Vampire and Prejudice

Chapter 34 - Elizabeth

I had waited and waited for Mr. Darcy to visit. His friend was coming to Longbourn regularly, and it could not have been a great chore for him to come as well, but alas—no Mr. Darcy. Why would he say such a thing to me—that my power over him was infinite, and he could not help but obey—only to disappear as if to avoid my presence. And my infinite power over him.

To torture me, that's why!

I longed for him and was vexed by him all at the same time, and my feelings all came together in a veritable explosion during Lady Catherine's visit. What a disagreeable woman. My pride would not suffer her remarks in silence. I was not made to be meek in the presence of such rudeness, and I might have shouted from the rooftops that I would become the next Mrs. Darcy if it was the last thing I did. Just to spite her. But after our altercation, I could not be more shocked at my daring and haughtiness in her presence. Some twisted part of me delighted in aggravating her, in arguing with her, knowing full well that she could not intimidate me to do a thing.

It was not like Mr. Darcy had proposed to me—again. Considering my abysmal behavior which reared its ugly head again and again, I was sure he would come to his senses and forgo a second attempt. Very well. After all, I had vowed that he was the last man in the world that I might marry, and it would be dreadfully inconsistent to go back on my word. He would no doubt have teased me about it for the rest of my days, which for a vampire was a considerable time.

Vampire. In marrying Mr. Darcy, becoming a vampire would have been one of the many things Lady Catherine considered me unworthy of. Not that I particularly wanted to become a vampire but that was the way with ideas: once introduced, they had a way of plaguing their victim to no end, no matter the possibility of them ever coming to fruition.

In short, I was extremely frustrated by the time Mr. Bingley came, and my mood did not improve by seeing Mr. Darcy and Georgiana arriving with him. Not that I minded Georgiana's coming—she was a darling girl who I had come to cherish in a short amount of time, but Mr. Darcy was a different matter, and I could not be openly peeved towards him in her presence.

"Elizabeth, allow me to express my deepest apologies for the morning intrusion," Georgiana whispered to me as soon as she was able. "Hopefully, you will not think less of us because of it."

She looked so grieved about the whole thing as if it was somehow her own doing. I felt I would forgive anything when she looked at me with those sad, pleading eyes, even when I believed Georgiana did not need to be forgiven for anything. Smiling down at my favorite Darcy, I said, "There is nothing to forgive, my dearest Georgiana. I would never think less of you for the behavior of your relations, especially since you have been so gracious as to forgive the misdeeds of mine."

We both looked at Lydia. She was still sulking, grieving the interruption of her so-called fun with Wickham and had nothing nice to say about the Darcys, though she faithfully kept the events that transpired to herself. I hoped she would grow out of it and realize the damage that was almost done to her life. It was difficult to recognize Wickham as a villain when you were entranced by him, as I well knew.

At the very least, I had to be content with the fact that Wickham was no more and he could bring no more damage by his existence. No news had come about his demise, but there was time for that yet, and we could practise our surprised expressions in the meantime.

"I understand we all had a fascinating morning," Mr. Bingley said, and I could feel myself blushing. "May I suggest we go for a walk to air out any lingering excitement."

I did not believe Mr. Bingley was too much affected by Lady Catherine and likely wanted to spend some alone time with Jane. My mother gave us leave to divert ourselves as we saw fit. Mary declined the offer, while Georgiana secured Catherine as her companion for a pace that would no doubt be slower than anyone else's, which of course left me to walk with Mr. Darcy when Jane and Mr. Bingley abandoned us.