“Nor would I, Papa.”
“There are no guarantees in life, Mr. Bennet,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam. “If you decide the risk is too great, I cannot and will not gainsay you. I have men in the area all on the lookout for Wickham, such that I judge it unlikely he will spirit her away without our notice. But I understand your perspective as a father.”
“What if he learns you are in the neighborhood?”
“It is possible he might flee, for he has always had a healthy... respect for Fitzwilliam’s abilities,” said Mr. Darcy. “It might also stiffen his resolve, for he has always had a desperate compulsion to prove himself my superior.”
“Then it would seem the trick would be to ensure he does not learn of your presence.”
“Yes, that would be for the best,” agreed Colonel Fitzwilliam.
“Very well,” said Mr. Bennet after a long pause. “Lydia’s obstinacy is such that I suspect we would have little success in pulling any useful information from her. We shall do it your way. However, I hardly think staying at the inn in Meryton will be conducive to keeping a low profile.”
“Do you have another suggestion?” asked Mr. Darcy.
“There is a cottage nearby that is empty at present.” Mr. Bennet chuckled. “I have often used it as the residence of Longbourn’s gamekeeper, but the last occupant of that position left last year and I have not yet replaced him. I am not much of a hunter, other than the occasional craving for pheasant.
“The house is in good condition, though it has lain empty since that time. It is near enough to the manor that you could travel between houses in a few minutes, yet far enough into the woods that no one would know you are here.”
“Yet your family knows,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam.
“What of Miss Lydia?” asked Mr. Darcy. “Will she not alert him to our presence?”
Mr. Bennet pursed his lips. “Ifshe has some means of communicating with him, it cannot be sufficient for her to respond—I should think anything she receives can be no more than an occasional note, likely constrained to instructions on timing or where to meet.”
“And Wickham has been in London for several days now,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam. “He will wish to lie low to avoid detection, but if he waits too long, he risks word of his desertion making its way back to Meryton. His task becomes more difficult if he must dodge every merchant and angry father looking for him.”
“Which means he will make his move soon,” said Mr. Darcy.
“She likely already has that information in her possession,” said Mr. Bennet with disgust. “He would have instructed her to destroy any correspondence, so there is little use searching her effects.”
“That would alert her,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam. “I would not recommend it.”
Mr. Bennet allowed his comment. “Then the best course would be to alert the staff for anything unusual. I will attempt to keep my daughters at home for the next few days, but if Lydia agitates enough, I shall allow her to go to Meryton.”
“Very well,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam. “I believe we have our plan.”
Jane Bennet was a sweet young woman. Inclined to think the best of others and maintain a positive outlook on life and events, Jane had often excused the excesses of her family. That did not mean that Jane did notunderstandwhen they misbehaved, only that she did her best to allow for differences in temper before pronouncing judgment on anyone. Elizabeth had often told her that her complying disposition led her to make excuses for others, but Jane had never had reason to question her opinions.
Perhaps that was incorrect too, for while Jane was content with her outlook on life, she sometimes wondered if Elizabeth’s more severe opinion of certain excesses by certain of their family members was not understandable. Kitty and Lydia, they had often commiserated, were no less than wild, their mother indiscrete. While Jane thought neither girl was so far gone as to knowingly put their family at risk for censure, she could well understand the dangers. Even though Jane loved her mother, Mrs. Bennet gave the impression of being horribly mercenary.
It was this last problem that gave her so much discomfort after Elizabeth left the sitting-room to go to their father’s study. Jane had seen her sister’s plea for her to take control of the situation and not allow their mother to embarrass them. Jane was nowhere as forceful as her younger sister, and as a result, less capable of doing so.
The contrast between the sisters’ strengths and weaknesses was striking. Jane, calm, rational, and compassionate, was far better at managing her mother’s nerves, calming her when her fluttering got the better of her. Elizabeth, however, was better able to exert some control over that behavior, though saying anyone could control Mrs. Bennet was incorrect. Still, Elizabeth’s ability to explain matters in a way that Mrs. Bennet understood, or even deliver a reprimand that would not offend her was an ability Jane did not possess. The time in the sitting-room with Georgiana Darcy present provoked Jane to wish she had at least some means of controlling her mother.
“How surprised we were all to welcome you today, Miss Darcy,” said her mother, almost the moment the door closed behind Elizabeth. “We are pleased to make the acquaintance, particularly when we have heard so much of you.”
That was an overstatement, Jane knew, for while Lizzy had heard something of Miss Darcy, none of the rest of them had spoken much with Mr. Darcy, and Miss Bingley had not spoken on the subject to anyone else. Miss Darcy, shy as she was, mustered a smile.
“And I have heard something of you, and particularly Miss Elizabeth.”
No response could have been greater calculated to provoke Mrs. Bennet’s interest. The family had long possessed a healthy respect for Mrs. Bennet’s preternatural ability to sense any hint of a gentleman’s interest in her daughters, even when no such interest existed. The confirmation of Miss Darcy’s words was like ambrosia to the gods, enough to send Mrs. Bennet’s imagination winging higher than the clouds.
“Your brother spoke of Lizzy to you?”
“He did,” said Miss Darcy, unaware of the peril. “Both in his letters last autumn and recently when we were in town.”
By small degrees, Mrs. Bennet coaxed the girl to share what she knew, and while Miss Darcy could not speak much, she said enough to give Mrs. Bennet a clearer picture of Mr. Darcy’s affections toward her second daughter. It was no less than providential, in Jane’s opinion, that either Miss Darcy knew nothing of Mr. Darcy’s aborted proposal or she allowed no hint of it to pass her lips. Jane could not imagine the uproar that would ensue if she discovered that Elizabeth had rejected another proposal of marriage. Then again, given the events of the days following Mr. Collins’s proposal, Jane imagined it far better than she wished!
