Chapter 14 An Ever-Fixed Mark #2
“I need to talk to my steward before I leave for Matlock. If all goes according to plan, I shall travel directly to London after the business at Matlock is finished. I have matters to discuss with my attorney, and it is unlikely I shall return in the immediate future.”
Darcy strode to the door only to linger on the threshold for an eternity, and he did not turn when he addressed her. He could not bear to look into her eyes now that he had become aware of the full extent of his failings.
“You were never destitute, Elizabeth. The twenty thousand pounds I settled upon you is yours. You have a bank account at Child the tub that had been brought up to the nursery was a small wooden one, made to fit a child.
A maid entered and washed her hair but left her in peace once the task was completed. Her thoughts drifted to Mr Darcy’s departure. It was obvious he was going away for some duration. Perhaps he anticipated a long trial in court?
A heart is such a fragile thing, breaking too easily—impossible to mend once broken.
She would find contentment like that she had experienced growing up at Longbourn.
Two and a half years of struggle had ended; there was truly nothing to be concerned about.
She had a fortune to see her safely settled in a decent house should the need arise.
Yet, she felt as poor as she had been when she was living in a cottage with only seventy pounds per annum…
By the time Elizabeth had dried her hair and dressed, the colonel, Georgiana, and Mr Darcy had left Pemberley.
Jane and Charles waited anxiously for her in the blue parlour whilst Ellie and Charlie were playing in the nursery.
After Elizabeth had related the horrors of their abduction and revealed the real culprit to the Bingleys, a week passed with no word from Mr Darcy. The second week also came and went before a carriage was spotted approaching the house.
Elizabeth hoped Mr Darcy had concluded his business sooner than he had expected; the coach carried the Darcy crest.
Elated, Elizabeth hastened out onto the portico to greet her husband. The vehicle came to a halt, and a footman opened the carriage door.
A tall, distinguished gentleman alighted, but he was a stranger and not her husband. Eagerly she waited for another face to appear, but to her disappointment the footman closed the door and sent the equipage to the stables.
The gentleman approached her with a superior mien.
“Mrs Darcy, I presume?”
“Yes, I am she,” Elizabeth replied, curtseying.
“I am Mr Knightley, the attorney who handles your husband’s legal affairs. I have brought papers for you to sign.”
“Mr Knightley, would you like to refresh yourself before we proceed? Mrs Reynolds will see you to a chamber where you can rest after your journey.”
The attorney looked relieved. It must have been a taxing, hot journey at the height of summer.
“Thank you, Mrs Darcy. That would be much appreciated.”
Elizabeth turned to Mrs Reynolds with a questioning look. The housekeeper answered with a barely perceptible affirmative nod.
“Mr Knightley, follow me,” Mrs Reynolds offered.
The duo left Elizabeth, who rubbed her arms despite the balmy August air. She was disappointed and apprehensive and knew exactly why.
Mr and Mrs Bingley looked surprised when she entered the parlour alone. They too must have espied the Darcy carriage coming down the drive.
“Is Mr Darcy not with you?” Mr Bingley questioned.
“No, it was not him but his attorney, a Mr Knightley, who has arrived. Mr Darcy must have lent him his carriage. He has brought papers I need to sign. Do you think he wants to bring me a suit of divortium a mensa et thoro[1]?” Elizabeth whispered to her sister.
Jane gasped and looked towards Mr Bingley for support. He met his wife’s gaze but did not speak. The question demanded more thought than a hasty reply.
Mr Bingley tarried too long, and Elizabeth rose to pace in front of the windows. Her unease was too great to sit in idle thought.
“Do you want a separation, Lizzy?” Jane enquired.
Elizabeth’s hands flew to her chest. Two weeks earlier, the answer would have been a resounding yes.
For better or for worse. Mr Darcy’s worst was harrowing, but she had pledged herself to him before God with her family as witnesses, and now he had begged her for an opportunity to mend the breach. Could she deny him?
“I hardly know,” she admitted.
“I doubt Mr Darcy has had the time to bring the colonel to trial for a criminal conversation,” Mr Bingley mused aloud.
“It is a long process that requires evidence and witness statements. The punishment is a hefty fine, but I do not believe Mr Darcy would settle for a simple loss of fortune. The scandal alone would be enough to deter him. Nor do I believe he would file for a divorce, which would render you both social outcasts, and neither of you would be able to remarry. Mr Darcy would no longer be responsible for you financially, but it would be small recompense for the colonel’s transgressions.
No, I am quite certain it is not divortium a mensa et thoro Mr Knightley has brought with him for you to sign. Perhaps it is a witness statement.”
Elizabeth hoped the attorney would soon complete refreshing himself and come down to finish his business. The uncertainty was most unnerving.
“How is it that you know so much about the law, Charles?” Elizabeth wondered.
“I studied the law at an attorney’s office for a year. A particularly interesting suit from 1801 interested me because it was the first divorce that was ever granted to a lady.”
“How intriguing,” Elizabeth replied.
They continued discussing women’s rights whilst awaiting Mr Knightley’s presence, but he did not leave his room until dinner, then excused himself as soon as the meal ended.
He explained he had developed a headache in the heated carriage and wished to retire, so the conversation had to be postponed until the next day.
Afforded plenty of time to ruminate on the subject, Elizabeth pondered long into the night.
The mistress’s chamber, where she had remained since the ordeal, offered a window seat overlooking a secluded part of the garden and the forest beyond.
The woods seemed so different in the summer, bathed in the silver light of the moon.
It looked nothing like the gloomy, snow-covered wilderness she had once trodden.
What would she do if the papers were a request for a permanent separation from her husband?
Her financial situation was no longer a concern after Mr Darcy had explained the conditions in the marriage settlement.
It was a conundrum why her father had not mentioned the provisions.
He must have known if he had read the contract.
Either Mr Bennet had known and not bothered to inform her, or most likely, he had not read the document in its entirety, like most of the correspondence that ended up in the unread pile on his desk.
It was extraordinary for a man so fond of reading that letters were of no interest to him whatsoever.
What her own sentiments were was even more obscured and muddled. Mr Darcy had treated her abominably, sending her out into the cold winter night to fend for herself. He had had provocation, but still…
What if she had been the one who had discovered Mr Darcy in an amorous embrace with another lady?
It was surprisingly easy to imagine as echoes of the past, undermined by time but not entirely forgotten, reappeared in her mind.
Like Miss Bingley’s cloying manners at Netherfield.
The lady had set her cap at Mr Darcy, who had thwarted her efforts by marrying Elizabeth, but he had not behaved dismissively towards her advances.
He always met her overtures with civility, neither encouraging nor discouraging.
Elizabeth let her mind conjure up a tableau of Miss Bingley leaning into Mr Darcy’s embrace, enjoying the frissons created by his feather-light kisses and caresses.
Elizabeth’s blood boiled in her veins, and she jolted out of her seat to pace the room.
The image seemed so real, more like a memory than conjecture.
Elizabeth acknowledged that the anger she would have felt if it had been a reality would surpass any rage she had previously experienced.
Yet, it may very well happen. It was not so uncommon for spouses to engage in liaisons in superior society.
If anything, it was more common than not, judging by the rumours and gossip related in the newspapers.
Mr Darcy may not ever be free to remarry, but nothing prohibited him from taking lovers.
Elizabeth needed to redirect her thoughts. The path they were treading did not lead anywhere productive.
The decisive point was, did she want to be separated from her husband, or was there hope for a reconciliation?
Searching the depths of her soul, the answer was not what she expected, but love was a rebellious sentiment, devoid of reason.
#
Mr Darcy’s study, the next morning
Elizabeth seated herself behind Mr Darcy’s desk. Opposite her, Mr Knightley laid down a thick document and pushed it towards her.
“I strongly advised Mr Darcy against taking this legal action, but he could not be deterred.”