“Your late parents would have been very proud of the man who just made that statement,” Lady Matlock opined gently. “Show Miss Elizabeth that William Darcy, and you may have a chance at winning her heart.”
Rather than dreading the call to the Gardiners and their nieces on the morrow, Darcy began to anticipate it.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Once she had washed off the road dust and changed into a day dress, Elizabeth made her way to her aunt’s and uncle’s private sitting room, where she knew they and Jane would be waiting for her.
She had been debating whether or not to leave the part about Mr Darcy helping to separate Mr Bingley from Jane out, but she remembered the new strength which seemed to exude from her older sister. Elizabeth decided that the days of hiding the truth from Jane to protect her sensibilities were over. As mortifying as part of it would be to herself, she knew she needed to relate all. She patted Mr Darcy’s thick missive in her dress’s pocket. If it came to that, she would allow the three in the sitting room to read it. She was certain that none of them would ever repeat anything about Miss Darcy.
Thinking of Miss Darcy made Elizabeth mortified all over again. What a silly ninny she had been to be taken in by the lieutenant. So much for her much-vaunted judgement and discernment. She had been thoroughly fooled by a practised lying seducer, profligate, and libertine.She took a deep breath and pushed the door open and entered the sitting room. After closing the door, Elizabeth saw that Aunt and Uncle were seated on a sofa, while Jane was waiting for her on the settee. She sat next to her sister, who had patted the seat at her side.
The other three in the room looked at Elizabeth, patiently waiting for her to be ready to speak. “I told you that Mr Darcy and his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, arrived at Rosings Park a few days before Easter, did I not?”
There were three nods.
“Jane, you remember I scoffed at Charlotte’s opinion that Mr Darcy was attracted to me, is that correct?” Elizabeth saw Jane nod. “I was wrong; Charlotte was right. But I get ahead of myself. As I mentioned, each day I walked out…” She told of always seeing Mr Darcy when she did not want to see him. She related all from the one dinner at the mansion the parsonage party had attended after the gentleman arrived. Then, she reached the part of the tale about meeting Colonel Fitzwilliam as he toured the park. “Jane, dearest, I am sorry if this part gives you pain, but I do not want to hide anything from you.”
“Lizzy, I promise you I will not wilt and will be well; go ahead,” Jane allowed.
“As I was saying, the day of the second time we had been invited to Rosings Park after the men arrived, I was walking in the groves when, to my delight, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and not Mr Darcy, hailed me…” She related the discussion of his needing a woman with a substantial dowry, which Elizabeth believed was to make sure she had no expectations he could not fulfil. Next, she told of the Colonel’s disclosure of Mr Darcy’s help to Mr Bingley, which had incensed her. She related how she had refused to join those walking to the great house for dinner, claiming a megrim. At last, she reached Mr Darcy’s calling on her while she was alone at the parsonage. Elizabeth went into detail of the proposal in all of its arrogant and insulting glory. She told all and did not attempt to obfuscate when it came time to relate that which was far less than complimentary to herself. Like she had, those listening to her smiled when she told what she had said, which had led to Mr Darcy requesting the letter Miss Bingley wrote to Jane.
“The next morning, I went for a punishing walk because I was still so angry. Angry as much at myself for the vitriol I spewed as I was at Mr Darcy. The last person I wanted to see was him, but he was waiting for me. Rather than importune me about my refusal, he begged me to read this letter.” Elizabeth withdrew the thick epistle from her pocket. “I almost destroyed it, but you all know how inquisitive I am, so I read it…” She related what Mr Darcy had written and how it had taken her at least three readings before she accepted the veracity of the words therein. “To be taken in by that man when I should have never allowed him to speak on such a personal subject that early in our acquaintance means that I must add my name to those Papa calls the silliest girls in all of England.”
“Poor Miss Darcy,” Jane empathised.
“You are not angry at Mr Darcy for convincing Mr Bingley you did not love him, all the while keeping your presence in London from him?” Elizabeth questioned. “Has Mr Bingley come to see you?”
“No, he has not, but I am not sad about it. Let me explain. Lizzy, do you believe Mr Darcy or even Mr Bingley’s sisters for all of their prevarications, chained Mr Bingley in a dungeon so he was unable to return to Netherfield Park? No, they did not,” Jane answered her own question. “In a way, the treatment at the hands of primarily Miss Bingley has been a great boon to me. It was what forced me to begin to make a change of my view of the world. As I thought deeply and for a long time, I eventually reached the conclusion that Mr Bingley never loved me enough to fight for me. I am not interested in a man, more a boy really, who runs from me at thefirst sign of resistance. Think about Mr Darcy.”
“What of Mr Darcy?” Elizabeth shot back.
“Was his proposal horrendous? Yes, it was. But with all the obstacles, most of them in his own mind, he still followed his heart and proposed to you. Is that not the opposite of what Mr Bingley did?” Jane paused as she allowed her words to sink in.
“I suppose you are correct,” Elizabeth allowed.
“In a way, even though I thought myself in love with Mr Bingley, Mr Darcy was correct. With Aunt Maddie’s help and my own examination of my feelings, I realised I was in love with being in love and not with Mr Bingley. He is far too shallow for me. The only subjects he canvassed when we spoke were related to my looks.” Jane paused and took her sister’s hands in her own. “Now, Lizzy, I need to beg your pardon.” Jane continued, which killed the protest forming on her sister’s lips. “Just like you have always done everything you could to protect and support me, I should have done the same for you, especially when Mama would make her ridiculous pronouncements about our comparative beauty. You may have different colouring than I do, but Lizzy, you are no less pretty than me. In fact, I dare say, with those eyes of yours, you are better looking than I am.”
The sisters hugged tightly. “What are we to do about Mr Wickham, if anything? I was so disgusted at the way he leaves seduced girls and debts behind him. At first I did not want to believe Mr Darcy holds around three thousand pounds of his debts, but I had to accept it. I worry for the merchants in Meryton with the profligate’s habit of leaving unpaid debts in his wake,” Elizabeth related. “Telling Papa will do nothing; he will not bestir himself from his study.”
“In the past, I would have said something to the effect that we should not say anything and allow him to re-establishhis character. But not any longer!” Jane exclaimed resolutely. “First, we need to write to Mr King and warn him that his niece is being courted by a mercenary seducer. Uncle Edward, will you write that letter? It would be improper for Lizzy or me to write to him.”
“It will be my pleasure,” Gardiner agreed. “What of protecting the tradesmen since this Wickham fellow likes to escape and leave debts behind him?”
“We will be home in a few days. As Papa will do nothing, we will go see Sir William,” Jane suggested. “Seeing that he was a merchant in Meryton before he was knighted, he will not sit idly by and allow his friends to be cheated out of their livelihoods and ruined. Let us hope Mr Wickham has not meddled with any girls already.”
“This is truly a new Jane. You are a Valkyrie!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “If I did not say it before, of course I forgive you for anything for which you think you need to apologise. At the same time, I must make my own amends for my own fault of not being willing to recognise that my first sketch of someone’s character may be in error.”
The sisters hugged again.
Gardiner went to write the letter to Mr King. It would be sent by express first thing in the morning.
Chapter 7
Paul King was seated at his desk when his butler brought him an express that had just arrived. He accepted the epistle, and his eyebrows knit together. He had been friends with the late Elias Gardiner but had not had much contact with the son who lived in London. His friendship with the man’s late father ensured that he would read the missive. He broke the seal and began to read.
7 April 1812
23 Gracechurch Street
