She sighed in relief. This is what she needed, someone decisive and with equanimity, someone not inclined to inaction or panic. “They were off sometime near dawn, and she was not noticed missing until nine. We just learnt of it before you came in. We are anxious to be assured the marriage will take place—” A shadow crossed his eyes, and the ember of hope in her heart burnt out. “You do not think that he will marry her.”
Her mother must have heard, because she wailed. She wished Jane was here to comfort her. Elizabeth had to act; there was no time for tears, even though she felt them welling in her eyes.
“I am sorry,” Darcy said, “but there is reason to fear they are not gone to Scotland. But I can go to the coaching inn and trace their progress to London.”
Before she could thank him, Kitty said, “Lydia was never at the coaching inn.” Kitty was now eager to be helpful. “They left Ramsgate separately. Wickham told her to walk to Margate, to the Royal Hotel, and he would meet her at six, but she was to wait in case he could not get away when he wished. They could not be seen leaving Ramsgate together, you know.”
“He made her walk six miles, carrying a bag in the dark, alone?” Darcy mused aloud. “And she still wanted to marry him?”
If she did not direct her thoughts on protecting Lydia, she might laugh at his being appalled at the disrespectful manner of Wickham’s elopement plans. If Darcy ever ran off with a woman, he would place the ladder under her window himself. She wanted to laugh, but it was not funny. She was only overwrought, and her emotions ran wild. Thank goodness Darcy was here.
“Of course she did,” said her mother. “Lydia wants to be married, and Wickham must marry her. Oh, Mr Darcy, will you follow them and make them marry?”
What a mortifying entreaty. Elizabeth expected him to refuse. But when he turned from her mother, he whispered to her, “Do you agree recovering her and returning her to her friends is for the best?” She nodded, and so he announced to her mother, “I can trace them easily to London and see if they stayed there or went on to Scotland.”
“They could have stayed in town to marry privately?”
Darcy shook his head. “I think he used your daughter to fund his escape from Ramsgate. I am certain he has debts to shopkeepers and debts of honour, and he will leave Miss Lydia and ultimately marry someone with a fortune.”
Mrs Bennet cried again. “That cannot be true! You must follow them and make certain they marry!”
Elizabeth clutched his hand. He looked at her in complete surprise, but did not draw away. “I have to recover Lydia before she is ruined. Please, Mr Darcy. I have no right to ask you, but he cannot support her and you have concerns about his character and—” Her voice caught. “And I have no one else to help me.”
“I should have—I truly did not think he would do such a thing.” He suddenly looked weary. “You need not ask because I offer my help in finding her. Are we in agreement that no matter what your mother says, the goal is to prevent her marriage and recover her before anyone knows she is gone?” She agreed. “We can find her, but how do we conceal her leaving Ramsgate?”
His use of “we” struck her. She no longer felt alone in this dreadful situation. She would not have chosen Darcy to help her, but now that he was here, the state no longer felt out of control. They settled it in a few brief sentences.
“I take a maid, and we tell everyone Lydia and I have gone home under your protection?”
He agreed. “People see two women leave while your ill family members remain by the seaside.”
“We find Lydia in London, and you escort us home to Longbourn before anyone knows she left with him.”
“Will your mother and sister be silent?”
“If my mother thinks they will marry, she must be quiet until theyare, and when they do not and Lydia is home, she will have no choice but to never speak of it.”
He nodded once. “Then pack a bag, collect your maid, and be ready in half an hour.”
She let go of his hand and he went to her mother saying, “Madam, with your leave, Miss Bennet and I will go to London to find Miss Lydia. Your elder daughter goes with me only to help protect Miss Lydia’s good name in the event her wedding is delayed.” Darcy seemed to struggle with this sentence. Lying did not come easily to him. “Can I trouble you to write a note to my sister to explain I have gone to town and will return in a few days?”
Her mother agreed and thanked him again and again for “making Wickham marry her.”
Darcy left the house, and Elizabeth hurried to get ready. A father absent and a mother incapable of exertion had never felt like such a loss until now. Thank goodness Darcy appeared when he did. The unaffected kindness and liberality of his behaviour to her poor sister touched her heart. And once they were away, she would ask him what he truly knew about the vices of George Wickham.
CHAPTER FIVE
Darcy tried not to stare at Elizabeth on the other side of the carriage. She looked wan and withdrawn. She sat next to a maid who was surely startled at suddenly being called on to drive to London. He stopped often to speak to toll collectors and postilions, but if they made good time, they would be in town by seven. Wickham and Lydia only had a few hours on them.
Conversation had been scant since he mused aloud a few hours ago, “Why would she agree to this?”
He had not expected an answer, but Elizabeth had said, “Lydia wanted only encouragement to attach herself to anybody—and Wickham has every charm of person and address that can captivate a woman.”
How dreadful that such a man was appealing to women. If Elizabeth enjoyed Wickham’s attention, and she had a modicum of sense, what chance did an ignorant girl like Lydia have?
A better question was why had Darcy agreed to recover a girl he had neither fondness nor respect for? She was his sister’s friend, but it was not a connexion he valued. Was it only because he felt responsible for not laying plain what sort of man Wickham was when he couldhave? He could have been more explicit with Elizabeth, but with such an indulgent mother, it might have made no difference.
Not that discussing Wickham’s vices with any woman would be easy.
