Janet Aylmer - Darcy’s Story

Bingley was taken totally by surprise.

“Jane and I have talked of that,” he began, “but we had concluded that it was impossible.”

He went on, “I must say that I had thought, when we met Elizabeth in Derbyshire, at Lambton and Pemberley, that you might have some susceptibility in that direction, despite my sisters’ efforts to decry it. But, since then, nothing confirmed to me that you had any such intentions.”

Bingley paused and then, as though suddenly struck by a new idea, went on,

“I knew that Lady Catherine had called to see Elizabeth at Longbourn, for Jane told me about the visit. Was that on your behalf?”

“No! It was not,” said Darcy, more sharply than he intended.

He reflected immediately to himself that it was not wise, at least not yet, to broadcast his aunt’s strong opposition to the marriage, even to as close a friend as Bingley, until he had written to her and received a reply to the letter. There was, after all, the possibility, however small and remote, that Lady Catherine might change her mind about the match.

Instead, he said to Bingley, “Will you now wish me joy?”

His friend replied emphatically, “With all my heart. I can think of nothing that would please Jane and I more. Are you to speak to Mr. Bennet tomorrow?”

“Probably, yes,” Darcy replied, “when I have had the opportunity for some further private conversation with Elizabeth. Are you willing to propose another walk tomorrow? I must confess that there seems little likelihood of talking with her at Longbourn without being overheard.”

“Of course!” said his friend, “for clearly such exercise is to your advantage!”

On the following day, Darcy followed his friend into the drawing-room at Longbourn.

As soon as they entered, Bingley looked at Elizabeth so expressively, and shook her hand with such warmth, as left no doubt of his good information. Soon afterwards, he said aloud, “Mrs. Bennet, have you no more lanes hereabouts in which Lizzy may lose her way again to-day?”

Darcy saw Elizabeth look at him with some alarm, but her mother intervened before she could say anything.

“I advise Mr. Darcy, and Lizzy, and Kitty,” said Mrs. Bennet, “to walk to Oakham Mount this morning. It is a nice long walk, and Mr. Darcy has never seen the view.”

“It may do very well for the others,” replied Mr. Bingley, “but I am sure it will be too much for Kitty. Won’t it, Kitty?”

Kitty owned that she had rather stay at home.

Darcy confirmed to Mrs. Bennet that he had a great curiosity to see the view from the Mount. Elizabeth said nothing, but went to get her wrap before joining him outside. After they had walked out of earshot of the house, Darcy began.

“I wish to speak to your father tonight, to ask his consent, before anyone else has any knowledge of it. Do you know what his reaction will be?”

Elizabeth replied, “My father is likely to be very surprised at your application. He knows nothing of what passed between us in Kent, or at Pemberley.”

She blushed as she went on, “His opinion of you may be coloured by the views of others, formed when you first came into Hertfordshire.”

“You mean, I suppose, by views similar to your own at Rosings?”

She acknowledged that she had in mind something of the sort.

“Also, it is only a few days ago, just after Lady Catherine called, that my father received a letter from Mr. Collins. He wrote that word had reached Kent of my sister’s forthcoming marriage. That must have led on to the idea of an alliance between us, passed on, I assume, from Sir William and Lady Lucas to Charlotte, and warned my father that your aunt was opposed to it. He called me into the library, as he was so surprised at such a possibility.”

“And what did you say?” said Darcy with a half smile.

“I said as little as I could, without telling him an untruth.”

Darcy looked concerned. He knew that Elizabeth was her father’s favourite child. “You are not saying that he will refuse me consent to marry you!”

“No, I do not believe so. But he may say that he has had no inkling that I have any attachment to you.”

“And your mother, what of her,” Darcy inquired, remembering very well Mrs. Bennet triumphantly relating to him only two weeks ago the news of her youngest daughter’s nuptials.

Elizabeth told him that she would speak to Mrs. Bennet only when she was certain that Darcy had her father’s consent. She went on to ask him, in relation to the events which had led to her sister’s marriage with Wickham, what, if anything, should be disclosed.

“As I told you before, Sir, my mother and father have no inkling of how indebted they are to you in that unhappy business. They believe that it was my uncle Gardiner’s doing. You do not wish me to inform either of them?”

“Only, if you consider it essential, to tell your father, so that he may not trouble your uncle about repayment.”

Elizabeth then reserved to herself passing on the news to Mrs. Bennet, once it was certain that her father had agreed, saying only that she believed that she would always be happy at the prospect of a wedding for any of her daughters. That reminded them both of Wickham and Lydia, and they changed the subject quickly, to happier topics about the future. 

That evening after dinner, Darcy followed his host when he left the party to go to his room.

Seeing him, Mr. Bennet said, “Can I assist you, Sir? You are very welcome to borrow one of my books, for when the other entertainments, that are on offer, pall?”

“Thank you, but I have no need of a book for that reason. But there is something that I should like to discuss, if you would be kind enough to allow me a few minutes.”

Mr. Bennet looked surprised, but said nothing, and he led the way into the library, then inviting his guest to sit down.

But Darcy walked over to the fire, and turned, taking in the room with comfortable furniture and lined with books, in in which he knew that his host spent much of his time.

He began, without delay.

“I have an application to ask of you, Sir, that is of the utmost importance to me. Your daughter, Miss Elizabeth, has done me the greatest honour in telling me that she is willing to accept my offer of marriage, subject to your consent.”

His host appeared to take several moments to comprehend the import of this request. His countenance turned slowly to astonishment and then to concern. At last, Mr. Bennet said, “You have asked Lizzy to marry you...and she has accepted?” He spoke as though expecting a reply in the negative.

Darcy replied simply, “Yes, Sir, she has done me that honour.”

“Forgive me, Mr. Darcy,” said Mr. Bennet, “but I had no idea that you... that she... that you and Lizzy were well acquainted enough to...?”

Darcy waited for a moment, and then, as his host made no move to continue, he said,

“Your daughter has told me, Sir, that you may have little knowledge of our meetings in Kent and in Derbyshire earlier this year. You may wish to speak to her about that.”

Mr. Bennet was still silent.

“All I should say for myself now is that it is my dearest wish that she should be my wife.”

Darcy hesitated for a moment and then, as Mr. Bennet still gave no reply, he added, “I can assure you, Sir, that it is my intention to make a most generous settlement on her in the event of our marriage. She shall not want for anything.”

This last remark aroused Mr. Bennet into speech, although not on the lines that Darcy had anticipated.

“I do not doubt your ability to provide for her . . .” he said.

But he went on, in a tone that was almost puzzled, “I had no idea that there was any mutual feeling between you and my daughter. And I must confess that I was completely unaware of your intentions.”

“Forgive me, Sir,” said Darcy, “if I say that Miss Elizabeth and I are perhaps less open, more private in our emotions and behaviour than my friend, Bingley, and your eldest daughter, Miss Bennet.”

“Yes, yes,” said Mr. Bennet, almost testily, and he then lapsed into silence.

Darcy was not sure how to interpret this reaction, especially since he had noted in the past that Elizabeth’s facility with words was inherited from her father.

After a pause, he said, hesitantly, “Are you willing to give me your consent, Sir?”

Mr. Bennet looked at him for a moment, and then said slowly, “Yes. But, if you agree, I should like to speak with Lizzy before . . . before the news is passed on to anyone else in the family.”

It was not difficult for Darcy to guess who he had in mind.

“Of course, Sir. Thank you. I know that Elizabeth . . . that your daughter greatly values your opinion.” And with that, Darcy went out of the library, and returned to the drawing-room.

His absence did not seem to have been noted, except by Elizabeth, since most of the others were busily engaged playing cards. He smiled at her when he was sure that the others were occupied and, after a few minutes when he could do so without being noticed, he approached the table where she was sitting with Kitty.

While pretending to admire her work, Darcy said in a whisper, “Go to your father, he wants you in the library.”

* * *

His anxiety in her absence was hard to bear, and it seemed to him a very long delay before she returned.

After so many difficulties over the past few months, he was far from complacent that her father would agree to the match without demur. There might well yet be some objection that he might put to his favourite daughter, which could carry some weight with Elizabeth.

At last, when the evening was almost over, and it was close to the time that he and Bingley must go back to Netherfield, she returned to the room and resumed her seat. When the time came for them to leave, Mrs. Bennet and the rest of the family were busy with Bingley and Jane, and Darcy took the opportunity to speak to Elizabeth.

“Your father...,” he began, sounding more anxious than he had intended, and finding that he could not go on.

Elizabeth answered the unspoken question for him. “He is willing to accept my assurances,” she said simply, and then suddenly smiled so happily that Darcy nearly forgot the others in the room standing close to him.

For once, he was grateful for Mrs. Bennet’s intervention.

“Mr. Bingley is waiting for you in the coach, Mr. Darcy,” she said sharply, and he took his leave.

After saying goodnight to Bingley, Darcy went to his room at Netherfield, but found himself disinclined to sleep.

The events of the past two days had given him little time for reflection.

Although not of a disposition which relied on the approbation of others, he wished at that moment that he had someone to whom he could confide his joy in the happy future which now lay before him.

Bingley was a good friend, but he was not someone to whom Darcy had ever displayed his innermost feelings, and his cousin Fitzwilliam was elsewhere. Then he recalled his conversation with his sister when they were last together.

She had been so much more perceptive than he had expected when she had asked him,

“You need to return south, do you not? Is it to see Miss Elizabeth Bennet? Is she likely to become someone you... more than value?”

He had paused, before deciding to answer her honestly.

“That is already the case, in truth. But as to her views, I am not certain...I do not know, Georgiana. I do so wish that I did. But it is a possibility. Would you wish me well in that direction?”

He recalled his surprise when she at first made no reply, but instead came across the room and took his hand, and then said,

“There is nothing I would like better. But do not worry, I shall keep your secret, whatever happens.”

Perhaps Georgiana would be more than the young sister he needed to protect from now on. Someone who would be close both to himself and to Elizabeth. Darcy drew up a chair to the desk, took paper and pen, and began to write.

The clock in his room had struck the hour before he concluded the letter,

...I hope, therefore, my dear sister, that you will wish us both well, and happy.