A Father's Sins: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (12 page)

After
breakfast, while Elizabeth went upstairs to check on Mr. Darcy’s progress and
change the dressing on the wound, the others gathered in the drawing room, soon
joined by Mr. Bingley’s sisters.  Elizabeth returned to a much quieter, subdued
gathering. It appeared that the damper was of Miss Bingley’s making. Elizabeth
settled next to Georgiana and Lady Matlock on the large sofa at one side of the
grand fireplace. Georgiana had a book she was reading and Lady Matlock was
inquiring as to its subject.

Mr.
Burton stepped into the room and announced a visitor for Miss Elizabeth. All
eyes turned to the doorway and Elizabeth’s heart sank into her stomach as her
father appeared. “Mr. Bennet,” the butler announced. At this announcement, all
eyes turned to Elizabeth.

“Father,
to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” She politely inquired. Her good
manners were to no avail as her father stood in the doorway and pointed at her,
color rising in his face, and anger flashing from his eyes.

“What
do you say for yourself?” His voice boomed across the room. The gentlemen
immediately stood, as if an army called in defense.

“Excuse
me, Father, I do not know to what you are referring.” She looked to Mr.
Bingley, “If Mr. Bingley does not mind, maybe you and I should remove ourselves
to the library to continue this discussion in private, sir.” Mr. Bingley
quickly nodded his head. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Miss
Bingley clearly rejoicing in the comeuppance of the woman she saw as her
competitor.

Mr.
Bennet had not taken his eyes off his daughter. “I will go nowhere. I ask
again, what have you to say for yourself? You have ruined, forever, the only
chance your sister had for making a respectable marriage. Word has arrived at
Longbourn that you are flagrantly spending time in the bed chambers of a single
man with whom you have no attachment. Just because you rejected the only man who
will likely ever offer for you, my own cousin, Mr. Collins, does not mean you
have the right to ruin Jane’s chances. My Jane, because of her beauty and grace
deserves to be happy. You, Elizabeth Anne, deserve the streets, which is where
you belong.”

Elizabeth
was stunned and her pain and embarrassment were deep. Both for the attack and
that her father cared not that it was done in such a public forum. If gossip
had passed outside Netherfield Park before, it surely would do so now.

Before
Elizabeth could speak, Lord Matlock did so. “Sir, I take it that you are father
to this delightful child. As such, you should realize that you are grossly
misinformed. There has been no impropriety at all and your daughter is a
blessing to our family. Thanks to her skill, my nephew is recovering from a
horrible wound that could easily have ended his life.”

At
this Georgiana started to cry and quickly left the room, running upstairs to
her brother. While she was explaining what was happening downstairs, Lord
Matlock, his two sons, and Mr. Bingley stood as one against Mr. Bennet.

“Now,
that is a wise young girl. She chose to remove herself from your presence,
Elizabeth. You are poison to her.” Mr. Bennet made his verbal thrust. “You say
Elizabeth treated your nephew with skill and that he is better for it. Well,
sir, you should know that her “
skill
” resulted in the death of my heir
and three other girl children. I would not put any trust in her “
skill
”
at all.”

“You,
sir, are speaking to the wrong man. It proves to me that you do not know your
own daughter.” Lord Matlock was filled with righteous anger toward a man, who
by birth, was obligated to care for those under him, including his children. Lord
Matlock did not ask Mr. Bennet to leave. In his most authoritative voice, he commanded
him to go, but Mr. Bennet was not going to leave until he won his point.

Meanwhile,
upstairs, Mr. Darcy was angered beyond anything he had ever felt at hearing
that Elizabeth’s father was abusing her downstairs. He called for his robe and
climbed out of bed to go assist her. Forgotten was the fact that he had had
only broth and water since early the day before. Standing too quickly, he
greatly overestimated his strength and collapsed to the floor.

Georgiana
screamed.

Netherfield Park, Hertfordshire

Parker,
hearing the screams coming from Mr. Darcy’s room, rushed in from his master’s
sitting room ready to do battle. When he found his master collapsed on the
floor with his sister standing over him, he called Gideon inside to help him
lift his master back onto his bed. He, then, called the maid, Sarah, to attend
Miss Darcy while he hurried downstairs to the drawing room to get Miss
Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy’s wound had broken open with the fall and was bleeding.

The
valet had no difficulty finding Elizabeth, as he could hear her trying to calm
the angry men. When he entered the drawing room, he could see that the four
gentlemen loomed close to the other older man. The two Bingley sisters looked
on with glee. Whatever the happenings in the room, his sole focus was to get
Miss Elizabeth up to his master’s room as quickly as possible. When he looked
again at the young miss, he realized he now had her full attention. He quickly
whispered the situation to her and she excused herself, running up the stairs.
Parker quickly followed.

Back
in the drawing room, Lord Matlock and the others realized that any circumstance
that required Elizabeth’s immediate presence was not good. Lord Matlock had had
enough.

“Mr.
Bennet, it is my nephew lying upstairs, whom I love very much. Your daughter is
to be praised, not reproved in such a manner. You, sir, are the one that will
be leaving this house.” He approached Mr. Bennet and stood almost toe-to-toe.
“I suggest you do it NOW!”

“I
see how it is.” Mr. Bennet shook his head in disgust at Lord Matlock. “You men
are most to be pitied for the loss you are about to suffer. I hope and pray for
a quick end to this situation and that you blame the one who will be
responsible – Elizabeth.” With that he turned to the hallway, collected his
coat from Mr. Burton, and left for Longbourn.

Silence
settled on the room at his exit. After but a moment, Lord Matlock, without a
word, left the room and hurried up to his nephew’s room. His two sons and Mr.
Bingley followed.

In
the drawing room, Miss Bingley could not help but snicker at the damage done to
Miss Elizabeth’s reputation with the Fitzwilliam and Darcy family. Lady Matlock
heard. The Lady was like the Darcys in nature, quiet and reserved. However, she
was not a member of one of the most respected members of society for nothing.

“And,
what about this situation do you find so amusing, Miss Bingley?” Until this
point, Lady Matlock had chosen to stand back and allow her husband and sons to
take charge. However, she recognized that these two women coveted a higher
position in society and had determined that the Darcys would help them to
attain that position. This was a familiar game to anyone who had reached the
first circles of the ton. Though common enough, it was not palatable to Lady
Matlock, especially since her niece and nephew were the targets of
exploitation.

“Excuse
me, Lady Matlock,” said Miss Caroline Bingley quickly, “I merely had something
in my throat. I am certain that a cup of tea will be the answer. Would you like
me to pour for you too?”

“Miss
Bingley, do
not
underestimate my intelligence or my experience in
dealing with women of your caliber. That young woman, whom you seek to demean
in my eyes, is now performing a service in behalf of my family that will not
soon be forgotten. She has proved her value and her valor in these most fearful
times. You both would benefit by imitating her attitude and actions.” With
that, she swept out the door and up to her nephew’s room.

The
resentment Miss Bingley was feeling for Miss Elizabeth Bennet continued to grow,
as did her determination to remove her from Netherfield Park and attach herself
permanently to Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley.

Upstairs,
in Mr. Darcy’s bed chamber, Elizabeth again called upon Georgiana to help.  It
seemed to calm Miss Darcy to have a helpful task to perform. She put a clean
cloth over the wound and had her press down and hold the pressure until
Elizabeth could mix some more laudanum and powders into some tea. The stitch,
which was in the back of his arm, would need replaced and the skin was
extremely tender.

She
approached Mr. Darcy on his right side and asked Colonel Fitzwilliam and Parker
to help him sit so he could drink. After he lay back down, Elizabeth knew she
had to wait a bit until the drug took effect. She sat in the chair by the
bedside and grasped Mr. Darcy’s hand. “Mr. Darcy, my friend, were you trying to
climb on your white steed in your suit of armor and come rescue the fair maiden
from the fire-breathing dragon?”

He
looked at her face and saw one side of her mouth and one eyebrow lifted in
humor.

“Yes,
Elizabeth, I imagine that was exactly what my intentions were.” Georgiana
chuckled. She could not believe that her stoic brother admitted to such, or
that he had called Elizabeth by her first name in front of the family.

“You
silly, silly man.” She clasped his hand in both her small hands and squeezed
gently. “With all these big, strong men who are crowded in this room already
coming to my defense, you willingly endangered your own health to try to see to
mine.” How dear he was becoming to her.  She realized at that point that her
heart belonged to this man. “My father would never use force to hurt me. He
prefers to use words as his weapon and he has always prided himself on that
particular skill. It is my choice how deep I allow those words to cut me. I
will not lie, it pains me to realize how far apart we have grown, but the
wounds are not life-threatening. So, please, be at ease, Mr. Darcy.”

Lord
Matlock observed the interchange with interest. Miss Elizabeth never took her
eyes off his nephew’s face and Darcy did not look away either. Lord Matlock
then watched his niece as she obediently applied pressure to the wound. “
These
are not simpering young women
,” he thought. Finally, Miss Elizabeth patted Darcy’s
hand and turned to the men.

“Mr.
Bingley, would you request the attendance of Mrs. Nicholls and Mr. Burton,
please? Colonel Fitzwilliam, would you stand at my right and hold Mr. Darcy’s
shoulder? Viscount Stanley, if you would place yourself at my left, I will need
you to hold a candle for added light. Georgiana,” she looked up at the girl
still holding pressure to her brother’s arm, “wipe his brow while I repair the
damage?”

“Yes,
I will, Elizabeth.” She was firm and her uncle was impressed by her
determination.

“Parker,”
Elizabeth continued with the directives. “Open the curtains as wide as you can.
We are in need of as much light as possible.” He moved into position, as did
the rest of the men.

When
the housekeeper and butler presented themselves at the door, Elizabeth
requested needed items and they immediately left to obtain the bowls, towels,
bandage cloths, Scotch whisky, and hot water. Mr. Bingley had returned with
them along with Lady Matlock.  Gideon asked them to wash, as he had the others
when they arrived but a few minutes earlier, before they entered the room. Mr.
Burton and Mrs. Nicholls rushed off to gather the supplies and returned
quickly.

“Is
there any task that I can perform?” asked Lady Matlock.

“Yes,
Lady Matlock. I shall need you to stand behind your two sons with the clean
towels and hand them to me as needed. I am certain that you know how to get the
both of your sons to move when you need them to?”

The
Lady chuckled and told those gathered that she would have no difficulty at all.

“And,
what did you have in mind for me?” asked Lord Matlock.

“Please,
do not think that I overlooked you in any way, my Lord,” she grinned up at him
and chuckled. “Take my place in the chair and hold your nephew’s arm.” He
immediately complied. “If everyone would take their places, we shall begin.”
All moved except Mr. Bingley. “Mr. Bingley, please hold Mr. Darcy’s legs.” He
moved to the foot of the bed.

Elizabeth
called to the doorway, “Mr. Burton, did you retrieve Mr. Bingley’s sword?”

The
elderly butler responded seriously, “I did, miss. I am at the ready.”

“Good,
good.” Looking up at Mr. Burton, she smiled. “I am sure that after this day, if
you should be unhappy in your service to Mr. Bingley, Colonel Fitzwilliam may
be able to find a place in his regiment for a capable defender such as
yourself.” This lightened the somber mood in the room. By then, Mr. Darcy was no
longer aware of the activities surrounding him. He was in a drug induced sleep.
Elizabeth had given him two more drops than she had before. “Let us begin.”

It
did not take long to cleanse the wound again, pull out the old stitch, and
replace it with another. Everyone, male and female, took their roles and duties
with the utmost seriousness, so the procedure went smoothly. Before long, Elizabeth
was wrapping the wound with clean cloths and had the gentlemen turn Mr. Darcy
onto his back. “We shall now let him sleep. Georgiana, if you would please
remain and continue to apply the cool cloth to his forehead, I am sure your
brother would appreciate it. He may be asleep, but it seems to soothe him.”

Georgiana
was grateful that she would be able to stay close. The idea of returning to the
drawing room was distasteful to her.

Elizabeth
caught the attention of the others before they completely exited the room.
“Please, if you could pray for Mr. Darcy. It is unfortunate but possible, that
infection could set in. He is not as strong as he was when he was first wounded.
Please pray.”

Lord
Matlock responded, “Consider it done.”