“Perhaps I did,” said Mr. Bennet, his unconcern showing in his slight shrug. “I had several stout men at my back, so I was in little danger.”
“If we continue in this fashion,” said Mr. Darcy, “we shall never know what happened. I am certain you all had a part to play. Shall we not discuss the sequence of events so that we may put it to rest forever?”
“An excellent notion, Cousin,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam. He turned to Anne and favored her with a grin. “I believe the beginning was in Kent. Will you not share what possessed you to flee Rosings, with Wickham of all men?”
Anne shrugged, clearly not wishing to discuss the matter. “You are well acquainted with Mr. Wickham. Surely you know he is persuasive when he puts his mind to it.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam frowned, not liking Anne’s answer. “I never found him persuasive at all, for I have always known what he is. He could not have worked on you in a single morning, for I must believe your sense is sufficient to withstand him for a time.”
“No,” replied Anne. “Mr. Wickham came to Rosings perhaps a month ago, not long after Miss Elizabeth returned home from her visit with Mrs. Collins.”
“He must have timed it that way,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam, looking to Elizabeth. “Knowing of your propensity to walk, he must have known how odd it would appear if you spied him in Kent.”
“Perhaps,” said Elizabeth with a shrug.
“Regardless,” said Anne, “he acted as if he were passing through when first I met him. It was not long before our meetings grew more frequent, and soon thereafter he declared his undying love.”
“Oh, Anne,” said Lady Catherine, shaking her head. “Did I not teach you better than this?”
“I did not believe him, Mother,” said Anne simply. “When I agreed to go off with him, it was not because I believed myself in love with him.”
“Then why did you do it?” asked Colonel Fitzwilliam, his curiosity evident in his confusion.
“That is a matter I do not wish to discuss now,” replied Anne with nary a hesitation. “As I informed Elizabeth, he never quite convinced me, even when we had been on the road for some time.”
Anne chuckled at some memory. “Mr. Wickham begged me to bring a sum of money so we could purchase a license, claiming he was between positions at the present and had not much ready funds. I told him that Mother kept the strongbox locked tight.” Anne shrugged. “I could have got the money, of course, but I told him I had little. Even now I do not know why I did it.”
“It seems you suspected him,” said Mr. Darcy.
“Or perhaps I wished to force him to prove himself.” Anne shook her head. “It little signifies, for, in the end, Elizabeth convinced me it was folly to elope with him. I accepted her invitation to shelter at Longbourn. That is the extent of my story.”
“Anne, dear,” said Lady Catherine, her disdainful glare raking over Elizabeth, “you should not speak so familiarly of a woman who is so far beneath you. As you know, I will not tolerate any blurring of the boundaries between the classes.”
Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam appeared put out with their aunt, but it was Anne who responded.
“Elizabeth and I have become firm friends; we agreed to dispense with titles, Mother.”
While Lady Catherine frowned at Anne’s rebuke, Mr. Darcy spoke quickly to head off her response. “Then I suspect the nextpart of the story is yours, Miss Elizabeth. Will you not share?”
Still interested in the byplay between Lady Catherine and Anne, Elizabeth forced herself to look away and offered her version of events. There was little enough to explain, for her part was nothing more than seeing Anne and persuading her to forsake her mad design to run away with Mr. Wickham.
“You forced my daughter to walk an entire mile from that insignificant little town to this estate?” demanded Lady Catherine. “Do you not know that Anne has a delicate constitution? Would you ruin her health in such a way?”
Elizabeth regarded the lady coolly. “What would you have me do, Lady Catherine? My sisters and I walked to Meryton and there was no carriage available for our use. Should I have carried Anne to Longbourn on my back?”
“The walk was bracing, Mother,” said Anne, again confounding her mother. “I enjoyed it very much and would like to repeat it with my new friend.”
“Then Wickham came soon after your arrival,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam, again interrupting his aunt and preventing her from speaking. Elizabeth was certain Lady Catherine had never received such treatment as this, for her cheeks were turning red in frustration.
“Only ten minutes later,” said Mr. Bennet, eyeing the brewing storm that was Lady Catherine de Bourgh. “When they arrived, the ladies informed me of what happened, allowing me the time to position our lads to protect the estate. Mr. Wickham blustered and threatened, but in the end, he retreated, having no other option, when I set my stable hands to throw him from the estate.”
“Then you know nothing of Wickham now?” asked Colonel Fitzwilliam, an intensity she had often attributed to Mr. Darcy taking hold of him.
“I assume he returned to Meryton,” said Mr. Bennet with ashrug. “You have my apologies, Colonel Fitzwilliam, but we do not boast the manpower to both protect Longbourn and mount a search for him. I kept my men nearby where they could be of the most use.”
“That was the most important consideration,” said Fitzwilliam with approval. He turned to Mr. Darcy. “When your men return, they should scour the area for him. Wickham is not one to surrender easily; he may yet be skulking about.”
“Before we entered, I sent Barnes back to Meryton to inquire after Wickham,” said Mr. Darcy. “When the rest of my men arrive, we can search more effectively.”
