A Wife for Mr. Darcy

“There are complications.”
    “Complications? Forgive me if I appear confused, sir, but it is my understanding that you are about to become betrothed to a lady in London. There is nothing complicated about that.”
    “No.”
    “No? No what? No, you are not about to become betrothed? I see that you hesitate. I would think that such a question could be easily answered with a simple yes or no.”
    “There is nothing simple about this whole matter.”
    “I beg to differ. If I had been asked the same question, I would have had a ready answer.”
    If Georgiana had imagined listening to the sound of cooing lovebirds coming from inside the cave, she was quickly brought down to earth by loud voices speaking in anger.
    “Richard, they are quarreling.”
    “I would not call it quarreling. It sounds more like fighting to me. Apparently, Miss Elizabeth has tired of our games.”
    “Ben, go into the cave and ask Mr. Darcy if he needs a light to find his way out,” but the boy stood frozen as he had heard the same angry words coming from the cave. “Tell Mr. Darcy that I sent you. Now please go.”
    As soon as Ben went into the cave, Lizzy and Darcy went silent, and Darcy told him that he would be out shortly.
    “Elizabeth, I am trying. I can assure you that I am trying.”
    “I do not understand what you mean.”
    “If I may speak to you in private this evening, I would appreciate it.”
    “Fine,” and out she went.
    As soon as Lizzy emerged into the light, she immediately began praising the cave to Miss Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam because if she did not talk about all that she had seen, she would start crying out of pure frustration. After lauding all of the cave’s treasures, she quickly began to walk down the path to where Sugar was tethered. For fear that she might kick Darcy, the colonel assisted Lizzy onto the mare. Nothing was said during the ride down to the carriage and little on the ride back to Pemberley, that is, until they came into view of the stables.
    “Oh, no!” Georgiana said and looked at Richard.
    “Oh, God!” Richard answered when he saw what she was looking at.
    At that point, Darcy turned around and uttered a very audible “Damnation!”
    “What is wrong? Has something bad happened?” Lizzy asked, thinking that something terrible had occurred at Pemberley during their absence.
    “Yes, Miss Bennet. Something is wrong. My brother, Lord Fitzwilliam, has decided to pay us a visit.”
    Lizzy turned around to see the stable grooms unhitching a matched pair of white horses that had been pulling an ebony carriage with the coat of arms of the Fitzwilliam family on its side, and just from the little bit she had heard of Antony, Lord Fitzwilliam, she agreed that this could not possibly be a good thing.

As soon as the carriage came to a stop, David and Goliath were doing circles and flips to show their master how pleased they were to see him, but Darcy hardly noticed his dogs’ acrobatics. Even before he saw Antony’s carriage, his unhappiness with how the excursion to Shepherd’s Cave had gone was visible on his face. Now with the prospect of spending the evening with his rake of a cousin, his visage was all storm and thunder.
    After Mr. Darcy helped Lizzy out of the carriage, he told her that he was looking forward to seeing her at supper, although his countenance appeared to be saying something else entirely. She quickly made her way into the house only to encounter Lord Fitzwilliam. But her mind was too unsettled to attempt to tackle a conversation with the earl, and she made a quick bow, mumbled “milord,” and went right upstairs.
    Georgiana would have made good her own escape if she had not also run headlong into her cousin, who was standing in the foyer looking confused as his eyes followed Lizzy running up the stairs.
    “Georgiana, my dear, how lovely to see you. One of your servants just ran past me. I must say that even for a Darcy that is a damn liberal policy allowing a servant to use the front hall stairs.”
    After kissing his extended cheek, Georgiana explained that the lady was Miss Elizabeth Bennet and a guest, and after looking at her outfit, he asked if the usual tradition of handing down her used clothing to the maids had been reversed to accepting them from her servants.
    “We are dressed this way because we went to Shepherd’s Cave.”
    “Oh, sorry I missed that,” he said, rolling his eyes, “but I had a pleasant conversation with Mrs. Gardiner.” After