Chapter 10 The Wrong End of the Stick
Elizabeth’s gratitude for allowing her relations to visit prompted her to offer Mr Darcy the only service she could extend. Tentatively, she knocked on the door to his study, and a firm voice bade her enter.
Pemberley’s master looked up from his ledger when she approached his desk. He quickly schooled the surprise on his countenance into an emotionless expression. His eyes were so cold that Elizabeth’s courage threatened to falter.
“I have come to enquire whether you wish for me to resume my duties?”
Mr Darcy’s brows shot up towards his hairline, and Elizabeth immediately realised her mistake.
“I still have much to learn, but if Mrs Reynolds would not mind teaching me, I am certain I could be of use,” Elizabeth added helplessly. The interview was not unfolding quite as she had expected.
“No.”
Mr Darcy lowered his head and resumed adding up the numbers in his ledger. He offered no explanation for his harsh rejection, nor did he bother to dismiss her from his study.
Crestfallen, she left him to his tasks while she was not allowed to perform hers.
Perhaps he wanted Mrs Fitzwilliam to run his house, despite the fact that she was a guest. Or was she?
Elizabeth had heard no mention of a departure date, nor had they named any estate as their own.
She could not abide even contemplating the colonel as a permanent resident of Pemberley.
In her mind, there had to be an end to this awkwardness, although it hitherto had yet to be expressed.
#
As soon as the door closed behind his wife, Darcy strode to the window. He had thought Elizabeth was offering herself to him. An abundance of rebukes had immediately risen in his mind, and he had readied himself to teach her a lesson.
Sharing his bed with his wife was in every way repugnant to him. She had let herself be kissed and fondled by his closest relation, obviously enjoying the treatment. The image was forever engraved in his mind.
Annoyed, stunned, horrified.
The aftermath was less distinct; time had blurred his memories of her, apart from the time after their reunion.
Darcy should not have brought her home; he blamed the impulse of that moment on a lapse of sanity.
He could not be responsible for depriving his daughter of growing up with her mother.
Georgiana’s experiences had taught him the importance of maternal affection, and his own feelings must naturally come second to those under his protection.
Darcy tried to revert his thoughts back to the task before him, but heavy footsteps were approaching. The door opened without a knock; it could only be his cousin.
“I am sorry to intrude, but I have disturbing news that cannot wait,” the colonel related from the threshold.
“You should enter and close the door, then.” Darcy sighed and pushed the ledger out of the way.
“I have a friend, a colonel in the regiment stationed in Newcastle. I received a letter from him this morning stating that Wickham has left his post without leave. He had been granted time off but failed to report back for duty a couple of days ago. I am concerned about Georgiana should she accidentally run into him.”
Dread immediately descended as it had every time the scoundrel was mentioned.
“Did the letter give you any clue as to where he has gone?”
“No, his wife is still in Newcastle, allegedly with no idea of her husband’s whereabouts, or so she has declared to Colonel Norton.”
“I shall notify my servants, but there is nothing for him here now that Georgiana has married. He has no grounds for extortion since you already know about Ramsgate. If he has left his post, it is because his creditors are hunting him,” Darcy reasoned with his cousin.
“I hope you are right, but he has always come to you when he has found himself in a tight spot financially.”
Which was true. Darcy still received the occasional letter begging him for funds, but he had begun burning those after he sent Mrs Darcy away.
“Those days are long past, Richard. He pleaded for money after he married Lydia, but it has been a twelvemonth since I last tossed a letter from him into the fire,” Darcy declared firmly. He had left Wickham in no doubt that his coffers were closed to him for all eternity.
The cousins fell into silent contemplation, though on different subjects.
Darcy assumed Wickham was no longer a threat.
It had been a long time since he had kept any surveillance on his old friend, but according to the last report he had received, the man had adapted to his new life in Newcastle.
If he had made a muddle of it, he was on his own this time.
What Darcy wanted to speak to his cousin about, he could not.
He refused to evict his sister from her home, but the toll of keeping up appearances was grating on him.
Adept as he was at concealing his emotions, the act had gone on too long.
The effort was boring a hole in his stomach, but he had set his course, and the past could not be changed.
#
Elizabeth restored her equilibrium with a frolic in the garden with her daughter before dinner. Ellie slept more easily when her energy was spent. Elizabeth preferred her to be asleep before she left her for the dining room.
Why Mr Darcy insisted she had to be present was still a mystery.
Mrs Fitzwilliam occasionally included her in the conversation, but she was more often than not entirely disregarded.
Elizabeth listened and sometimes gleaned useful tidbits, like this evening, when Georgiana said she wished to go shopping in Lambton.
Mr Darcy took umbrage at that but was immediately mollified by the colonel’s insistence he would accompany her.
Georgiana was delighted, while Mr Darcy seemed content with the arrangement.
Elizabeth thought the conversation was somewhat peculiar, but since no one told her anything of import, she indulged herself with the knowledge she could relax her stance against the colonel when he was not present.
A longer ramble into the woods with her daughter was settled upon.
She dared not walk too far from the security of Pemberley’s footmen whilst the officer was in residence.
The next morning, Elizabeth ordered a basket of victuals for their sojourn into the wilds of Derbyshire.
She was not familiar with the area beyond the formal gardens, and she could not expect Ellie to walk far.
The top of the hill behind the house looked like a suitable destination.
They should be safe on the well-trodden paths whilst secluded enough to afford the solitude she craved.
With their sustenance secured, Elizabeth joined her relatives in the breakfast parlour.
Mrs Fitzwilliam invited Elizabeth to accompany her to Lambton, but she declined politely, excusing herself with her daughter’s education.
Mr Darcy took it as a cue to look for a governess.
That had not been Elizabeth’s intention at all; Ellie had not even reached her second birthday, and she could teach her everything she needed to know at this point.
Soon enough the party dissolved without further mention of a governess.
Mr and Mrs Fitzwilliam approached their carriage while Mr Darcy disappeared in the direction of his study.
Elizabeth fetched her daughter from the nursery, giving the nurse two hours off, and collected the basket of food from the kitchen.
Holding hands, mother and daughter were strolling towards the cascading waters when a footman approached them.
Elizabeth groaned; he was probably sent by Mr Darcy to prohibit their excursion to the hill.
“Mrs Darcy!” the footman called breathlessly.
Elizabeth halted in her tracks and reluctantly turned to face her pursuer.
“Mrs Darcy! Where are you going?”
“I am taking my daughter to the top of the hill for a picnic.”
Elizabeth looked defiantly at the footman, who wore an aghast expression.
“Then let me accompany you, ma’am. ’Tis rather a long walk on unfamiliar grounds.”
It did not appear as though the man had been sent by Mr Darcy, or he would surely have ordered them to turn around by now.
“There is no need for that, Jonathan, we are perfectly capable of following the path.”
Elizabeth contemplated for a second revealing how competent she was at managing her affairs on her own, but the servants had enough reasons to disdain her as it was. She silently wondered how his expression would change if she admitted to chopping wood and carrying water.
“I do not think Mr Darcy would approve,” Jonathan persisted.
“I take full responsibility, Jonathan. If Mr Darcy disapproves, I shall explain it was my decision.”
The footman nodded reluctantly and watched as Elizabeth and Ellie continued along the path. Soon, they were concealed by a dense thicket, much to Elizabeth’s relief. It was to be hoped that the servant had returned to the house now that they could no longer be seen.
Ellie was an accomplished walker, like her mother.
She did not walk fast but she had the stamina of youth and enthusiasm for exploring whatever lay round the bend.
Beetles, worms, and a squirrel in a tree kept her so engrossed that she did not notice the length of the journey.
But she was rather worn out by the time they reached the summit; it had been a longer route than Elizabeth had anticipated.