“What are you saying?” Elizabeth cried.
“Let him speak, Lizzy,” Mr Bennet said, with unexpected firmness.
“When I return to London, I shall revise my will. In the event of my death, you will receive, sir, an estate near Mitcham. It includes woodland, fields, and several mills, including one of the most valuable in the area. It would secure your family’s independence.”
“Nothing will happen to you,” Elizabeth said.
“Of course not. But this time, I intend to act with foresight. And when the Season ends, I shall invite you, the Gardiners, and the Bingleys to Pemberley. I hope that, by the following autumn, we shall celebrate a wedding.”
∞∞∞
“Does this mean Mr Darcy retains Lady Catherine’s fortune?” Mrs Bennet asked that evening.
Mr Bennet looked at her with his usual mixture of patience and irony.
“If the settlement was drawn so—yes.”
“But Lady Catherine is very rich. Mr Collins once said she had more than fifteen thousand a year, besides other properties.”
“Well, Mrs Bennet, if we get through this year successfully, we may find ourselves with a very wealthy daughter.”
“More than twenty thousand a year? Not even the King could be so rich! We must prepare for London at once, Mr Bennet!”
Mr Bennet closed his eyes. The house had once been filled with laughter at that hour; now Elizabeth sat alone in her room. And once she left for London, she might never return as she had been.
He did not like the situation. Still, he trusted Darcy, impressed by a plan that showed more foresight than most young men possessed.
“Is it wise for him to come here tomorrow morning?” Mrs Bennet asked.
Mr Bennet opened his eyes and laughed.
“My dear, we are not conspirators. Mr Darcy is merely a gentleman calling to take leave before he departs for London. I am certain he will face a far stricter tribunal within his own family. But indeed, the best course would be for you and your daughters to set out for Meryton early in the morning, and return at noon.”
“Could they forbid him to marry Lizzy?” Mrs Bennet asked, suddenly alarmed.
“If we conduct ourselves properly during this time, I am persuaded nothing will prevent it. And when I say ‘we,’ I mean chiefly you. Until she is married, if you wish that to happen, you must not speak a word of them or of their situation. Is that clear?”
Mrs Bennet nodded, though she already wondered how she might endure such silence.
“Lizzy needs this sacrifice,” Mr Bennet added.
“And I am ready to do anything,” she declared.
Chapter 21
The next day, when Darcy arrived at Longbourn, Mr Bennet excused himself and left them alone. It was a particular indulgence, and by his last glance he conveyed plainly how they were to conduct themselves.
“I shall die if I cannot kiss you,” Darcy whispered. “How am I to go alone to London, knowing you will follow only in a few weeks?”
“Do not torment yourself, my love—it is not easy. We must be strong; for many months, a mere glimpse is all we shall have.”
“What?”
Elizabeth made a frightened gesture towards the door. “Hush!”
“I shall climb to your bedroom at Bingley’s house. The guest chambers lie all on one side, and there is a wild vine—a climbing plant—which reaches the windows.”
Elizabeth burst into laughter, the image of the proud Mr Darcy clinging to a vine too much for her composure.
