by Bella Breen
Elizabeth squeezed Mr. Darcy’s hand. Her uncle, even in the midst of his sorrow, showed concern for Mr. Darcy’s pain. One good thing out of this travesty was that Mr. Darcy would see that not all her relations were lacking in good breeding and behavior.
Mr. Darcy nodded to Mr. Gardiner. “Thank you. You have been setting out by yourself these past days then?”
Mr. Gardiner shared a look with his wife. “I have been searching for them myself, yes.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Did Papa not help you search?”
Mr. Gardiner flattened his lips. “Let us focus on the present.”
Elizabeth was embarrassed. Her father had not even helped with the search for Lydia! Unfortunately, her eyes were being opened to her father’s lazy style of parenting and running of his estate’s lands. Thanks to her marriage to Mr. Darcy, she knew how a conscientious landowner should behave. She loved her father, but she was quite angry with him.
“If I may be so bold to offer a suggestion, why do you not stay here and I will take up the search? I might know where the governess is living in London. She may still be in contact with George Wickham.”
Mr. Gardiner bowed his head. “You may indeed offer suggestions. That is very kind of you to offer to search for your sister-in-law. However, I feel it is my duty as her uncle”—at that Elizabeth flushed, embarrassed at her father again—“to do my best to find her.”
“I would expect nothing less from you, Mr. Gardiner. However, you have a family and business that has been without your attention since you have been searching by yourself for several days?” Mr. Gardiner gave a short nod. “Then let me take over and allow you to spend time where you may. Let me do that as Lydia is my sister-in-law and I unfortunately am well acquainted with George Wickham.”
“Let me not stand in your way, Mr. Darcy. It is kind of you to do this for such an ungrateful niece.” Mr. Gardiner looked at Elizabeth. “I am sorry for stating that, Elizabeth, but it is true. Lydia has wanted for propriety for some time.”
Elizabeth flushed and looked down at the floor. Mr. Darcy reached for her hand and squeezed. It was embarrassing to have her family’s faults on display to her new husband, the very same husband she had chewed out for even uttering those faults to her during his first marriage proposal. And again, he was right.
Chapter 34
Elizabeth helped Mrs. Gardiner with the children, which gave her a rest from dealing with things by herself while Mr. Gardiner had been searching for Lydia. Thinking of searching for Lydia brought Mr. Darcy to mind. She was so proud of him. He was ten times the man she had thought him to be. A thousand times the man that George Wickham would ever be.
Elizabeth sighed. She used to think her father was the ideal man, but compared to Mr. Darcy he was lazy and not a good estate manager. It was hard to face the truth about her father.
After Elizabeth had helped for several hours, she finally had time to write Jane with an update. She could not imagine how Jane was dealing with the histrionics of their mother and laissez-faire attitude of their father. Elizabeth knew that if she had been at home, she would have gone stark raving mad by now. Hopefully, Jane was not at that point yet.
Elizabeth was also worried about Mr. Bingley. Had he even stopped by? Was he even interested in Jane anymore? Elizabeth shook her head. That Lydia! “She cares of nothing but herself. She probably has no idea what she has done and how it has ruined the entire family. If she does know she probably does not care.”
Again she was angry at her father for having ignored her and Jane’s pleas to discipline Lydia, and for having ignored the express letter Elizabeth sent to tell him the dangers of sending Lydia to Brighton. And so her fears came to pass though she had not realized how badly Lydia would behave. Elizabeth shook her head.
They had not heard from Mr. Darcy all day and it was now past supper. They had held it for as long as they could, but the children were hungry and it could not be delayed anymore. The talk over supper was stilted. The children knew something was going on but of course they did not know what. They did ask if their cousin Jane would also join them like cousin Elizabeth had. Elizabeth certainly hoped not. There was nothing for Elizabeth and Jane to do regarding the search for Lydia.
With supper over they all retired to the drawing room. It was an evening ritual for Mr. Gardiner to read a chapter of a book. They were sitting in the drawing room when the front door opened to admit Mr. Darcy. She could not tell from his countenance whether he had found them. She did not want to ask in front of the children, either.
Mr. Darcy looked around and nodded at Mr. Gardiner. “Mr. Gardiner, if I may speak to you in your study?”
Elizabeth walked around the sofa to Mr. Darcy. He gave her a quick hug and kiss. He glanced at the servant, then gave a small nod to Elizabeth. She smiled and squeezed Mr. Darcy in another hug. He had found them!
Mr. Darcy and her uncle walked into the study and closed the door. Elizabeth’s spirits were high again. She was so relieved. She did not know whether Lydia was married but she knew it would happen soon now that Mr. Darcy had found them. She was in such good spirits that she picked up the book and took up reading where Mr. Gardiner had left off.
The men were in the study for so long that the children had taken their baths and been put to bed. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy would stay at the Darcy townhouse of course. She was so sleepy though that she rested her head on the sofa just for a second.
“Elizabeth? Elizabeth?”
She felt herself being shaken. Traveling in the carriage was awful but not as bad as the last time. This time the carriage felt much more comfortable, and she seemed to have a pillow under her head.
“Elizabeth, wake up.”
Elizabeth opened her eyes to find that she was not in the carriage but in the Gardiners’ drawing room. She turned her head and found Mr. Darcy leaning over her. “Oh. You found her, right? I did not dream that?”
Mr. Darcy gave her a small smile. “Come let us get in the carriage and go home. I will tell you on the way.”
Elizabeth stood with Mr. Darcy’s help. Her aunt had already gone to bed as it was so late. She gave a hug to her uncle and then left with Mr. Darcy, who looked exhausted.
“Did you have to search all day for them?”
Mr. Darcy shook his head. “No. I went directly to where the governess used to live and she lived there still. She did indeed know where George Wickham and Lydia were, though it took some effort and money to get the address from her.”
“Money? Did she not know that a genteel young woman had been taken away by George Wickham?”
Mr. Darcy turned his head to Elizabeth. “Remember the evil side of mankind? It is not solely men’s territory.”
Elizabeth eyes widened.
“I went to the address she provided and George Wickham answered the door. He tried to block me from entering, but he had never been one for sticking to good habits and I easily overpowered him. Lydia refused to leave him. I am sorry to say this about your sister, Elizabeth, but she is acceptable with the fact that they have not married yet. Nor does George Wickham seem to be inclined to marry her at all.” Elizabeth gasped. “I am sorry that pains you.” Mr. Darcy held Elizabeth’s hand.
“But Lydia’s letter said they had intended to marry when they left Brighton. What happened?”
Mr. Darcy shook his head and shrugged. At least that is what it looked like in the dim light of the carriage. “I do not know. They are playing house right now though he is in dire straits financially. As usual.”
“How can we force him to marry her? Does Lydia not understand what this is doing to her reputation and that of her family?”
“I do not think she does. I told her how worried her family was, but she cut me off and said she was having a great adventure and they were just jealous.” Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open. “When I tried to instill upon her the irreparable harm she was doing her unmarried sisters and her family name in general, it did not seem to register.”
Eliz
abeth sat back in the carriage, aghast. She had never thought for one second that Lydia would act this bad. Elizabeth slowly shook her head with her mouth still open. She could not believe it. How could they even be related? How did they even grow up in the same family?
“I have a list of George Wickham’s debts. If I pay those off and present him a dowry of a certain amount for Lydia, he will marry her and move somewhere far away from Longbourn and Pemberley.”
Elizabeth closed her mouth. “Not only has he absconded with my sister, your sister-in-law, but he is demanding that you pay his debts! What... what...” Elizabeth knew no words strong enough for what a cad Wickham was.
“Yes, I understand and agree completely. It is an embarrassment how little he asked for after his debts are covered.”
Elizabeth looked at her husband. “How much did he ask for? How much is the total? I hope Papa can pay it.”
Mr. Darcy moved his arm in a sweeping motion. “I am her brother-in-law. I know that I have more funds than your family, not to disparage your parents. Plus it is my obligation since I did not make George Wickham’s perfidy known. No, Elizabeth, do not try to argue me out of this. I will take care of his debts and provide a dowry for Lydia. They will be married tomorrow by special license.”
Elizabeth had so many conflicting emotions. She was so angry at Lydia’s selfishness and utter lack of remorse, angry at how fooled they all were by Wickham, angry that Mr. Darcy had to be around Wickham again after what he tried to do to Georgiana, and happiness that Lydia and Wickham were going to be married though angry at them having to be forced into marriage. She shook her head and leaned in to give her husband a hug.
“Even though they both do not deserve it, I thank you so much for what you have done for them.”
Mr. Darcy held Elizabeth. “I did not do it for them. I thought only of you.”
Chapter 35
Elizabeth did not sleep well that night. It was hard for her to sleep with the knowledge she now had of her youngest sister. Mr. Darcy left early in the morning to take care of Wickham’s debts in Meryton by mailing a cheque to Longbourn. He ran errands in London to settle Wickham’s debts there. Then he went to his bank and had a cheque drawn up for Lydia’s dowry. After the wedding, and not before, he would hand the cheque to George Wickham. Mr. and Mrs. Wickham would then immediately leave for the north. Mr. Wickham had, through the only friends that man must have left, managed to get a position in a shipyard up north in Scotland.
Mr. Darcy had finished the errands and had just enough time to rush inside the townhouse and change his clothes from ones that were covered in the dust and grime from the unsavory parts of London. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy traveled to the Gardiners’ house where Elizabeth was dropped off. She would travel to the wedding with her aunt and uncle.
Mr. Darcy had the task of bringing the two most selfish reprobates in all of England to their wedding. Mr. Darcy had two outriders accompany him to where Wickham and Lydia were staying. The extra men were there to provide an incentive to Wickham and Lydia to actually go to the church and get married. Mr. Darcy did not trust them one whit.
Mr. Darcy’s severe countenance had no impact on either of them during the ride to the church. Lydia behaved with a distinct lack of decorum. Her behavior did not reflect that she had to be forced to get married to the man she had run off with.
George Wickham also behaved egregiously. “Well, Fitzwilliam, we shall be brothers again.”
Mr. Darcy ignored him. Wickham was referring to when they had been younger and played together at Pemberley. That was before George Wickham’s true nature started to show and Mr. Darcy wanted nothing to do with him.
Wickham was not done taunting Mr. Darcy though. “You have one sister and I have another. I feel sorry for you, Fitzwilliam, because I have got the younger daughter. She is definitely much more—”
Mr. Darcy could hold back no longer. “Think of what you will say next very carefully. I will not allow anyone to malign my wife, especially you.”
Having succeeded in drawing Mr. Darcy’s ire, George Wickham beamed and draped his arm around Lydia. He then continued to pull her close, right on his lap. Mr. Darcy looked away out the carriage window. The sooner he could be away from these two, the better.
When the carriage pulled up at the church, Mr. Darcy did not even glance at them, so quickly did he bound out of the carriage. He stood in front of the church pulling his jacket sleeves down when he realized he did not hear the two leaving the carriage. He turned around to find the footman staring inside the carriage. Mr. Darcy did not walk any closer because he feared what he would see. “George Wickham! Get out of that carriage immediately before I have you thrown out.”
Lydia giggled, and a moment passed then George Wickham came out of the carriage proud as a peacock. Wickham held his hand out for Lydia, who stepped out of the carriage. She smiled jauntily at Mr. Darcy then walked up the steps to the church with her intended. Mr. Darcy closed his eyes and counted to ten. In Latin. And then French. He finally opened his eyes and walked up the steps to attend the most sacrilegious wedding of the century.
There were few attendees of the travesty of a wedding. Mr. Darcy walked down the aisle and slipped in to a pew next to Elizabeth. So gratified was he to see his wife, a woman of strong moral character, that he had to fight the urge to wrap her in a hug and not let go. He instead held her hand. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were present without their children.
“Where are all the people? Where is my family?”
No one answered Lydia. Her complete and utter lack of self-awareness still astonished Elizabeth. As they were in church Elizabeth looked down and bit her lip so that she would not say anything.
George Wickham and Lydia Bennet were quickly married. Wickham signed the marriage certificate with a flourish and then immediately held out his hand for his cheque from Mr. Darcy. Lydia should have been embarrassed at her husband’s behavior but it did not even register with her. Mr. Darcy handed the dowry check over and the Wickhams immediately left. Lydia continued to behave as if this were a lark.
On the steps of the church Mr. Gardiner turned to Mr. Darcy and thanked him for what he had done to get them there.
“Say nothing of it. It is only what I should have done.”
Mr. Gardiner shook his head. “Mr. Darcy, that is why you are a man and that cad is not.”
Elizabeth hugged her aunt and uncle and waved goodbye as they got in their carriage to travel back to their house. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy climbed into their carriage and traveled back to their townhouse. It did not take much time to pack as they had barely even opened their trunks. Then they were back in the carriage for another trip.
Mr. Darcy surprised Elizabeth the night before with their destination. They would travel to Longbourn for an overdue visit.
Elizabeth smiled. “Thank you, Fitzwilliam. I cannot imagine that you would want to be around my family after what we witnessed this sennight. I will not mind if you spend the majority of the trip at Netherfield with Mr. Bingley.”
The visit would not be a surprise to Elizabeth’s family as she had penned a quick letter sent by express to her father. It was never a good idea to surprise her mother. Mrs. Bennet’s nerves could not handle it.
The trip was not long compared to the distance they had traveled from Pemberley to London. Indeed they arrived at Longbourn before supper. Elizabeth was excited to see her family at last. The Bennets all looked expectantly at the Darcys as they stepped out of the carriage. Elizabeth’s family had received the news by express that Lydia had been found and was to be married. But what they did not know were the details of the wedding.
Elizabeth climbed down from the carriage to a quick hug from Mrs. Bennet. She was not her mother’s favorite child—Lydia and then Jane were her favorites—but Mrs. Bennet was happy that another one of her daughters was married. “Oh, look at you all married. Greetings to you as well, Mr. Darcy. I am only sad that Lydia and her new husband, George Wickham, could not visit as wel
l. What a fine match that is. Well, come in and tell us about the wedding.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes, embarrassed at her mother’s behavior. She was sure her mother did not mean her own wedding, but Lydia’s. Elizabeth opened her eyes to find her father had aged greatly since she had left for Rosings Park just several weeks ago.
“My daughter Lizzy, I am glad to see you again.” He enveloped his favorite daughter in a hug. “You had a great insight, and I ignored you. Both you and Jane did.”
He squeezed Elizabeth’s shoulders and then stood tall and addressed Elizabeth’s husband. “Mr. Gardiner wrote and advised me of the great debt we owe you. I am—”
“Mr. Bennet, please. We are family now.” After a moment Mr. Bennet nodded to Mr. Darcy and squeezed his shoulder, then turned and walked into Longbourn.
Elizabeth was sad to see that her father walked as if he had aged a decade since she last saw him. All her anger at him evaporated. She shared a glance with Mr. Darcy.
Elizabeth then smiled at Jane who approached and enveloped her in a hug. “I am so glad you are here, Lizzy. Even if only for a short stay.”
“I wish I could be here longer, but I am not sure how long we can stay.”
Jane let go of Elizabeth. “No matter how little time it is, I will cherish it.” Elizabeth squeezed her hands.
She greeted her younger sisters and Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth walked together into Longbourn, followed by Jane, Mary, and Kitty bringing up the rear.
They were all settled in the drawing room when Mrs. Bennet brought up the subject most dear to her heart. “Now tell us all about the wedding! What was Lydia wearing and what flowers did she have? I wrote to my brother of the best houses to get her dress—”
“Mama!” Jane’s call interrupted their mother from continuing her questions, but not for long.
“Jane, I do not know why you stop me? You know I have been waiting on tenterhooks to hear of dear Lydia’s wedding!” Mrs. Bennet turned to Elizabeth. “Now, tell me—”
