Elizabeth told her that she must absolutely not. But she was glad not to have exposed any of the details from Mr. Darcy's letter, as her mother inhaled deeply and swayed. Then she blinked, pulling her eyes tight shut and stretching them wide. Her head shook. She raised a finger and she shook that, too.
“Whatever happens, Lizzy, you must never marry. Never. The very thought of you deserting me makes me physically ill. I cannot bear it. Not for a moment longer. All of the others I should like to see well-settled and as soon as possible. But you, you must resolve that you will stay with me, Lizzy. That is all that there is to be said on the matter.”
The pitch of her voice rose. “Your father has been away about Mr. Collins’ business so long now that I don’t know what’s to become of us. Mr. Collins will work that man’s fingers to the very bone so that if we ever do see him restored to us, he will be a frazzled husk, a desiccated shell. He will be of no use to me and I will be burdened with the care of him into my dotage. What ever is to become of us!”
5
A night of troubled sleep did not clear Elizabeth’s mind. Her resolve was still to decline the proposal but in the note she sent to her uncle, she did not commit to a decision. She asked instead if she might call upon him. His note of reply came quickly and he said that he would be delighted to see her that same afternoon.
Still anxious and unable to quiet her thoughts for the rest of the morning, Elizabeth was unusually withdrawn all through lunch, where she caught hot scowls from her mother’s eye. Her mood dragged and weighed on her until she settled once again in her uncle’s hushed and comforting study, immersed in the winged chair.
Uncle Gardiner smiled and waited for her to speak.
"Uncle, I cannot deny that reading this gentleman's letter had a disturbing effect upon me. For one thing, in the first letter, he does not even commit his own intention to paper. He sends word through the writing of his attorney. There are no words in the note that can be relied upon to have come directly from Mr. Darcy himself."
Uncle Gardiner nodded, but he said, “Colonel Fitzwilliam has an obligation to represent his client fairly. I discussed this point with my own attorney and he assured me that we can rely on the intentions being those of the client. The lawyer would be too much at risk if he were to put a view which differed from that of the gentleman he was representing. Doubly so in such a delicate matter.”
“The proposed enterprise entails some deception, Uncle. He confesses as much.”
“A temporary obscuring of the facts, certainly, and to avoid unwelcome speculation. It involves some of the matters being kept in confidence, it’s true, but for a short time only, Lizzy.”
“Uncle, you know better than most that in the hands of the legal profession, words can be fashioned in all manner of ways such that they can seem to say one thing to one person and mean something quite distinct and another to a different reader.”
“Are you minded not to take up the offer? I could quite understand if you wouldn’t go.” Her uncle sat back in his chair as he spoke. “Should I offer some of my own opinion?”
“Please, Uncle, please do.”
“To be completely frank with you, I hope that you don’t go. The journey itself is strenuous and there are considerable hazards. A boat was lost only last month off the coast of Oregon. Having made the journey south and around the treacherous Cape Horn, they sailed all the way up the west coast and were in sight of Portland when they struck rocks and sank with all hands.”
“I love you for your tender thoughts and your concern, Uncle, but that ship was crewed by drunkards and the passengers were no better accounted for. What you omitted from your telling was that the crew were witnessed to be engaged in a mighty skirmish on deck when they struck a rock. All of those who witnessed the tragic collision said that the rock was well charted and clearly visible.”
“So you do want to go.” He smiled. She smiled back. Uncle Gardiner always knew just how to draw her out. He regarded her intently, “Are you resolved, is your mind is made up on the matter?” he frowned, “Because I should so hate myself if anything were to happen to you, Lizzy, I could absolutely not bear it.”
“No, Uncle, I am not resolved yet.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “But I see no other providence on its way to rescue the family. If this chance can do it, then I should grasp the opportunity, and I will not shrink from it.”
“I know that about you, Lizzy. You have no fear.”
“No fear, Uncle, but I hope that I have sufficient prudence.” she smiled as she thought for a moment. “I do not dread the winds or the waves, neither the rocks or the sharks. I wish though that I had a clearer view of the men on the other side of the continent. They are all the source of my hesitation. Not the perils of the sea but the pitfalls of perfidy.”
“Lizzy, how you do talk.”
“Uncle, you must guide me. There is no-one else I can turn to.”
“Well, Lizzy, what does your mother say? Did you discuss the matter with her?”
“I did. She says that she cannot possibly do without me, Uncle, and I must not go under any condition or circumstance.”
“So, for better or worse, there you have your answer, do you not?”
“I was resolved not to go. It seems too absurd a prospect in every view. Then when Mother reminded me of her reliance upon me, that caused me to hesitate and reconsider.”
“Lizzy, I do see your dilemma. Although she is my sister and she could not be more dear to me, I am aware of her manner and her particularities. Your sister, Jane, did she not express a view to you?”
"Mainly she wished that she were the one going. Mother wishes that she were, too. In fact, she told me that I should instruct the gentleman to take Jane instead of me."
Uncle Gardiner put a hand to his mouth when he could not contain his laugh.
“Uncle, I cannot take this man’s proposal. I will not deny that it has some attractions for me. The adventure of the journey itself would not be the least of them. But I cannot think of leaving my dear sister Jane.”
"Nor your younger sisters? Or your mother?" Uncle Gardiner's eyes sparkled. Elizabeth and he shared a mischievous streak of humor and she knew that he meant to tease her.
Before she could reply he said, “It is a pity that Jane would not like to travel with you. If that were the obstacle, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the gentleman were willing to fund her travel as your companion. It seems as though it might be a perfectly normal request.”
Elizabeth considered the idea. What her uncle suggested could make the proposition much easier to accept, but her own position, whether or not she wanted to go, was still no clearer.
Elizabeth wondered if a solution might become clearer if she approached the problem from another direction. She began, “The gentleman concerned is said to be one of the highest rank and status, by which I gather him to mean that he is quite wealthy. If that is so, I can think of only two reasons why he would not be able to obtain for himself a young lady in the vicinity for himself as a companion with whom to partner, as the colonel puts it.
"First, he may be of such an unpleasant, disagreeable or abusive personality that nobody with any knowledge of him would consent to a union with him for any price at all. Given that he is said to be a man of great means, that would be damning indeed."
“Most certainly. Many young ladies are able to overlook quite considerable faults and deficiencies in consideration of a large fortune. An ill-favored appearance, unseemly manners, even some measures of personal discomfort quite obviously present no obstacle to a rich man gaining the hand of a young lady of the most delightful aspect and disposition. Only this last week–”
“Uncle, please.” A love of gossip was an endearing trait in her uncle, but Elizabeth needed to concentrate and not be distracted.
“Of course. forgive me. And your other possible explanation? You said there could be two obstructions for such a man to find himself a marriage partner.”
“Subterfuge, Unc
le. Underhanded deceit. There may be a concealed motive or purpose which a stranger would not easily detect.”
“Is there another possibility, maybe?”
“Do you have something in mind?”
“You said that in his writing and his words you detected a man of forceful character and deep passion. Might that also suggest that he could be a man of some considerable pride? Could it be that he simply does not wish to be seen by his peers and his neighbors to be casting around for a bride in this fashion? Such a man might not wish to be seen as being in want of anything.”
“Possibly, uncle, but that would still not explain why he is unable to find a bride for himself in his own locality.”
“It might, you know. It could be that a serious man with accomplishments and powerful wealth may still be reticent in approaching members of the fairer sex. He may already have made some attempts and found his needs unsatisfied. Perhaps his trusted friend’s account of a rare and very desirable young lady were enough to stiffen his resolve to a less conventional approach.”
“Of course you are right, uncle. Your advice is as wise as it always is. I knew that I could count on you. I shall instruct him that our union will be conditional upon my approval of his character. He must give me a month in which to observe him before I decide.”
“And if you come to an unfavorable view?”
“Then it is all very simple. He must furnish my return.” And, Elizabeth considered, perhaps also some amount of compensation might be settled for her time and wasted efforts in his scheme, whatever the true nature of it may really turn out to be.
Secretly, deep down, Lizzy’s heart heard the call of romance and the dream of meeting her true soulmate through this unlikely bargain. It was a foolish hope and she knew it as such, but it curled and nuzzled inside her nevertheless.
Uncle Gardiner agreed to write back by telegraph to Mr. Darcy that very afternoon. As she left, he assured her that as soon as he had anything by way of a reply, he would let her know.
Elizabeth was sure she had made the right choice. For herself and for the family, taking this chance was the best opportunity that was available. It had nothing at all to do with the image of Mr. Darcy on that fragment of paper. The picture that she now carried with her everywhere she went.
6
Jane could not believe what her sister told her. Her face glowed and her eyes were wide. “You said that you would go?” her lower eyelids brimmed, “You really will go? That’s so thrilling, Lizzy. It’s so exciting.”
As Jane hugged her, Elizabeth knew at once what she had to do. She took her sister’s shoulders and held her at arm’s length. “Jane, did you mean it when you said that you wished that you were going, all the way to the other side of the country, to the unknown among the Olympus Mountains?”
Jane's cheeks were moist and she blinked as she nodded.
"Lizzy, you will be safe out there, won't you? I don't know how I shall cope with your being away from me, even knowing that you are safe. I couldn't cope if you were unwell or hurt in any way."
“But, Jane, how can you even think about it in that way. I’m quite sure the whole of Puget Sound is populated by heathens and wild savages.”
“Lizzy, don’t.”
“So, you shall have to come with me. there’s nothing else for it.”
“But what can I do to protect you from wild heathens?”
“You can occupy them to give me the chance to run away.”
“Be serious, please. Just this once?”
"I am serious. At least in that, you will have to accompany me. If you were not with me, then who should I be able to tease? And who would tease me?"
“Lizzy!”
“I am resolved. My mind is set firm on it. Do not think to cross me, sister. I shall not entertain the thought of traveling all that distance into the unknown and not having my dearest Jane alongside me every step of the way. Do not say another word on the matter, Jane, it is settled.”
“But what if he does not agree? What if your future husband does not accept your terms?”
“Well, then he is not my future husband. Come along now, you must agree to come with me.”
Jane was open-mouthed and speechless.
“There’s nothing else for it. You simply have to come along. I cannot leave you behind, I would have nobody to laugh at me. At least, I hope I should not. No, it’s settled. If you really would want to come,” Jane was nodding energetically, “then you must. I will write to Uncle Gardiner and tell him so immediately. I hope my note reaches him before he has communicated with Colonel Fitzwilliam or Mr. Darcy.”
Elizabeth quickly wrote to her uncle, and she sealed and sent the note.
Barely an hour later, she had a reply that Uncle Gardiner got her note just as he was about to send his message and so her requirement was included and he told her how sensible the idea seemed. Elizabeth noted that he was too generous and discreet to mention that he had voiced the plan first. She chided herself, regretting that she had been too hasty and careless to acknowledge it in her note to him.
And then they waited. Jane said they needed to tell their mother. Elizabeth observed that Jane was the elder and the senior of them.
“Besides,” Elizabeth said, with reason, “Mother will accept almost anything that you propose. Just as she opposes nearly everything that comes from me.”
So it was that Jane took the news to their mother. From the herb garden where Elizabeth strolled in the warm air to savor the scents of mint and rosemary, she heard the crack of their mother’s wails of anguish. Perhaps selfishly, Elizabeth was glad not to be the messenger bearing that news. She knew that Mother would call her in and tell her that it was all her fault and how could she possibly do this to her and much more besides and she would bear it all the best she could. With the uncertainty and anticipation of the reply their uncle would have, Elizabeth was grateful for the distraction of the bees and the pretty herbs.
Early the next morning, Elizabeth and Jane were shaken awake by their mother’s cries of anguish from the floor below. As quickly as they could, the two girls put on morning gowns and scurried down to the front parlor. Mary, Kitty and Lydia surrounded their mother and pointed their scowls outward at Jane and Elizabeth.
Mother trembled and shook, red-faced. In both hands she clasped a tiny envelope and Elizabeth knew it to be Uncle Gardiner's stationery. Mother thrust the envelope at Elizabeth with an accusing glower.
“Read it. Read it out to us all. Make us know now what fate you have condemned us to.”
“Mother,” Elizabeth said, gently but still bleary from sleep. “You haven’t even opened it.”
“It is addressed to you, child. In my own house! Letters that I may not see! Oh, what has become of us?”
Mary’s lower lip poked out as she announced, “People shouldn’t be thinking of traveling far away and disrupting the family. It is a disturbance to the precious young ones.”
Elizabeth noted how Mary improved every day in her ability to repeat what she had been told or overheard. All the sisters watched and her mother scowled as Elizabeth opened the letter and read aloud from it.
My dearest niece, Lizzy. As we discussed yesterday, I telegraphed a note to the other party. I have a reply this morning and he advises me that your added condition of taking Jane is unnecessary and not appropriate and he will consider the matter terminated. His note was quite terse.
In any event, dear niece, that would seem to be an end of it. I would say that I am not at all sorry that we won’t be losing you to the Western states.
Your loving uncle.
"Well, thank heaven for that! At least someone is showing good sense. that man, whoever he is, has sound judgment, I'll say that for him."
Lydia flounced and said what a relief it was that sense had prevailed and now the house could return to normal. Elizabeth’s eyes were misted over. A pang in her chest turned to an ache as she remembered the little picture of the man she now was destined never to meet.
She sat with a book but only stared at the pages. Perhaps, as Lydia said, it was all for the best.
It was nearly lunchtime when the house shook from a knock at the door.
7
Elizabeth’s three younger sisters all glared at Elizabeth and Jane across the room. They sat clustered around their mother on one side of the parlor, Elizabeth and Jane on the other. Elizabeth read to them from her uncle’s second note of the morning.
She held up the envelope, “In an envelope marked, ‘Most urgent,’ Uncle Gardiner writes, ‘Dearest Lizzy, that gentleman wrote to me again in another telegraph message almost after his first. I wonder at the ease with which he makes such expense. But he tells me now that it would be to much trouble for him to find another willing bride and so he concedes your terms. He will arrange passage immediately for you and for Jane. I am to let him know your agreeable compliance, that is how he puts it, ‘with the utmost urgency.’ In other words, he wants to have a reply quickly.’ And so, Mother, sisters, there it is. Jane and I shall unburden the household of the expense of our keep and we will travel far away, hoping to find the fortune that will solve all of our difficulties.”
She looked meaningfully at her mother, “Perhaps we may be able to relieve some of our dear father’s burden. Who knows?” But her mother’s scowl deepened.
Elizabeth’s hand reached over for Jane’s as she said, “I know that you will all wish us the greatest of good luck and I think that now we should waste no time and start to prepare and to pack.”
A stunned silence fell on the room. Elizabeth and Jane knew as they left that it was the calm before a considerable storm. Squeezing Elizabeth’s hand, Jane said, “I wonder why you did not read out the end of Uncle Gardiner’s note, Lizzy.”
“No, you do not, Jane. You know perfectly well why.”
Urgently, Darcy Page 3
