Chapter 16 Darcy
Darcy
The next day, just before noon, Darcy rode to The Queen’s Head Inn, in Hoddesdon, to meet his cousin Richard.
It was a mere half hour’s ride from Netherfield, although of course Richard had a much longer journey from London.
But, on the other hand, they both would easily be able to ride to Netherfield after their meeting.
When they first spied one another, both men broke into wide smiles.
Darcy grasped Richard’s hand for their usual firm handshake, but Richard threw in a couple of fond back-slaps.
They were more like brothers than cousins, and Richard’s varying military assignments had resulted in the two not having clapped eyes on one another for almost a month.
“It is so good to see you, Richard. And thank you so much for taking the time to come out to us!”
“It is a deuced easy jaunt here, compared to Pemberley, Darce! Now, tell me what it is all about.”
“I will, but let us grab a table and get something good to chew on before I give you something bad to chew on.”
Darcy and Richard ordered some ale and selected a back-corner table; a pock-marked serving maid brought their tankards and promised to be out soon with some roasted duck and a steak-and-kidney pie.
Darcy thanked the maid and waited until she had walked away before he began to talk. He watched his cousin’s face darken as he told about Miss Bingley’s oral threats, and Richard swore when he described finding the brief note signed “W.”
“Wait,” Richard said, “who is the Bennet chit?”
Darcy blushed, and Richard’s eyebrows shot up. He rubbed his hands together and said, “Oh, ho, Darce. You met a woman you would blush about? Forget about this Miss Bingley stuff, and tell me all about Miss Bennet!”
“Richard,” Darcy said with a tone that was half scolding and half pleading, “I did meet a beautiful and intelligent gentlewoman, and I do like her, but I must prioritise protecting Georgiana, and right now that means trying to figure out how to counteract Miss Bingley.”
“But, will I get to meet this Miss Bennet at Netherfield?” Richard asked.
“The eldest, Miss Jane Bennet, is recovering from a cold at Netherfield, and the woman that I—that I am being warned off of is her younger sister, Miss Elizabeth. And, yes, she is also at Netherfield, nursing her sister. She has become a good friend of Georgiana’s.
Miss Jane Bennet, too, is becoming Georgie’s friend, to some extent; but Georgiana is much closer to my—uh—to Miss Elizabeth. ”
“Very, very nice!” Richard said. “Now I shall ask you some questions.”
Richard managed in just a few minutes to canvass all the topics Darcy had privately wondered about, all the questions Elizabeth had asked, every detail of how and when the note was delivered—including the terrible handwriting and cheap paper—and even all about the kitchen fire, although Richard agreed the fire was unlikely to have been a part of a blackmailer’s plot.
Darcy did not want to include Elizabeth’s speculations about Miss Bingley watching him fence and being either infatuated by him, or deranged, or both; but as shy as he felt about saying such things, he felt he had to include them in case they were of importance to their strategy.
The meal was long over, and the men drank one more round of ales before Richard rubbed his face and began to talk.
“You know that I get weekly reports on Wickham’s movements in Cornwall, and I go there at least once a month to see him myself—and to scare the daylights out of him—basically, to keep him in line.
I am confident that he has not travelled even as far as Exeter because we have such constant reporting of his physical whereabouts. ”
Darcy nodded and said, “I cannot even imagine how Wickham could help Miss Bingley in any way. It seems to me that this is not a situation of conspiracy. It should be fairly simple, Richard; we just have to figure out where to bury the body.”
The last bit was whispered, and it harkened back to their long-ago play of being pirates.
They were always pretending to steal ships, bury treasure, and have epic sword fights with rival bands of pirates, and at least once per day, someone would say something about needing to be sure where all the treasure was buried, so they did not accidentally disrupt a hiding place when burying the body of an enemy pirate.
“God, we were such vicious little children, were we not, Darcy?” Richard asked.
“You know it was mostly Wickham who brought all that cutthroat nonsense into our pirate play,” Darcy said.
“But, seriously, Miss Elizabeth had two ideas to try to thwart Miss Bingley without violence.” He explained her ideas to Richard, relayed what they had already begun to do, and outlined the possible dangers he saw in attempting to bait a blackmailer with misinformation about anyone.
“It could come back to hurt that anyone,” he said firmly.
“Except maybe my mother,” Richard said, his eyes lighting up with possibilities.
“Wait, we cannot drag Aunt Helen into this mess. We would face horrific reprisals if we spread rumours about her, especially untrue rumours! And she would be correct to punish us.”
Richard waved off Darcy’s concerns. “I will write to her; she is capable of standing up to a thousand Miss Bingleys. And she is a person who lives by her schedule. We admit to one another that she did something disreputable on a certain date and time—and there will be a hundred witnesses that she was nowhere near there. We warn one another that she is going to do something improper at another place, at another time, and there will be a completely different group of people swearing that it was a lie as well. No, you need not fear for my mother, although you might wonder if this is too cruel a consequence to Miss Bingley.”
“Miss Bingley can choose not to gossip,” Darcy suggested. “If she ruins herself, so be it.”
“Anyway, Miss Bingley is showing her own stupidity,” Richard said. “If she knew you at all, she would know that you would never submit to the demands of a blackmailer.”
“Definitely not,” Darcy said, “although, to be honest, when it is just subtle threats and unclear demands, I did not precisely submit to the vague demands, but I also did not stand up against them. So far, with things so unclear, it has been like trying to fight against morning mist….”
“Well," Richard said, “you received the note two mornings ago, correct? Since that time, how often have you seen or talked to Miss Elizabeth?”
Darcy ran a distracted hand through his hair.
He started to relate to Richard his various interactions with Elizabeth, and eventually Richard waved his hand and said, “Well, that is quite enough. My point is that Miss Bingley slides a note under your bedroom door really early in the morning, warning you to stay away from your sweetheart, and then you proceed to continue on as before, talking to your sweetheart whenever you can.”
Darcy started to protest the use of the words your sweetheart, but Richard spoke over him: “It gives her a message, loud and clear: Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy will not bend a knee to a blackmailer!”
“She must be mad if she really thinks that anyone at all would marry her if she threatens their loved ones.”
Richard tapped his lips with one finger.
“She likely is mad, actually. Some people assume that anyone who is not right in the head must be ranting and wielding a bloody knife and running around in their undress. But in war…. Well, I do not much want to get into it, but I assure you that there are many forms of madness, and some people who believe daft things or have ridiculous goals act quite normally most of the time.”
Darcy considered that and nodded.
“To want to marry Fitzwilliam Darcy is not insane,” Richard said. “But to think one can achieve such a goal by threatening to ruin his beloved sister….”
“Unbelievably barmy,” Darcy said. “Well, if you are determined to put your mother in harm’s way, let us send an express to her and lay out our plans.
When and where do we set up the private meeting?
Where do we meet so that it would seem reasonable for us to suppose that we cannot be overheard, but we actually can be?
What specifically should you impart to me about your mother?
It will need to seem juicy enough for her to want to tell people. ”
Darcy frowned. “I just thought…. How could she even spread the rumour? Does she have London friends to whom she writes?”
Richard chuckled. “As if I could know that!” He shook his head and continued, “I believe I should be sounding very upset about an assignation that I came across, and then that I am worried about a continuing affair in the future. With…the Duke. I will just say that title as if you clearly know the one I am speaking of, without having to endanger another person’s reputation.
If Miss Bingley dares to spread this, my mother will be delighted to squish her.
She will be so happy with me for having created the problem that she will solve, I will become her favourite son for a fortnight or two.
” He rubbed his hands and laughed, “I can hardly wait.”
He wrote his express, paid to send it, and then returned to the table to plan specifics with Darcy.
Darcy rode back to Netherfield feeling a tumult of emotions.
He felt satisfied to finally be making an active attempt to protect Georgiana, and he felt a surprising jolt of joy at the idea of thwarting Miss Bingley, of stopping her, of putting an end—he dearly hoped—to her infatuation with himself.
But he was also worried. For his Aunt Helen, for his sister, for Miss Elizabeth, who might become a direct target for Miss Bingley.
He also worried for Charles Bingley. More than worry, he felt pity for his friend.
Bingley had always been weak and somewhat oblivious, when it came to his sister.
Over the course of their acquaintance, Darcy had asked him several times to decisively end his sister’s hope of him, and, each time, Bingley had insisted that he had relayed the message.
However, whatever Bingley had conveyed had not altered Miss Bingley’s attitude or actions towards him in any way.
Last summer at Pemberley, Darcy had decided he would have to speak to Miss Bingley himself.
It was a short visit, and when the Bingley party was soon to depart, Darcy took advantage of a moment when he found himself near his friend’s sister on Pemberley’s sweeping drive, in full view of her family, but not within earshot.
He proceeded to plainly and clearly tell her that he had no interest in her other than as the sister of his friend.
The direct confrontation was unpleasant to both him and Miss Bingley, and when the Bingleys’ carriage was loaded, and he farewelled the family, he could hardly bear to meet anyone’s eyes.
He had not seen Miss Bingley again until the current arrangement, this attempt on Darcy’s part to help his friend learn about estate management at Netherfield, and it was quite a shock to see evidence of Miss Bingley’s continued proprietary attitude towards him.
The arm clutching and the public bandying of his name—let alone her threats—clearly showed that she had utterly disregarded his words.
Only now was he realising that, when he had confronted Caroline, minutes before she departed Pemberley, she had already eavesdropped on him and Richard, had already heard the information that she now attempted to wield against him.
He felt a wash of anger towards the woman as he reached Netherfield. Soon enough, Darcy found himself with his loathsome hostess.
Miss Bingley was simpering over how tired and thirsty he must be, and he cut her off by asking brusquely if his cousin had already arrived. “He has not, but I assure you, dear Mr. Darcy, that I have arranged everything for his stay here. I am so pleased to be hosting your dearest relation.”
“My dearest relation, madam, must in fact remain my sister,” he said. “Excuse me.” He strode away to his chambers and cleaned up and changed before he heard noises of welcome as Richard must have arrived.
Almost as soon as Richard had refreshed himself and dressed for dinner, it was time to gather in the blue drawing room. Georgiana was extremely pleased to greet her other guardian, and Richard exclaimed that she was even taller and prettier than the last time he had seen her.
Darcy was pleased to see Miss Elizabeth enter the room, and he approached her. “Would you allow me to introduce my cousin, who has recently arrived from Town?”
“To be sure,” Miss Elizabeth responded. She took the arm he offered, and he performed the formalities—but he was taken aback by Richard’s instant and blatant flirtation.
“Miss Elizabeth,” his cousin said as he bowed low and kissed her hand while keeping his eyes fixed to hers, “I have been looking forward to meeting you.”
Darcy saw Miss Elizabeth’s eyes sparkle and dance, saw her unaffected smile, heard her charming words: “Have you now? And for ever so long?”
Richard’s laughter boomed, too loud for a drawing room. Despite the fact that his cousin was the son of an earl, his jovial personality and his years in military service ensured that his behaviour provided a contrast to Darcy’s own more restrained, more polished deportment.
But he could be smooth with ladies, Darcy knew. Richard answered Elizabeth’s question, “Yes, ever so long—I have been looking forward to meeting you since the moment I knew of your existence, I assure you.”
Darcy felt as if his intestines were being sliced as Miss Elizabeth laughed along with his cousin. Blast it! He had admitted to Richard that he liked Miss Elizabeth; why was he acting in this manner?
Miss Bingley turned away from Stanford’s gesture at the door and, aiming a repressive glare at Miss Elizabeth, she announced in a coldly formal way, “Dinner is ready.”
His eyes met with his cousin’s, and Darcy wondered if, rather than flirtation, Richard was attempting to prod at Miss Bingley to better calculate ways in which to best her.