That chore being done, Darcy hired a carriage to take him home instead of walking up Bath’s steep hills. It allowed him the opportunity to reflect on what lay before him. Since Wickham now had the funds to play in any game he wanted, Darcy knew where he would be sure to encounter him tomorrow night: the Upper Rooms. Bath’s wealthiest gamesters would gather there to play high into the early hours of the morning. Then he would need to have a dialogue, in full view of Bath’s gossiping and prominent visitors, with a man whose name was a punishment to pronounce. The only comfort Darcy had was in knowing that he was acting in favour of a righteous cause. Now that Wickham was married, the greatest actions Darcy could take for the preservation of the Bennet family’s reputation would be to marry Elizabeth and ensure that Wickham would be held accountable.
In between the glare of light reflecting off the buildings, he caught a glance of Beechen Cliff. The brief hint of an expanse of green made him think of Elizabeth and their walks. He would write to her tonight and send a servant directly to Hertfordshire to deliver it. He hoped that, before his servant returned with her response, his business with Wickham would be concluded and he would be on his way back to her.
Camden Place,Bath
Wednesday, July 22, 8 o’clock in the evening
My dearest Elizabeth,
I received your letter at the very moment of my departure from London. I know by its uplifting words that you had not yet received my last. By now, you know the sad news that Mr Wickham has married and I am in Bath to speak with him. My sense of what is just can allow me to do no less. I have written to Mr Gardiner, and I leave it to his careful consideration to relay the news to your sister.
I have seen no one since I arrived. You might say I think myself above my company, but I assure you it is not arrogance but single-mindedness that keeps me aloof. I wish to encounter Mr Wickham, persuade him to do all that he must to ensure the protection and respectability of Lydia’s child, and then return to you. I shall waste no more than a week in Bath.
I went to the Pump Room, secure within myself of seeing Mr Wickham before the afternoon was over, but he did not appear. I called on Bingley as a courtesy, but did not stay for the Bingleys and Hursts are people for whom I do not care as I once did.
I detest this place. Amid the scandals, wagering, posturing, parading, and matchmaking, there is a steady stream of hypochondriacs, Bath chairs, crutches, and canes. The devil himself could not have arranged a worse punishment for my mistaken pride. Had I shared what I knew of Mr Wickham’s character, perhaps I would not be here alone and instead would be with you at Pemberley. Please believe my honest regret in allowing Mr Wickham to proceed in your family’s company unimpeded.
I have reread this letter and have determined it is too despondent to send, but its sentiments are too true to deny. I have spent the last quarter hour attempting to think of one sanguine comment. Excellent walker that you are, if you were here in Bath, you might enjoy walking round Beechen Cliff, whose beautiful verdure and hanging coppice render it so striking an object. But unless you explicitly ask it of me, I would never return here. Would you mind if, after we marry, we adjourn to Derbyshire and spend all of our time in a manner not unlike the morning of my departure?
Say everything from me to your family that is necessary and proper, and extend my particular concern and regard for Jane. I remain, my dearest and beloved Elizabeth,
Yours affectionately,
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Elizabeth blushed on reading Fitzwilliam’s reference to their last morning together. His messenger remained at Longbourn, and he was waiting for her to pen a response. Thankfully, she could attend to that directly. After the disastrous affair of relating Fitzwilliam’s previous letter, her family was not eager for further news from that quarter.
She had paused over that letter and its news of Wickham’s marriage for some time with indignant astonishment, then read it again and again, every perusal serving to increase her abhorrence of the scoundrel. Elizabeth could not long keep the details of Fitzwilliam’s account a secret and read it in its entirety to her family. Mr Bennet went white and left the room while Mrs Bennet wailed and cried at Wickham’s breach of promise and his abandonment of any affection for Lydia.
“Mamma, I think Mr Wickham had no true fondness for Lydia and never intended to marry her,” Jane had told her mother. But their mother continued to believe that Wickham must have married for money instead of where his heart lay, and that other things being equal, he would have, out of love and affection, returned to Lydia.
“When a man promises marriage, he has no business to fly off from his word only because a richer girl is ready to have him!”
“You forget that Mr Wickham made no promise to Lydia,” she had reminded her mother. “And he ruined the reputation of this Cathy Hareton solely to make his fortune by forcing her to marry him.”
“Oh, Lizzy, I cannot bear to hear the name of that woman mentioned. Wickham had such agreeable manners, such a pleasant countenance. Of course, he was fond of Lydia.”
“He is hatefully mercenary!”
This was not what Mrs Bennet wanted to hear, and therefore, instead of making any answer, she went on insensibly as before. “I shall only be content when Lydia returns.”
Jane could not contain a gasp of shock. Mary lifted her eyes and, with a countenance of grave reflection, recited her moral extractions to a fretful Kitty.
“If Mr Wickham, who through his marriage is now a man of fortune, acknowledges his child,itsillegitimacy may not always be scandalous,” Elizabeth sputtered when she found her voice, “but Lydia’s reputation will never recover. We can only hope that our connexion to Darcy’s excellent name may be enough to allow us to move in the company of our neighbours again.”
“Darcy will see that Wickham acknowledges his connexion to the child, and that will help significantly,” Mrs Bennet sniffed.
“Even if Darcy convinces Mr Wickham to claim responsibility, it is too much to believe that Lydia’s reputation will be entirely restored. So long as you wish to visit with your neighbours and marry off your remaining daughters, Lydia ought never to return to Longbourn.”
Jane and Elizabeth had attempted to explain to her the nature of Wickham’s treachery and the consequence to her daughters’ reputations, but it was a subject on which Mrs Bennet was beyond the reach of reason.
This recent letter had no news to share with the rest of her family, and Elizabeth put it away as her mother entered. Jane put down her embroidery and lifted her gaze to the window, but even from across the room, Elizabeth knew that Jane’s eyes saw nothing. Her bright eyes were empty, and her face held no expression. She was about to distract Jane from her heartache when Mrs Bennet reached her eldest first. Elizabeth watched in surprise as her mother placed a kiss on Jane’s hair and gently gave her upper arm a reassuring squeeze.
The pallor of Jane’s face remained unchanged, but the light came back into her eyes as Mrs Bennet said, “You are a good girl, Janie.” As soon as the tender moment had come, it was gone, and her mother flitted out of the room, calling for Hill.
I must learn to be more gracious toward my own mother.Elizabeth knew her mother would never be sensible and well-mannered, but if Fitzwilliam could engage her mother with improved and inviting manners, then Elizabeth could be more charitable to her.
Her mother had long lost the esteem of her husband—if she had ever had it—and genuine affection had been equally lost early in their marriage. Her father thought his wife’s unenlightened mind made it acceptable to make her an object of ridicule. Mr Bennet was as capable of respecting his wife as any other husband, but he chose to find amusement in her ignorance rather than do what he could to gently improve it. Had he treated her as every wife deserved to be treated by her husband, it might have made her mother less nervous and more sensible. Sadly, Mrs Bennet would never have the benefit of a husband who loved and respected her.
