Chapter Five #4
“Only those present, and the younger girls,” Mr. Bennet said. “My wife suspects nothing. The servants may conjecture, but they have no certainty.”
“What of Sir William Lucas?” the Colonel asked. “The magistrate?”
“He may suspect that our family is acquainted with more than we acknowledge,” Elizabeth said. “He has not, however, charged us with any concealment, and we believe he has not yet connected Mr. Wickham’s supposed wife with Mr. Darcy’s sister.”
The Colonel nodded slowly.
“When did you learn who she was?”
“Last night,” Elizabeth said. “She confided her name to us.”
He turned to Georgiana.
“Has anyone besides the Bennets and their servants seen you? Anyone who might speak of you in the village?”
“No,” Georgiana said. “I kept to the smallest lanes and saw no one. Since then, I have remained in the nursery the whole time.”
The Colonel looked from her to Mr. Bennet.
“We must have a reason for her being here that will satisfy enquiry. If it once becomes public that Miss Darcy of Pemberley was discovered in hiding after fleeing Wickham, her reputation will suffer ruin, however innocent she has been.”
“Could you not remove her at once?” Jane asked hesitantly. “If you took her away to-day, before the neighbourhood has any notion—”
“To carry her off in haste, and in secret, would excite far more remark than to have her here openly, under a proper introduction,” Mr. Bennet said. “Our neighbours live upon conjecture. They will already have noticed a strange carriage in the lane, even if they never saw the occupant.”
“Darcy himself would be suspected of some mystery,” the Colonel added. “He has already waited at the inn, asking questions. If he now spirits his sister away without explanation, the tale will grow with every retelling. We had better give them a story than leave them to invent their own.”
“Indeed,” Mr. Bennet agreed. “I presume you have considered how that difficulty might be met?”
“I have, though the plan requires your assistance—and a readiness to bend the truth.”
“I am not averse to either,” Mr. Bennet said. “What do you propose?”
The Colonel turned slightly, including Elizabeth and Jane.
“We state that Miss Darcy and I were travelling north to Matlock, my family’s seat. She was taken ill upon the road. Unwilling to leave her at a coaching inn whilst unwell, I recollected an old acquaintance in this neighbourhood—Mr. Bennet—and brought her here instead.”
“Acquaintance?” Mr. Bennet raised an eyebrow. “We have never set eyes on one another before this morning.”
“No, but who in Meryton is in a position to know that?” The Colonel paused. “We require a plausible connexion. What would satisfy you, sir?”
“Oxford,” Mr. Bennet said, after a moment’s reflection. “I was a Fellow there some years before my marriage. You came up as a young man. I lent you what assistance I could. Such informal arrangements leave no record, and the place abounds in them.”
The Colonel inclined his head.
“That will answer. We met at Oxford, kept up a correspondence, and when I found myself in some perplexity with my cousin’s health, I remembered you were settled in this county and drove here to request your help.”
Mr. Bennet considered.
“That would explain why you presented yourself at Longbourn, rather than entrusting her to an inn.”
“Miss Darcy arrived with me,” the Colonel continued. “She remained in the carriage whilst I enquired. The journey has disagreed with her—no more than a severe chill, but enough to require rest. She will remain here until she is well enough to proceed.”
“Which may demand some time,” Elizabeth said. “Long enough for Mr. Darcy to join you, and for proper arrangements to be made.”
Georgiana, who had listened in tense silence, spoke in distress.
“I have no proper clothing here. I cannot appear in—” She looked down at her ill fitting, plain muslin gown.
“We say your trunk was misdirected,” the Colonel replied. “Sent on to the wrong inn. Such errors occur often enough upon the road. I shall send to London for your effects immediately. They should be here within a few days.”
“Will that resolve what she is to wear until then?” Jane said. “Our mother will observe the want.”
“She will,” Mr. Bennet agreed. “Still, your mother possesses a remarkable talent for forming conclusions that gratify herself. If we supply the outline of a tale, she will furnish the rest. For the present, Miss Darcy remains above stairs, and no one need trouble themselves about her wardrobe.”
Elizabeth saw the sense of it.
“We have lent her our night-rails and such linen as were required. Ladies purchase similar materials from the same warehouses. There is nothing singular in it.”
“Particularly as t0 night-rails,” Jane added. “There is little distinction in them.”
The Colonel nodded.
“Very well. Miss Darcy arrived with me, has been taken ill, and is recovering here. Mr. Bennet and I are old acquaintances. Her trunk has gone astray and will be forwarded.”
He paused, his brows drawing together. “I own, I do not like to leave her where Wickham has already been seeking her. Every instinct urges me to take her away this hour, and let the neighbourhood say what it will.”
“Your instincts do you credit,” Mr. Bennet said. “Yet consider: to remove her in haste, with no explanation prepared, is to gratify the very curiosity we wish to disappoint. A day spent in ordering matters here may spare her months of idle speculation.”
The Colonel looked from him to Georgiana, who sat still, her hands clenched together in her lap, and then to Elizabeth and Jane. Whatever he read there seemed to weigh with him.
“You believe the greater danger lies in talk, rather than in her remaining?” he asked.
“I do,” Mr. Bennet replied. “And you have seen to-day that my daughters are capable of keeping their own counsel. They have already done so, to Miss Darcy’s salvation.”
The tension in the Colonel’s shoulders eased a little, though not entirely. “So be it. I will trust your judgement in this, sir, since she has trusted you first.”
“There is the matter of my unexpected guest, Colonel,” Mr. Bennet said. “My wife will demand your connexions within the first five minutes. She delights in such particulars.”
“My circumstances are no secret,” the Colonel replied. “I am a colonel in the regulars. My elder brother holds the title. Miss Darcy is my cousin and ward, as well as Darcy’s sister.”
Mr. Bennet drew a breath.
“Jane, Lizzy, you will be Miss Darcy’s principal attendants. Jane has the temper for nursing. Elizabeth, you will manage your mother and endeavour to keep her ecstasies within decent bounds.”
“I shall attempt it,” Elizabeth said.
“Mary, Kitty, and Lydia may assist with such innocent amusements as reading aloud and cards. It will occupy them and keep them from imprudent excursions.”
“Ought they be trusted with so delicate a secret?” the Colonel asked.
“They have preserved it exceedingly well thus far,” Mr. Bennet said. “They comprehend the consequences.”
“They do,” Elizabeth said. “They will not betray Miss Darcy.”
Mr. Bennet inclined his head.
“Very well. We remove Miss Darcy to the blue chamber at once. I shall apprise Mrs. Bennet of your arrival, Colonel, if you will support our account.”
“Most willingly.”
“Then you must find Mr. Darcy and relieve his mind,” Mr. Bennet added. “Where do you suppose he is now?”
“He lodged at The George yesterday,” the Colonel said. “By now he will have widened his search. He planned to be in Ware to-night after canvassing the neighbouring towns.” He glanced towards the window. “I can reach him before nightfall.”
“To-morrow would be preferable,” Mr. Bennet said. “We require a little time to establish our story. If he appears to-day, immediately upon your own arrival, it may invite questions.”
The Colonel hesitated, then nodded, though unwillingly.
“You are right. I shall beg him to wait until the morning.”
“One more night,” Georgiana whispered. “He has suffered so long already. Yet one more night—” Her voice failed her.
The Colonel went to her side and took her hand for a moment.
“He will understand. You have my word.”
She nodded, unable to answer.
He turned back to Mr. Bennet.
“I am deeply obliged to you, sir. You and your daughters have done what appeared impossible.”
“My daughters deserve the commendation,” Mr. Bennet said. “I have arrived in time only to observe their ingenuity, and to wonder whether my authority has been entirely imaginary these many years.”
Elizabeth caught her father’s eye. He was not smiling, yet there was a glimmer in his look that might be approval.
The Colonel bowed to them all.
“I shall return to-morrow with Darcy. Until then, I leave her in your care.”
“She could not be better guarded,” Mr. Bennet said.
“Well, let us begin this fiction. Jane, conduct Miss Darcy to the blue chamber and see her settled. Mary, inform Mrs. Bennet that we have guests. I shall prepare myself to endure her raptures, and to claim at least a share in the credit when the tale is told.” He paused, his gaze resting on each of them in turn.
“You have all acquitted yourselves so well, I scarcely dare enquire what other conspiracies have flourished under my roof.”
The Colonel glanced towards Georgiana. “If I am to catch Darcy at Ware, I must set out as soon as may be,” he said. “I shall return to-morrow.”
Georgiana pulled forward away from the chair. “You will tell him—”
“Every thing that signifies,” he replied. He crossed back to her, took her hand, and bent over it. “You are safe, and amongst friends. That is what he must hear first.”
Georgiana reached for his hand. “Thank you, Richard.”
He gripped her hand firmly, his expression softening. He hesitated, then pulled her into a brief, fierce embrace. “To-morrow,” he said quietly.