sister.

Bingley awaited them impatiently at Netherfield, eager to call upon the Bennets. Their coats had hardly been dusted off before they must be put on again, and only the eagerness writ plain upon Georgiana’s face stayed her brother from suggesting that they might delay the call until the morrow. Miss Bingley valiantly attempted to persuade them all to stay, or at least Mr Darcy and dear Miss Darcy, who could have nothing to say to anyone at Longbourn, but she was doomed to be thwarted.

Their party were greeted warmly at Longbourn, though Miss Bennet seemed strangely watchful, almost wary. He noticed that the loud, forward youngest daughter of the house was not in evidence; he had worried over how Georgiana might receive her and was satisfied to put off the event. He tried most diligently not to look at Miss Elizabeth at all beyond what civility demanded, though he did discreetly observe the greeting between her and his cousin. That each was happy to meet the other was clear, but he saw no more than that on either side. Fitzwilliam was perfectly capable of concealing his thoughts and feelings until he chose to express them, but he was not so intimate with Miss Elizabeth as to determine whether her lack of particular favour was maidenly modesty or a dearth of feeling.

Once Georgiana had been introduced, Mrs Bennet wasted not a second in informing the visitors that her middle daughter was lately engaged to Mr Collins, who had returned to his parish but was expected back the week after next, per a letter received only the day before. Miss Mary accepted their congratulations with quiet pleasure, and responded favourably to Colonel Fitzwilliam’s comment that he and Darcy attended their aunt in the spring whenever possible, and would be glad to meet her in the environs of Rosings Park in years to come.

“It may be that I shall see you this spring,” she added, “for Mr Collins and I hope to wed before the winter has ended.”

“You will not see me, I am afraid,” the colonel replied. “I have another commitment this spring. But it is likely that Darcy will spend Easter at Rosings as he so often does, is that not right, Cousin?”