“I had every intention of returning to you once Lydia was safe.”
“Lydia was safe the moment you left England. The newspapers connected your disappearance to Mr Wickham, but as the weeks flew by and the reprobate remained in London, they ran out of ideas. In the last article I read, the gossips had capitulated and concluded that his paramour was in fact Mrs Younge. But, to me, these have been inexpressibly painful weeks of tormenting doubts and reproofs of my conduct and manners. But most of all, I should have listened to your objections against Lydia marrying Wickham.”
“Yes, you should.”
“Lizzy?” Lady Louise called from the terrace. “Are you well? To whom are you talking?”
Elizabeth surmised that their raised voices must have alarmed her dear grandmother.
“I am well and shall be with you directly,” she called back. To Mr Darcy she directed a mischievous grin. “Come. It is time you met the rest of my family.”
Mr Darcy looked a bit apprehensive but accepted her outstretched hand.
Elizabeth laced their fingers before dragging him to be introduced to the no longer frail Count Reimarus. Then his son, and at last, her formidable grandmother.
“I am grateful for your hospitality, especially towards an uninvited and unsought guest. I shall not impose upon you further but shall take my wife home.”
“Not so hastily, if you please,” Lady Louise objected. “Why would we allow our dear Lizzy to leave the comfort of our home?”
Mr Darcy paced in front of the intimidating brother and sister, raking his hand through his hair. When he finally stopped and turned towards them, his face had returned to an unhealthy shade of red.
“Because I love her!” Mr Darcy spoke in angry, ragged gasps. “Because she is carrying my child, who should be born at home. That should be reason enough.”
“Your anger is misplaced,” Lady Louise retorted calmly. “Anger is a symptom of a deeper feeling. May I suggest that you examine that feeling and calm yourself.”
Mr Darcy took an incensed step closer. “I know perfectly well what feeling has unsettled me,” he said in a low and hoarse voice. “It is my love for a wife who left me thinking she was lying dead at the bottom of the Serpentine. The fear of losing her has absconded with my civilities, but I shall endeavour to temper my determination.”
“That was not my fault,” Elizabeth objected, but Mr Darcy paid her no mind.
“The same lady who did not think it important to apprise me before she left that I am to become a father. She ripped the heart out of my chest and left my soul in this black abyss I have been living in for the last five weeks. My anger is perfectly reasonable and just.”
“But it is not productive if a reconciliation is what you seek,” Elizabeth remarked from behind his broad and unyielding back.
Mr Darcy’s shoulders slumped. “Then tell me what to do, because there is nothing I would not give to make amends for the errors I have made. Your letter was informative.” He reached into his pocket, retrieved the tattered sheet, and shoved it in her face. “I have loathed every woman I met before you sauntered into my life, and you want me to marry someone else. You are deranged if you think I was ever going to look at another woman the way I regard you.”
“As I have understood it,” Lady Louise interrupted the bickering couple, “you do not want to divorce my granddaughter, Mr Darcy?”
“Never!”
“If so, explain exactly what Elizabeth overheard you speaking about in your conference with Judge Darcy.”
“My uncle has made this suggestion to me twice. My family objects to my marriage. I disagree with them.”
“And the discussion about aborting a possible child?”
“That preposterous notion was immediately denounced forcefully by me, as was the divorce. Judge Darcy is an excellent talker, but he rarely listens. I usually allow him to rant, then wait for one of the rare occasions he draws breath. I would have evicted him from my house if not for an important matter I wished to discuss with him. I am certain you are aware of all the troubles we have encountered since we wed.”
Lady Louise nodded.
“I have investigated the matter of additional purchases added to Mrs Darcy’s shopping excursion. When confronted with the evidence I had procured, the judge admitted that he was responsible for the additional items, and some of the modifications made to the ball gown.”
“Some?” Elizabeth enquired.
“He apparently suggested a slight defect, not the resulting indecency, and he denied having anything to do with the drawing. He asserted that Mrs Bean was suffering from financial constraints and might be culpable for that part, something I have lately discovered to be true. He flatly denies having anything to do with the rescinded invitations to our ball and all the gossip that has sullied our name for the last months.”
“Do you believe him?” Lady Louise wanted to know.
“I cannot decide. It is likely him, since he admitted to the added purchases. At the same time, I doubt it because he has always been tenacious in his protection of the Darcy name. Whilst knowing full well that purchasing frippery and lace would irk me, it would not damage our reputation in the same manner as the rest of our troubles have done. As a precaution, I have ordered him to withdraw from society and have threatened to revoke his allowance should I discover he is culpable for more than he has admitted to.
