Chapter 3
“Would you like something to drink, Mr. Darcy?” Edward Gardiner asked courteously.
“No, thank you, sir,” Darcy replied. His stomach was jumping strangely, and he felt almost physically ill with concern over Elizabeth.
He had slept poorly the previous night, worrying about her, wondering if she was safe and well fed, agonizing over whether he would be able to convince her uncle that he was an honorable man.
“Very well,” the other man said gravely, sitting back in his chair. “Mrs. Gardiner informed me of your visit to my home yesterday. I decided to have you come to my offices to test you, as it were. I daresay a man of your lineage rarely visits the office of a man of trade.”
Darcy reddened slightly at this. It was true that a year ago, before he had met Elizabeth, he would have looked with disdain on a man who was actively involved in business.
How arrogant and prideful he had been. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were genteel people and, based on the demeanor of both, were dedicated to the care of their now orphaned nieces.
“I would go to the ends of the earth to serve Miss Elizabeth,” Darcy said quietly, but with fervor.
Mr. Gardiner carefully adjusted some papers on his desk before looking directly into the taller man’s eyes, “I confess that I was greatly surprised to hear that you offered for Elizabeth a few months ago, Mr. Darcy. You are a very wealthy gentleman, a landed gentleman; indeed, Mrs. Gardiner waxed eloquently about your great estate of Pemberley. Elizabeth is a wonderful woman, but she is but the poor second daughter of a country gentleman. You have every reason to expect status, connection, and fortune from the woman you wed.”
Darcy shook his head violently at this, “Do you not see, Mr. Gardiner? I love Miss Elizabeth because she is not an insipid member of the ton, not one of those women who fawns over and venerates me based on my position in society and my wealth. She refused me, sir! I, Fitzwilliam Darcy! At the time, I was shocked, bewildered, and, yes, angry, but now I respect her for it. I respect her immensely. She took me to task for my poor behavior and I was properly humbled. I am grieved at the death of Mr. Bennet and I am very worried about her. In fact, I could hardly sleep last night, wondering whether she is safe.”
Gardiner took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, “Mrs. Gardiner spoke of Sir Claude Daw, did she not?”
“Yes,” Darcy replied, his body rigid with outrage.
“That my aunt and her idiot of a parson, Mr. Collins, would seek to force Miss Elizabeth into such a marriage is unconscionable. I can promise you this, Mr. Gardiner. I will stop this terrible absurdity. I will not allow my aunt, Mr. Collins, or this vile man to harass Miss Elizabeth. She need not hide any longer, sir. I would be the happiest man in the world if she would agree to be my wife but if she does not -- I assure you that I would not dream of forcing her into any unwanted marriage. But I pledge to protect her against those who would seek to coerce her, regardless of her view of me.”
The man of trade gazed directly into Darcy’s face for a silent minute, and then leaned back with a sigh, “I believe you, Mr. Darcy.”
“You will tell me where she is, then?”
“I will tell you, sir, but it will not bring you great joy. She is no longer in England.”
“What?!”
“She left on a ship for St. Croix, also known as Santa Cruz, an island in the Caribbean Sea, two weeks ago, Mr. Darcy.”
Darcy’s mind and heart were a mixture of incredulity and heartache.
“The Caribbean? I do not understand, Mr. Gardiner. How and why would she travel so far?”
The older man laced his hands together and gazed back at him sorrowfully, “Elizabeth was very close to her father, Mr. Darcy. His death was a horrible shock to the whole family, but especially to Elizabeth. She found him in his library, his life extinguished by heart failure, or at least so we believe. As you know, Mr. Collins evicted the ladies from Longbourn within two weeks of Mr. Bennet’s death, and he added insult to injury by pressuring Elizabeth to marry this Sir Claude Daw.
Mrs. Bennet — well, you have met my sister, I know.
She is not a wise or sensible woman, and this catastrophe overset her almost entirely.
She insisted that Elizabeth marry the foul man and pressured the other girls to berate their sister for her refusal.
Jane, of course, did not, nor did Mary, but Kitty and Lydia are immature and terrified at their sudden poverty.
They too put considerable pressure on Lizzy.
Then the man himself appeared at our home when Elizabeth was here a few weeks ago; as Mrs. Gardiner told you, his attitude toward our niece was alarming and given his arrogance and connections, we were fearful that he might actually waylay Elizabeth and … ”
He trailed off, and Darcy ground his teeth in fury.
“He might attempt to take Miss Elizabeth by force?” he grated out.
“That was our fear,” Gardiner replied softly.
“You know that if such a thing were to happen, the entire family would be ruined. I have a friend who has recently been appointed as rector to a church in Christiansted, the largest town on St. Croix; he is newly married and his wife greatly desired an English companion. Elizabeth leaped at the chance to get away from England, from Sir Claude and from her frantic family. She will miss us and Jane, of course, but given the situation, I agreed it was for the best.”
Darcy wiped his hand across his sweaty brow, “Ocean voyages are dangerous, sir, especially during a time of war.”
“They are,” Gardiner agreed solemnly. “Our options were limited.”
Darcy closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. Elizabeth was gone far away, perhaps beyond reach. She might die at sea, or perish from a tropical disease in the Caribbean Sea. The islands were notorious death traps for Europeans.
And it was truly all his fault. If he had not separated Bingley from Miss Bennet, the Bingley fortune would have been available to support the Bennet ladies when Mr. Bennet died.
If he had not insulted Elizabeth the first day they had met, she might have been less prone to believe Wickham’s lies.
It was all his fault that his love was sailing across the ocean to an unknown and dangerous future.
“Will she return?” he finally managed to croak.
Gardiner bit his lip, his eyes wet. He too worried about Lizzy who was, along with Jane, the favorite of his nieces.
“I do not know, Mr. Darcy. We intend to maintain a correspondence, but it will take many weeks for letters to cross to and from St. Croix.”
Darcy covered his face with his hands. What was he to do?
/
“Yes, Mr. Bingley, I will marry you,” Jane Bennet stated calmly.
Bingley, when he had imagined proposing marriage to the lovely Miss Bennet, had imagined this moment to be the best one of his life.
Instead of ecstatic joy, he felt only deep concern. Miss Bennet was still beautiful, but her face was pale, her eyes shadowed, and there was no life in that lovely visage.
“If you need time to consider more ...” he began uncomfortably.
She shook her head decidedly, “Mr. Bingley, the truth is that I would accept any eligible offer at this juncture. I loved you very much and was heartbroken when you left me without a word of farewell. Since then, my father has died and we have been thrown from our home. I will try to be a good wife, a comfortable wife, but I do not know what I feel right now. If you cannot accept that reality, then I give you permission to withdraw your offer.”
To his credit, Bingley did not hesitate for a moment, “I love you, Miss Bennet. I love you very much. I believe that my love will sustain us until you in turn can find it in your heart to love me. I look forward to making you my wife as soon as I can.”
Jane Bennet stared into his face. For the first time in many weeks, she felt a genuine surge of hope. She smiled.