Chapter 14
NEW BEGINNINGS
Elizabeth did her best not to gawp at her new husband like an anxious girl just out of the nursery, but it was difficult, as they were seated in the close confines of the carriage and he was facing her across what seemed like only inches.
It all seemed so impossible, that she should be married to this near-stranger!
Her usual calm and ease in conversation had deserted her utterly.
He was ridiculously handsome, she could admit.
Probably, women of the ton threw themselves at him regularly.
Did he catch any? She had no idea, but the idea of it made her nerves sicken, and the little of her wedding breakfast that she had managed to consume sat like a stone in her belly.
“There are a few things I ought to tell you,” he said soberly.
She braced herself for a list of his expectations of Mrs Darcy. Instead, he revealed an astonishing tale of Miss Bingley and doctored after-dinner drinks, and the woman’s plot to be his bride or else ruin him for another—thwarted only by the quick thinking of Miss Whitby.
“She did what?” Elizabeth exclaimed.
He smiled, but there was sadness in it. “Your response to hearing this is very much the same as Bingley’s,” he said. “I know it is nearly unbelievable. However, my source—which I did not reveal to Bingley—is impeccable.”
“I wondered why Miss Bingley did not attend the breakfast this morning, when all the rest of the Bingleys did. I knew she hated me, but I never dreamt she would do such a thing.”
“Ah, but she did not mean to involve you at all. Miss Whitby, her woman, uncovered the plot, and discovered me, nearly unconscious, in Miss Bingley’s bed.
I do not know how I got there, how she managed it, but Whitby somehow wakened me and pushed me out the door, believing that I would return to my own room.
Instead, I apparently—obviously—stumbled into yours.
My last real memory of the evening is walking up the stairs to my chamber, feeling as if there were thousands of steps stretching before me, and having trouble with my vision.
Still, it never occurred to me, even once, that I was rendered completely insensible. ”
“Because you were given an opiate!” Elizabeth cried.
“It explains, too, why I did not waken before morning. I have been berating myself for sleeping so soundly that a man could enter my bed without my notice. Still, I did not sleep much the night before due to Jane’s illness, and attributed it to my fatigue. ”
For the first time, it occurred to her that Mr Darcy was just as much a victim as she.
As gentle as he had been with her, he could not have been anything except appalled to find himself in such a position.
She had tried to make her own peace with the situation, but how could she, knowing her husband had been entrapped, forced into marriage?
“Perhaps it would be best,” she began hesitantly, “for you to bring me to the country…to Pemberley? You have mentioned that you usually spend the coldest of the winter months in town. Once you prefer to be in the country, we could exchange places.”
His frown of displeasure was obvious. “That is not how I ever imagined my marriage, my family would be.”
“No. You could not have imagined me as your bride in any situation whatsoever.”
He scrubbed at his face, suddenly looking more tired than disgruntled. “I want you to know, Elizabeth, that I understand that neither did you imagine me as your bridegroom. Nevertheless, we have both made vows. I do not feel that living apart is a means of healing the breach between us.”
“I rather assumed that you might need a great deal of time to…adapt to this marriage. To your lack of choice in it.”
“Time is needed, for both of us—but not time apart, I hope. Time to come to know each other, to become accustomed to each other.” He leant forward.
“I pray you will allow us this time. If we remain in London beyond a few days, we will soon be inundated with callers. My family first, and then the floodgates of the curious. In my mind, what is most important for us now is privacy, to grow easier with each other. I am certain, also, that you will want to do some shopping in town, as country resources are more limited. I know the weather for travelling is not ideal, but I would like us to leave for Pemberley together—soon, as soon as it can be arranged. Anything you purchase, we can have sent along when it is ready. It is why I have decided not to write to my family regarding my marriage until we know each other better. I will send my letters out, and the announcement for the papers, the day we depart for the north.”
His request was reasonable, and she did not mind putting off the ‘floodgates’, of course. She nodded her acquiescence. He looked a little less tense, once he had her agreement to this; had he expected her to protest? “Are you worried about introducing me to them? Do you fear they will disapprove?”
“I do not really care whether they approve or not. If they wish to stay a part of our lives, they will keep any opinions not perfectly gracious to themselves. Knowing that my actions removed your options, that I am not your first choice, is a humbling affair. I want you to know that I will do all in my power to demonstrate that, although your hand was forced, accepting mine was not a reckless decision.”
He had not offered the blanket approval of his relatives, but she could appreciate his honesty.
It would take time before she could expect the sanction of earls.
“It was Miss Bingley who did all the destroying of choices,” she told him.
“I will not blame you for it again. We were both victimised. However, my temperament is not one of melancholy, and I do not intend to live a life of resentment or dismay. Although your hand was forced as well, I will do all in my power to show that accepting mine will not mean your unhappiness.”
He smiled, and she realised she liked to see him wear that expression. She liked to know that her words had given him cause for relief or pleasure.
“I thank you for your understanding. Miss Bingley will not be in any position to hurt others for some time.”
“What has happened to her?”
“She will soon be the boon companion to Mrs Thomasina Darcy on her journeys through the Levant.”
“Your cousin? The one who just returned from Egypt?”
“You remembered.”
“She would be very difficult to forget. I am surprised that Mrs Darcy would agree to take on such a person as Miss Bingley. I would be reluctant to bring with me a devious person like her.”
“Such fears are for lesser mortals. My cousin has never met a challenge she did not relish. I assume that for the first months of preparation and then travel, at least, Miss Bingley will be so terrified of the dangers of Ottoman territory that she will of necessity learn to rely upon Thomasina. I firmly believe that if it does not help Miss Bingley to spend time with her, nothing else would.”
If she does not die of dysentery or fever, Elizabeth thought with an inward grimace, thinking of certain reports of such places that she had read in the papers. “I would not relish such a journey myself. I cannot find much sympathy for her, however.”
He nodded. “Thomasina does travel with a contingent of highly placed government officials, so inasmuch as is possible, there are some protections. Still, to call it ‘safe’ would be an overstatement. I would never have suggested it, except that drastic measures are obviously called for.”
“I could not agree more. If there were no consequences to her behaviour, what would stop her from doing it again?”
“Exactly. There was one other person who was hurt in this affair, and that is Miss Whitby, who has lost her place. I have promised to give her a recommendation, so that she might find other employment. However, I have always known her to perform her duties with excellence, and you will require a lady’s maid.
I wonder if you would be willing to consider her for the position? ”
“Oh! I had not thought—but of course. If she will have me, that is. Good lady’s maids are much in demand, I hear. My sisters and I all shared a single maid, and had to help each other as often as not. It would be such a luxury to have my own.”
Again, he smiled, and again, she liked to see it.
“There you have it—an immediate benefit of becoming Mrs Darcy. I know, however, that Miss Whitby is grieved at not having ensured I returned to my own room, and deeply fears that you will not care to employ her. If you would rather not, you must say. I will do all in my power to help her find another situation.”
“As I said, I place all blame solely with Miss Bingley. In any case, I believe most servants would have said nothing at all, fearing retribution from somebody. No one would ever have known.”
He inclined his head in agreement. “It is unfortunate for Miss Bingley that she employed a woman with ten times her own integrity.”
“As well, it is fortunate for me that the man she chose to importune possesses a hundred times her integrity. I have no doubt that, ultimately, with some trouble and expense, you could have managed to extract yourself from this marriage.”
“I would never have done so. I would never have wanted to.”
She shook her head in disbelief, or amazement, or both.