Chapter Thirty-Two
Meryton,
Hertfordshire
Lizzy,
Your mother is being difficult about writing to you, but you should be aware that your father is ill.
He was caught in the rain a fortnight ago while riding home from St Albans, and took a fever, and then pneumonia.
His recovery is uncertain, and while I understand if you and your sisters do not wish to return to Meryton after the way Bennet and my sister behaved over the dowries, I cannot blame you, but you should still know.
Jane and Bingley returned from Scarborough in August, but a week ago when your father worsened, they quit Netherfield and departed Meryton without warning, and without taking leave of the neighbourhood.
I received a rather over-formal letter today from Bingley in Bath, saying that his wife’s delicate condition does not permit her to withstand her mother’s nerves at such a time.
Bingley says that they will remain in Bath for Mrs Bingley’s health, and he has completely given up the lease at Netherfield.
Apparently the Bingleys have no intention of returning to Meryton.
If your family wishes to travel south, I can make Netherfield available for you at Mr Darcy’s convenience.
I have also sent letters to Mary and Kitty.
I understand that Lydia is with you already.
I do not know how well your mother will receive any of you, but you ought to know that your father is ill, and may not recover.
Yrs,
Arthur Phillips, Esq.
Thursday 15 October 1812
Hawthorne Vale,
Kympton
Darcy,
I fear we must decline to join you on your trip south.
We have not announced anything yet, but Kitty is in a delicate condition, and she does not feel capable of travelling so far.
She claims that she said everything that was in her heart to her father before he left Derbyshire and has no desire to visit her mother.
I fear that with the cold, wet weather, the harvest is not yet concluded at Hawthorne Vale. I know yours at Pemberley is similar, but your steward is capable. I think that I ought to stay to oversee the end of the harvest here, and Kitty agrees.
We look forward to hearing word that you and the Collinses arrived in Hertfordshire safely, and that Mr Bennet is on the mend.
Denny
Thursday 15 October 1812
Pemberley,
Derbyshire
Mr Phillips,
We will have to spend Sunday at an inn, but we will arrive Monday evening.
I will take the lease on Netherfield Park.
Please ask the housekeeper to prepare it.
I know it is also available for purchase.
Please send the details to my solicitor in London.
We will negotiate a price when I arrive, for it will please Elizabeth to own it.
Elizabeth does not delude herself that either she or Mrs Collins will be welcomed at Longbourn by their parents, but should Mr Bennet die, the ladies would like to be close by, in case he asks for one of them.
Elizabeth also says that Mrs Bingley has obviously fled Meryton in an effort not to be responsible for her mother, so you should be aware that my wife and I will offer her a home in the dower house at Netherfield when it is needed.
Mrs Bennet’s behaviour does not merit such attention, yet we will offer it anyway, for it is the right thing to do.
Darcy
Netherfield was quiet in a way Elizabeth had never known it to be. There were servants, tenants from the farms that she knew well, but they were all withdrawn in an odd manner when the Darcys and the Collinses arrived in Meryton.
“‘Tis not a wonder, the way Mr Bingley dismissed everyone when they went, Mrs Darcy,” Mrs Nichols confided.
“Turned everyone out without notice, without even a severance. Might have expected it from his sisters, but never him or Mrs Bingley. Why, it turned my blood cold to see how fast he and Mrs Bingley closed the house and disappeared the moment it was known that Mr Bennet might not recover. I was that relieved when we heard from Mr Phillips that you would take the house. I knew you would take them all back, and so I sent for them, but they are still sobered by the experience.”
“You did just right, Mrs Nichols, but then you have known me all my life,” Elizabeth reassured the housekeeper. “You have my thanks for managing it until I arrived. Mr Darcy and I will add something to their wage packets to compensate them for their troubles.”
“I thought I knew Mrs Bingley all her life too.” Mrs Nichols curtsied and left Elizabeth in her bedchamber.
A knock came from another door, and Darcy entered from their shared parlour. “Will Netherfield suit you?”
“It suits me very well, you are too generous to make such a purchase.” Elizabeth blushed. Then her mouth turned down at the corners. “I fear Mama will make it look bad in front of the neighbours, us coming without being summoned. I fear she will paint Mary and William out to be mercenary.”
“This neighbourhood is your home as much as it is that of your parents,” Darcy chided. “You were born and raised here, just as they were. Your friends are among the inhabitants of this village. Now you will own property in the area. You can come all you like. It is not Mrs Bennet’s affair.”
“And we discussed it all before, knowing that if Papa dies, Mama will become difficult, and if Jane and Mr Bingley have deserted her, who knows how my uncles will manage her?” Elizabeth fretted.
“Of course there was nothing else we could do but come with all haste. In case we are needed. Mama’s favourite daughter and son-in-law have abandoned her.
It does not surprise me. Jane threatened it before.
But now Mama must make do with us, for we are the ones who are here. ”
“How is Lydia?” Darcy and the rest of the household had finally begun to refer to Elizabeth’s youngest sister informally, for she could not bear to be called by her late husband’s name constantly at home.
“Relieved that she is completely safe from his ever returning to claim her, guilty and grieving over her child, still,” Elizabeth murmured as she took a seat by the fireplace and Darcy sat close beside her.
“She is nervous to be home. Our old friends will visit and expect the old Lydia, and she knows how changed she is. She is not equal to pretending for them. It was hard enough for her to do it by letter to Kitty and Mama before we took her from Newcastle.”
“At least she is physically recovered.” Darcy took Elizabeth’s hand in his. “If we had brought her home two months ago, they would never have recognised her.”
Lydia was drastically altered when they found her, and the loss of her child had only deepened the shadows under her eyes.
But Elizabeth would not allow her sister to waste away.
She pestered Lydia daily to eat well, sit in the sun, and take exercise as often as possible with her or Georgiana.
Lydia was still painfully thin, but that could be easily attributed to her recent losses.
Thankfully, her face had regained a bit of its fullness, and her colour was much improved, even if the poor girl looked morbidly depressing in black.
“You worry too much,” Darcy said in a low voice. “Tomorrow is soon enough to worry over your mother and your sister. Tonight, let us take a tray in our room. Let everyone take trays in their rooms. We have had a long journey. We will call upon Longbourn tomorrow morning.”
Mrs Bennet was seated in the drawing room the next morning when they were announced by Mrs Hill. Elizabeth’s mother did not rise as they entered. Her expression was a mixture of fear and resentment.
Elizabeth and her sisters curtsied to their mother as their husbands bowed.
“Mama,” Elizabeth greeted her as she rose, but her mother’s gaze did not soften.
“Well,” Mrs Bennet spoke at last, her gaze sweeping over them with displeasure. “I see you have come, despite my not having sent for you. That is typical of you, Lizzy, always deciding for yourself. Always pushing in.”
Elizabeth was calm. “We thought it would be best for your daughters to be nearby.”
“Your father is much improved, not that it is your business. It is your fault he fell ill. You refused to return to Longbourn when he asked for your help,” Mrs Bennet snapped. “Now he is overworked.”
“Mama, my father left Derbyshire months ago. Doing so without me has hardly caused him harm,” Elizabeth argued.
“Besides, you always told me that my only priority in life was to be married and to marry well if I could. I became engaged the very same day my father departed, so I believed I was doing your bidding.”
Mrs Bennet’s gaze wandered around the room until it landed upon Lydia. “And you, young miss, you have a great deal to answer for.”
Elizabeth felt both of her sisters stiffen. Indeed, everyone in the room instantly became guarded, for everyone was protective of Lydia.
“To run off the way that you did,” Mrs Bennet scolded. “Then to have the audacity to rid yourself of your husband in less than a year! Do you know how embarrassed I have been? A daughter married and widowed before she has even learnt her duties. Disgraceful, miss!”
“Mama,” Elizabeth warned her mother. “Lieutenant Wickham died of typhus on his way to battle. Lydia is hardly responsible.”
Her mother ignored her. “And now you turn up on my doorstep, no doubt expecting to be kept. Let me be perfectly clear, Mrs Wickham. I have enough burdens without supporting a girl who disobliged her mother by finding a husband and failing to keep him.”
Lydia had not precisely expected to be welcomed by the mother whom Elizabeth informed her had gleefully sent Mary and Kitty away into arranged marriages just on Jane’s demand.
She had, however, once been her mother’s favourite.
As she realised she could not even expect affection from her previously doting parent, her face drained of what little colour she had gained in recent weeks.