Mr. Darcy's Noble Connections: A Pride & Prejudice Variation

  "No one will ever call it small!"

  Taking a deep breath, Darcy decided it was time to introduce the other topic on his agenda. "It is a pleasure to be back again among old friends. I always wished to keep up the ties between our families. Back when I was at Cambridge, it seemed that we would always be together. In those days, it was Richard Fitzwilliam - Lord Matlock's son, that is — your Edward, and I who were always together, along with Paxton and one or two others. We were considered a force to be reckoned with! Richard was the college champion with pistols, and I with swords, while Edward and Paxton were constantly vying for the top academic honors and to win every horse race. Those were good days."

  Abruptly, Lord Bentham said, "Do you hear anything from Edward?"

  Darcy inclined his head, grateful for the opening. "He writes to me regularly now that he is in Portugal. When he was fighting as part of the Spanish resistance, he rarely had the opportunity to post a letter. Now that he is fighting alongside Wellington's troops, it is easier for him."

  "He is well, then?"

  So Edward's father had not found his own sources of information. That did not bode well for Darcy's mission. "He was badly wounded at Alba de Torres in 1809, but recovered enough to return to the front some months later. Of course, he said nothing of it to me. I only know because he asked another soldier to send me word when he was not expected to recover. Then he nearly lost a leg back in January at Ciudad Rodrigo, and his recovery has been slow. The surgeon expects him to walk again, although there may be some impairment of function in that leg."

  Lord Bentham's ruddy complexion turned pale, making him appear older than his years. "What will he do now?"

  Darcy shrugged. "You would have to ask him." At least that was true enough.

  "Well he made his decision four years ago, and now he must live with it," Lord Bentham said heavily. It sounded like something he repeated to himself often.

  Darcy's hands tightened on the armrests of his chair. "We must all live with our decisions," he said icily. He did not trust himself to say anything more.

  Lord Bentham turned to Paxton. "You knew Edward as well?" he asked sharply.

  Darcy held his breath as Paxton said, "I did. He won our last race by a head after cutting me off with that high-seated curricle of his, and I have yet to forgive him for it."

  Lord Bentham gave a bark of laughter. "You take your racing seriously, do you?"

  "I race to win," said Paxton coolly. "But I am not dedicated enough to travel to Portugal to demand a rematch."

  Darcy thought that had gone as well as it could, given that in truth Paxton had barely known Edward.

  "Charles is due here soon," said Lord Bentham. "He will be pleased to find that you are here as well."

  "I hope I will have the opportunity to see him," Darcy said in his warmest manner. He cordially detested Lord Charles Carlisle, Lord Bentham's second son.

  "We will be celebrating his return the day after tomorrow, and you must join us. Nothing as formal as a ball, just a small gathering — a few guests, some neighbors, and there will be cards and dancing." Lord Bentham hesitated. "And Mr. Paxton as well, of course."

  "We would be delighted." Darcy hoped this would help Paxton; if not, he would be tolerating both a large party and Charles Carlisle for nothing.

  Lady Bentham rose to her feet. "Eleanor, you may choose a list of dances for the musicians," she said as if granting a great favor. "No more than two hours' worth, I think. We do not want to over-tire our guests so soon after their arrival." She swept out of the room.

  "Oh, yes," said Elizabeth dryly. "It would be a shame to allow the guests to choose how much they wish to dance when we can decide it for them."

  Eleanor gave a look of mock horror before starting to giggle. "You need not worry. After two hours, my stepmother will explain to them that they are tired, regardless of what they believe, and immediately they will start drifting off to sleep like characters from a fairy tale. What is your favorite dance?"

  "Mine? You had best choose. I would no doubt pick something that would betray my low origins and make a terrible impression on poor Mr. Paxton."

  Elizabeth imitated Lady Bentham's refined accent. She had heard far more of it than she wished. In the old days, she and Eleanor had taken their meals in the schoolroom rather than a formal dining room presided over by Lord and Lady Bentham. The change was not an improvement.

  Eleanor heaved a dramatic sigh. "Very well. A few country dances, a reel or two, and of course a waltz since we must be modem - and because I have a specific person in mind with whom I wish to waltz. Do you waltz?"

  Elizabeth laughed. "Of course not. I have never even seen a waltz. In Meryton, it would be shocking even to speak about it!"

  "Oh, you must waltz here, though! I will teach you."

  "If I am not mistaken, unmarried ladies must have permission from the patronesses at Almack's before dancing the waltz, and I have not received that. Of course, I have never met any of them, either, so it would be quite surprising if I did!"

  "Nonsense. In town, yes, we would have to pay attention to that; but this is a private party, so we may do as we like. No one will be in the least surprised."

  With a smile, Elizabeth shook her head. "I will be perfectly content merely to watch."

  The butler materialized at the door to the sitting room. "Lord Charles Carlisle, your ladyship," he announced.

  A tall young man with tousled, windblown hair strolled past him, his shirt points fashionably high. "Eleanor, my dear!" he exclaimed as he bent to kiss her cheek.

  Eleanor said warmly, "This is a surprise. We were not expecting you until tomorrow."

  He grinned. "You know that it is a point of honor with me to always do the unexpected."

  "In this case, it makes me wonder what or whom you may be fleeing! But will you allow me to introduce to your acquaintance my dear friend Miss Bennet? Lizzy, this is my brother Charles."

  Lord Charles turned his gaze to Elizabeth, raising an appreciative eyebrow before bending over her hand to bestow a completely unnecessary kiss on it. Elizabeth's cheeks grew hot at this unexpected forwardness, which seemed to please him. as he made a point of holding onto her hand for a good half-minute after he should have released it. "I would have driven faster had I realized there would be such beauty at the end of my journey."

  Elizabeth rallied at this. "Do tell me, Lord Charles, how often you have employed those exact words in the past? They have an air of long practice."

  He threw back his head and laughed. "Shall I say instead that your eyes would teach the torches to bum bright? Those words are even more practiced. If only we had some torches for your eyes to teach! Eleanor, you must arrange for torches at the next opportunity."

  At least he had a sense of humor and could tolerate being laughed at. "Torches are too smoky for my taste, my lord. But we have met before, on my first visit to Bentham Park many years ago. I helped Eleanor hide a grass snake under your pillow."

  "So that was you, my dear sister! You denied it so prettily that I was fool enough to believe you." Eleanor said briskly, "I should have chosen an adder instead. Still, your early arrival will work to my purpose. Miss Bennet must learn to waltz before tomorrow evening."

  "And you need me to take the gentleman's part," said Lord Charles promptly. "Knowing that I am always happy to be of service to a lovely young lady, with or without torches -although preferably without snakes - you immediately thought of me." Giving his arm a mock slap, Eleanor said, "You are a rogue! I immediately thought of you because you walked into the room just after I decided to teach her to waltz."

  He pressed a hand to his chest dramatically, opening his clear blue eyes wide with mock innocence. "I am crushed, dear sister!"

  "You could not be crushed by a coach-and-four running you down in the street. And do not try to work your wiles on Lizzy; she is my friend."

  "Utterly heartless." he said mournfully with a glance at Elizabeth, who could not help smiling.

>   Eleanor rang the bell. "In the meantime, I will see if your room is ready yet."

  "Of course it will be ready," he said with an engaging smile. "Our dear stepmother would never allow any room to be in anything but a state of perfect readiness."

  "She is nothing if not efficient," Eleanor said darkly. "Will an hour be sufficient time for you to tie a cravat to your satisfaction?"

  He appeared to ponder this. "It will depend upon the quality of the mirror, but you may be assured that the anticipation of dancing with my Juliet will preclude any delay."

  At Eleanor's instruction, a maid led Lord Charles out of the sitting room, though not before he blew a departing kiss in Elizabeth's direction.

  Elizabeth shook her head, astonished at the alteration from the perpetually untidy boy she recalled. "Good heavens. Is he always so forward?" Eleanor leveled a grim look at her. "Charles is charming, witty, handsome, and I love him dearly, but I would not trust him alone with you in a room for even a minute. He is an inveterate rake and enjoys making women fall in love with him, only to leave them once he has had what he wants from them. Do not let him near your heart, no matter what he may promise you."

  "I had not planned to," said Elizabeth with amusement, "but I appreciate the warning."

  "One, two, three, one, two, three." Eleanor established the rhythm as she led Elizabeth through the steps. "That's it. You can see how simple it is. Remember, a little rise on the last two steps."

  "Is it the same all through the dance? There are no figures or lines?"

  "None. You can forget everything you know about reels and country dances. This is completely different, just one man and one woman together for the entire dance. It is wonderfully romantic."

  "Oh, lovely," said Elizabeth with heavy irony. "Just what I need, a romance with someone who would never consider me good enough to marry. With luck, no one will ask me to dance."

  "It will not be that bad. You may well win an admirer or two."

  "Among those coming to this house party? As near as I can tell, anyone lacking a title has a fortune or close connections to the nobility - except for the one who will have eyes for no one but you."

  "You may like Captain Bradley. He is not the cleverest of men, but he has a good heart and no undue pride. It is not his fault that his father is an earl. And I will warn you which gentlemen are not to be trusted."

  "Apart from Lord Charles?" Elizabeth teased. "Apart from me?" Lord Charles's elegant tones sounded from the door to the ballroom. "I had hoped you would not even notice any gentlemen apart from me, my dear Juliet."

  Elizabeth gave him an arch look as she rose from her curtsey. "I had never realized that it was so difficult to pronounce 'Miss Bennet' If you wish, I could instruct you in how to say it in return for your assistance with the waltz."

  He laughed. "And deprive me of the chance to call you Juliet? Never. But how are your waltz lessons coming?"

  "She is doing very well," said Eleanor. "I was about to show her how to turn while doing the steps."

  "That is my job, fair sister." Stepping close, he caught Elizabeth by the waist, tugging her toward him.

  "Lord Charles!" Elizabeth exclaimed reproachfully, pulling away from him.

  Eleanor laughed. "You really have never seen a waltz, have you? You put your right hand in Charles's left. Now your left hand rests on his shoulder, like so." She moved Elizabeth's hand into position. "Then Charles..."

  Lord Charles interrupted. "Then Charles has the pleasure of doing this." He put his hand back on her waist with a slight smirk.

  The sensation was shocking. Elizabeth turned to Eleanor. "You must be joking."

  "No, my dearest Juliet, she is not. And what is even better is that we stay this way through the entire dance."

  No wonder the waltz was thought so improper! It was practically an embrace. Lord Charles's eyes laughed at her discomfort, making it clear he had no objections to the position. Elizabeth said tartly. "I can tell this dance was invented by a man."

  "Enough of that," ordered Eleanor. "You are not in your little country town any longer. Now try the steps in place. Charles will step forward while you step back."

  Feeling unusually awkward, Elizabeth tried to do as instructed. Good Lord - was he trying to put his leg between hers? She stepped backwards quickly, then had to remember what to do with her feet. How could she pay attention to her steps with a man standing so close to her - especially when he was taking advantage of his position to admire certain of her assets? She tried to focus instead on Eleanor's counting and not to think about what the ladies of Meryton would say if they could see her now.

  "Very nice," said Lord Charles. "Now, keep doing those steps, but allow me to lead you."

  Elizabeth strongly suspected the only place he wished to lead her was into temptation, but she swallowed her retort before she made herself look any more provincial than she already did.

  His hand pressed more firmly against her waist. "Now turn with me. That is correct. And again." When she stumbled, he said, "You are doing very well. You should have seen me when I first tried to waltz. My partner declared me a menace."

  Once he stopped trying to flirt with her. Lord Charles proved a good teacher, gradually coaxing her into taking wider turns and moving more rapidly. To Elizabeth's dismay, Eleanor went to the pianoforte at the end of the room and began to play. Elizabeth had felt safer with her friend only a few feet away from her, but she had to admit that hearing the music made the dance easier. Gradually she relaxed into the rhythm of the movement, though the warmth of Lord Charles's hand against her back continued to disturb her. At least the gentlemen at the dance would be wearing gloves. Elizabeth strongly suspected that her partner had deliberately omitted that part of his attire.

  When Eleanor reached the end of the music, Lord Charles released Elizabeth and bowed. "You are a natural dancer, my sweet Juliet. May I hope to have the honor of your hand for tomorrow evening's waltz?"

  "No, you may not!" said Eleanor tartly. "Elizabeth should take the opportunity to dance it with someone else. You can find some other unfortunate woman to practice your wiles on."

  "You are as cruel as you are fair, dear sister!" He took advantage of Elizabeth's laughter to reclaim her hand long enough to place a lingering kiss on it.

  Darcy wondered at Paxton's long face as they rode away from Bentham Park. "I thought that went rather well. We are invited to return, and you may even have a chance to dance with your lady love." Paxton seemed to shake himself out of his reverie. "Yes, it did, and I thank you. I wonder where Eleanor was today."

  "Since we saw very little apart from Lord Bentham's study, I imagine she could be almost anywhere in that massive pile. It makes Pemberley look like a cottage."

  "Rather overdone, yes. Incidentally, my dear friend Edward with whom I like to race - who is he?"

  Darcy gave him a sidelong glance. "Lord Bentham's eldest son, of course."

  "Huntingdon? Good lord, he would have shot me at dawn if I ever called him Edward."

  "Edward Carlisle, Viscount Huntingdon - but I would not joke about shooting at dawn. It was hushed up, but he had to flee the country after killing a man in a duel."

  "Good God! What happened? I had heard he went abroad, but I assumed it was by choice!"

  "The other fellow accused him of cheating in a race. Edward had no choice but to challenge him. He was prepared to accept an apology or a delopement, but the other man shot to kill, and so did Edward."

  "But why did he go into exile? Dueling may be illegal, but I doubt any jury would convict under those circumstances."

  "Ordinarily, yes, but the other man's father apparently had extensive connections and was prepared to bribe half of London if need be to obtain a guilty verdict. I expected Lord Bentham to counter him, but instead he sent Edward a letter telling him to leave the country and never return. It is not an accident that I have had little contact with Lord Bentham these last four years, despite his efforts to keep me as part of the family." If h
e had to tolerate Lord Bentham now, at least he could have the satisfaction of knowing he was helping Paxton. Given the Marquess's attitude, it seemed unlikely he would be able to do anything for Edward.

  "I was watching Lord Bentham closely. He was very shaken by what you said. If I had to guess, I would say he knew nothing at all of his son's affairs."

  "Were I Edward, I would be in no hurry to write home after being cast off like an old shoe for doing what he could not in honor avoid," said Darcy grimly. "But if Lord Bentham asks you about him, just talk about racing. Edward was a demon for a good race."

  "I cannot imagine he will go out of his way to speak to me about anything," said Paxton dryly.

  "But he will see you in company, and that is the important thing. Will you be able to warn Lady Eleanor in advance?"

  "I will write to her, but she cannot always pick up my letters immediately." Paxton chose his words carefully. "It would be dangerous for me to pay too much attention to Eleanor while we are at Bentham Park. She suggests I should pretend to be smitten with her friend. That way I have an excuse to stay near her."

  "Have I a role in this charade? I warn you. I may have done well enough today, but I have little talent for disguising my feelings."

  "And well I know it! Fortunately, your only role is simply to be the grandson of an earl and a friend of the family, and thus compensate for the inferiority of my company. That should come naturally to you."

  "Do you find me proud and disdainful then?" The words slipped out before Darcy had a chance to stop them.

  His friend gave him an odd look. "You do not disdain a man on the grounds of his birth, at least." Darcy's mouth twisted. "Thank you for the faint praise."

  "I did not mean it that way. It is true that you can be disdainful, but it is usually when someone is foolish or ill-mannered. You have never treated me with disdain."

  So Elizabeth had some basis for her opinion after all.

  Elizabeth did not see Lord Charles again until dinner, when he managed to monopolize her attention as often as possible, despite Eleanor's efforts to separate them. Fortunately, he seemed to have realized that Elizabeth did not care for the extravagant compliments common among the ton, and chose instead to converse with her in a more sensible manner, inquiring about her home and her travels. When he was not engaging in outrageous flirtation, Elizabeth found Lord Charles pleasant company.