“Do not concern yourself about your friend,” continued the captain. “He will not escape. We will be underway in a half hour.”
“Very well,” said Darcy. “Then I shall bid you farewell.”
“Go on ahead, Darcy,” said Fitzwilliam when Darcy turned to leave. “I will stay until the ship departs, for I wish to see Wickham’s final departure from these shores.”
“Suit yourself,” said Darcy with a shrug. “How will you return to your father’s house?”
“A hackney,” replied Fitzwilliam. “I shall go to the barracks first and check in with my commanding officer before I return home.”
“Do you mean to accompany me back to Hertfordshire tomorrow?”
Fitzwilliam scratched his chin in thought. “Perhaps I will. My general has no particular need of my services at present, and I am eager to see you flail about trying to attract the attention of the exceptional Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”
“I believe I already have her attention,” said Darcy. “Having you underfoot might seriously hamper my chances of persuading her to my suit.”
“It may be as you say,” said Fitzwilliam, chuckling while shaking his head. “But someone must see to your interests and repair the mistakes you will inevitably make. If I do not go, I must rely on Lady Catherine to take up the role; it is one I am certain does not suit her.”
Darcy shook his head at his cousin’s irreverence, brought on by his elation at seeing Wickham finally pay the price for his sins. “Then I will take your glib answer as a desire to accompany us. I mean to leave early tomorrow morning; if you are not there when we depart, we shall leave without you.”
“I will be there a half hour before you leave,” assured Fitzwilliam.
Then he flipped Darcy a jaunty salute and returned his attention to the ship, while Darcy entered his carriage for the journey to his house, already considering how much he wouldmiss being in Miss Elizabeth’s company that evening. It did not take long, and Darcy saw none of it, for he was engaged in considering Miss Elizabeth’s many perfections and the great fortune of obtaining another chance to garner her approval. Darcy found his sister waiting there for him, and her demeanor was not anything he had seen from her in many months.
“Brother!” exclaimed she when he stepped into the room.
Rising from the chair in which she had been sitting next to Mrs. Annesley, she threw herself into his arms, babbling the entire time.
“How wonderful that you have come! Are we to leave at once for Hertfordshire? Shall you introduce me to the young ladies of your acquaintance? How soon shall I be in their company?”
Then she paled and gasped: “How am I to know what to say?”
“This is a fine to do, Georgiana,” said Darcy, amused at her mixed excitement and consternation. “If you give into so many conflicting emotions, I know not how you will manage.”
When Georgiana fixed with an unamused look, Darcy could not help but laugh. “Do not concern yourself, dearest, for knowing what to say. I am certain these ladies will be as eager to make your acquaintance as you will be to make theirs. Three of them never struggle to express themselves in my experience, and the other two are equally eager to know you.”
“Oh, that is excellent!” Georgiana regarded him with some asperity. “Why did you not introduce me to them in the autumn? I would have come to Hertfordshire had you asked and braved anything Miss Bingley could do to intimidate me.”
Miss Bingley was an objectionable subject and one of which Darcy did not wish to speak. “For several reasons, some of which pertain to the events of these past days. Come, let us sit and I shall tell you all.”
Georgiana turned pale, and she exclaimed: “Of course! How thoughtless it was of me to have forgotten of the reason for yourjourney!”
“Not at all, Georgiana,” said Darcy, guiding her back to her chair. “I did not speak of it in my letter, for I did not wish to relate such news by post. Wedidretrieve Anne, though it was not by the means we predicted. The matter concerns the family of young ladies you are desperate to meet on the strength of a single letter from your astonished brother.”
“Then do not hesitate to inform me, William!” cried Georgiana. “I am afire with curiosity.”
Darcy related the events of the past days to her eager ears, paying close attention to Miss Elizabeth’s actions in assisting Anne, Wickham’s deeds and attempt to rescue his plan, and his departure that very morning on a ship bound for the other side of the world. Georgiana listened intently to his account, exclaiming her surprise in some places, and nodded her satisfaction in others. When Darcy finished, she nodded her understanding.
“I am happy Mr. Wickham will never bother us again, for he is a most odious man. To think he would try abduction when his initial plan failed; the hubris he displayed is quite shocking!”
“And far greater than I had ever expected of him, to own the truth,” said Darcy. “Wickham has rarely acted unless he considered the odds in his favor overwhelming.” Darcy turned a smile on his sister. “If you recall, he did not approach you until he thought I was far away, and he had a confederate to advance his schemes.”
Georgiana huffed in disdain. “Yes, I remember it well, and I take your point.
“Enough of Mr. Wickham. Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s actions are quite extraordinary! I think it beyond expectation for most to offer any support, to say nothing of the extent to which she acted on Anne’s behalf.”
“With that, I cannot agree more,” said Darcy. “Anne nowconsiders her a friend, and even Lady Catherine appears to approve of her.”
Darcy laughed and added: “Lady Catherine, of course, claims she is far too lively, but our cantankerous aunt can never allow praise of another to pass without offering a contrary opinion.”
