Chapter 8 #2
“Thank you, no. I am so tired that I shall sleep as soon as I lay my head on the pillow, and the port will only give me a headache. I shall retire to my chamber as soon as I have finished my dinner.”
“As you wish. Our trunks should be being carried in as we speak. I also took the liberty of arranging for food for tomorrow. Mrs Reynolds insisted I should take a basket, as I always do when I travel, but in my haste to leave at once, I refused it. I have come to regret it since you had to suffer more discomfort because of me.”
“Do not worry, Mr Darcy,” Mr Gardiner replied. “What is important is that we have arrived here, as we planned. I shall pour myself some port — I know for sure it will help me to sleep better.”
Dinner was rather quiet, and they spoke of little except some details about the next day’s journey.
They ate quickly, and as soon as her appetite was satisfied, Elizabeth excused herself and returned to her room, too tired to even keep her eyes open.
The gentlemen remained, nursing drinks and sharing a tentative conversation.
∞∞∞
As planned, the first glimpse of light found Elizabeth already awake and ready for the ride. The maid knocked on her door, bringing hot water and tea, and helped her to get dressed quickly. Soon after, Mr Gardiner came to fetch her.
It was not yet full daylight when they started the second leg of their quest, and by the time the sun was up, they had long left Manchester behind.
“You two gentlemen look very ill,” Elizabeth said after studying them both. “I am sorry to say that you look worse than you did last night!”
“It may well be true,” Mr Gardiner answered, “considering we did not sleep much and spent the night talking. And drinking. Mr Darcy offered me some valuable advice, as I intend to purchase a small estate sometime in the future.”
Elizabeth arched her brow in reproach. “It was very kind of Mr Darcy, but do you think it was an appropriate time for such a conversation? You look like you barely slept at all. We have another long day ahead of us, and you are already exhausted. Tonight, I shall check on each of you to be sure you are in your own bed immediately after dinner,” she declared decidedly.
Suddenly, she felt her face and neck burning, and she knew she was all flushed, as the image of Darcy in his night clothes and lying in his bed appeared, again uninvited, in her mind.
“You do not have to do that, Lizzy. I am sure the exhaustion will get the better of us by then, after we have travelled another sixty miles.”
Darcy chose to not reply, but Elizabeth could see a little smile, a shadow of a smirk really, in the corner of his mouth, and she wondered whether he was thinking of her checking on him at bedtime.
In Preston, Darcy questioned the innkeeper about Wickham and Georgiana, and, after slipping the man a few coins, he found out they had stayed there the previous night.
Three hours later, when they reached another inn, Darcy again enquired after the fugitives whilst Elizabeth and her uncle stretched their legs for a short while.
“They have not passed here,” Darcy explained when they were back in the carriage. “Wickham must have chosen another route to avoid the main road.”
“Are there other routes?” Elizabeth asked. “And how does Wickham know that?”
“Wickham…let me just say it is not the first time he has done this, nor the first time that I have. Chased after him, I mean, of course. A couple of months after my father died, he attempted to elope with the niece of my aunt, Lady Matlock. She was only seventeen years old. Two years later, he tried the same scheme, this time with the daughter of a successful tradesman who owns several shops in Manchester and in London,” Darcy explained, as mortified as if he was to blame.
Elizabeth and her uncle were stupefied.
“How is it possible? Is this man real?” Mr Gardiner voiced their incredulity. “In truth, it is strange that nobody has shot him before now! And Lizzy, I cannot believe you and all the people in Meryton were so fooled and thought so highly of him!”
“It is a shame that will not pass soon, Uncle. I feel I am accountable for the good opinion others had of him too, since I was the first he spoke to. The first simpleton he chose to fool, to work for him by spreading the rumours further. He could not have chosen better!” she mocked herself dejectedly. “How stupid have I been?”
“You are too hard on yourself, Miss Bennet. If it were not for you, Wickham would have found other ways to propagate his falsehoods,” Darcy intervened, not wanting to let Elizabeth feel guilty on his behalf.
“I should have exposed him a long time ago, but it was the memory of my father, and for that matter of his own father as well, that stopped me. And now, my sister, my own sister has to suffer the consequences.”
“Mr Darcy, given this new information, I must disagree with your initial plan,” Mr Gardiner said.
“I know I have no say in your decision, as ultimately it is you who are responsible, but I believe you should not allow Miss Darcy the liberty of choice! We should simply take her away, and you will have plenty of time to reveal the truth to her and to deal with Wickham afterwards. There is truly no choice when we speak of such a man!”
“Or I could just shoot him,” Darcy said, half in jest.
“Well, that would be an excellent second plan,” Mr Gardiner answered in all honesty. “Although, if you did shoot him, we would be delayed at least a couple of days before returning to Derbyshire, so I would rather avoid that unless it is absolutely necessary.”
“A wise observation,” Darcy replied after feigning serious consideration.
∞∞∞
After their second day of travelling, they managed to reach Kirkby-Lonsdale, covering about sixty miles in one day. They found available rooms, but again no trace of Wickham and Georgiana.
Like the previous night, they dined in Darcy’s room, sharing their concerns.
“Could it be possible that something has happened to delay them?” Mr Gardiner asked. “Could they be behind us?”
“It is possible, but I doubt it. Regardless, we should still plan to leave tomorrow at dawn and travel as far as Carlisle. Everybody stops there on their way to Gretna Green. There are two or three good inns in Carlisle, and many others less respectable, not to mention the boarding houses, so I must enquire in each of them.”
“I shall help you, of course,” Mr Gardiner offered.
“The problem is that it is around sixty miles from here to Carlisle and ten more to Gretna Green. I fear it may be too tiring for Miss Bennet, so I shall go ahead on horseback, and you may rest another night on the road.”
“Surely you are joking, Mr Darcy, because you know how dearly I love to laugh! Why would you assume it is too tiring for me to sit in a carriage? We have come all this way to offer you at least the assistance of keeping you company, and that is what we shall do. Besides, I would not miss the confrontation with Wickham even if I had to walk there!”
Darcy smiled at her allusion to another of their exchanges at Netherfield, but laughed at the end of her impassioned speech — for the first time in three days.
“I know you are an excellent walker, but that would be too much even for you. However, I do understand your point.”
“It is settled then. I hope you two will go to sleep early tonight,” she said.
“We cannot go to sleep early, as it is already late, Lizzy,” Mr Gardiner teased her.
“We shall,” Darcy promised obediently.
As she had done the night before, Elizabeth retired to her room as soon as she had eaten. The inn was busy enough, and through the open windows the sound of voices and horses could be easily heard, so it took a while for Elizabeth to fall asleep.
A loud noise awoke her sometime later, and she was confused momentarily. Finding her bearings, she went to the window in search of a breeze to cool herself. She leant out and took in the animated scene below: all the people, carriages, horses, torches, talk, and laughter.
With a start, she noticed Darcy on the same floor but a few windows away, looking outside too. He observed her and acknowledged her with a simple wave of his hand.
She withdrew from the window with a strange fluttering in her stomach. She took a few steps into the room, sat on the bed, stood again almost immediately, then startled at the soft knock.
She moved towards the door and asked who it was. She knew the answer even before she opened the door and stared at her visitor.
“Mr Darcy…”
“Miss Bennet, forgive my intrusion, but I saw you at the window. May I enquire as to your health? Why are you not asleep at this hour? Are you unwell?”
“I am well, I have slept a little, but I was awakened by the uproar in the yard. However, may I ask why you are not asleep, Mr Darcy? That was a promise you have not kept,” she teased him.
He was in his indoor clothes — only loose soft trousers, a linen shirt, and a waistcoat.
He looked pale, and his hair was rather untidy.
She had never seen him like this, in his shirt sleeves, without a cravat and the top button of his shirt loose.
“I tried, but there was too much noise for me too. Miss Bennet, you left earlier and did not take anything with you. May I fetch you something to drink or something to eat? Some tea, some fruit? All the trays are yet in my chamber, and I may fetch you whatever you wish in an instant.”
“Oh…I admit it is a rather warm night, and I am somewhat thirsty. Tea, even cold, would be nice, please. Or water. And some biscuits, if possible.”
“Of course! Just a moment, please,” he replied and hurried to his chamber, her eyes following him down the hall, marvelling again at the incongruity of their situation.
Only then did Elizabeth recall she was wearing just her thin nightgown and her hair was loose on her shoulders.
She hurried to put on a robe, then tightened it around her with a sash, just in time to see Darcy reappear with a small tray in one hand and a candle in the other.
“I took the liberty of bringing more than you asked for. Including a finger of port. Perhaps you will accept my suggestion tonight.
“Thank you, sir.” She smiled as he entered the room, put the tray on the little table, and made to step back to the door.
“Would you like to stay a moment, sir? Perhaps partake of what you brought me? Have a drink and talk a little?” she asked daringly, fully aware her invitation was beyond improper.
She felt even more mortified when he answered, “Thank you, no. It is very late. I should not even be here. If anyone sees us, there will be even more talk. Besides, we both need to sleep.”
“Of course, sir. As you wish,” Elizabeth responded, lowering her eyes to the floor so he could not see that she felt like a fool facing his rejection.
“Miss Bennet…” she heard him calling her and eventually lifted her eyes to look at him.
He continued, his voice raspy, his eyes dark with exhaustion and perhaps something else too.
“Miss Bennet, it is not as I wish. There is nothing that I want more than your company, but I know I should not be here. I hope to hear such an invitation again sometime soon, in other circumstances, so I can feel free to respond differently.”
Warm inside and shivering outside, her face still flushed but with glimmers in her eyes, Elizabeth nodded as he bowed and left. In the hall, he looked back at her one more time, then entered his room.
Elizabeth closed and locked the door, leaning against the heavy wood, heart racing and almost short of breath, reflecting on their brief almost illicit encounter, at what had just happened and what had been said.
Then she sat at the table, smiled and happily picked up a few pieces of fruit from the tray, her eyes eventually falling on the small glass of port.
He had insisted twice already that she have a drink, and she had refused him once.
She could not possibly refuse him twice, even if he was not there to witness it.
So she took the glass and enjoyed it in small sips until she had finished it completely.
The sweet, strong wine immediately made her dizzy, whilst the warmth inside her increased.
With hesitant steps, she returned to bed and lay back against the pillows, thinking of his words and blushing again. He had made the decision to leave against his wishes, visibly struggling, mindful of propriety.
‘In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed…’
Before she fell asleep, with her head spinning from the sweet port, Elizabeth wondered whether she still possessed the power to do something so he would never have to struggle against his feelings and wishes again.