Chapter 11
A few nights later, Elizabeth attended another ball. In an attempt to squelch rumors which might be circulating about her and Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth tried to give each gentleman she danced with more of her attention and more of her smiles.
She was fairly certain it worked, at least on the gentlemen. Before the end of the evening, she had received two invitations for drives in the park and one request to call on her.
Of course, she declined them all. In doing so, she wondered if she might not have gone too far in her pretense of friendliness.
Her thoughts were borne out when, as they were driving home, Lady Priscilla said, “I think I understand what you were attempting, Lady Elizabeth, but you need not flirt with every gentleman in London in order to throw suspicion away from your attachment to Mr. Darcy. Though I don’t think any real harm was done from this one evening, I would not wish you to gain a reputation as a shameless flirt. ”
There was so much in those two sentences, that Elizabeth took several minutes to understand it all. One thing was clear, however. Lady Priscilla knew how much Mr. Darcy meant to Elizabeth and how happy he always made her.
Elizabeth also understood that her behavior that evening might not have been the best. She recalled how she had cringed when her younger foster sisters, Lydia and Kitty, had giggled, smiled, and made eyes at any gentleman who would speak with them.
She did not wish to give off that kind of impression.
“Thank you for the warning,” said Elizabeth. “I will keep it in mind for the future.”
As they continued their journey, Elizabeth half expected Lady Priscilla to ask her about Mr. Darcy, but she did not.
Somehow, Elizabeth was disappointed. She supposed she wished to be able to talk to someone about her feelings, but Lady Priscilla was likely not the best person for such a conversation, beholden as she was to the duke.
When Elizabeth entered the house along with her companion, she noticed that there was light coming from the drawing room. That was odd. Usually, when her father came home in the evening, he went straight up to his room.
She turned to Lady Priscilla and said, “I will just pop in and say good night to Father. You can go on upstairs.”
“Yes, my Lady,” she said. “Good night.”
While Lady Priscilla made her way up the stairs, Elizabeth went over to the drawing room. As she looked into the room, her greeting died on her lips.
There was a card table set up in the middle of the room with four men sitting around it. The smell of cigar smoke and brandy permeated the air. This was shocking in itself, since her father had never done such a thing when she was around.
What was even more shocking, however, was that there were two women there.
Both of them were wearing what could only loosely be called gowns, since they didn’t even extend down to their knees and only barely covered their torsos.
One of them was sitting on the lap of one of the men, and the other was sitting on the Duke’s lap.
She watched in a stunned stupor as her father kissed the neck of the woman on his lap then turned back to his cards as if he had just taken a moment to eat a bite of food.
Since none of them had seen her yet, she turned, attempting to leave without attracting attention, but the sudden movement gave her away.
“Elizabeth!”
It was her father’s voice, and it stopped her in her tracks.
“What are you doing home so early?” he said. She could hear him approaching where she stood.
“I am not early, Father,” she said as she turned around to face him. “I stayed to the end of the ball, and I came home at a perfectly normal pace. It is almost four in the morning.”
Elizabeth wished she hadn’t turned around. She could now see the other three men and two women staring at them.
Her father must have sensed their stares as well, for he said, “Let’s speak in the hall.”
Without a word, Elizabeth turned and headed back in the direction she had come from. There were a couple of candles still lit in the hall. They were there so she would not have to come home to a dark house, and they had not yet been put out.
When they were far enough away from the drawing room door that they would not be heard, the duke said, “I apologize for not keeping better track of the time. My friends were supposed to be gone by the time you came home.”
“Your friends?” she asked, raising one eyebrow. “Are the ladies your friends as well?”
His face grew stern, almost angry. “I will not discuss them with my own daughter,” he said.
Elizabeth crossed her arms and glared at her father.
The subtle anger she had felt from his attempts to warn her away from Mr. Darcy combined with the anger at her embarrassment upon seeing such a sight in her own home.
She was further upset by the fact that he wouldn’t even be honest with her when he was far more open about his activities with her brother who was five years her junior.
Even though she said nothing, she knew her growing fury showed on her face.
His stern expression turned angry to match Elizabeth’s. “You have no idea what I have given up to have you returned to me,” he said. “When my wife was alive, she was glad that I had a mistress, so she didn’t need to be bothered with me. I could do what I wanted when I wanted.
“Now, I am saddled with a na?ve young woman. I can’t talk the way I want to talk.
I can’t have my friends in my home when I want to.
I cannot even relax in my own house. What’s worse is that you don’t even seem to have any desire to get married.
You haven’t given any encouragement to any of your gentlemen callers.
Word among society is that you are friendly enough, but everyone is certain you will never marry.
That just means that I will be stuck with you far longer than I anticipated.
“I thought that if I brought you to London and introduced you to society with a hefty dowry that you would be snapped up in a trice. You aren’t bad looking, you know.
” The duke shook his head. “I never dreamed, last autumn when I fetched you from Longbourn, that you would turn out to be such a millstone around my neck, hampering my every wish.”
Elizabeth felt as though she had been stabbed in the gut, and with every additional sentence he twisted the knife even further.
When he was done spilling out all his vitriol upon her, they simply stared at each other. Elizabeth smelled the strong scent of alcohol on him, and for a moment she attempted to excuse his behavior as being induced by over-imbibing.
In the next moment, she dismissed the thought. These were his real feelings. She was certain of it.
“In that case, perhaps you should do as you suggested when you first took me away from my home,” she said, deliberately referring to Longbourn as home simply to irritate him.
“Set me up in my own establishment. That way I will be out of your hair. In fact, send me far away so we don’t even have to see each other at the occasional dinner party. ”
He looked as though she had struck him. “Elizabeth, I didn’t mean to be so harsh. I have always loved having a daughter. There is no need for you to go so far. If you wish, I can set you up in a house here in London.”
The fact that he said that he had always loved having a daughter instead of saying that he had always loved her, set her ideas about her father in stone. She was almost nothing to him, just a pawn or a pet.
“Send me to Bath, Father,” she said.
She didn’t know why she said that, but the moment it was out, she could not regret it. There would be plenty of society and plenty of enjoyment in a city like Bath, and it had the advantage of being far away from London. And from Essex.
The duke no longer looked stern or angry. Rather, he looked defeated. But Elizabeth would not be swayed. He was only sorry that his little pet daughter would be out of his reach unless he took the time to visit her.
“Are you certain that is what you wish?” he asked. “You are not just speaking in anger or shock?”
His question halted her racing mind. Did she truly wish to go to a strange city and start all over again. She had done so twice in the last six months, once in Essex and once in London. Did she want to do it all again?
As she thought back over her experiences, she realized that she had been hampered both times by her father only allowing her to meet the best and the highest people possible. If she had to start all over again, it would be nice to be able to do it in her own way.
She squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. “I am certain,” she said. “I think it is best, not just for me, but for you as well. This way, you can be free to live your life in the way that will make you happiest.”
The duke hung his head even further. “I am sorry I am not the father you deserve,” he said.
Elizabeth felt tears sting her eyes. He was truly sorry that it had come to this. Even so, no matter how sorry he was now, she was certain it would all happen again if she stayed.
“When would you like to go?” he asked.
“As soon as possible,” she replied.
“Very well. I will make arrangements. If you want to leave quickly, I believe all can be made ready by tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Father,” she said. “If I am to leave tomorrow, I will need to get some rest, so that I can have enough energy to make my own arrangements later today. Good night.”
“Good night, Little Elizabeth,” he said.
As she heard the name he used to use when she was just four years old, she was momentarily tempted to turn around and apologize. Instead, she steeled her spine and headed up the stairs.
~~~~~
By dinnertime that evening, all the arrangements had been made, at least all the arrangements that could be made from London. The duke planned to accompany her to help her find suitable lodgings and to get the household in order.
Their plans were changed when an express was delivered as they ate.