Part 1

o you mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all this state to hear me play?"

It was not the first time Fitzwilliam laughed that night, unusual enough as the action was in his Aunt's house. The colonel was quite fond of a laugh, indeed, almost as much as Miss Elizabeth Bennet. And though he did find himself admiring Miss Bennet's sharp wit and pretty face, he found his amusement more from watching the change in his cousin every time SHE walked in the room. It was Darcy's bemused expression he studied as his cousin bantered with the woman with whom "he did not get on with at all." The colonel was aware of Darcy's sudden fondness for morning rides and walks in the park around Rosings. He was also very much awake to the idea that this was Miss Bennet's accustomed walking time. But both Darcy and Miss Bennet were safe from his curiosity. Darcy might not be ready to admit it, but Fitzwilliam was comfortable that the implacable gentleman had indeed met his match. Thus, Fitzwilliam was exceedingly sorry for Lady Catherine's tactless interruption, for it soon secured the end of the evening and a very promising conversation.

It was a few mornings later that the good colonel himself came upon Miss Bennet during her morning exercise. They continued to walk together and spoke easily of many subjects. Fitzwilliam was delighted when Miss Bennet turned the conversation toward Mr. Bingley, imagining it a reason to hear more about Mr. Darcy in the process. He wanted very much for some hint of emotion to shine through at the mention of his cousin. He made sure to mention that Darcy had delayed their departure from Rosings indefinitely. An exceedingly uncharacteristic thing for him to do! Confidently, he also spoke of Darcy's heroic efforts to save his friend from an imprudent marriage, taking care to dwell on Darcy's excellent sense of decorum and responsibility toward his station and that of his associates. He was startled to see Miss Bennet flush with emotion and frown quite angrily.

"I do not see what right Mr. Darcy has in determining in what manner his friend was to be happy," she began before releasing a deep breath and collecting herself, "But as you say, we do not know the particulars. Perhaps there was not much affection in this case."

Fitzwilliam tried to jest her out of her black mood, but his light reply had the opposite effect. Miss Bennet stopped in her tracks and lost all color completely.

"Miss Bennet, you are unwell?"

"A slight headache. Perhaps I have walked too far."

They turned toward the parsonage and made their way back. Fitzwilliam was aware that he had misstepped somewhere in the conversation, but could not find anyway to rectify his error. Indeed, Miss Bennet continued to be very out of spirits and as he left her under the care of Mrs. Collins, he wished her well enough to attend the night's dinner engagement at Rosings Park.

Part 2

HEADACHE, indeed! I am quite PUT OUT!"

Fitzwilliam had cause to feel out of spirits himself upon discovering that Mr. and Mrs. Collins and Maria Lucas had left Miss Bennet home for the evening. But the colonel was not made to be out of spirits for long, and soon found great amusement in watching his aunt reprove a quivering Mr. Collins on his lack of care for his guests.

"I am not one to undervalue the importance of exercise, Mr. Collins. But to allow a young lady to walk so far that she becomes ill! It is not to be!"

Mr. Collins' honeyed reply was lost as Fitzwilliam spied Darcy approaching Mrs. Collins. Indeed the lady appeared astonished to be addressed by him at all.

"I hope that Miss Bennet has not seriously taken ill?" Darcy said, his voice rumbling deeply in his chest.

"Eeerrr, no," replied a nonplused Mrs. Collins, "It is but a headache, truly. Elizabeth felt it would be best alleviated in quiet and solitude."

Darcy said no more and walked toward the windows that faced the shrubbery between Rosings and the Parsonage. Fitzwilliam approached and saw the look of concern on his face.

"I saw Miss Bennet this morning and it was only a headache. You need not worry."

Darcy's dark eyes immediately swung to the colonel's face and his expression melted away into his usual stoicism. And so he remained throughout the meal that night, silent and stonelike, hearing none of Lady Catherine's philosophies on life, eating little, and unknowingly staring at the empty seat across the table where Miss Bennet should have sat. When the ladies retired to the parlour after dinner, Darcy refused the glass of port offered to him and hurried out the door, leaving Fitzwilliam at the mercy of an exceedingly confused Mr. Collins.

It was not the habit of the gentlemen to dally very long after the ladies had left them. Feeling Darcy's absence from the room, Fitzwilliam did not make a very strong attempt to hold Mr. Collins away from his determined devotions to Lady Catherine. However, their joining the ladies only served to emphasize Darcy's absence from the party. Fitzwilliam, having a strong suspicion as to where his cousin was, made every attempt to deflect his aunt's curiosity, murmuring inane excuses and subtly encouraging Mr. Collins' attentions. But Lady Catherine would only be distracted for so long. She soon sent Fitzwilliam in search of Darcy. Fitzwilliam obligingly went and wondered how long it would take his aunt to notice that both her nephews were gone to the parsonage. He was not to find an answer however, for he soon stumbled onto Darcy himself as he came in the front door.

He approached his cousin with a conspiratorial smile, awaiting a happy announcement and was startled to find a very distraught Darcy instead. Darcy sent a look filled with dread and pain toward the parlour door as Lady Catherine called to them and spat out a non-sensical excuse before bounding up the stairs two steps at a time. Fitzwilliam heard the slamming of a door before turning to face Lady Catherine, who had come out of the parlour in her impatience for a response. Neither of them saw Darcy again that night.

Conclusion

itzwilliam was determined to find an answer to what ailed his cousin. He set about the next morning to wait for Darcy, who had surprisingly taken an early morning walk again. He was waiting for Darcy impatiently on the path leading into Rosings when Darcy angrily strode through the glade.

"Fitzwilliam," Darcy began without preamble, "can you be ready to leave for London in an hour?"

"I am at your disposal."

"Good, I will inform Lady Catherine at once." Darcy turned away again quickly, but Fitzwilliam was in no humor to ignore the obvious. Darcy looked angry, yes. But underneath there was the hint of strain in the way his eyes had lost their gleam, in the shadows that ringed those same eyes, telling of a sleepless night, and the way those shoulders hunched forward every so slightly, as if guarding against a blow to the chest -- or the heart.

"Good God Darcy! Talk to me! What happened to you last night?" Then Fitzwilliam asked very carefully, "What happened with Miss Bennet?"

Darcy's entire body stiffened in response and he remained with his back turned toward the colonel. There was a long pause before...

"She said no," Darcy growled, his voice sounding ripped out from deep within. "So, I have told her everything. About Georgiana, about that fool Wickham, even about Bingley and her sister! But none of that matters. For it is I, myself, that she finds most objectionable of all!"

Fitzwilliam took a startled step backward as Darcy swung around to face him. "Tell her!" Darcy cried, "Tell her all! I beg you, make her see sense when it comes to Wickham! I cannot think of a single event worse than the mere thought of her...WITH HIM."

Fitzwilliam was rooted to the spot for many minutes after Darcy had stalked away. Bingley and Miss Bennet's SISTER? Miss Bennet and MR. WICKHAM? The colonel was very conscious of the part he had unconsciously played in last few weeks and was heartily sorry for it. He did as he was bid, hurrying to the parsonage to confer with the lady herself. He waited determinedly for a half hour, until Darcy came to give his leave to the Collinses, then reluctantly left to prepare for their departure.

Seeing that Darcy was determined not to speak of it, Fitzwilliam kept his own counsel, only mentioning that he had been unsuccessful in speaking with Miss Bennet. As their carriage passed the park toward the main road, Darcy leaned forward, staring single-mindedly into the woods, searching for a lone figure walking among the trees. As he leaned back, pressed his lips together, and shut his eyes tightly, Fitzwilliam was suddenly struck by the fact that his cousin was coming away from Rosings with a very badly broken heart.

The End