CHAPTER 24
Almost as soon as the carriage set off, Colonel Fitzwilliam fell into a deep sleep, entirely spent from eighteen hours in the saddle, changing horses continually to maintain so punishing a pace, as Mr. Darcy had explained to her while they made their way onto the western road toward London.
God bless him, she thought, grateful beyond words for a man who would do so much, and so readily, for his cousin's sake.
The journey to London took five days in all. The lady's maid Fitzwilliam had engaged scarcely spoke a word throughout, plainly overawed by the company she found herself keeping.
The Colonel, however, proved, once a full night's rest had restored him, a thoroughly delightful travelling companion.
He conversed easily, and drew out in Mr. Darcy a lighter, more playful humour Elizabeth had glimpsed only rarely before.
The two men teased one another and traded stories of their boyhood, and Elizabeth learned a great deal in the process, of Mr. Darcy's parents, of Georgiana, of the Colonel's own family besides.
Their conversation ranged widely over the days that followed, literature, music, the theatre, travel, family, and, not least, the life of a soldier.
Elizabeth found herself particularly absorbed by the Colonel's account of his own early service, and of how he had risen, through years of earned merit rather than purchase, to his present rank.
It left her all the more grateful for his presence, and rather ashamed, besides, of how readily she had once judged soldiers as a class, sight unseen.
Growing bolder in his company, she ventured at last to ask his view on why a regiment should have been stationed in so small and unremarkable a town as Meryton. He offered a thoughtful answer.
"Not every soldier is engaged actively overseas.
We maintain a great many regiments, rotating men through periods of rest and retraining at home, even our most seasoned soldiers require constant practice to keep their skills sharp.
England offers safer, steadier conditions for that purpose, and allows us besides to recruit and train new men while they await their orders.
" He paused. "It pains me to say it, but we are presently engaged in the East, and require a steady supply of fresh troops to make good our losses there.
" He hesitated again before continuing. "There is another matter, too, Miss Bennet, one closer to home.
We live in a time of some political unease, and stationing regiments about the country serves us in more than one way.
It gives us a defensive network, certainly, but it also offers ordinary townspeople a visible reminder of the Crown's strength.
Our presence reinforces loyalty to His Majesty, and that matters a great deal to the legitimacy of the sovereign's authority. "
"I see, sir. So the militia's presence in Meryton serves training, recruitment, and a visible reminder of the Crown, all at once. A clever strategy indeed, I confess I had not considered it in those terms."
The Colonel nodded, "It is, madam, and I expect it will continue indefinitely."
Each night the party stopped at a coaching inn, Elizabeth lodging with her maid. Sleep did not come easily to her through these nights, her fear of Wickham, and the dread that they might yet be found, pressing upon her still.
After five days upon the road, the party arrived in London at last, to everyone's considerable relief.
The chaise drew up before Mr. Darcy's townhouse, and the party descended into a handsome manor, ushered directly into a small tea room.
There, Darcy called for his purse and paid the maid generously for both her service and her discretion, before the housekeeper led her below to eat, with an offer of further employment should she wish it.
Back in the tea room, Colonel Fitzwilliam urged his cousin to accompany him at once to the authorities, to give a full account of the Wickham affair.
"Sirs," Elizabeth put in, "I should be perfectly content to go to my uncle Gardiner's house, and lodge with them until matters are settled. I am eager, besides, to see my family again after so many days, any family will do."
"Not without me, Miss Elizabeth," Darcy replied at once. "I would rather see you home to Longbourn directly. I shall return to London myself once you are safely restored to your family."
"Fitzwilliam, my family will be forever in your debt for it," she smiled prettily to him.
"I would think of doing nothing else." He turned to his cousin. "Fitzwilliam, you are welcome to remain here. I shall be back tonight, and we may begin our business tomorrow morning."
The Colonel, though plainly impatient at the delay, understood it well enough, and accepted the invitation to stay. Darcy called for Giles to ready the carriage and assign a maid to accompany them.
As the party made ready to depart, the Colonel offered his farewells. "It has been an absolute pleasure, Miss Elizabeth. I hope for the privilege of seeing you again very soon. Until then, God bless you."
"Colonel Fitzwilliam, you are among the bravest men I have ever known. I cannot thank you enough for bringing us out of Wales, and seeing me safely home. God keep you, sir, I am entirely in your debt."
The depth of feeling in her speech left Darcy faintly irked, though it swelled his cousin's chest with visible pride.
The Colonel glanced toward him, smiling, before adding, with particular emphasis, "It was a pleasure to rescue you both.
" He took her hand, kissed it gently, bowed low, and handed her up into Darcy's waiting carriage.
With tea, refreshment, and a plan all settled, one of Darcy's own maids joined them for the remainder of the journey, propriety thus properly observed.
The drive to Longbourn generally took some four hours, but with fine weather and only a single stop to change horses, they arrived in three and a half.
At last Elizabeth caught sight of the familiar maple standing beside the low wall marking Longbourn's boundary.
The carriage turned up the drive, and as it drew before the house, the front door flew open, Mr. Bennet the first to reach the carriage.
He wrenched the door open, searching the darkness within, before his eyes found their mark.
Mr. Bennet was already crying out before the carriage had fully stopped, his voice cracking with an emotion he made no effort to master. "Elizabeth! My girl!"
"Papa!" She flung herself into his arms, and he pulled her from the carriage without the least regard for propriety.
Though never spoken aloud, every soul at Longbourn understood Elizabeth to be her father's favourite.
Her disappearance had very nearly undone him.
Once the afternoon wore on without her return from her walk, he had gathered what tenants he could and led them into the woods behind the estate, calling her name for hours through the failing light.
At first he had supposed some accidental fall, and feared her lying injured and unable to call for help; by nightfall, his fears had darkened to unconsciousness; and it was not until the following morning that the far worse possibility of abduction took hold.
Word had spread through the neighbourhood from that first afternoon onward, and by the second night, he believed, every man within ten miles had joined the search for his beloved daughter.
Jane was next to embrace her, weeping at the sight of her sister returned safe, which set Elizabeth's own tears flowing freely.
"Oh Lizzy! Oh, my dear, dear girl, home safe at last!
Mr. Darcy, however are we to repay you, sir!
" Mrs. Bennet came flying through the door and claimed her daughter in turn, followed swiftly by Lydia, then Mary, then Kitty.
Mrs. Hill came too, and the rest of the household besides, until the hall rang with tears, laughter, and joy on every side, the whole family rejoicing together at Elizabeth Bennet's safe return.
***
Mrs. Bennet ushered Mr. Darcy and the family within, and bestowed upon him what he privately judged the most fervent kiss upon the cheek he had ever received. Her raptures, he began to understand, sprang from feeling deeply in whatever direction the moment took her, whether nerves or joy.
The family gathered in their favourite parlour while Darcy recounted the course of events that had brought them both to Longbourn's door.
Elizabeth noticed he left out a great deal, and was content to let him judge where the line should fall; she knew well enough that her mother, and Lydia and Kitty besides, would carry whatever account they heard to every corner of the neighbourhood before the week was out, and admired the tact with which his version offered a gentler, far more abbreviated telling than the truth.
They answered what questions the family put to them, and Darcy explained his intention to return to London directly, to see the matter properly reported to the authorities. He then requested a private word with Mr. Bennet, which was readily granted.
In the study, Darcy gave a franker account of events, including their stay together at the inn in Wales, before formally asking for Elizabeth's hand, which Mr. Bennet granted at once. Darcy then raised a further matter.
"Should I report that Miss Elizabeth was present with me throughout? Should Wickham and his men be apprehended and brought to trial, she would very likely be called as a witness. I would value your opinion, sir, would you have her lodge a formal complaint, and set down her account in writing?"
Mr. Bennet considered this a moment. "I think that is a decision Elizabeth ought to make for herself."
Darcy found himself admiring the man for it, for declining to decide such a matter on his daughter's behalf without her own judgment first sought. He resolved to remember the example.
Elizabeth was called in, and the matter laid before her plainly.
Should she agree to bear witness, she risked exposing herself, and her family, to gossip and censure by the very nature of the account.
Should she decline, Wickham and his men would escape formal trial for her abduction entirely.
The one path threatened her reputation; the other spared it, at the cost of leaving the crime unanswered.
Weighing the harm on both sides, Elizabeth chose to report the matter and give her account.
Darcy asked her to set down both a formal accusation against Wickham and his men, and a written statement of her own experience.
Once completed, he took the papers into his keeping, to be submitted alongside his own the following day in London.
As evening drew near, Darcy prepared to take his leave of Longbourn, though not before requesting a private word with Elizabeth.
She suggested the garden, where they might find rather more privacy than the house allowed, and even as an engaged couple, a quiet walk together in the family garden was thought perfectly proper by Mrs. Bennet's standards.
They walked to the far end of the garden and around a stand of shrubbery, screening themselves from watchful eyes and listening ears.
"I shall not be gone from you long. I will return the moment I am able. When would you have us married, Elizabeth? I might obtain a special licence, and we could be wed as soon as next week. I think it wisest to have the matter settled well before Wickham is taken."
Her eyebrows rose sharply, though she tried to school her expression. "Next week?"
"Is that too soon? I mean to call upon my solicitors tomorrow regarding the settlement. Once it is drawn up, I shall bring it to your father directly, no more than two days' work, I should think."
"I had rather supposed we might have a somewhat longer engagement, Fitzwilliam."
His shoulders fell slightly at the sting of it, though he schooled his face quickly enough that she might almost have missed it, had she not already learned to watch for such small, telling movements in him.
She had checked his plans more than once already, and each small refusal stung in exactly the same way, a fresh disappointment each time despite his best efforts to expect it.
"You wish for a longer engagement?" He kept his voice carefully even. "May I ask why?"
"I had hoped my aunt and uncle might attend, and I fear so short a notice would not allow it," she explained, looking hopeful.
"How long, then, would you propose?" There was real effort in the question, a visible restraint of the impatience she suspected he would rather have voiced outright.
"Three weeks should answer very well," she added with a darling smile, one that was difficult for Darcy to say ‘no’ to.
Resigned to a fortnight's further wait beyond his own hopes, but relieved it was no longer than that, he judged her proposal a reasonable compromise.
"Very well, three weeks from today, then.
I shall return directly once the settlement is drawn, and if it meets with your father's approval, I will call upon the Meryton vicar myself. Will that suit you, Elizabeth?"
"Yes, my darling man. It will suit very well." She raised her hand to his cheek and pressed a bold kiss to the other.
It was invitation enough. He took her face gently between both hands and kissed her, softly at first, then with growing confidence as he did.
Elizabeth marvelled at how thoroughly she delighted in being so soundly kissed by him, and when at last he drew back, she pulled him to her once more, startling him entirely, before he gathered her fully into his arms and kissed her again, deeper still, if such a thing were possible.