Elizabeth looked at their joined hands in an attitude of deep meditation and seemed not to hear.
“You look grave, Elizabeth. You disapprove of my plan?” he asked quietly in the hope that the others might not hear. “I believe this is the best way to keep your family from disgrace. Your father is reluctant, but I am prepared to pay for Lydia’s upkeep abroad. Your sister and her child must be taken care of.”
“No, Fitzwilliam, I am ashamed to admit I was thinking of something else entirely,” she whispered with a small smile. “Poor Lydia can never return home unless Mr Wickham marries her, and even then it might be wise if she did not. I was thinking of a time not so long ago when you were very much concerned with rank and order.”
He thought back to his first proposal, to the man he had been. “Elizabeth, you taught me a significant lesson in Kent. The value of one’s character means more to me than wealth or status, and your relations are as much my family as they are yours.”
Elizabeth smiled and leant toward him, and he thought she might have kissed him before she stopped and blushed. Gardiner cleared his throat and mentioned something or other about checking on his children. Darcy spoke of returning to Netherfield to speak with Bingley and write to his cousin, and with a bow, he took his leave.
Not wishingto be alone with her father, Elizabeth quickly walked toward the library door when Mr Bennet asked her to remain.
“Your betrothed still seems inclined to marry you. I suppose you will do that when Jane and Bingley marry? That is all the better since Mr Darcy seems determined to settle the matter with Lydia before he begins his life with you.”
“He will take care of Lydia if you will not.”
“Well, that is for the best,” he said through a sigh. “Lydia’s behaviour has proceeded from a faulty degree of indulgence on my part. I ought to have been the one to ensure she knew better than to conduct herself in such a way.”
Elizabeth felt shocked to hear her father admit it. If he saw Lydia’s situation so clearly, did he understand her as well? “Do you still think me a fortune hunter marrying for social position?”
He remained silent for a few moments, but when he spoke it was with none of the bitterness Elizabeth had previously heard from him. “No, you and Mr Darcy know that wealth and grandeur have little to do with happiness. It has been my opinion, as of late, that you and he are well suited.”
Elizabeth looked up sharply at this admission. He looked so much in earnest that she bit back her distrusting retort.
“Mr Darcy has knowledge of the world and strong feelings of family attachment and honour,” he continued. “He seems steady, observant, moderate, and candid—almost to a fault. He is not like the wild men nowadays who think of nothing but themselves. Your cleverness and playfulness will be a credit to him.”
“If these are your true feelings, why have you allowed me to believe that you doubt our attachment?”
He gave her a sad look. “After closely observing you and Mr Darcy, two things became evident. The first is that your solemn young man would follow you to the ends of the earth, and you are so fond of him that you chose not to abuse the great power you hold over him.”
“And the second?”
“The second is that you will be happy with a man who is nothing at all like me.” Her father, sitting in his favourite worn chair with his spectacles perched on his nose, suddenly appeared to be a lonely old man. “No father, no matter how indolent, relishes the thought of marrying off a beloved daughter. I have always thought of you and me as kindred spirits, and did not wish you to leave home.” The silence stretched out before he spoke again. “The pain is all the greater when I am forced to acknowledge that you have chosen a better man than I ever was, or even aspired to be.”
She could not disagree, but after the manner in which she informed Lydia of Wickham’s duplicity, she did not have the heart to further strain her relationship with her father. “Let us not dwell on such things, for we have greater concerns now.”
She placed a soft kiss on her father’s head, and with a careless swat of his hand, he shooed her away with a quiet “Off you go.”
ChapterTwenty
Netherfield Park
Tuesday, July 14
Dear Cousin,
I wish my occasion for writing was to reply to your well wishes on my engagement. Regretfully, I have had the misfortune of again encountering the vengeful Mr Wickham. He seduced, then abandoned, Elizabeth’s youngest sister and left her with child. I feel it my duty to discover Mr Wickham and do what is necessary to promote their marriage or, barring that, see him acknowledge and provide for his child. In my attempt to discover Lydia, who fled with Mr Wickham nearly a fortnight ago, I have already taken advantage of Mrs Younge’s knowledge.
I ask for your assistance in any form it may take, but particularly whether you can recall anything of Mr Wickham’s previous whereabouts or acquaintances that might lead me to him. You may write to me in town, for this task will soon remove me from Elizabeth and Hertfordshire.
I remain, dear sir, your cousin and friend,
Darcy
It was a disheartening thought to leave Elizabeth again, but the longer Darcy stayed in Hertfordshire, the less likely it was he would discover the scoundrel.
He had not seen Bingley or spoken to his sisters since they decamped after Lydia’s announcement. Bingley had shut himself in his own apartments. He had gone riding in the morning and then returned to his rooms with instructions not to be disturbed. Darcy had studiously avoided Miss Bingley. He had no desire to hear her opinions on the scandal, but was not surprised when he heard from the servants that the women wanted to close up the house and leave Hertfordshire as soon as possible.
Darcy expected Bingley to visit Longbourn with him today, but when he knocked on Bingley’s chamber door for a third time, Bingley’s valet told him that his master would see no one. Darcy found this inexcusable; fretting would not lessen the threat to the Bennet family’s respectability.
