Chapter Fourteen
Dinner was a pleasant, convivial affair; Elizabeth spied Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam with their heads bent together with Mr Gardiner, having a very earnest conversation.
Mr Darcy caught her watching them, her expression obviously one of avid curiosity, and Elizabeth was pleased when he came over to her afterwards.
“Your uncle is a very useful man to know,” he noted.
“Fitzwilliam has decided - quite generously, in my opinion - that the best place for Wickham is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. He plans to offer Wickham a one-way ticket and a hundred pounds in his pocket, with the threat of arrest for his debts should he ever return to England’s shores.
Mr Gardiner assures us he knows several merchant captains who will gladly ensure Wickham is set ashore in the Americas, and who would give scant heed to any gossip Wickham might attempt to share. ”
Elizabeth nodded in immediate understanding. “That is generous of your cousin,” she said, “but probably for the best, all things considered. Wickham still has the power to do great harm to Georgiana’s reputation, even though Lydia will be safe from him once she is married.”
“You have grasped the dilemma, exactly,” Darcy agreed.
“Personally I would like nothing more than to see Wickham locked in debtor’s prison for the rest of his miserable life, but the risk is too great that he might find the ear of someone who will spread malicious gossip.
America is better than he deserves - and I will pray that he does not find more victims there for his vile schemes. ”
“Yes.” Elizabeth made a face, considering. “Perhaps a word to the wise with the captain of the ship? He might then advise authorities and contacts of his in whatever port they deposit Wickham, that he is not a man to be trusted.”
“A capital suggestion!” Darcy looked at her warmly, and Elizabeth felt a blush coming to her cheeks.
“You can trust my uncle to see him safely dispensed with,” she said quickly, turning away from him to hide her red cheeks.
She would have taken a turn about the room, but there was really not sufficient space to do so, as Jane and Mrs Bennet were sitting at the table and there was no space to pass between them and the wall.
“When will you return to Hertfordshire?” Darcy asked, and Elizabeth seized on the change of topic with relief.
“I do not know. We must go to church in the morning, of course, to hear the first banns called here, even though they are also being called in Meryton as that is where Lydia will be married.” Ugh, the very thought of it all was giving her a headache.
“I suppose Mama will want to visit the shops at least, and make some purchases for Lydia’s trousseau.
Or perhaps stop in London on our way back and visit the warehouses. ”
“I will remain here with my cousin until my aunt and uncle arrive, and of course until he is granted leave. He thinks he may be awarded a month, at best. Then we must wait for word that Bingley has reopened Netherfield and is ready to receive us.”
“Oh.” She turned back to him. “When do you think that will be?”
“Sooner than you might think. I left a note with your redoubtable aunt, to dispatch from Longbourn, suggesting that he might receive a very warm reception were he to make his way to Netherfield at his earliest convenience.”
Elizabeth stared. “But... at that point, you had no notion whether we might be able to extricate Lydia from scandal!”
“Actually, I was reasonably confident we would be able to do so,” Darcy disagreed.
“And now I am entirely certain... which is why, before I came in to dinner, I dispatched an express asking Bingley to make for Netherfield with all haste, and to escort Georgiana with him, to attend Fitzwilliam’s wedding. ”
Elizabeth was overcome with an extremely inappropriate urge to throw her arms about Mr Darcy and embrace him. She actually swayed towards him, her hands lifting unconsciously, and he caught them in his, squeezing them gently.
“I will remedy my mistake as regards your sister, Miss Elizabeth. I see now how wrong I was to interfere. I am convinced Bingley still has exceptionally strong feelings for her - his reaction to seeing you at Pemberley made that evident - and should your sister find it in her heart to forgive his being persuaded away from Hertfordshire last year, I believe they shall quickly come to an understanding.”
Tears welled in Elizabeth’s eyes at the thought of Jane’s future happiness, and Mr Darcy clearly wildly misinterpreted them, because he looked horrified.
“Oh pray, Miss Elizabeth, do not cry! Your tears in the inn at Lambton destroyed me. I thought to tell you this to alleviate your worry over Miss Lydia!”
“Oh, Mr Darcy, no - these tears are of happiness.” She pressed her lips together, swallowed down her emotion.
Another moment and Jane might notice, and Elizabeth did not want to say anything yet.
Not until Mr Bingley and Jane were truly reunited.
She would not risk raising Jane’s hopes when it was still possible things could go wrong.
“Ahem.” Mr Bennet cleared his throat behind her, and it was only as Elizabeth turned to look at her father and she felt her hands slip from Mr Darcy’s, that she realised he had been holding on to them for quite a few moments. The blush returned, scalding her to her hairline.
“It is very late, Papa,” she gabbled quickly. “What a long day it has been! I shall fetch Jane and go to bed, and see you in the morning for breakfast here before we go to church, I daresay.”
Her father’s bushy eyebrows were raised as high as she had ever seen them, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth, but he said only “Very well, Lizzy. Off with you.”
She could not even look at Mr Darcy. Could not meet his eyes. He had been holding her hands, and she had been so comfortable with it, she had not even noticed.
“What a day it has been!” Jane sighed as she sat behind Elizabeth on the bed, brushing her hair out, and Elizabeth could not help but agree. Even more than Jane knew.
“Mr Darcy has asked Mr Bingley to come to Netherfield and open it up, so that he and Colonel Fitzwilliam may stay at Netherfield and Lydia can be married from Longbourn,” Elizabeth said, and Jane paused her brushing mid-stroke.
“Do you really think he will come back, Lizzy?”
Elizabeth could hear the hope in her sister’s voice. Turning around, she enfolded Jane in a hug and kissed her blushing cheek.
“Yes. I absolutely believe it, dearest, and I am equally certain that he is still as much in love with you as he ever was, and will be at your feet as soon as he sets eyes on you once more. What shall you say to him, do you think?”
“Oh, I cannot begin to imagine!” Jane cried.
“All the more reason to consider it now, so that you shall be prepared once you are face to face once more,” Elizabeth declared. “Come, we shall play it out as we lie down!”
Smiling, Jane acquiesced and blew out the candle before they both crawled beneath the covers.
“Dearest, loveliest Jane,” Elizabeth said, trying to make her voice deep and yet enthused, as Bingley always seemed to be.
Jane dissolved into giggles immediately, and Elizabeth hit her with a pillow, laughing herself.
“Stop it, you must not laugh in Bingley’s face or he might go away again!”
“I can’t help it, you sounded as though you’d swallowed a frog!” Jane gasped out between chortles.
“I do not!” Elizabeth hit her with the pillow again, and Jane retaliated, until both of them were breathless from laughter and collapsed against the mattress.
It had been the release of tension she needed, Elizabeth thought, still wakeful as Jane’s breathing quickly slowed to the soft rhythm of sleep.
What a strange, exhausting and stressful few days it had been!
To find Lydia not only safe, but grown suddenly into maturity and common sense was as much a shock as finding her engaged to Colonel Fitzwilliam, of all people.
And then there was Mr Darcy.
In the quiet stillness, Elizabeth lay staring at the ceiling, but what she saw was that look in Mr Darcy’s eyes when he was talking to her and holding her hands earlier.
A look he had bent on her no small number of times ever since she had encountered him once again at Pemberley.
She could no longer fool herself; he held her in as high regard as ever he had, despite the awful way she had treated him at Hunsford.
What Elizabeth was still not entirely certain of was her own feelings.
She had, of course, been rethinking her every interaction with Mr Darcy ever since she learned of the truth of his association with Mr Wickham.
And she was honest enough to admit to herself that seeing the magnificence of Pemberley had made her reassess him again; she was not insensible to the honour a man of Mr Darcy’s consequence in the world did her with his attentions.
It was not until his actions after she received Jane’s letters, though, that she began to see the true measure of the man.
His determination to see Wickham dealt with and Lydia rescued, not to mention his obvious care for Elizabeth in her distress, had a most profound effect on Elizabeth, and lying there in the dark she finally admitted to herself that she was coming to care for Mr Darcy very strongly indeed.
Perhaps even to love him.
The following morning saw them all in church, occupying several pews, listening respectfully to the sermon as they waited for the banns to be called.
Lady Catherine joined them, sitting in regal state beside her friend Lady Carshalton, who turned out to be unexpectedly kind and sweet, pinching Lydia’s cheek and pronouncing her to be a pretty, lively girl and just the ticket to make Fitzwilliam happy.