Chapter 9
The visit to the Gardiners affected Darcy more than he expected, and it did not help that Georgiana seemed determined to relive every moment of it over dinner, prattling cheerfully about how sweet the Gardiner children were, and how happy Margaret had been when she saw the rocking horse, and, to his dismay, how well Miss Bennet looked.
Georgiana was not normally so enthusiastic.
He had, in fact, never seen her quite so inclined to chatter as tonight.
He would have liked to change the subject, but he did not want to dampen her enthusiasm.
Besides, he was interested in seeing the situation from her point of view.
The whole thing had been unsettling, though he could not quite put his finger on the reason.
Perhaps Georgiana might help him shed light on the matter.
Then, just when it seemed his sister had run out of anything more to say, the dessert was brought in, with a concoction of pastries made out of strawberries, and Moreau appeared.
“I hope your friends enjoyed the ices I prepared, Mr. Darcy.” said the chef. “And Miss Darcy.”
Darcy could see he was curious to discover the reason for such an unprecedented request. He had paid the footmen handsomely to keep his destination that afternoon a secret, but still, he worried about gossip below stairs.
“Very much so,” said Darcy. “It was an unexpected surprise, and they were very happy with it.”
“Good,” said Moreau. “I hope you do not mind. I have taken the liberty to produce a number of items with strawberries, since you expressed interest, sir. Perhaps you would like to send some to your friends?”
Darcy had to put an end to this. “Thank you, Moreau, but there is no need to do so. It was the ices I was interested in. However, I appreciate the thought.”
Moreau looked disappointed. “Of course, sir. I hope you enjoy them yourselves.”
After he left the room, Darcy exchanged looks with Georgiana. “Well, Georgie, I hope you still have an appetite,” he said, indicating the range of deserts on display. “I fear we have a daunting task before us. We cannot offend Moreau, or he will not make any of our favorite pastries for a year.”
Georgiana laughed. “I will do my best, brother, but perhaps you should give some away.”
“Not to the Gardiners,” said Darcy, turning serious. “It is better not to arouse too much curiosity in that direction. However, our cousin Richard is very fond of strawberries. I will send some over to him at the barracks.”
“Did I hear my name mentioned?” said the colonel, appearing in the doorway.
“Cousin Richard!” exclaimed Georgiana. “You must join us. Our chef has produced several delicious items containing strawberries, but there are too many, and, as you know, strawberries do not keep very long.”
“Strawberries? In winter? Why on earth would he do that?”
“Well—” said Georgiana, about to explain about the ices.
Darcy interrupted. “It is a long story, and quite boring,” said Darcy. “But tell me, what brings you here? I would have thought you would be on your way to the club at this time of the evening.”
“I am avoiding the club,” said the colonel, helping himself cheerfully to a plateful of confectionaries.
“Which is precisely why I am here. Firstly, to enquire about your health, since you were unable to see me when I last called, and secondly, to hear the gossip firsthand. What is this I hear about you rescuing a young lady from the Serpentine? There are already bets being entered at the club about how soon you will marry her.”
Suddenly, Darcy could no longer breathe. He felt as if he had received a blow to the stomach.
“So, who is this young lady and how did you rescue her? They are calling her the Siren of the Serpentine. It has a fine ring to it, does it not? I want to know every single detail.”
Even his cousin, his closest confidante, was itching to hear the gossip. Darcy ground his teeth.
“You of all people should know better than to gossip about me.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam shrugged. “People are talking, Darcy. You cannot put a stop to it.”
“Obviously not,” remarked Darcy, irritably, “when my own cousin visits me with the prospect of spreading salacious rumors.”
The colonel was eyeing him strangely. “You seem uncommonly peevish, Darcy.”
“I would like to see how you would feel if, after rescuing a drowning girl, you are taken to bed with a fever, and then you are told you are the object of gossip.” He felt hemmed in, about to explode at being placed in this position. “I was trying to be noble and rescue a child.”
“Calm down, Darcy. You need not work yourself up into a state. Just tell me what happened and let me judge if there is some way we can mend this.”
Somewhat mollified, Darcy launched into his story, emphasizing several times the presence of Georgiana and Margaret in the carriage. He then went on to explain his mistaken assumption about Miss Bennet’s relationship to the child.
When he finished, the colonel leaned back and regarded him.
“Well, thank heavens you did not suffer any other consequence, other than your brief illness. I knew a man who became unconscious after falling into a cold mountain stream and never recovered. Falling into cold water can be deadly.” He considered the situation, his fingers drumming against the table.
“You did the only thing you could have done, Darcy. You had to bring them here. You would not have liked to be responsible for their deaths, especially after going to the trouble of rescuing them.”
It was true. Darcy could not have lived with it. “Well, then, there is nothing further to be said. I did what I needed to do.”
“You did.”
It did not change the fact that Miss Bennet’s reputation would soon be in shreds.
He might have gotten away with riding with Miss Bennet in the carriage.
It was a risk he had to take, as Miss Bennet had pointed out at the time.
But it had been a terrible mistake to bring Miss Bennet to his house.
He should have provided blankets and sent them on their way.
He had only compromised her further by bringing her into a bachelor’s establishment.
His only excuse was that shock of the cold water and the rescue had affected his clarity.
Looking back, he had guessed something like this would happen, which was why he had decided to stay behind in the park.
He had seen the look in the eyes of the young men who had watched them, their gazes blazing with the desire to spread a juicy piece of gossip.
No doubt one of them, if not all, had followed him on horseback.
Silence fell across the room. One of the logs in the fireplace fell with a thud and a scattering of red sparks. Darcy twisted his glass in his hand. The glass felt cold and hard against his fingers as a numb sense of inevitability crept through him.
A sick certainty settled like a lead ball in his stomach. He knew what he ought to do. Or, rather, he knew what he had to do.
“Is my life to be sacrificed on the altar for trying to prevent a death?” he cried, his every instinct railing against being tied down for such a foolish reason.
Georgiana gasped, and Richard scraped his chair back.
“Absolutely not!” said the colonel. “Do not get it into your head that you must marry that young lady.” He looked horrified.
“You know nothing about her, nor about her family. They could be vulgar social climbers of the worst type. You cannot throw away your future for a stranger. You saved her cousin’s life and possibly hers as well.
You do not have any further obligation towards her. You have gone far beyond duty already.”
“It is the only honorable thing to do,” said Darcy, his voice dull.
Richard let out a frustrated breath. “You cannot compound one error with another. You need time to consider the possibilities. You must not act hastily. You have not recovered from your illness yet. You are not thinking clearly.”
“On the contrary,” said Darcy. “The situation could not be clearer.”
“I have seen cases like this, where exposure to cold creates mental confusion. Maybe you should see a physician before you reach any decisions.”
“If my mind has been affected, which it has not, what good will a physician do? The damage is already done.”
“Darcy, you are taking the idea of gentlemanly behavior too far. You cannot marry a young lady whose uncle lives on Gracechurch Street!”
“Her father is in possession of an estate in Hertfordshire. He is a gentleman.”
“Think about it!” the colonel insisted, his voice urgent. “What would your mother say? What would your father? They will be turning in their graves. You cannot drag the family name through the mud based through some misplaced notion of chivalry.”
Richard came to his feet and did a quick turn around the room.
“I wish I had never told you about the bets at the club. I would not have done so if I thought you would contemplate something so utterly foolhardy.”
“Did you think I would stand by and do nothing when a young lady is being insulted?”
“Do not be ridiculous, Darcy. You have done more than enough for this merchant family. It is all very well to charge forward when a child’s life is at stake, but believing yourself in any way responsible for this young lady’s reputation is quite different.
I suppose it is admirable, in a strange, twisted way, but your duty is to your family and Pemberley, not to Miss Nobody of Cheapside, who has nothing at all to recommend her.
Even if her father is a gentleman and owns an estate. ”
Darcy grew irate at the colonel’s easy dismissal of Miss Bennet. “You cannot pass judgement on her because of her uncle’s address, Fitzwilliam,” he said, tight lipped, addressing his cousin more formally. “You do not know her.”