Darcy in Want of a Wife

Chapter 38

The Library

Longbourn

Evening

It was a cool night at Longbourn, especially for late July, and the fire that burned low in the library hearth was most welcome for the two gentlemen in the room. Mr. Bennet’s face was lined with exhaustion, his eyes weary as he stared into the crackling flames, while Darcy sat with his hand upon his chin in a pensive expression. Neither of them had spoken in quite some time, as they relished the quiet and calm of the library after a truly exhausting day.

The door opened, and Elizabeth stepped into the room.

“Sit down, my dear,” Mr. Bennet said, gesturing to the wingbacked chair nearest the fire. “How is Mary?”

“She is well enough,” Elizabeth replied, though her forehead remained slightly wrinkled.

“You are certain?” Bennet asked.

Elizabeth blew out a breath and said, “She is unharmed physically, save for a bruise on her arm from Wickham clutching her. Mamma is hovering over her now, offering endless cups of hot tea and raspberry tarts, and Kitty will spend the night with Mary to reassure her if she should wake up. I expect it will take some time for her to recover her equanimity, or perhaps not; I confess to being full of astonished admiration for my little sister. She displayed such courage!”

“She did indeed,” Darcy agreed solemnly

“Lizzy, while you were helping Mary settle in her chamber, Darcy formally asked for your hand in marriage, and of course, I gave him my blessing. I am confident you will be very happy together, my dear, though I will miss you here at Longbourn.”

Elizabeth rose gracefully to her feet and walked over to her father, leaned down, pecked him on the cheek, and said, “Thank you, Father. I know we will be happy as well.”

She returned to her seat and sank down with a sigh. “While I want to marry Fitzwilliam more than anything else in the world, I am worried for our family’s honor and good name. By the grace of God, and Mary’s courage, my sister is safe, but given that everyone in the area knows that she was abducted, there will be gossip, and yes, scandal.”

“You and I will marry,” Darcy said flatly. “I refuse to allow Wickham to destroy our happiness. Nor do I think a scandal is inevitable; your friends and neighbors know of Mary’s honor and virtue, and I hope most will blame the appropriate party. I am most concerned about the unknown figures behind this abduction. Who paid off Wickham’s debts? Who provided the funds for the carriage and the horses? Wickham has nothing, and Mrs. Younge, while not impoverished, is not likely to have much in the way of spare coin.”

“Who is this Mrs. Younge?” Mr. Bennet demanded. “What kind of woman helps a villain steal away an innocent young woman?”

Darcy grimaced and said, “She has done it before. She was my young sister’s governess, and during a holiday at Ramsgate a year ago, she conspired with Wickham to convince Georgiana to elope with him to Scotland for a marriage over the anvil. By chance, I arrived in time to prevent it, but it was a near miss for my little sister.”

“What a despicable woman!” Bennet said harshly.

Elizabeth, who had heard the story before, nodded sympathetically and said, “She is, and I think you are correct, Fitzwilliam; she cannot be the mastermind of the plot. For one, she is not wealthy. Mary says that Wickham and Mrs. Younge spoke together of their benefactor as a ‘she’, and thus my guess is that the woman in question is either Lady Catherine de Bourgh or Caroline Bingley, both of whom have their reasons for attempting to separate us.”

Darcy looked on his fiancée with admiration. It was truly a gift to converse with a woman whose mind moved as rapidly as his own. “I quite agree, and while Miss Bingley is a possibility, I am more inclined to think it is my aunt. She is much wealthier than Miss Bingley and far more imperious.”

“You believe your aunt is behind this dreadful plot?” Bennet demanded in a bewildered tone.

“I fear so,” Darcy said. “She is furious that I will not marry her daughter, Anne, though my cousin has no interest in marrying me either. I am confident that we can investigate this matter and learn the definite identity of our enemy, but the first order of business is to limit the scandal associated with Mary’s ordeal.”

“How?” Elizabeth demanded.

Darcy turned and grinned down at her. “I have a truly wonderful idea.”

/

Study

Matlock House

London

Three Days Later

It was a warm day in London, the summer sun beaming down through the window panes to illuminate the floorboards of the study. It was windy, and the window frames rattled intermittently with every gust. Lord Matlock sat behind the sturdy desk, facing his second son, with a pair of brandy-filled glasses between them.

Lord Matlock rubbed his forehead and grimaced. “Richard, you know that I have always supported your military career, but you have done your duty for king and country. I understand that you are currently stationed in London, but with Napoleon battling over Portugal and Spain, we are worried you will be sent overseas again. Richard, your mother and I do not wish for you to return to the Peninsula; will you not sell out?”

Colonel Fitzwilliam shook his head. “Father, I appreciate your concern, but I have neither the temperament nor the income to live an idle life.”

Matlock randomly moved a paperweight on his desk and said, “I am open to increasing your allowance.”

Richard sighed and wrinkled his nose. “Thank you, Father, but I know myself too well; I need to be productive in some way, or I will grow restless and start overspending.”

“You could marry an heiress and busy yourself with a wife and, eventually, children.”

“I would like to marry an heiress but, while I am not as picky as Darcy, I confess that I am not attracted to any of the ladies who will accept me. I find Lady Audrey Galpin quite enticing, but she will not wed a mere second son.”

His father sighed and nodded just as the door opened and the butler entered with a familiar, and unwelcome, guest in his wake.

“Lady Catherine de Bourgh,” the butler announced and withdrew.

Father and son exchanged longsuffering glances, and both rose slowly to their feet.

“Catherine,” Lord Matlock said in a weary tone. “I thought you were at Rosings.”

“I was, but I was forced to journey here this morning because it is absolutely imperative that we prevent Darcy from offering for Elizabeth Bennet.”

Matlock rolled his eyes heavenward and said, “Catherine, we have already spoken of this; I will do my best to discourage...”

“The Bennets are ruined!” his sister interrupted him, her eyes glittering with triumph. “One of their daughters ran off with a disreputable scoundrel a few days ago!”

Richard jerked in surprise. “ What ?”

“You heard me! One of the many Bennet girls ran off with a rogue and is ruined, and her family with her. I depend on you, Brother, to speak to Darcy and forbid him from ruining his name, and ours, by allying himself with such a dissolute family!”

Richard narrowed his eyes and demanded, “How do you know that one of the Misses Bennet ran away?”

His aunt straightened her back, lifted her chin, and said haughtily, “You are aware that my parson’s wife was born and bred in Hertfordshire, within a mile of the Bennet estate of Longbourn. Given this appalling situation regarding Darcy, I have made a point of obtaining news from Mrs. Collins about the Bennets. She received a letter on the matter only yesterday.”

Richard and his father exchanged alarmed glances, and the elder man sighed deeply. “This does sound like a most regrettable plight. Sit down, Catherine, and tell me...”

The door opened again to reveal the butler, followed by a familiar gentleman and a petite lady on his arm, both dressed in traveling attire.

“Darcy! Miss Bennet!” Matlock exclaimed in relief. “Thank God you are here! Lady Catherine claims that Miss Bennet’s family is enmeshed in scandal. Is this true?”

“It is not,” Darcy said coldly.

“Do not lie to us!” his aunt snarled. “Miss Bennet’s sister has run away with an unmarried man. Her family is ruined.”

Darcy and Elizabeth glanced at one another, and the latter said, “It seems that you were correct.”

“I did not wish to be,” Darcy replied heavily and then turned such a furious face on his aunt that the lady actually retreated an inch before recovering herself.

“It is not my fault that Miss Bennet’s sister is a strumpet!” she snarled.

“May I inquire, Lady Catherine, where you obtained your information about our family’s problems?” Elizabeth asked silkily.

“I learned it from Mrs. Collins, my rector’s wife, who is, as you well know, a native of the little town you live nearby! It was her mother, I believe, who wrote of your sister’s disgraceful behavior. Indeed, given her perversion in running away with a man outside the blessing of matrimony, I am shocked and horrified that you dare to show your face here, Miss Bennet!”

“It is not Miss Bennet anymore,” Darcy said and lifted Elizabeth’s ungloved hand to show the ring on her finger. “Elizabeth and I were married yesterday!”

/

Meryton Church

Longbourn

The Day Before

Elizabeth Bennet stood in the vestibule of the church, with a bouquet of white lilies held before her in both hands. She was wearing her finest gown, made of pale green chiffon and edged with lace.

Behind her waited Jane Bingley, dressed in light pink and looking expectantly toward the door which led to the sanctuary. On her right was Mr. Bennet, waiting quietly to walk his favorite daughter down the aisle.

“You truly think I should be marrying in such haste, Father?” Elizabeth demanded nervously, clutching her bouquet in slightly sweaty hands.

Mr. Bennet, dressed in his finest evening attire, smiled a little sadly and said, “Lizzy, my darling girl, do you love Mr. Darcy?”

“With all my heart and soul, Papa.”

“Then there is no reason to wait, none at all.”

She felt her entire body relax, and she lifted a beaming face to his. “You are right, Father. There is absolutely no reason to wait.”

Music started from the sanctuary beyond the closed doors, and Jane said, “Shall we enter within?”

Elizabeth’s breath caught in her throat as she nodded, and she placed a hand on her father’s arm. Before them, a servant opened the double doors, and the three of them began to walk into the sanctuary.

It had been a whirlwind of activity for all of them to arrange the wedding on such short notice. Jane and Mr. Bingley had arrived only two days earlier at Netherfield and had assisted with preparation for the wedding breakfast. Due to their condensed time frame, Elizabeth had been unable to purchase a new gown for the ceremony, but that bothered her not a whit. Her mother, of course, had been horrified that her second daughter would have no wedding clothes, but she had been placated at the reminder that Darcy was incredibly wealthy, and would buy his wife whatever she wished.

Darcy himself had met with Mr. Phillips, Elizabeth’s uncle and a solicitor, in order to arrange the marriage settlements, and had also obtained a common license to bypass the calling of the banns.

Mr. Bingley had sent a letter by express to the Hursts, asking after Caroline and whether she was still in Scarborough. The entire situation with Mary had them all on edge, and they wished to rule out any involvement by Caroline in what happened.

While Darcy was not, of course, certain that Lady Catherine was behind Mary’s abduction, he knew that she would raise a fuss when she heard of Mary’s ordeal. Given that Mrs. Collins lived near Lady Catherine, and that Lady Lucas was a gossip, it was inevitable that the news would reach Hunsford sooner rather than later.

Thus, it was sensible to have the wedding now; once Elizabeth was a Darcy, Lord Matlock would be forced to stand with them in their attempts to squash any scandal regarding Mary and her family of birth.

It was not a large wedding, with only the Bennet family, the married Bingleys, and Georgiana and Mrs. Annesley in attendance. Mrs. Bennet sat beaming in the front row with Kitty and Mary seated beside her, her hands clasped to her chest as she watched her second daughter approach her soon-to-be groom. It was obvious to all that she was thrilled; first her eldest had wed the owner of the largest estate in the area, and now her second daughter was marrying the master of Pemberley.

Mary was seated between her mother and Kitty, a small smile on her face as she watched the wedding procession go by. She looked well, her cheeks flushed with healthy color, though there were slight shadows under her eyes due to recurring nightmares.

Georgiana Darcy and Mrs. Annesley sat across the aisle from the Bennet clan. Darcy did not want his extended family to be aware of his sudden marriage, but Elizabeth knew that her fiancé, soon to be her husband, could not imagine marrying without his beloved sister in attendance. Miss Darcy had arrived only yesterday and spent the night at Netherfield, and Darcy and Elizabeth had snatched a few precious minutes to ask for the girl’s blessing. This, Georgiana had provided with alacrity. Elizabeth was already very fond of the girl and was confident they would grow as close as sisters in the days and months and years to come.

As they approached the rector, Elizabeth’s gaze lifted to Mr. Darcy, standing before the pulpit and dressed in fine evening attire. His dark eyes were full of passion and intensity as he watched her come closer, and Elizabeth felt a thrill of delight go through her chest as her father placed her hand on her groom’s forearm.

The couple turned to face the aged Mr. Allen, who had served as rector of this church for as long as Elizabeth could remember.

The clergyman beamed down at them and then turned toward the great book set on a lectern, and began the old, familiar words of the marriage ceremony.

“ Dearly beloved ,” he began, “ we are gathered together here in the sight of God and in the face of this company of witnesses to join together this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony… ”