“I was sworn to secrecy, Lizzy. Oh, dear, I do not know why I vowed not to breathe a word, but now that I know the secret, I do not know if it is right to keep it all to myself.”
Lydia shifted nervously, but Elizabeth touched her cheek to keep her from looking away again. “Who made you promise?”
“Mr Wickham! I am heartbroken, Lizzy. He says he will be leaving Meryton shortly. I had thought him the most handsome officer of them all, and now we will be without his company at the assemblies. He is the best dancer, I daresay.”
Elizabeth’s heart began to hammer in her chest. “Mr Wickham is leaving? But the militia is not due to leave for several more months. Are you sure he is not just going to visit somewhere on leave?”
“No. He said emphatically that he is leaving and will not return. He has asked me to help conceal his departure as long as possible. He sees me as a particular friend, and felt I was the only one he could come to trust with such a secret.”
It was evident that Mr Wickham had not known her sister long. Everyone in Meryton knew she could not be trusted with a secret. There could be no quicker way of spreading a fascinating piece of gossip than to repeat it to Lydia. But that was hardly the point. It was strange indeed that Mr Wickham was leaving. When an abrupt, secretive departure was added to his behaviour towards Miss Darcy, a very nasty picture began to result.
Elizabeth sprang up from the settee, beginning to pace. “When did he say that he would depart?”
“In a few days, I expect,” Lydia replied. She pouted, looking pitiful as a little girl who had been refused a sweet. “It will be terribly dull here without him.”
Elizabeth looked down at her sister with a crooked smile. Lydia did not appear to have the least idea that anything was at stake beyond her loss of a dancing partner. “Did he say where he was going? Or if he intended to take anyone with him?”
“No, not with any certainty. He only said something about seeing nothing but sheep and thistles for days on end. I did not know what he was talking about.”
Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide. Sheep and thistles —Scotland.Surely he did not intend to go to Gretna Green? It made entirely too much sense. Could he be planning to take Georgiana there so they could elope?
She did not wait to explain her haste to Lydia, but only hurried out of the room and bounded up the steps toward her room. She changed quickly into a warm dress and Spencer jacket, taking along her bonnet, warm gloves, and a shawl. With rain threatening on the horizon, it would be a cold walk into Meryton. That mattered little. After the news Lydia had just let slip, Elizabeth knew she did not have a moment to lose.If Mr Wickham had convinced her friend to run away with him, she had to do whatever it took to stop them. Georgiana was an intelligent, sensitive young woman, but she was still only sixteen. If Mr Wickham wished her to run away from her family and destroy her reputation, he could not really love her. His object must be her fortune, a significant inducement for an unprincipled man.
Elizabeth walked to Meryton as fast as she could, arriving breathless and overwrought. She chided herself that she must calm down before she reached the Darcy’s rented townhouse. Elizabeth turned down the street towards the smart little house, trying not to get caught up in conversation with those she knew. She knocked, praying that the maid would answer the door for her.
When the maid appeared a few moments later, the girl’s face fell. “Miss Bennet. Whatever are you doing here?” she asked. The girl looked as if Elizabeth had lost her mind, no doubt recalling all the painful details of what had happened the day Mr Darcy had thrown her out of the house.
“I am sorry for the intrusion, but I must see Miss Darcy. Please, I know what Mr Darcy said when last I left this house, but it is urgent. A matter of life and death.” Elizabeth did not care if she had to go down on her knees to beg admittance. If it would save Miss Darcy from making the worst mistake of her life, she would be as undignified as was necessary.
The maid glanced over her shoulder, unsure. “Allow me to speak with my mistress.”
She closed the door, returning a few moments later. “Miss Darcy says she will see you for exactly five minutes in the parlour.” The girl curtsied, sending Elizabeth an apologetic look. “Just through here, Miss Bennet.”
She announced Elizabeth and left the room. Elizabeth was glad to see that Miss Darcy was alone. Miss Darcy stood from the chair near the hearth and shot her a sour look. She said nothing until the door was closed. Elizabeth bowed, but Miss Darcy did not return the show of respect. “What are you doing here? I believe my brother was clear when he sent you from this house, never to return.”
“I apologise for coming like this. But I fear I must speak with you about something very grave indeed,” Elizabeth replied. It took all her courage not to turn and leave when she saw the marked anger in Miss Darcy’s eyes. “I have not come to discuss the charges made against me. Though I assure you, they are false. But I believe I have found out something that will affect your future happiness and that of your family.”
Miss Darcy looked startled. “Oh? And what is that?”
Elizabeth took a tentative step forward. “May I sit down?”
Miss Darcy looked at the chair beside her, finally nodding. “Very well.”
Elizabeth joined her near the hearth, taking off her bonnet. “I will come straight to the point, Miss Darcy. There is a rumour that has caused me no little anxiety. It concerns you and…and Mr Wickham. Are you planning to go to Gretna Green and elope with him?”
It felt strange to be so forward, but she did not have time to lose in coyness. Miss Darcy’s eyebrows flew up, but Elizabeth could see the truth of it in her eyes.
“How dare you!” However, she did not deny it.
“Miss Darcy, you must not do it. It would ruin your reputation, your happiness — perhaps forever. No honourableman would ask such a thing of so young a woman. Please, I beg of you, if he has convinced you to go away with him, reconsider. Think of your brother and what this would do to him.”
“You have no right to talk about my brother. You — who only befriended me to get your claws into him,” Miss Darcy spat. However, as she stopped speaking, sadness came into her eyes.
Good.Elizabeth could have sighed in relief on seeing that softening. With any luck, she would remember the great affection she had for her brother and be persuaded against going through with their plans.
“I never had any intention of getting close to you for my own advantage, Miss Darcy. You will not believe me, I know. I suspect that Mrs Younge has painted me in a terrible light. But I was only ever your friend because I saw in you a kindred spirit. You are kind, sweet, and gentle. And if you go away with Mr Wickham, you will lose everything that matters in life — not least your relationship with your brother. You will be alone in the world.”
“Except for my husband.”
