They Know Enough Who Know How To Learn
A bruise was forming on Elizabeth Bennet's arm. She has pinched herself every moment for the last hour willing herself to wake up from the worst possible nightmare. She, the independent and free spirited Elizabeth Bennet, was being forced, well no she agreed but only for the monetary benefit it would bring her family, to marry Fitzwilliam Darcy.
As I am sure many of us would agree, marrying Fitzwilliam Darcy should be a dream come true. Who wouldn't marry the McDreamy, McSteamy, McGod of a man of the fictional world? However, to Elizabeth at this moment she would rather be marrying William Collins. Again, I'm sure the rest of us non-fictional folk would rather be caught wearing a fanny pack than being sentenced to a life with the odious parson that Elizabeth Bennet is most unfortunately related to.
However, as this story progresses a few things must be understood. At this point in time Elizabeth decided it was not worth reading Mr. Darcy's letter in Kent. After all, he betrayed his childhood friend, kept her favorite sister from finding happiness with her true love, and was actually surprised that she should not wish to marry him after the abominable proposal she received from him. Who would waste any more time with him?
Another thing that must be understood is that upon her arrival at the parsonage she received an urgent express with the terrible news of her father's untimely death. At Longbourn, Mr. Collins is hardly giving the family time to vacate from his new home and her Uncle Gardiner will not hear of any of the girls becoming governesses. To Mr. Darcy's credit he has already confessed to his friend Mr. Bingley and now the latter and Jane are happily situated after a speedy marriage by special license.
The rest of the Bennets, Mrs. Bennet, Lizzy, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia, have all now relocated their home to Gracechurch street, in London. However, the Gardiner's infinite kindness has taken its toll on Elizabeth's conscience. Her aunt and uncle have said countless times how they are not a burden and are always welcome in their home.
Then, as fate would have it, Elizabeth would very soon no longer be a resident in her Uncle's house. After a respectable period of time for mourning had passed, Mr. Darcy prevailed upon the Gardiner home with a second proposal of marriage. Like many stories before this one he knew that Elizabeth did not love him. However, he believed that he loved her enough for the both of them. He had a marriage contract drawn up with an estate for the rest of the Bennet family, a very generous settlement for Elizabeth, and an agreement of full consummation of the marriage within two years, and the providing of an heir.
And so Elizabeth reluctantly agreed that this was a good choice for her. Mr. Gardiner admired Mr. Darcy greatly and Jane offered very similar counsel in Mr. Darcy's favor. Although saddened by her sister's lack of choice of love in the matter Jane was ever optimistic that Lizzy would grow to love and admire her future spouse.
A few final points before the story truly begins. Some basic flaws that I will be giving our two main characters.
Lizzy has not read the letter, as mentioned previously in this address to future readers of this story. She still loathes Darcy a great deal and wishes that he were the last man she would ever be prevailed upon to marry. Sadly she believes that he is still an insufferable man without any sense of propriety, common decency, or humility.
Darcy loves Lizzy, this we all know. However, he sadly believes that his love will be enough to sustain their marriage. He also believes himself to have triumphed in winning her and so she is now almost like a possession to him, which will lead to some interesting twists and interludes between the almost wedded couple. And sadly, for the sake of this story, we are going to say that Lizzy's refusal of his proposal didn't hit home hard enough and he still has quite a lot to learn about why his proposal and addresses to her were so disgusting and rude. He is a Darcy after all and they are one of the most respected and well-known families in English history.
So, if any readers are brave enough to give this story a try it will begin within the next couple of days after some more revisions. It is obviously set in the time of pride and prejudice. All reviews are welcome; just try to be polite about it if you sincerely hate it. My style of writing can seriously irk some people and I understand that completely. However, in the story it will be the story and there will be no random talking like this has been. It will pick up a little before the wedding and continue until both our characters have learned the lessons that the opposite character has to offer. It will be sweet, angry, romantic, and utterly frustrating at any given time as a warning. So let us begin.