Obligation and Desire

by DJ Clawson

Introduction: So here we are, in story 10 of the series. For those of you who are new, you may want to go to my profile page and start reading the stories in order, because at this point, it'll be a bit hard to start fresh with this one. Allow me to attempt to summarize stories 1-9:

Darcy and Bingley marry Elizabeth and Jane. They have kids. Caroline falls in love with a poor doctor and gets married. They have kids. Darcy finds out he has a bastard brother, who is a monk and does not have kids. Mary Bennet gets pregnant while abroad and has a kid out of wedlock. Dr. Maddox's brother gets married and runs away, and a lot of rescuing is involved in getting them their rescuers (Darcy and Maddox) back from Transylvania. More kids all around. Darcy's brother is thrown of the church, gets married, has a kid. The kids grow up, shoot people and get shot, and get married. They have kids. Darcy's son and Bingley's daughter go to Japan after not having a kid, come home with another kid on the way. Mr. Bennet is still alive, though he does not have any more kids.

That should about sum it up. We return to our story, with Geoffrey and Georgiana Darcy on their way home from Japan. Georgiana is pregnant again, and they're stopping in Italy first to pick up Charles III (Bingley is Charles II). Georgiana's youngest brother, Edmund, is getting married. Isabel Franklin (nee Wickham) is expecting a child as well, and her brother George Wickham III is studying medicine in France.

My first two stories have been published as a book. Go to my profile page for links to purchase it if you wish to support me, but it's basically the same story so I don't expect it. Book 2 (story 3, "The Price of Family") and Book 3 (story 4, "Left to Follow") are tentatively under contract and will be out next fall. Your support is greatly appreciated, as it means Sourcebooks buys more books from me and then I pay the electricity bill. Everybody wins.

Enjoy the story!

Chapter 1 - Prologue

Fitzwilliam Darcy, a gentleman of some seven and fifty years, trusted his well-honed instincts and paid an usually early-morning call to the Bingley house in London. As he predicted, the house was already awake, and Charles Bingley II received him in the study. They had an excellent view of the morning street, as the rich stumbled home and the poor rose to attend to them.

"Darcy."

"Bingley."

Bingley's mood was considerably sober even for an average day, much less an eventful one. "What brings you around?"

"Bingley, I've known you most of my life, and I see my astute powers of prediction have not failed me. I came to cheer you up."

Bingley, who was sipping some morning ale, chuckled. "You were sent to cheer me up."

"I was not sent." Darcy folded his arms and scoffed. "It was my idea."

"What did Mrs. Darcy think?"

"She may have had similar thoughts as your own as to the absurdity of such a notion." He saw Bingley smile. "Nonetheless, it seems to have worked. So where is our dashing young groom?"

"He has his own men to attend to him. I need not worry."

Darcy wanted to say something, but nothing came. Bingley's melancholia was understandable: he was about to lose another child. It was not quite on par with giving away a daughter, but Edmund Bingley was a second son, and unlike the eldest son, he would leave the house to build his own. His youth would make any father nervous, but Edmund had always been quick to take on the responsibilities of life. At twenty he had completed University and earned a degree to practice the law, used his allowance to invest in colonial concerns in China and turn them into a small fortune that would likely only grow larger, and found himself a wife in a burst of emotion. Bingley granted his consent mostly because of Edmund's enthusiasm. If a squire's daughter could bring out a visible happiness that they had not seen in years, his request could hardly be refused.

Their courtship was short, and the engagement only slightly longer – two months, mainly to prove that they were not marrying in haste for the sake of anything. By then Edmund was bursting at the seams, and the date was set despite the absence of two of his three siblings. Charles the Third was still in Italy, and sent his congratulations but did not race home, and Georgiana was on her way home from Japan. This all compounded Bingley's mood. The wedding would leave him with one child in the house, and Eliza Bingley would eventually accept someone's offer of matrimony. Darcy still held on to three, and four when Geoffrey returned.

"I do wish Charles had come," Bingley said.

Yes, that was what Darcy was here for. "Charles is apparently very intent on showing you he is his own man. Both of your sons are. Many fathers would be grateful."

"They need not be their own men at the same time." Bingley sighed. "But I suppose, as always, you are correct. Edmund has found someone to make him happy and has the means to bring about her happiness. I could not have asked for a second son with a greater ability at independence." He looked up from his ale. "Do you know we thought he would take orders? When he was very young, of course, because he was so serious. The clergy or the military; we thought they were his only options, but the world has changed."

"He made his own options. He's a very clever boy." Darcy corrected himself. "Man."

"Yes."

The door opened and the servant bowed. "Mr. Maddox to see you, sir."

"Send him in." Bingley did his best to put a smile on as Brian Maddox entered. "Brian."

"Charles. Darcy." Brian bowed. "I knew you would find somewhere to hole yourself up and be miserable. And on your son's wedding day!"

"Darcy came to cheer me up."

"Darcy? Well, obviously he's done a wonderful job so far."

Darcy looked out the window and said, "Still hiding from your brother?"

"No," Brian said, and poured himself some ale. "I'm hiding from his wife, thank you very much."

The arrival of Brian and Nadezhda Maddox was an unexpected surprise. They arrived from their journey faster than their letters, and the family was in shock with the mixed bag of news. Geoffrey, Georgiana, and Alison Darcy were all fine, but stopping in Italy to see/collect Charles, having no way of knowing that Edmund was marrying at all, much less the date. That could be excused, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief that they were safely back in Europe, but the other Maddoxes were still recovering from the shock that there was a missing person in their group. Daniel Maddox Junior decided to stay in Japan, and though Brian insisted (several times over several days) that he had argued against the decision until he was blue in the face, nothing short of force of arms would put him on the boat and Brian didn't have it in him to do it. Danny Maddox sent a long letter of apology home with Brian and Nadezhda for his parents and siblings, but could not put into words why he would linger in the Orient for another year. They had no choice but to respect their son's decision, but they had every incentive to make sure Brian knew how upset they were over their wayward son.

Unfortunately, Brian and Nadezhda arrived but two days before the wedding day, and it was too late to cancel the ceremony at St. George's and put it off until the arrival of the Darcys. Edmund did not have a burning desire to wait for his brother Charles – the two of them had always been distant, and there was no guarantee Charles would come home at the news. No, Edmund did his time as an engaged bachelor, and now he would enter holy matrimony with or without his far-traveling siblings.

"We have all of our lives to entertain them, and them to entertain us," Edmund said, gazing into the eyes of his future wife, Miss Lucy Hartford. The family decided it was an acceptable answer, mainly because they were enthusiastic about the smile on Edmund's face.

"Cheer up," Brian said. "You've a son more accomplished than any of us were at his age, unless you mean me, and only in the realm of drinking and gambling. And soon enough, you'll have all of them together again, married or not. I authorized Geoffrey to use whatever force necessary to bring Charles home."

"And you intend for Georgiana to just stand by and watch?" Bingley asked.

"No. She didn't need my authorization." He raised his glass. "To marriage, and your family's happiness, even if you choose not to partake in it with this gloomy fellow over here."

"At least I can do as I want without fear of another denouncement from my sister-in-law," Darcy replied.

Brian rolled his eyes. "Yes, you should be so lucky."

Elsewhere, the Bingley house was in an uproar. Edmund was dressed and attended to on his own, with the same calmness to which he approached every day, but that did not stop his relatives from doing otherwise.

"My son is getting married!" Jane said, and Elizabeth Darcy had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, if only because it was not the first, nor even the third time Jane must have said it that very morning. "I always thought Charles would be first."

"Maybe he will surprise us with an Italian bride."

"Oh no! Well, I don't suppose it would be so terrible as long as he came home and stayed, but certainly we would prefer to meet her. And not all at once! I think Charles might not survive."

Now Elizabeth did roll her eyes as she was handed a fresh cup of tea. "Yes, poor Charles."

"He will be happier when Georgiana and Charles are home. To have them all in a room together! How long has it been?"

"Two years." Two very long years. How would she ever part with her daughters? Or Jane with Eliza, even though Eliza was certainly of age. "It will be something astonishing. I'm told it will be even more astonishing if we can speak to our granddaughter."

"Nadezhda said Alison speaks a little English. Perhaps more than she spoke when she left." Jane waved off her maid, who was putting the final touches on her hair. "And children learn so quickly."

"And by implication, we learn very slowly. I think I may have the right to feel insulted."

"Lizzy! Not now. My son is getting married! I know we will miss him but it is so good to see him happy at last."

On this, Elizabeth could only happily agree.

One person was admitted to Edmund's chambers besides his manservant – or more accurately, two. "The big day," Frederick Maddox said, setting his son Stewart down on the carpet.

"If you leave him there, I'm afraid I might step on him."

"I just wanted to remind you what you're in for."

Edmund rolled his eyes as his manservant tightened his cravat. "You don't seem that upset."

"Maybe not," Frederick said. He picked up his son before he could crawl away and held him up so they faced each other. "Though they have a tendency to smell. And cry. And bite. And he ruined my favorite vest by spitting up all over it."

"And you love him anyway."

"I have my moments. Besides, I have the exclusive right to escape to a club, leaving Heather and the nursing staff to care for him when he gets moody. Don't I?" He looked down at his son, who giggled at him and stuffed his tiny hand in his mouth.

"Not anymore, you don't." With his outfit ready, Edmund stepped down from the stand. "You still haven't told me how you managed to get kicked out of White's."

"I didn't manage it. It's not all that hard. It is a very exclusive club, you know. And if they suddenly decide to exclude you... well."

"I mean the reason behind it."

"They said I was cheating, but that's because they don't understand mathematics. Anyway, I did try to tell you, but you've been in that lovesick daze for a month now, so I figured it wasn't worth it. When your moody brother and sister get home, I'll liven up the evening with a boring explanation of how to win at cards."

"I heard you took the Viscount Brougham for all he's worth."

"A minor exaggeration. And do you have a wedding to go to or not?"

Edmund Bingley smiled. "I suppose I do."

In the sight of G-d, their friends, and what could be gathered of their family, Mr. Edmund Bingley and Miss Lucy Hartford were married in the very fashionable St. George's Cathedral. There was not a soul present who did not look pleasurably upon the proceedings, and wish them all the blessings in the world.

The wedding breakfast was grand, giving everyone a chance to take part in the festivities, even the very smallest of Lydia's six children. The only one not present (besides the wayward relatives) was Edmund's namesake, Mr. Bennet. The journey was too long and hard for someone approaching their eighty-fourth birthday. Edmund Bingley made a special journey to Derbyshire right before the wedding to see his grandfather. Mr. Bennet gave him all of his blessings and then some; the old man was normally of full wit, but had his moments where he would confuse people who looked alike (though this could be attributed to his poor sight), and Edmund did look much like his father. Despite his frailty, Mr. Bennet was as jovial and witty as ever, and wished his grandson well and that he should have a daughter, because Mr. Bennet said he "always seemed to prefer daughters."

With no deaths, no tragedies, and the prospect of the return of the long-gone children of Pemberley and Kirkland, the extended Darcy, Bingley, and Maddox family, along with the other Bennet sisters and their husbands, looked to the future with promise.

...Next Chapter - The Barefoot European