“Thank you,” Lydia whispered. “I trust my fate in your hands.” Then she yawned, none too subtly.
Elizabeth quashed her mirth at the most unladylike gesture. Lydia was wiser, if not quite the epitome of genteel comportment yet. With clarity and determination, she descended the stairs to where her family was gathered and halted in the middle of the floor. It had not the dramatic effect she was hoping for. The conversation continued as if she were not there.
“If I secure Wickham a position in the regulars, they will have something to live on, though they might have to move rather quickly. Perhaps, Mrs Bennet, I could depend upon you to return to Longbourn and oversee the packing? You could take Miss Catherine to aid you.”
“Of course, Mr Darcy,” her mother hastened to reply.
“I shall escort the ladies to Longbourn on the morrow,” Mr Bennet promised.
“You may stop your negotiations about the settlement. Lydia is not marrying Mr Wickham,” Elizabeth declared with conviction.
“Are you out of your senses, child? Mr Wickham is an officer! Of course he must marry my Lydia,” Mrs Bennet protested.
“I am not a child!”
“No. You are not a child, my Lizzy, but that does not alter the fact that Lydia must marry the scoundrel. However much I might dislike the notion, I can think of no other alternatives. Word has spread all over town, thanks to Mary’s caterwauling.”
Elizabeth glared at her father. “But he has nothing to offer her, no money to live on. Are you to allow your daughter to become a beggar on the streets?”
“Of course not. I have settled a hundred pounds per annum upon her.”
“What a relief.” Elizabeth could not prevent the sarcasm from lacing her voice. “You are aware that is all they have to live on? Once Mr Wickham’s debts have been deducted, they will have nothing left.”
“I shall settle his debts,” Darcy related in his usual confident voice.
Elizabeth whirled round to face him. “You cannot! The expense is staggering. Lydia said that he owes more than a decade’s pay.”
“Most likely,” Mr Bennet agreed with a sigh. “If what he left unpaid in Meryton is the same as in Brighton and London, his debts exceed three thousand pounds.”
Elizabeth slapped her hand across her heart and twirled back to Darcy. “It is too much.”
“It has already been settled,” her husband informed her firmly. “Do not make yourself uneasy on my behalf. I can bear the expense well enough.”
Darcy may have the funds, but it was his, hard earned and fastidiously saved. He should not deplete his coffers for her family any more than he already had done. Considering all the expense she had cost him, he could not have much left…
Her husband looked tired, the wrinkles around his eyes were more pronounced, and his colour was pale. What an emotional drain she and her family had subjected him to.How he must regret marrying me!
A plan began to take form in her mind. It was a significant risk but had the potential of a great reward. She would try to convince her husband once they were in the privacy of their room.
Elizabeth seated herself close to Darcy and paid no notice to the conversation humming around her. Mrs Gardiner regarded her with sympathy. Mr Gardiner, however, wore an expression of distaste. Perhaps he could be worked upon?
#
The door to the study flew open, and Elizabeth shivered at the anger emanating from Lord Matlock. She retreated into the shadows of a corner and cursed her misfortune. The earl could not have come at a more inopportune moment. She was desperate to speak to her husband alone, but he was never at home. Too busy arranging the wedding, collecting Wickham’s debts, and finding the reprobate an occupation that would allow him to keep a wife. Mr and Mrs Bennet were only too happy to leave the arrangements in Mr Darcy and Mr Gardiner’s capable hands and had left for Longbourn that morning, taking Kitty with them. Darcy had just returned from his attorney and was standing by the window, staring unseeing onto the square.
Lord Matlock must have discovered Lydia’s abduction. It had happened only yesterday, yet the newspapers had run rampant with speculations.
“What the hell is this!” The earl dropped a newspaper onto Darcy’s desk, ignorant of Elizabeth’s presence. His eyes were fixed on her husband’s broad back.
Darcy spun, hastened to his desk, and slumped into his chair before pulling the newspaper towards him.
Curiosity got the better of her, and Elizabeth leant over Darcy’s shoulder and perused the page. What she read was not at all what she had expected…
We have news of a Lieutenant W, who dallied with a certain Miss D of P in Ramsgate last summer. According to my source, W was then thwarted by the timely arrival of Mr D of P, who saved his sister from eloping to Gretna Green.
W has returned to town and has been spotted with a beautiful blonde on his arm. I suspect the rumours, in this case, have been proved true…
Elizabeth covered her gasp by slapping her hand over her mouth.
