Chapter 7
Elizabeth tried to stifle her hurt at her father’s acerbic comment. She ought to have known that he would treat the situation with his usual dry wit. It had been too much to hope for that he would consider how painful the situation was to her feelings. Indeed, he had a right to be angry with her, though she had not acted with intent.
Mr Darcy, too, seemed to look at Mr Bennet with surprise. But of course, pride was the most dominant part of his character, and he would not choose to have any situation in which he was so closely concerned treated with levity.
“Please, Father, hear what I have to say,” Elizabeth pressed on. “I wonder if I may have a solution to our problem.”
Mr Darcy shot her a quick glance, looking still more surprised by her calm statement than by her father’s joke. Elizabeth gathered her courage and her composure, trying to remind herself that the fate of her future happiness rested on convincing them to try her plan.
“ I understand you have been discussing my future. Is it not only fair that I have a say in the matter?” Taking a steadying breath, she went on, her head held high. “I wish to propose a compromise of a different kind,” Elizabeth said, aiming the comment at her father. She looked pleadingly at Mr Darcy, reminding herself that he was both as much a victim of the mishap as herself, and deeply deserving of her gratitude for issuing an offer of marriage — however little she wished to actually accept the offer. He could not have wished it. Surely he would wish for an escape as much as she did.
“Do you not find the entire sequence of events odd?” Elizabeth asked them both. “For example, why did Mr Darcy fall so violently? And why did I receive a note summoning me to the library?” She gave them both a moment to consider. “ I have been thinking about it all night, and I do not believe it was an accident that we were in the library together and that we were discovered. I think someone has been the architect of all our misfortune.”
Her father looked as if he might fall over in a dead faint, and that was a difficult thing to achieve, for he was not easily flustered. “ You received a note to go to the library? From whom? I want to see it immediately!”
Elizabeth pulled her note from her reticule and gave it to her father. When she had at last suspected the significance of the note, she had thanked the heavens she had not thrown it away.
“This is significant indeed,” Mr Darcy remarked intently. “You see, I too received a note asking me to go to the library.”
Elizabeth gasped in shock. “You too, Mr Darcy?”
He nodded and seemed about to speak, but Mr Bennet gestured for silence as he perused the note. Elizabeth waited impatiently as her father read, her heart beating faster every time Mr Darcy looked at her. And he seemed to be watching her every move.
“ Who is this Mrs X?” her father demanded. He walked over to his desk on the other side of the library and smoothed the note out.
“ I do not have the faintest idea, Papa. Perhaps I ought to have been more suspicious, but it did not occur to me at the time. When I arrived in the library, I decided to browse the shelves as I waited for this Mrs X to appear. The next moment I knew something strange was afoot was when —” The look in Mr Darcy ’ s eyes retold the story. Suddenly, she remembered the feeling of laying in his arms, pinned under him. Elizabeth blinked, but the memory of how he had looked into her eyes with such concern, how he had embraced her so tenderly, left her heart beating more quickly than she wished to admit.
Elizabeth quickly shook the disturbing thoughts away. Such thoughts were not enough to build a life on — not when he had no regard for her, and would surely come to regret a forced proposal. No matter how gallantly he had acted the night before, she must stick to her convictions.
Still, an inkling of doubt played at the back of her mind as they gazed into each other ’ s eyes. Was he also reliving that moment? Elizabeth could not forget how tenderly he had tucked her hair behind her ear and ran his fingers down her cheek.
“ Elizabeth?” her father pressed. She tore her eyes from Mr Darcy’s and shook her head, feeling lost for a moment.
“ Ah, yes, Papa? Where was I?”
“ You knew something was afoot when — ” her father prompted.
“ Yes, I knew something was not right when Mr Darcy tripped so violently. He is not a clumsy man, not in the least. We all stumble from time to time, of course, but why such a very violent fall, and why at precisely that moment?” Oddly, Mr Darcy looked rather flattered at her simple statement that he was rather graceful, which anyone who had observed him at close range could see to be true.
He cleared his throat. “ I will not say that I am never clumsy. But it was very odd to me as well that I should have tripped like that. And even then, there was not much of a crash, yet a crowd of people said that a loud noise had brought them to the library.”
“ No, you are a very graceful faller,” Elizabeth agreed. She felt her cheeks flush at the ridiculous compliment. How absurd of her! “ That is to say, I do not remember hearing any great crash.”
“ Neither did I. What about you, Mr Bennet? What brought you to the library? Did you hear anything strange, or did someone alert you to what had happened?” Mr Darcy turned to her father to include him in the conversation. Elizabeth startled. As they had been speaking, she had almost forgotten he was standing there.
“ I did not hear the crash, but I was alerted that there had been an incident in the library. I believe Kitty was the one who came to retrieve me from the grand salon, along with Mrs Bennet.” Her father put his hand on his chin and rubbed it, as he often did when he was deep in thought. “ You say you also received a note, Mr Darcy? Do you have it on your person?” he asked.
“ Yes, I do.” Mr Darcy retrieved the note from his waistcoat pocket and brought it out, smoothing it on the desk as Mr Bennet had done with her note. The three of them leaned in and compared the notes.
“ They look very similar, do they not?” Elizabeth asked. Her heart lifted, hoping that Mr Darcy had recognised the handwriting. If they could track down who had written the notes and lured them to the library, then they might be able to prove their innocence in front of the whole community and save themselves from having to submit to this unwanted marriage. “ I thought it strange that the penmanship was so untidy. Did you notice that as well?”
“ Yes, I did, rather. I have never received a note from Mr Hurst — there has been no occasion for him to write to me.” Mr Darcy straightened, sighing. “ Indeed, I thought it very odd that Mr Hurst would write me a note at all. Why would he not simply inform me he had something to discuss? But I suppose that at the time, I thought he wished to arrange for greater privacy. Now, I believe it was not from him, but from some unknown person.”
“ It is a conundrum,” her father said. He walked away from the desk and began pacing in the few spare feet of the wood floor that could be seen. Everything else was crowded pell-mell around the walls. It was the one room in the house that her father refused to let her mother touch, and had therefore descended into a happy bit of chaos. “ Can either of you think of who would want to subject you to this kind of scandal? Mr Darcy, being a more prevalent face in society, could you have made any enemies that might wish to cause you embarrassment?”
Mr Darcy shook his head. “ I cannot think of anyone,” he said. “ Believe me when I say, sir, I did not sleep last night for replaying the incident in my mind. I hope I can assure you once more that I would never willingly put your daughter’s reputation in jeopardy.”
The look in his eyes sent shivers up her spine. She could not pretend to herself that it had been caused by fear. It was a new awareness of him, perhaps — an awareness that Mr Darcy had a kind of honour she could not help but respect. He had made it clear he would sacrifice his own wants to protect her. Something twisted inside her. Elizabeth could not help but wonder if she had misjudged him.
She hardened her heart against the idea. It would be folly to allow Mr Darcy to control the situation. His unquestioning choice of the solution society would accept, no matter what it would mean for both their happiness, was proof enough of that. “ I can think of no one, either. I hope I have no such enemies,” Elizabeth remarked. At least, none that made sense. Miss Bingley had made no secret of her dislike, but she of all people was quite above suspicion. Miss Bingley would never have orchestrated an incident that quite literally pushed Elizabeth into the arms of the man she herself so obviously wished to marry.
“ So, what is it you are proposing, my dear?” her father asked after a long pause. “ I cannot allow Mr Darcy to recant his promise of marriage simply because you were both asked to the library by some unknown person. In the eyes of the community, you are both guilty of a grave misstep indeed.” His eyes were filled with compassion, and she knew it gave him great pain to be so candid with her. “ Of course, I hope you both know that I do not judge you as the rest of the world might. If you say that it was an accident, I believe you.”
Elizabeth let out a relieved sigh. “ Thank you, Papa,” she said, leaned close, and kissed him on the cheek. However, his trust in her did nothing to absolve them in the eyes of the world — he was right on that point. She straightened and walked a few paces away so she could face them both. “ What I propose is this: that we work together to find the culprit and prove our innocence. If we succeed promptly, then there will be no need for us to marry and we can dissolve the engagement. It is a compromise of another kind, as I said earlier, between total ruin and a marriage that neither of us wants.”
A flash of some unknown emotion crossed Mr Darcy’s face as she finished. He paused for a moment before speaking, almost as though he had needed to collect himself. “ I agree that something is very wrong with the whole situation. What I cannot say for certain is how we could find this person, whoever they might be, and prove that what happened was indeed an accident.”
He waited for her to answer. All the while, she could see a battle going on behind his eyes. Was he disappointed that she wanted to call off the engagement? Surely not. He disliked her as much as she disliked him.
“ I really think we must try. If you agree, we can start with the notes. Perhaps we could talk with the servants that were enlisted to deliver them? They might give us a description of the person, or people, who asked them to bring us the summons.”
Elizabeth looked to her father for approval of the plan, but he was shaking his head. Her heart sank. After all, if he decreed they were still obligated to marry, then there would be nothing she could do. Even running away was impossible, for Elizabeth could not consider any solution that would leave her sisters vulnerable to her disgrace. “ Will you at least let us try to find out what really happened last night, Papa?”
He thought for a moment, looking between the two of them. “ I will allow it,” he said. “ But I think you will still need to enter into an engagement, at least until we find out if there was foul play or not. That way, your reputation will not suffer beyond repair, Lizzy. What think you, Mr Darcy? What my daughter proposes would allow you to satisfy honour and protect your own reputation — though, of course, we all know that the consequences would not be nearly so dire as for my Lizzy — without such sacrifice as you were on the point of accepting. Do you agree?”
“ I do, Mr Bennet.” Mr Darcy said. He studied the floor for a moment, then looked up at her again. His piercing gaze made butterflies dance in her stomach. “ I will do my part to keep Miss Elizabeth Bennet ’ s name from being dragged through the mud.”
“ Very well, then. I give my blessing to the match, Mr Darcy — and I thank you. You may announce your engagement whenever you see fit. I think it would be best that our master of coercion, whoever they might be, thinks that their plan has succeeded. That should give you sufficient cover to pursue your little investigation.” Her father shook hands with Mr Darcy, and the deed was done. Elizabeth smiled wryly at the deal being struck. She rather suspected she knew how a prize mare being sold at auction must feel.
“ Thank you, Papa,” Elizabeth said, and turned to go. Stopping short, she glanced at Mr Darcy. “ And thank you as well,” she whispered.
He stopped her before she opened the door. “ Would you like to return to Netherfield with me, Miss Elizabeth? Or perhaps come tomorrow, so we may look over the scene of the crime, so to speak, and perhaps conduct some interviews with the staff who were present at the ball?” He glanced at Elizabeth ’ s father. “ Of course, with your father ’ s permission.”
“ Yes, of course she shall have my permission,” Mr Bennet agreed promptly. “After all, you have agreed to take Elizabeth. And if my daughter’s plan fails, she will be your wife in a month or so. She need not ask my permission for things any longer, but yours.” Mr Bennet took up his newspaper and opened it with a snapping gesture, a mischievous smile on his lips. He pretended to read, though it was obvious his attention remained on them.
The thought that her plan might fail made her want to flee the room and never return. How could her father be drawing any sort of amusement from the situation? “ Perhaps tomorrow afternoon would be more appropriate? I must confess I am still reeling from the events of last night.”
“ Yes, of course, I understand. Shall I have my carriage call for you at noon?”
“ That will not be necessary. Papa, may I use the carriage tomorrow? If you do not mind, Mr Darcy, I should like to bring Jane with me.” Taking her father’s carriage would have two benefits; it would allow her to escape accepting yet another favour from Mr Darcy, and it would make it much easier to persuade Jane to come along. That would give her a chance to see Mr Bingley, and would provide her with some moral support besides. Elizabeth looked curiously at Mr Darcy, wondering if he would object to Jane’s presence. Just as she wished to give Jane and Mr Bingley the opportunity to converse, if they wished, Mr Darcy might well want to keep them apart.
“ As you wish,” Mr Darcy replied calmly, and stood aside to allow her father to give his permission for the use of their carriage. Thankfully, Mr Bennet had no objections to the plan. They finished putting together the particulars of the next day ’ s activities and turned to leave her father in peace.
Mr Bennet rose from his chair as they finished, walking them both to the library door. “ If you find anything at Netherfield, notify me at once and we can take the proof to my good friend, Constable Rathers. He is a most apt student of the law and a very perceptive man.”
Mr Darcy thanked her father, and he opened the door for them. Outside, they found her mother, Lydia, and Kitty hanging about, trying to look as if they had simply been passing by. Lydia and Kitty beamed up at Mr Darcy, admiring the detail of his handsome navy blue coat and no doubt abusing it as ugly in comparison with a red one. “ Is it all settled then, Lizzy?” Lydia asked excitedly.
“ Yes, Lizzy, tell us,” Kitty urged.
“A moment please, girls,” Elizabeth said repressively. She shot them a warning look over her shoulder as she walked Mr Darcy to the door and said a polite goodbye. She made sure the door was well closed and Mr Darcy was a few paces away before turning to them and replying. “ Yes, I am afraid it is settled.”
“ Oh Lizzy, do not be ridiculous! You know you are the luckiest of women. Mr Darcy may be dull, but even so, to be the first one engaged! I wish I were engaged,” Lydia exclaimed. She linked arms with Kitty and began whispering about what it would be like to fall in love and get married.
Elizabeth could only sigh. She parted with her younger sisters and went out into the garden to find some solitude. Wrapped in a heavy woollen shawl, she walked about in the chill air among the dead and dying foliage. Her life felt like the barren landscape stretching before her. The grasses that had been so full and green earlier that year were now dull and brown or had been harvested and tilled, leaving behind clumps of brown earth.
She stood on one side of a low rock wall that had been constructed at the back of the Longbourn estate, with the fallow fields stretching out before her. As she gazed at them, she reminded herself that spring would come again, and things would grow once more. Perhaps her life would be like that, if only she could work hard enough to find the person who had tried to destroy her future.
A moment later, Jane came up beside her and nodded, staying silent as she too gazed out over the grey landscape. Elizabeth linked arms with her sister and leaned her head on her shoulder. “ Dear Jane, you always know when someone needs a bolstering hand, don ’ t you?”
“ Well, I cannot say I always know, but with you — most of the time I can tell when you are in despair. Did the meeting with Mr Darcy not go well?”
Elizabeth leaned up and motioned to the little wooden ladder that was spread over the rock wall. They climbed over and began traversing the fields, walking arm in arm as they had so often done on happier days.
“ No, the meeting did not end badly. Indeed, it went too well, I think,” she said sadly. She bit her lower lip, wondering if it would be wise to share their plan to clear their names with Jane. She was without guile and would have a difficult time pretending that the engagement between her and Mr Darcy was genuine if she knew it was for show. At least for the time being, it would be kinder to say nothing.
“ You are displeased about the arrangement, I know. But did you not find Mr Darcy to be a gentleman above reproach? He acted valiantly yesterday. Surely you can agree on that?”
“ Valiant? Yes, I suppose so,” Elizabeth said. It was not the word she would have chosen, and yet…her thoughts turned unbidden to the moments they had been locked in an even more inappropriate embrace. She was glad that no one had seen them as they had lain prone on the floor. At least when everyone had rushed into the room, she had been sitting, and Mr Darcy had only been kneeling very close to her, cupping her cheek. Her heart raced at the mere thought of it again, and she silently chastised herself for allowing her thoughts to turn in that direction again. She had to admit Mr Darcy had shown himself to be truly self-sacrificing and honourable over the past twenty-four hours.
But even to Jane, Elizabeth could not admit the most shocking part of that night. For that one moment, as he had held her so tenderly in his concern, she had almost thought Mr Darcy wished to kiss her. More than that. For a moment, she had seen in him a man she might have wished to kiss.