Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
A s soon as they left Longbourn, Elizabeth took Darcy’s arm; her pace was slow, allowing her sisters and Bingley to put some distance between them.
When there was little risk of being overheard, she said, “I missed you, but it seems being away from the disagreeable company at Netherfield has done you good.”
It was all Darcy could do not to pull Elizabeth off the road to a place they would not be observed and kiss her senseless; he settled for kissing her hand, which he did so often as a way to quell his desire to do more with her. “Thank you for understanding—including that I did not discuss it with you before leaving. I am sorry, my love, for that and what I said at our last meeting.”
She shook her head, her curls swaying delightfully as she did. He longed for the day he could run his hands through her silky hair, touch her as much as he liked, and be fully alone with her where there was no chance of being seen or heard by others .
“I admit I was a little vexed with you, but that did not last long. My concern for you was far greater than any injury to my sensibilities. As soon as I read your letter and the very pretty apology in it, I forgot our conversation entirely.” She gave him a regretful smile. “When I had time to reflect, I realised how much I also erred by not sharing my thoughts with you, and for that, I apologise. If I had told you plainly weeks ago, when this all started, what I was hoping to accomplish, you would not have needed to suffer as you did.”
“If you had explained last month that you would set out to be friends with him, to somehow turn him into a respectable man, I would have called you a fool,” he countered. “Let us be done with apologies. Your plan is a good one. I wish I could find a way to rid my sister and myself of his company once and for all, but since that is not currently possible, you are correct that we must find a way to improve the situation. I have been very angry?—”
“Which I do not blame you for,” she interjected. “No one could, especially when Mr Wickham purposely goads you.”
Darcy accepted her words. “It might be understandable, but it is not helpful. They will have to continue to stay close to me—to us, once we are married and go to Pemberley. At least for the foreseeable future. I wish it were not so, that we could have a period to ourselves alone.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I accepted that long ago. It is the only way for us to ensure he is treating your sister properly. I fully expect him to increasingly find his situation tiresome, and that might make him desperate. I would hate for Georgiana to have to confront him on her own.”
Once again, he kissed her hand, this time in silent gratitude. “I fear the day Georgiana understands the seriousness of what she did,” he admitted. “I want her nearby when she does so that I may reassure her and offer whatever assistance she needs. Wickham will have to give up his pretence that he is studying the law soon. We know it is nonsense, but my sister believes it.”
“Maybe he can tell her he is taking a leave of sorts to spend time with her after their marriage.”
“And improve his connexions with his new relations. That will please her. I might even suggest that as an excuse, say that it is what I would like. I know Wickham wants her to hate me, and my behaviour these last weeks has aided his cause, but that ends now.”
“If we are fortunate,” Elizabeth said, “by the time she admits how reckless it was to elope, he will be a decent man again, if not an admirable one. It was part of why I embarked on my task. I only want to know that he will treat her with…oh, I do not know. Love is unlikely, but with some consideration.”
“That might be all someone like him can manage. I do not know that he has ever honestly loved anyone apart from himself, not even as a boy.”
Elizabeth’s hold on his arm tightened, and she gave him a look of sympathy. “You are bitter, and I understand why. I hope you are wrong. It is impossible for you or I to ever love him. I cannot, because I know the sort of man he is, and I shall always despise him for how much he has injured you and Georgiana. You cannot because he has betrayed you again and again. You have seen the worst of him, which is difficult for anyone to overlook. I do pray he can feel affection for Georgiana. It will make everything so much easier for her in the future.”
Bingley and the Miss Bennets had stopped to talk to one of their neighbours. Darcy and Elizabeth joined them; he said little, taking the opportunity to feel how happy he was to be with her again and observe the ladies who would soon be his sisters. Georgiana would benefit from having them as part of her family. Even better, Bingley would be his brother. If he remained at Netherfield, Darcy and Elizabeth would have a comfortable place to stay when they visited the Bennets. If Bingley decided to purchase an estate elsewhere, Darcy would encourage him to choose one closer to Pemberley.
When they continued towards Meryton, Mary and Catherine walked with him and Elizabeth. It meant that the two of them could not resume their private conversation until they were returning to Longbourn. The wind was becoming stronger, and they were all walking more quickly, yet Darcy and Elizabeth continued to keep behind the others so that they might speak freely, knowing it would be more difficult to do so at Longbourn.
“Fitzwilliam should be here soon. I do not know how long he will be able to stay, but we shall have to assign him a role in this scheme of ours. I wrote to him of it, but I do not know if he will receive my letter before his arrival.”
“That is easy. The colonel must seem suspicious and angry with Wickham, which he is. The two of you can stage debates where Wickham and perhaps Georgiana will hear you. You will urge your cousin to accept their marriage, et cetera, Colonel Fitzwilliam is reluctant, but you attempt to convince him to listen to you, and slowly, he does what Wickham will believe you have—come to terms with the situation. They were also friends in your youth. There may come a time when Colonel Fitzwilliam can draw on memories, days they and you laughed together, recall favourite games. Do you think your cousin will agree?”
Darcy nodded. “The most difficult part—for both of us— will be making it seem that we are willing to forgive Wickham even a little.”
“Before long, it will be easier, because he will make it so by behaving more…agreeably, for lack of a better word,” she said, in a tone meant to encourage him. “I am convinced it will not take very much now that there will be three of us working together. I know I have made him uncomfortable when I speak of the past and remind him that you used to be friends, or of his connexion to your father, how he treated Wickham as a nephew, almost. When you do as well, he will not be able to resist the temptation to be happy like that again. Or we shall confuse him so greatly that he runs away, determined never to see any of us again!” She laughed, and so did he.
“I shall do my best, but I have made it a practise not to lie, and that is what this will require. I can never forgive him, even if he were to become the man I always expected he would be and he begged me to. Not even if he spent the next five decades being an excellent husband to Georgiana.”
“I do not expect it of you. I consider what he has done criminal. I only wish it were illegal for a man of six-and-twenty to elope with a girl a decade younger. It is certainly immoral.”
Darcy grumbled. “I wish I could keep Georgiana, you, and your sisters as far from him as possible. That is how little I trust him.”
She caressed his arm. “We are making progress. He truly believes I am his friend and seems satisfied that there is an increasing distance between us because I do not share your animosity towards him. With you now offering him an olive branch, so to speak, it will shock him so thoroughly that he will have no choice but to become…well, better . ”
He stopped and held her face between his hands, heedless of anyone seeing them.
“I do not know what I have done to deserve my good fortune, but I am very, very glad we met. I love you so much, Elizabeth, more than I can ever express.”
Her fingers ran gently from his brow to his chin. “I only want you to be happy. I have felt ill pretending to be Wickham’s friend, but I will continue to do it for you , because that is how much I love you.”
He kissed her as deeply and for as long as he dared, given where they were.