Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Darcy quickly caught up with Elizabeth and, finding a spot hidden from view of the house, pulled his wife into his arms while she cried. “I am so sorry, William,” she sobbed.
“Why are you apologising, my love?” he replied softly.
“You have done nothing wrong, and I am deeply impressed by how you handled your father. While I might have been inclined to simply give the funds to him, it is wise of you to require him to sacrifice to repay the money. He may very well do something like this again if there is no pain or effort required of him to correct the situation he has created.”
“You are correct that simply giving him funds will not require him to make any changes in his behaviour,” Elizabeth told him, her voice muffled as she was pressed to his chest. “This way, perhaps we can help my sisters since he will never make the effort to do so. We can invest the money he repays us to serve as dowries for my sisters or use a portion to pay for school or a governess to educate my younger sisters. Surely something can be done to correct their behaviour. Jane and I have tried often enough, but to no avail.”
Darcy nodded his agreement. “What stipulations would you like to include?” he asked as he led her to a bench he saw a little farther from the house.
“He must tell Mama, and they must learn to live on less. He will need to do what he can to increase the estate’s earnings and pay more attention to the running of it,” she grimaced before she stated her next thought.
“Do you … do you think you could give him a few suggestions to improve the estate’s income?
He has largely left things to Mr Todd, his steward, to manage and does little himself, and I am sure many things have been neglected while Jane and I have been away. ”
Once again, he nodded his agreement. “I will ride out on the estate tomorrow morning to see what I might suggest. If we stay a few extra days, I will also look at his books.”
Elizabeth thanked him. “I have made suggestions over the years that he has not implemented. The steward would occasionally do as I suggested, but Papa would never agree if it required any expenditure of funds. And now, there will not be funds available to do so, even if he were to agree.”
When they reached the bench, Darcy sat down and pulled Elizabeth into his lap, comforting her with his embrace.
Elizabeth broke the silence. “We have been here for such a short time, William, and already I am anxious to depart. I am angry at Papa for putting his family—and us—in this position, and you must know he was thinking of this when he agreed to us marrying. He knew he would ask you for this money and fully expected you to give it to him without condition.”
“Hush, love,” he crooned as she tensed in his arms before feeling her tears soak his cravat. He rubbed her back and soothed her by whispering words of love until she calmed. She, at last, took a shuddering breath and sat up, remaining seated where she was.
“I wonder what my Uncle Phillips knows about this,” she wondered. “Should we seek his advice on creating a document that would bind Papa to repay the debt, or is a written contract between you and him enough?”
“A written contract, regardless of who wrote it, will be binding since we both will sign it. I have read enough contracts in my years as master of my estate, and even before, when my father began to fade, to feel we can write a document that reflects our stipulations,” he told her.
She nodded at him. “My Uncle Gardiner cannot be aware of any of this, and my father would not have said anything to Uncle Phillips unless he believed it necessary. Mrs Hill suspects something is wrong—she hinted at something amiss when I spoke to her about our trunks. I suspect he is holding something back in all of this, but what he did tell us is bad enough.” She shuddered as she considered the threats those men had made.
Elizabeth was angry enough with her father to think a brief stint in debtors’ prison would serve him well, but she would protect her sisters from the damage that would do to their reputations and from the men who threatened Jane and might threaten any of them.
“Let us go to our room and write up the conditions. I will hire someone to protect your remaining family from any additional threats from these gentlemen and arrange for the money to be paid directly to them,” Darcy said.
“There should be no reason for them to continue threatening your family after they are paid.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I am sorry I have brought this trouble to your door. I realise that this amount of money is likely insignificant for you, but it is substantial for Longbourn. I do not know how he could have amassed such a significant debt.”
“I have seen a few men get in deeper than this in a matter of days,” Darcy told her. “I have seen Wickham lose more than a thousand pounds in a matter of hours.”
Elizabeth gasped in surprise. “I can scarcely believe someone can lose so much money so quickly, but little of what Mr Wickham has done surprises me. And while I can understand my father’s desire to finally do something to aid his family, gambling was incredibly foolish.”
Darcy agreed with her, but they were interrupted when Mary and Kitty approached, blushing and averting their gaze when they saw Elizabeth’s position on her husband’s lap.
“Mama told us to find you and bring you into the parlour to take tea. Lady Lucas has come for a visit, and Mama desires to show off her married daughter and her husband,” Mary said, rolling her eyes as she spoke.
Elizabeth sighed and reluctantly stood. Darcy did as well and, placing his wife’s hand on his arm followed the younger girls into the house.
When they joined the ladies in the parlour, Darcy, at least, was greeted enthusiastically by Mrs Bennet.
Initially, Lady Lucas was slightly in awe of the taciturn man, whose disturbance by the day’s revelations showed in his demeanour and noted Elizabeth was unusually quiet.
Both were considering the news that had been shared and the stipulations they would insist upon before loaning Mr Bennet the money to pay his debts.
While Elizabeth had written to Charlotte several times since leaving Kent, she had not received a response from her friend since the first letter congratulating her on her marriage and assumed her friend was being prevented from writing further.
Since her wedding, it had not occurred to her to wonder what stories Mr Collins shared with the Lucases or what Maria Lucas might have said upon her return, especially since none of the Bennets mentioned any gossip from that quarter.
However, the gleam in Lady Lucas’s eyes made her wonder what that lady thought she knew.
Lady Lucas did not make her wait long. “Mr Darcy,” she began, her voice sickeningly sweet, “I understand your aunt is most displeased with your recent marriage. Mr Collins has much to say about it in his letters, especially after you treated the lady so abominably in London.”
Darcy immediately stiffened at her rudeness and the mention of his aunt.
“Lady Catherine objected to my marriage because it interfered with her plans to retain control of Rosings. She believed I would not force her into the dower house as would be my right as Rosings’ master and as her husband directed in his will.
My cousin Anne has been the rightful owner of that estate for more than two years, which means my aunt did not have the right to appoint your son-in-law to the living.
My uncle, the Earl of Matlock, is presently consulting with my late uncle’s solicitors about how to proceed.
“We have since learned much about Lady Catherine’s machinations and Mr Collins’ ignoble behaviour.
Your son-in-law threw my wife from his home without concern for her reputation or what harm might befall her.
In fact, he attempted to ensure she would be harmed by interfering with my arrangements to transport her safely to London.
He encouraged the coachman to leave without her and, when that man refused, ordered the chaperone out of the carriage, an order she also refused.
My uncle has spoken to the archbishop, and there will be consequences for Mr Collins because of his disgraceful and un-Christian treatment of Mrs Darcy and because his appointment by Lady Catherine was not legitimate.
Although my wife does not want to see Mrs Collins harmed, he may be sent somewhere as a missionary, or perhaps we will request he be defrocked, depending on the severity of the rumours he spreads about Mrs Darcy’s expulsion from his home.
“My aunt is no longer recognised by her family; her daughter has been removed from her care and is being treated by a physician in London due to her mother’s neglect.
Now tell me, Lady Lucas, do you truly believe I have treated Lady Catherine poorly, or is your fool of a son-in-law spreading rumours that would potentially damage my wife’s reputation?
I intend to visit several shops in Meryton tomorrow, and if I hear a word spoken against my wife, I will be most displeased, and I will be sure to let my uncle know of it. ”
Lady Lucas could not respond to the direct threat in Darcy’s words and tone.
She made sure everyone in Meryton knew of the compromise that led to the Darcys’ hasty marriage and knew the Bennets were unaware of the gossip circulating since Mr Bennet had restricted his family from visiting Meryton or shopping of late.
Her face turned pale under Darcy’s intense glare, and she suddenly remembered an appointment and, abruptly excusing herself, scurried away.