Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
THE SOLDIER GOES WALKING
The following day being a Sunday, Richard remained in London.
He attended church with Darcy in the morning and then accompanied his cousin on the three-mile ride in a hired carriage to Cheapside to pay a quick call on the Gardiners.
Richard had not known what to expect of Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s aunt and uncle, being from so different a station in life from his own, but he was nothing but charmed.
The couple, although merchants, were everything elegant and sophisticated, and were a credit to their witty niece.
Mrs Gardiner greeted them with all the manners and grace of a high-born lady, and Mr Gardiner proved well-spoken and far more interesting than most of the sons of barons and earls who frequented the clubs.
Richard decided he liked them very much.
Of Lydia herself, he saw nothing, the girl being restricted to her rooms while she considered her actions.
Darcy’s visit was only partly social; he wished to inquire after the wellbeing of Miss Lydia, who had been taken there the day before.
He had met the Gardiners at Pemberley just a short while earlier, and spent a few minutes, quite uncharacteristically for him, chatting about their impressions of Derbyshire and their fine house, before asking about their wayward niece.
Mrs Gardiner tutted as she served them tea and some excellent cakes.
“She is quite unhappy, and rather vocal about her preferences,” she sighed.
“She insists on there being no wrong in what she did, which does not speak well of her father’s prowess as a parent.
I have spoken to her most sternly, but at that age, she has decided she knows everything there is to know.
Nevertheless, she is here and quite delighted at the thought of wedding ‘her dear Wickham,’ so I see no danger of her attempting to leave. ”
Mr Gardiner agreed. He was an intelligent and well-educated man, and Richard could understand why he was successful in his business.
“I sent a message to my brother Bennet yesterday afternoon after Lydia arrived here, with the particulars you set out, Mr Darcy. Had I mentioned that Bennet was here earlier in the week? He left for home shortly before you located my niece. Pity the man did not remain another few hours, else he would have seen his daughter, but perhaps it is better this way. I think our case was best set out on paper, where he could not interrupt and argue. All considerations aside, this seems to be the best possible outcome to a most sticky situation. We cannot thank you enough.”
Darcy was gracious and demurred that it was the very least he could do, and the visit ended soon thereafter.
When they returned to Darcy’s house, the sun was still high in the sky. Richard decided to pay another visit, this time to the Barrows. The colonel welcomed him into the apartment but sat immediately upon seeing to his guest’s comfort. He was not looking well but brushed off Richard’s concerns.
“Just a bit tired, lad. The heat, you know. I ought to be used to it after Bermuda, but here we have no sea breezes to relieve the oppressive temperatures. Pour yourself a drink if you like. Mrs Barrow and Emily are just out for some air; they should return soon. What are you doing in London?”
They chatted for a while until the women returned and spent a pleasant half hour together. It was good to see Emily again, no matter how the encounter left his heart that little bit broken. The afternoon being fine, Richard suggested a short stroll outside before he departed back to Darcy’s house.
“I have already enjoyed my walk,” Mrs Barrow wiped her forehead, “but you two young people enjoy the air.”
Richard offered Emily his arm, and they walked out onto the street.
“What brings you to London?” Emily asked as they approached the square. “I had not expected to see you.”
“It was unexpected.” Richard was unsure how much to divulge of his mission. But Emily was his friend and his most trusted confidante. If he did not relate particulars, he could describe his time here in broad strokes.
“My cousin required my help with a matter of personal import to him. It involved salvaging a young lady’s reputation, and I had some information that allowed him to rescue her from a most troubling situation.”
“He arranged a convenient marriage for her?”
Richard did not hold back his chuckle. Emily was too perceptive for his dissimulation.
“You are too sharp for me! Indeed, that is so! This young lady found herself the willing victim of a rogue. She will end up a married woman, and to the man who is to blame, at that, which pleases her greatly. She is a fool and thinks he returns her affections. I suspect this marriage will not be so welcome to her future husband. Never mind! It is a fitting end for him, and far better than he deserves!”
She snorted. “Is marriage really the worst thing that can happen to a man?” She shot a teasing grin at him, but her tone and words required a serious answer.
“Not at all. Not if the man is fortunate in his wife.” A man would be very fortunate indeed to have Emily as a wife! Richard’s heart beat strongly at the thought of it. “It is only when there is little affection and less respect that it becomes a weight and not a joy.”
Her hand slipped further around his arm as they wandered the paths, and she pulled herself a bit closer to him. “You speak fondly of an institution which you claim to disdain.”
“Oh no! I have nothing against the institution of marriage itself!” he hastened to correct her. “My sentiments were quite personal.” Ought he to speak? He would dip a tentative toe into the waters. “I am, perhaps, starting to reconsider my former sentiments.”
She did not squirm or shift away. But her voice sounded hurt when she replied. “You are considering marriage?” Did she think he meant to marry somebody else? Another Miss Eastway, or a lady to make an alliance with her fortune? He must correct this notion before it took hold.
He stopped his steps and turned to face Emily fully.
The park was busy with people strolling, else he would have taken her hands in his.
“No. Not especially, not at the moment. But the idea of marriage does not distress me as once it did. I have started to understand how, with the right woman at my side, it might be more than favourable.”
She seemed to relax.
“And who might this ‘right woman’ be?” Her voice remained guarded.
Was this an invitation to speak? He would have to be very careful.
“She would have to be someone I cared for deeply, with a great deal of common sense and a ready wit, someone to tolerate my faults. I have no need of riches, as long as we have a wealth of felicity.”
Emily opened her mouth as if to reply, but then closed it again and shifted slightly closer to him as they walked. Perhaps the idea was not so unwelcome to her, either.
The next morning, Richard rode back to the camp.
Over the following days, his duties quickly consumed his time.
Darcy wrote to him frequently, apprising him of any news of Lydia and Wickham.
His cousin had contrived to purchase an ensigncy in the regulars for Wickham in a regiment stationed in the north and had forwarded a list of debts left by Wickham in Meryton, which Bennet was to discharge.
This amount, alarming though it might be, was but a fraction of the total that Richard knew his cousin must have spent on the remainder of Wickham’s obligations.
Darcy was the Bennet family’s invisible saviour, and none would ever know it.
The wedding itself was to proceed as planned, at the very end of the month, thus allowing both bride and groom the time required to wed within the parish.
It was to be a most intimate event, with only the Gardiners and Darcy in attendance; however, if Richard wished to be present, he was most welcome, having been instrumental in discovering the whereabouts of the bride.
This was a good excuse to return to London, and he accepted the invitation.
Lyons, too, wrote his regular reports. Weekes was holding his games each evening and appeared to be well established in the area. From the expressions of the men entering and leaving his room at the back of the tavern, he was earning a good penny. The fairness of his deck and dice were unknown.
The last set of letters which graced Richard’s desk with any frequency were from Emily.
She had little of news to impart, but she wrote of her daily life, her trips to the butcher or the grocer, or (to Richard’s growing consternation) to the apothecary.
Although she did not say this in so many words, she was growing increasingly worried about her father’s health.
Richard’s concern grew likewise. When he was in London for Lydia and Wickham’s wedding, he would definitely call upon the Barrows to ask after the colonel’s health.
Soon enough the end of August was upon them and the day of the wedding was nigh.
Richard took the carriage up to London on a Saturday afternoon, to spend the Lord’s Day with his cousin before the wedding on Monday morning.
He also hoped to spend a good amount of time with the Barrows and Emily, and indeed, the weather boded well for some lengthy walks in some park or another.
And thus it transpired. After church on Sunday morning, Darcy took himself off once more to visit the Gardiners, whilst Richard made for the row of houses where the Barrow family had their apartment.