The Compromising of Elizabeth Bennet: A pride and prejudice variation

Part 12 - Falling In Love?

After the drama of the last few weeks and the continued presence of Collins, who Elizabeth had no doubt would write to Lady Catherine once more, Elizabeth decided to use Darcy's special licence and set the date of the wedding for just six day's time. The lack of support from her family had irreversibly changed Elizabeth's home, with her relationship with her father being the most damaged. His betrayal hurting all the more for the closeness that they had previously shared. Jane alone was Elizabeth's staunch supporter in the days that followed.

Mr Collins tried repeatedly to convince her to release Mr Darcy from their engagement, preaching endlessly about Lady's Catherine de Burgh's disappointment. He couldn't seem to understand that Elizabeth did not care about Lady Catherine's feelings on the matter.

Mrs Bennet veered between boasting at Elizabeth's success at capturing Mr Darcy's 10,000 a year (when Collins wasn't in the room), to fretting about the Bennet's reputation (how could Lizzie be so careless and do this to her sisters?), to her continued agonising over the entail and what would happen to them when Mr Bennet died, particularly now that Collins was not set to take one of her daughters as his wife.

Lydia and Kitty were insufferable in their teasing of Lizzie's compromises. To hear them you would think they were the paragons of modesty. Although Darcy had disputed the claims of her having been compromised by Wickham, Lydia was still quite jealous at her sister having been linked with the man that she herself wanted. So much attention being focused on her elder sister rankled deeply when she was so used to being the centre of attention. Both her and Kitty were being even more exuberant and sillier than usual in their efforts to steal focus. Mary was not really any different to her usual self but with everyone else around her being so much more exacerbating she spent more time than usual at the pianoforte. Something no-one appreciated.

And Mr Bennet...he was only seen each evening at dinner where he barely spoke to anyone before returning alone once more to his library. But Elizabeth saw the way he would look at her. His eyes filled with disgust and disappointment. She tried to speak to him but he quite literally shut the library door in her face.

Unable to stand being in the place which contained both Collins and her traitorous (in her mind) family, Elizabeth spent as much time out of the house as she could. Knowing she would soon be heading north to Derbyshire she left no path untreaded, committing her beloved Hertfordshire countryside to memory. If she wasn't outdoors she was at Netherfield, much to Caroline Bingley's consternation, visiting Mr Darcy and Georgiana. Their cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam had now also joined the party and Jane often accompanied her too, spending time with Mr Bingley who had concluded his business in London and returned.

Whilst Elizabeth couldn't yet say she was in love with Mr Darcy she could admit to being well on her way to falling in love with the handsome gentleman. The quiet, aloof, taciturn man who she knew previously was gone, and in his place a kind, considerate and sometimes quite funny man. In fact she was surprised at the sheer number of times that she found herself laughing in his company. They played chess and found themselves evenly matched. They read books together in the library, sometimes in an entirely comfortable silence and other times talking endlessly about their favourite authors. They debated politics and discussed national and international news. They walked around Netherfields grounds and woods, even visiting Meryton twice. They danced together, when Georgiana was persuaded to play for them, and played cards long into the evenings. They talked and talked, sometimes about nothing in particular and other times having deep philosophical discussions. They shared their pasts, stories from their childhoods and teen years, and tentatively discussed their future. And Elizabeth was gratified to meet the Mr Darcy that was so rarely shown to others. The one who smiled at her with shining eyes and dimples in his cheeks. The one who listened and respected her opinion even when it differed from his own. The one who gave as good as she did in their debates and arguments. The one who brought her flowers each morning and knew her food preferences without asking at breakfast and luncheon. The one who doted on his little sister and was endlessly patient with estate advice for his friend. The one who bantered with his cousin and was at least trying to make an effort to be more congenial with strangers. The one who could make her skin tingle and her heart ache with just one look. And the one who touched her hand at every opportunity, caressed her cheek and snuck passionate kisses when they were alone. Yes, Elizabeth was very close to falling in love with this man.

The only sore point was the residence of Caroline Bingley who watched their every move with unconcealed envy. She point blank refused to acknowledge Elizabeth's presence but still tried to endear herself to Darcy at every available opportunity despite his engaged status. Mr Darcy was counting down the days to his marriage to Elizabeth not only because his desperation to make her his wife grew each moment in her presence, but also as the day where he could leave the pesky Miss Bingley behind. He and Elizabeth planned to travel to London immediately following their wedding breakfast, being hosted at Netherfield rather than Longbourn.

Unbeknownst to either of them though, the vindictive Caroline Bingley had not yet given up her hopes of one day becoming Mistress of Pemberley. Convinced that if only she could get rid of Eliza Bennet, Darcy would be hers, she had already set in motion plans to prevent the wedding from ever happening, with the help of a certain Mr Wickham.