Chapter 3.29
Fitzwilliam Darcy was enjoying his drink in the corner of the dining room, watching his guests.
It was Christmas Day, and the festively decorated house was filled with people: the Bennets, the Gardiners, Bingley and Jane, Colonel Fitzwilliam and two of his fellow officers, and Lord and Lady Matlock.
Bingley’s sisters were missing from the party, at their brother’s request. Jane’s arrival in town had been met with disdain, especially by Caroline, who still claimed to be the mistress of the house.
She had imposed her will and treated Jane like a mere guest who was expected to leave soon.
But finally Bingley had put his foot down and confronted his sisters in a heated and harsh argument.
In the end, he requested that Caroline move in with Louisa until she was willing to understand her place in the family and accept that she was the one tolerated by the new Mrs. Bingley.
Louisa’s reaction had been as violent as her sister’s but Bingley remained unmoved.
Consequently, he withdrew the invitation to Darcy’s Christmas dinner, placing his wife’s tranquillity above everything else—a gesture for which Darcy was truly grateful.
Unlike the previous years when they were the hosts, the Matlocks accepted the invitation to attend Christmas dinner at the Darcys’. It was proof of great consideration granted to Mrs. Darcy upon her first Christmas, since their eldest son, the Viscount, and his wife were also hosting a party.
Their support received the well-deserved gratitude of Elizabeth and Darcy.
Lady Matlock had had an enormous impact in helping Elizabeth to claim her position among London society.
Although still far from being universally accepted and having to face much opposition, especially from some ladies of the ton, Mrs. Darcy had caught the attention of her peers and proved herself capable of rising to the expectations of her position.
That she was worthy of it, there were few doubts left, and most had also accepted the astonishing fact that Mr. Darcy had made a marriage of love.
Darcy glanced around, watching Elizabeth in her full beauty and brightness, gathering everyone around her. He knew he was biased, but he found his wife’s beauty more striking than Jane’s classically perfect figure.
He had come to admire and to love Jane Bingley, and he knew she was one of the most admirable women he had met.
Her heart and her character were as flawless as her appearance, and her affection for Bingley was genuine and profound.
Charles Bingley could not possibly have found a better wife, and every time he remembered how easily he had misjudged Jane and how readily he advised Bingley to separate from her, the guilt pained him.
“How are you, cousin?” the colonel asked, approaching Darcy unnoticed.
“I am happy,” Darcy replied, and the colonel smiled.
“Yes, I can see that. You are a fortunate man, Darcy.”
“Indeed.”
“But I shall not deny your merit in reaching your happiness. Few men would have dared to allow their heart to overcome the demands of their duty. And to be honest, I never imagined you—of all men—making such a decision”
“I did not believe myself capable of taking such a step either, Richard. Until I realised I had judged everything completely wrongly. By listening to my heart, I was not neglecting my duty! I could not have found a more worthy woman on whom to bestow my admiration and share my life. Elizabeth is not just suited to being Mrs. Darcy; she is everything a woman should be. Her strength, her determination, her wit, her kindness, her generosity, her joy, her affection for me—where else are so many qualities to be found together? Are those not enough compensation for her family’s low connections?
Is she not accomplished enough? My decision was not difficult at all, once I was wise enough to see the truth from inside the cage of my pride and arrogance. ”
“I must say, Darcy—for a man of few words, you express yourself remarkably well,” the colonel teased him, impressed by Darcy’s outburst of honesty.
“Do you not agree?”
“I do—you know that. I have admired Elizabeth from the first day I met her. I congratulate you both for resolving your misunderstandings, and I publicly declare that I envy you!”
“I was jealous of you last April, in Kent,” Darcy admitted. “I believed Elizabeth favoured you.”
“She did. But then again, all ladies favour me, as I am a more pleasant company,” the colonel said mockingly.
Darcy’s lips twisted in a repressed smile.
“You may keep all the other ladies, cousin. And Elizabeth favoured you only because she misjudged me at the time. I have remedied the situation since then,” he concluded, glancing at his wife again.
They sipped from their glasses, watching the party.
“Do you have news from Walford? I know you still have men watching him,” the colonel suddenly asked.
Darcy frowned. The recollection of anything related to Lord Walford still sickened him and aroused his anger, although the man himself had long fled the town.
As Lady Matlock had foreseen, her meeting with Lady Sefton gave birth to a snowball that grew until it trampled everything in its path.
Even with no specific proof, the mere rumours that Lord Walford was involved in a sordid affair that harmed innocent children disgusted the most honourable ladies in town—the protectors of morality and the patronesses of Almack’s.
The fear of being associated—even from afar—with such atrocities, induced them to cut any connection with Lord Walford and with those acquainted with him.
Within days, the earl found himself isolated in the middle of London.
Those who had been his closest companions and perhaps attended his parties were among the first to abandon him.
For Lady Amelia Rushford—who had been seen frequently in the earl’s company— the consequences included a debate over her acceptance at future Almack’s balls and a withdrawal of her invitation to Lady Jersey’s Twelfth Night party.
A week after Darcy’s confrontation, under the pressure of widely spread gossip, Lord Walford and the marquis left London. Mr. Clarence—the lawyer—brought Darcy this piece of information, while Mr. Dunn and his men followed the earl to his estate near Brighton to complete their assignment.
“I do not know anything new about Walford, fortunately. His estate has been closed, the servants dismissed, except two or three who are taking care of the house. They were questioned and even tempted with substantial payment, but we gathered no information from them.
“And the children? Are they still here? Surely even you must admit that it is a peculiar and hardly acceptable situation.” the colonel continued. “You cannot turn your house into a shelter for poor children.”
Darcy sipped from his glass, throwing his cousin a brief look.
“Surely you must admit that it is less peculiar than throwing helpless children out alone into the winter night, with only a small amount of luggage and a thin coat. What do you suggest we should have done with them, cousin?”
The colonel shrugged. In the middle of the joyful party, the subject was sad and disturbing.
“Just imagine, Richard. A week ago, in the middle of dinner, I was informed that Mr. Dunn was waiting outside and wished to speak to me urgently. He had never bothered me before at improper hours; he usually wrote to me and I answered by express, so I was certain this time something significant had occurred.”
Darcy gulped some wine before he continued.
“In the carriage, there were those six children that had been kept in Walford’s house, cold and frightened. Dunn asked me what to do with them. What should I have told him? What would you have done, Richard?”
“I do not know…”
“Apparently, Walford had left his Brighton estate in a hurry and demanded that the children were thrown out. He denied any connection with them. Since he knew I was interested in their fate, Dunn took them. Otherwise, they could have wandered alone through the fields in the winter weather and probably frozen to death! They are all around eight or nine years old; none of them know their own age precisely.”
“Blast!” the colonel said angrily. “That scoundrel! But what will you do now? Will you assume the responsibility of these children forever? Can you not give their families some money?”
“I could, but would it be enough? Until three months ago, I would have thought precisely like you. Before Elizabeth taught me the difference between charity and kindness, between giving alms and providing care. Once you look into the children’s eyes, once you see their faces, you cannot forget them so easily and giving them some money or buying them some things is not enough. ”
“I understand that you could not abandon them. But perhaps another solution could have been found. Your house is already full of guests.”
“So what do you suggest, Richard? Celebrating a joyful Christmas with my family, eating and drinking and singing and exchanging gifts, oblivious to these children’s suffering? Send them away, because we are already too crowded?”
“That is not what I meant, Darcy; surely, you cannot accuse me of cruelty. I was just wondering if there was another solution?”
“What other solution? Name it. Two of them have families, and they know where we could find them. But they are so poor and have many other children, that the return of another child would be a burden; probably the parents would have to quickly find another arrangement for them. The estate offered by Lady Matlock cannot be turned into a home before the summer. There is much work to do there. What should I have done with them?”
The colonel emptied his glass in one large gulp. “I do not know… But when I heard you were hosting six other children, I could not but worry. What if you find more on the street?”