Page 1 of What to do with Fitzwilliam Darcy?

Chapter One

"This cannot go on, I am telling you, my love. I have just spent three hours with him at the club. It was like trying to make conversation with a particularly depressed donkey."

Jane Bennet's hands flew to her mouth as she did her best to contain a very unladylike snort. Her husband laughed gaily and drew her into his arms, nuzzling her neck as she tried to hide her face in his cravat.

"I do love it when you make such animalistic expressions, my love. Although I admit there are other... vocal expulsions... that I prefer, adorable as your little snorts may be."

"Charles!" his wife said, wriggling out of his hold and giving him a half-hearted punch on the arm.

"What, Jane? Is it a crime for a man to be entranced by his wife, even if she may be part piglet?"

She dissolved into giggles and another snort escaped. She covered her mouth with both hands again.

"Enough. Enough, dearest," she said, holding out a warning hand to her husband, who had acquired a wicked gleam in his eye. "Let me call for tea and we will discuss what is to be done. Georgiana came to visit me this morning and she is most concerned about her brother. After observing his behaviour at dinner last week, I must admit to no little alarm myself. I appreciate that he is taciturn by nature, but he looked afflicted. He has lost weight, his face is drawn and I do not think he had shaved in days. I would be surprised if he said four words altogether. He is a shell of the man we knew in Hertfordshire."

"I agree, my love," Charles said, flopping into a chair and slinging his boots over the side. At a look from his wife, he placed his feet on the floor and affected a slightly more dignified pose. "But I do not know how to reach him. Whenever I speak to him of her, he closes down even more firmly. He will not allow me to speak the name. He fixes me with such a look."

A maid bustled in with the tea tray, and Charles's eyes widened in appreciation as Jane began to pour. "I was half a man before I met you, dearest," he said, picking up a delicate sponge cake topped with fluffy pink icing. "If you had done nothing but bring these amazing concoctions into my life, I would have been forever in your thrall. The fact that you are also beautiful and kind, with the most perfect bottom God has ever created, is merely the icing on the cake." He gave a delighted laugh at his own joke before licking a smear of icing from his lips.

Jane rolled her eyes and did not give a direct reply. She had been married to her dear Charles for almost six months, and if she gave every one of his effusions her full attention she would never get anything else done.

"I am worried about Lizzy too. Oh, she does not show the same outward signs of unhappiness as Mr Darcy, but my dear aunt Gardiner says she is not at all herself. She is not walking half as much as is her habit, she takes less pleasure in playing with the children and she eats very little. They are both unhappy since their argument at Rosings and both too stubborn to admit that an honest conversation might begin to make things right."

"She did refuse him, Jane. Do you truly think there is any chance she would now accept his suit? I could not bear to see his hopes disappointed once more. I believe it would break him." Her husband, always one to look on the bright side of life, had suddenly grown grave.

Jane reached across the tea table and took his hand. "I do not believe they would both be so affected if there were nothing between them."

Charles considered this while finishing the last bite of his second cake, his expression growing thoughtful as he chewed. "Then what do you suggest we do? Darcy will not speak to me of her, and I cannot imagine Miss Elizabeth would take kindly to my arriving at Gracechurch Street and demanding to know whether she has a hidden passion for my friend. Even if I am her favourite brother."

"Her other brother is Mr Wickham. It is not a fair fight, you dear man. No, I do not think that would help matters at all."

"Shame. I do like the direct approach."

Jane smiled. "Georgiana knows her brother better than either of us, and Colonel Fitzwilliam was at Rosings. Between the four of us, we may be able to understand a little more of what has happened and come up with a plan to help those that we love dearly."

Charles's face brightened at once. "A council of war."

"Well, I was thinking more tea and conversation."

"Excellent! A council of war with tea."

"Charles, please do try and take this seriously."

"I have never been more serious in my life. I shall send the notes this moment." With that, he drained his teacup, gave his wife a smacking kiss that was sweet with icing sugar and strode off to his study to accomplish his task.

✽✽✽

Two days later, Georgiana Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam were shown into the Bingleys' drawing room to find Charles waiting beside the fireplace with an expression of such solemn and noble purpose that Jane was forced to look down at the teapot to hide her smile. Georgiana took the place beside her on the sofa, while the colonel settled himself into the nearest armchair and immediately reached for a sandwich.

"I understand," he said, glancing towards Charles, "that I have been summoned to a council of war."

"You see?" Charles said to Jane, a grin undermining his serious pose. "It is not merely me."

"You expressly used that term in your note!" Jane reminded him.

"Ah. Yes. That may explain it."

Georgiana gave a small laugh, although the worry did not quite leave her face. Jane reached over and squeezed her hand before beginning to pour the tea.