Darcy in Want of a Wife

Chapter 11

Library

Longbourn

Half an Hour Later

Mr. Bennet glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece and released a sigh of contentment. It was not yet time for bed. His book was particularly interesting, and the house had been silent for some while now. He really ought to send Lydia to her bedchamber more often! He had been sufficiently annoyed by his youngest daughter’s outburst that he had ordered her that she be served dinner on a tray in her room. Thus, conversation at the dinner table had flourished as Jane and Elizabeth were able to speak, which resulted in far more sensible conversation than usual.

The door opened, and Mr. Stewart stepped into the room with Mr. Darcy at his heels. Bennet’s surprise gave way to amazement when he realized that Darcy was holding firmly onto Lydia’s arm, and the girl wore an expression of indignant fury.

“What is this, then?” he demanded in bewilderment, rising to his feet.

Darcy hesitated and glanced at Stewart. “Perhaps we could speak in private, Mr. Bennet?”

Incredulity gave way to anxiety. What was going on?

“Of course. Mr. Stewart, kindly leave us and close the door behind you.”

The butler withdrew obediently, shutting the door behind him, and Darcy finally released his grip on the youngest Miss Bennet.

“Mr. Bennet,” Darcy said baldly, “less than an hour ago, I discovered your daughter Lydia at Mr. Harding’s house in Meryton, where she attempted to free Lieutenant George Wickham, who is locked up for indebtedness.”

Bennet stared at Darcy in disbelief and blurted, “ What ?”

“Apparently, Miss Lydia has a tendre for Mr. Wickham, and she made her way to Meryton and Mr. Harding’s house. I stopped her as she was trying to free him from his room.”

Bennet had a most peculiar sensation, as if he were on the deck of a ship, with the waves tossing him to and fro. Surely it was impossible that…

“Lydia?” he demanded, and his voice sounded odd in his own ears. “Is this true?”

“It is!” the girl spat furiously. “I love Mr. Wickham more than any of the other officers, and I am confident that given time, he would have loved me in return! It is not fair! All Mamma wishes for is that Jane is to marry rich Mr. Bingley! It is not Mr. Wickham’s fault that he is poor, and he would have made me happy, and no one cares for me at all, and…”

“Silence!” Bennet snapped, having recovered sufficiently to speak. “You will be silent!”

Lydia retreated a step as if she had been slapped, and Bennet stalked over to grab her by the arm and push her into a chair near the fire. “Do not speak another word,” he ordered.

The girl opened her mouth and then, apparently genuinely intimidated, closed it, though her expression was stormy.

Bennet turned toward Darcy, struggling to remain calm. “Mr. Darcy, you have my immense gratitude for returning my daughter here. Do you … who else knows about this matter, sir?”

“Mr. Harding knows, as does Bingley’s coachman, and your butler, sir. Harding assured me that he will hold his tongue, and I believe Bingley’s coachman to be an honorable man. I, of course, will not breathe a word of the matter.”

“Our butler is discreet and faithful as well,” Bennet said gruffly. “I appreciate your discretion. Certainly, Wickham himself may tell someone what happened before he is carried away from Meryton.”

“Harding seems a good man,” Darcy said, “and I think the servants are well aware now of Wickham’s lying tongue.”

“I hope so,” Bennet said wearily.

“I am certain you wish me gone,” Darcy said, glancing at the clock, which showed it was but half an hour until midnight. “God’s blessings on you, sir.”

“I need them,” Bennet said grimly. “Good night, Mr. Darcy.”

/

Library

Half An Hour Later

Elizabeth more fell than sat in the chair across from her youngest sister, her heart beating fast.

“You did not,” she said numbly. “Lydia, surely you did not creep out of Longbourn and walk down the main street of Meryton in the dark and try to release Mr. Wickham.?”

“Of course I did!” Lydia snapped, her pretty face flushed with a mixture of anger and resentment and, perhaps, a vestige of fear. “All anyone cares about in this house are Jane and Mr. Bingley, who…”

“How did you imagine you would steal away?” Elizabeth interrupted, shaking her head. “Aside from the sheer stupidity, where did you think you would go in the middle of the night?”

Lydia glanced at her reticule, which was lying on the floor near her, and Mr. Bennet picked it up, opened it, and reached within to pull out a bag which jingled.

“Where did you get this money?” he demanded dangerously. “I know you have nothing left of your allowance.”

Lydia hesitated and then said, “I took it from Kitty’s room, but she did not need it as much as I did, and I was desperate. I could not wait and…”

“Be silent, Lydia,” Bennet ordered and turned a pale face on his second child. “Lizzy, I cannot think clearly at the moment and invite your suggestions. What are we to do with Lydia?”

“What do you mean, what are you going to do with me?” Lydia demanded. “I have done nothing wrong. Why should rich men be able to cruelly lock away poor men?”

“You nearly ruined us all.” Elizabeth snapped. “Indeed, you may yet have ruined us all! Lydia, did it never occur to you that if people learn that you attempted to free and run away with Wickham, people will assume that you and he are…”

She trailed away, and Lydia said, with a wrinkled brow, “Assume what?”

Elizabeth closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe in and out, calmly, before saying, “Assume that you and he are intimate.”

“As in, that we have had…,” Lydia began in amazement. She seemed genuinely startled at this suggestion, which gave Elizabeth some hope. Perhaps her little sister was merely being ridiculously na?ve?

A moment later, all hope fled that her sister had any sense at all.

“I hope that someone did see me,” Lydia said defiantly. “If so, Mr. Wickham and I will have to be married. Indeed, it would be a great joke if I were to marry first!”

“Father,” Elizabeth said, shaking her head in exasperation. “My suggestion is that Lydia be locked in her room for the night, and we discuss this matter in the morning when we are rested. We are all tired, and I cannot be sensible or wise at the moment.”

Bennet scowled hideously at his youngest daughter but nodded. “Very well, Lizzy. That is wise.”

/

Library

The Next Morning

Mid Morning

“We will have to send her away,” Bennet said grimly, marching up and down the carpet. “She cannot be permitted to ruin us all.”

Elizabeth, who had slept only a few hours, and battled unquiet dreams, took a sip of hot tea and turned toward the fire, which was built up to send welcome heat throughout the library.

“Send her where?” she asked wearily.

Bennet stalked up and down the room for another minute and then stopped and turned toward his second and favorite daughter.

“I do not know,” he confessed. “Away to school? Perhaps Kitty could go as well?”

Elizabeth blew out a breath and gestured to the seat across from her own. “Do sit down, Father. I know you are tired.”

He did so, sagged against the back of the chair, and groaned. “I realize this is my fault, Lizzy. I have been far too lenient with her. Lenient, and lazy. I have no excuse, nor, given how much trouble she has caused, I cannot imagine why I, an intelligent man, did not do anything earlier about her.”

“I believe it is because you would rather laugh at your wife and daughters than teach them to behave in a sensible way,” Elizabeth said coolly.

This provoked a look of astonishment from her father, followed by a tilt of the head. “Are you angry at me, Elizabeth?”

His daughter tightened her lips and looked at the dancing flames in the fireplace before turning back. “I am a little angry, yes. Lydia has been out of control for many years, and you have done nothing to rein her in. I also know that Lydia has a very strong will, and our mother coddles her. It would have likely been a pitched battle if you had tried to clamp down on Lydia, and I understand why you did not attempt it.”

Silence fell again for two minutes, and then Mr. Bennet said, “Thank you for your honesty. You are correct; I enjoy poking fun at others, and have not mustered the energy to discipline your sister and keep your mother from spoiling her. I am sorry.”

“You must not be too severe on yourself. Moreover, at this point it hardly matters. On thinking it over, I agree with you that Lydia would do well at school, and perhaps Kitty too, though not, I believe, at the same one.”

Bennet pinched his nose with two restless fingers. “Why not?”

“Because,” his daughter said patiently, “Kitty always followed Lydia into mischief. Indeed, I think she could very well stay home, as she would probably begin following me and Mary, and we are both capable of teaching her to behave better. Lydia, and the militia officers, are the primary disturbers of her good judgement.”

“That is true.”

The door opened to reveal Jane, with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy at her heels, and Elizabeth stiffened in alarm. Jane’s face was wan and her eyes puffy, while the gentlemen looked solemn.

“Mother and Kitty left for Meryton a few minutes ago,” Miss Bennet said softly. “I convinced my mother that I needed additional lace for my bonnet. Of course…”

She trailed off and turned toward her fiancé and held out her hands. “Charles,” she said haltingly, “this … this dreadful behavior of Lydia’s – the near scandal – I will release you from your engagement if…”

“No!” Bingley replied instantly, reaching out to grasp her hands in his own firm grip. “Perish the thought, my dear Jane. You are refining too much on this matter. Indeed, there is no scandal; thanks to Darcy, no one is the wiser save for a few trusted individuals. Wickham will be carried to London as soon as possible, and Lydia’s reputation, and your family’s, will be as pure as driven snow. Please do not worry about it, my love.”

Jane smiled, a little tremulously, and turned to his friend. “Mr. Darcy, I know I speak for all of us; thank you for saving my young sister, not just from a rogue but from open scandal in our town.”

Darcy nodded and said, “It was my honor, of course. Moreover, I beg you to realize that, as foolish as Miss Lydia was, she is not the first young woman to be tricked by Wickham. He has ruined more than one girl who lives near Pemberley, and I only regret that I did not intercede earlier. The truth is that my loyalty to my own father, who loved Wickham, caused me to stay my hand far too long. Please do not worry about Miss Lydia; I understand that he has a strangely magnetic pull on young ladies, which causes them to cast aside any sense and discretion. I am confident that in time, she will settle down.”

Elizabeth, who had listened to this recitation in astonishment, was well aware that Lydia was a fool, and had little delicacy. It was kind of Darcy to explain more of his history with the former militia lieutenant, and it was even kinder to be generous about Lydia’s motivations and character.

Perhaps Mr. Darcy was not so rigid, and unforgiving, and unpleasant a man as she had believed.