Chapter 32 #2
Mr Gardiner did not, and despite the look of dismay Bingley wore, Darcy was glad.
Once behind closed doors, he retrieved Wickham’s letter from his coat pocket and presented it to Elizabeth’s uncle, whose countenance grew more indignant the farther he progressed down the page.
When he had done, he laid it upon his desk and Elizabeth reached for it, but Bingley was faster.
He carefully folded the letter and handed it directly to Darcy.
Rolling his eyes, Darcy plucked it from Bingley’s hand and surrendered it to Elizabeth, who thanked him and proceeded to devour every word.
As she read, her expression wavered between blatant disbelief and alarm.
“Darcy,” Bingley muttered while Mr Gardiner looked on. “I hardly think allowing a lady to read such an unprincipled missive is appropriate.”
“You are entitled to your opinion, just as you are entitled to either share or conceal whatever information you see fit from your wife. It is no concern of mine, nor will I interfere with your prerogative. However, I expect you to extend the same courtesy to me regarding my own wife. I see nothing wrong with Elizabeth reading the contents of this letter, nor does Mr Gardiner appear to object.”
“Lizzy is hardly your wife at the moment. She is my sister, however, and her father has charged me with her protection.”
Darcy stared blankly at him. “Are you insinuating Elizabeth needs protection from the contents of a letter or from me, Bingley?”
Bingley appeared appalled by his suggestion.
“Of course not,” he cried. “Surely, you cannot think I do not trust you, especially after all we have been through together. I meant only that the contents of Wickham’s letter are most shocking and written in a corruptness of spirit I have rarely witnessed myself.
Elizabeth is an unmarried gentlewoman and as such her sensibilities are hardly suited to such vile, wholly inappropriate topics. ”
Having finished reading the letter, Elizabeth relinquished it to Darcy and fixed her brother-in-law with a look so caustic Bingley took a step in the opposite direction.
“There is nothing the matter with my sensibilities, Mr Bingley, nor my intellect, nor with my being a woman for that matter.” She looked as though she intended to say far more, but her uncle intervened.
“Mr Bingley,” said Mr Gardiner diplomatically, “while I appreciate my niece is currently a guest in your household, she is still my niece and currently visiting in my home. I have known her far longer than you have, sir, and can vouch for her sensibilities, as well as her constitution. In this case, Mr Darcy and I are of one mind. No harm will come of Elizabeth reading the letter. However, a better understanding of her sister’s circumstances and Mr Wickham’s motive and plan will surely be gained. ”
“Yes, well, perhaps you are right, Mr Gardiner. Forgive me, Lizzy. I spoke out of turn.”
Darcy thought that was a bit of an understatement, especially as Bingley had dared to imply Elizabeth was not the strong, determined, intelligent woman she was, but insensible and weak.
She exhaled a measured breath. “All is forgotten, Charles. We are all on edge, I fear. While I am by no means in danger of succumbing to a fit of nerves, I cannot but agree with you on one count—Mr Wickham is the vilest, most unprincipled man I have ever known. His audacity alone is inconceivable! And yet the proof of it is clearly written by his own hand.”
“Yes,” her uncle agreed soberly. “This is quite a serious turn of events. As Mr Wickham claims he has fled the kingdom, the question of what to do about Lydia remains. She cannot be trusted on her own and so must stay here for the time being, preferably under lock and key. In the meantime, I will write to your father, Lizzy. He ought to come to London at once. If he receives my express this afternoon, he may be here by tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
Mr Gardiner reached over to pat her hand.
“There, now. All will be well. We have made it through a similar hardship before and everything worked out in the end. If the good Lord is willing, we will get through this spot of trouble as well.” He turned his attention to Darcy.
“What say you, sir, to this business? Do you believe the scoundrel has truly left England?”
“Knowing Wickham, it is entirely likely, but Colonel Fitzwilliam is looking into the matter as we speak. We suspect he is headed for America. No one will know him there and pursuing him across an entire ocean would be too expensive and pose too much of an inconvenience to us, as well as to his regiment. He believes he will be safe.”
Mr Gardiner frowned as he drummed his fingers upon his desk. “This is a very disagreeable business. Would that it never happened in the first place! I do not know who is more to blame—Lydia or her worthless husband.”
Darcy glared at the carpet. Though both Lydia and Wickham were certainly culpable, he knew the truth—his previous failings had yielded yet another scandalous bout of misfortune for the Bennets.
“You well know the blame falls to me, Mr Gardiner, the same as it did the last time. Had I revealed any of my prior dealings with him to your family when he first appeared in Hertfordshire, Mrs Wickham would still bear the name of Bennet. Now her situation has been made worse.”
“It has been made worse,” said Elizabeth, “by Lydia’s own hand and Mr Wickham’s. Not by yours.”
“Elizabeth, you know as well as I that is not the case.”
“I know of no such thing. Lydia flirted outrageously with half the regiment in Hertfordshire. I can only imagine how she behaved in Brighton, and Mr Wickham, the profligate opportunist that he is, acted accordingly. The fault lies with them, not with you, sir.”
Darcy gave her a meaningful look he felt she could not possibly misinterpret. “Their marriage would never have come about otherwise.”
She answered him with a quiet ferocity he had not expected.
“Your entire life, Fitzwilliam, you have made amends for that man’s treachery, and you have paid dearly for your benevolence in the process.
The guilt you bear for the havoc his moral deficiencies have wreaked upon society is not only misplaced, but insupportable!
I for one am glad to be rid of him. I love my sister dearly, but whatever his abandoning Lydia costs her is entirely inconsequential to me at this point, so long as you shall no longer suffer by his design. ”
She came to him then, and in front of Bingley and her uncle—against all that society considered proper—laid her hand upon his chest, directly over his heart. Her fingers trembled as she pressed them against his coat.
Darcy was troubled to see tears shining in her eyes.
“You are dear to me,” she proclaimed with feeling, “and your heart is filled with such goodness! I cannot tolerate seeing you harmed by Mr Wickham’s disregard any longer.”
He reached for her, but Elizabeth withdrew her hand and quit the room.
Darcy stood in the middle of Mr Gardiner’s study, silent and stoic, struggling to retain his composure.
He did not have to look at Mr Gardiner and Bingley to know they must be staring at him.
Elizabeth’s speech, the fervency behind it, and the fact she had made it in the first place had deeply moved him.
He did not dare glance at Bingley. Darcy needed only to see a flicker of disapproval on his friend’s face to prompt him to say something truly regrettable.
He inhaled a slow, steady breath instead.
Let Bingley enjoy his easy, compliant wife.
I would not trade Elizabeth and her impassioned spirit for all the world!
Behind him, Mr Gardiner cleared his throat. “Go ahead, Mr Darcy,” he said gently. “Our business will keep for the moment.”
Without uttering a word, Darcy went in search of Elizabeth.