“A woman of your station turned down my son!” exclaimed Lord Matlock. “I cannot believe that. Did you already have your sights set on Darcy?”
“She did not even know me then, Uncle Robert, and I do not like the implication in your tone. She is the farthest from a mercenary woman you can imagine, because before she accepted me, she turned down a request from a peer’s son for a courtship, because she thought they would not be compatible. In fact, Mr. Furness, my one-time tutor, believes she is the kindest, most intelligent, and well-read woman he has ever known. Perhaps you will someday understand it is I who am the luckiest one in this couple, for she could probably have had her pick of other highly placed men.”
“I find that hard to believe. What peer’s son would wish to marry her?”
“I am not at liberty to divulge that, but I can assure you, she could have been his wife, had she wished, and one of significant wealth, at that.”
Elizabeth reached over and touched Darcy’s arms. “Thank you for your defense, Will, but you need not say anything further. I am not offended. I can appreciate the shock of our announcement and his displeasure. Let us not argue further. I believe it is time we go.”
“You appreciate my displeasure, do you? I imagine you are reveling the taste of your victory at winning such a man.”
Elizabeth, looked at Lord Matlock for moment without saying anything and then, obviously controlling her voice, said, “I hope, my Lord, you will someday understand how much I love Will and that my only victory in this is winning his love in return.”
She turned to Lady Matlock and curtsied. “Lady Matlock, it was good to see you again. I can assure you, Hope House will still be a priority of mine whenever we are in town.”
Darcy, who had arisen, nodded his head at his aunt and uncle and said, “I am sure you know I would like to say much more to you, Uncle, but my fiancée is teaching me forbearance. You are invited to our wedding, and Aunt Helen, if Uncle Robert does not wish to come, I hope you will. Alicia, of course, you and John, should he be in town, are both invited. Come ladies, on to our next stop.”
There was a strained silence as the three left the sitting room, retrieved their outer garments from the footman, and exited the house. As they started to their next stop, which would be Willingham Mansion, Darcy said, “That went better than I expected. Thank you for restraining me, Elizabeth. I was about to lose my temper and get into what I believe would have been an unpleasant argument with my uncle. I can see your way is much better.”
Mary looked at him with surprise. “You thought that was better than expected? I thought the atmosphere was extremely tense. I had the impression Lord Matlock may never speak to you again.”
“It may take a little time, Mary, but he will come around. I could tell my aunt was not as upset as I thought she might be. I think she truly favors you, Elizabeth. I believe she and Alicia will work on my uncle and he may have an entirely different attitude the next time we meet him.”
Willingham Mansion was the home of Lord and Lady Sutherland, the Marquess and Marchioness of Willingham. Lord Willingham had married Darcy’s aunt Sophia, his father’s older sister, and thereby became Darcy’s uncle. However, Lady Sophia died after giving birth to their daughter, Amelia, and he eventually remarried. Willingham Mansion was next to Darcy House on Park Street, and Darcy was still close to his uncle, whose new wife had presented him with an heir and another daughter, the latter of whom was near Elizabeth’s age. Lady Penelope Sutherland volunteered occasionally at Hope House, and so she and Elizabeth were friends.
When Darcy, Elizabeth, and Mary were ushered into the family sitting room at Willingham Mansion, Lady Willingham said, “William, what a pleasant surprise, particularly seeing you with Miss Elizabeth and a young lady who looks as if she might be Miss Elizabeth’s sister. Welcome. Miss Elizabeth, allow me to introduce you to my husband, Lord Willingham.”
Elizabeth curtsied and said, “Good afternoon, Lady Willingham. I am pleased to meet you, Lord Willingham. May I introduce my sister, Miss Mary Bennet. Mary, this is Lord Willingham, Lady Willingham, and Lady Penelope.
After greetings were exchanged, Lady Willingham said, “Now, William, back to the meaning of this visit. We did not know you knew each other.”
“We did not, until six weeks ago. I took my friend, Bingley, to look at Netherfield Park, an estate near Elizabeth’s father’s estate, as a possible place to lease. I met her then. After Bingley leased Netherfield and moved in, I visited to give him some instruction on estate management. I saw Elizabeth again, and the attraction we felt the first time we met became even stronger. We had what you might call a whirlwind romance. Yesterday I asked her to marry me, and she accepted, therefore, we are here to inform you of the engagement and invite you to our wedding in four weeks.”
“You are engaged and to be married in four weeks, after knowing each other for only six weeks,” said Lord Willingham. “That does not sound like you, Darcy, or what I have been told about you, Miss Elizabeth. You are both known to be intelligent, rational people. Ten weeks from first meeting to marriage hardly seems rational. You know what people will think,”
“We know, but I can assure you, it is not the reason. We fell hopelessly, irrationally in love. I know the ton will find it hard to believe of me, but the taciturn, unemotional Darcy was completely captivated by the lovely Miss Elizabeth and is finding it difficult to wait for even four weeks to marry her. I am anxious to take her to Pemberley, introduce her to her new home and the staff and tenants, and start our life together.”
“Miss Elizabeth, what have you done to my cousin?” said Lady Penelope, who arose and went to Elizabeth to hug her. “I never thought I would see the day I would hear him speak in that manner about anything, let alone a woman. Did you give him a magic potion? If you did, I want some.”
Elizabeth grabbed Darcy’s arm and leaned her head against it. “I did, Lady Penelope, although I did not know it at the time. I think I would call it unconditional love and the moment he tasted it, he found he possessed it also. It was a moment neither of us will ever forget.”
“That is the most romantic thing I have ever heard. You should become a poet. If more of us could find your potion, I believe the world would be a better place. As I look at the two of you, it does occur to me you fit together perfectly. Honestly, I never thought William could find such a relationship, but apparently, he knew better than any of us what he needed. It is the kind of thing I certainly hope will happen to me someday.”
“I hope you do too, because it is the most wonderful feeling in the world.”
While they had been speaking, Lord and Lady Willingham has also arisen and come to the couple to congratulate them. As Lord Willingham was shaking Darcy’s hand, he said, “Congratulations, Darcy. I had about given up on you. You seemed to set impossible requirements for a spouse and to be so insistent that you marry one of those in the upper circles of society, I thought you would never find a woman to satisfy you.” Then taking Elizabeth’s hand, he squeezed it. “And, you, young lady, must be a marvel if his need for you has made him forgo his belief he required a woman of the first circles. I look forward to knowing you better.”
“And I, you, my Lord.”
When Lady Willingham congratulated Elizabeth, she ended by saying, “And I wish you could somehow pass your potion on to Margaret Farnsworth. I cannot understand why she and Roger cannot see they should marry.”
“I can assure you, my Lady, Miss Farnsworth does wish it. I think it is only a matter of time. I imagine it is just a matter of your son not feeling he is ready yet.”
“I hope you are correct. In any case, we are thrilled for you, but, may I ask, have you told Lord and Lady Matlock yet?”
“We have, and it was with mixed reception. Lord Matlock was quite upset, but we have hopes Lady Matlock and Lady Alicia will convince him it is for the best.”
“I wondered about that also,” said Lord Willingham, who overheard their exchange. “But if Lady Helen a
ccepts it, I am sure she will bring Lord Robert around. However, I suspect it will not be received well by Lady Catherine and your Uncle Darcy.”
“I am sure you are correct,” responded Darcy. “Given that Uncle Darcy is still trying to convince the Crown to restore our family’s earldom, he would think me marrying anyone who is not the daughter of a peer would be unacceptable. Of course, I have never sought it, and unfortunately, I doubt the Crown would restore it to him, the second son of my grandfather, so I believe it is a hopeless cause for him.”
“Would you not accept it, if offered?”
Darcy looked at Elizabeth. “Honestly, I do not know. I would have to discuss that with Elizabeth, but I think it highly unlikely it will be offered, given my publicly stated disapproval of the Prince’s extravagances. Therefore, I will not worry about it.”
“That is too bad, because I think you would make an excellent addition to the House of Lords. We need young, intelligent, serious men like you.”
“Thank you, Uncle, but I think, were I to decide to try to become a legislator, I would rather serve in the House of Commons than in the House of Lords. But that would be many years in the future.”
After almost an hour with the Willinghams, Darcy decided it was time to go to Georgiana’s school, tell her the news, and see if she wanted to go to Darcy House with them. Ever since he had prevented her from eloping with George Wickham in July, she had been upset with him. She claimed she loved Wickham and that he loved her and did not believe Darcy that Wickham was only after her dowry of £30,000. Nor did she believe his and Col. Fitzwilliam’s allegations that Wickham had been a rake and a gambler in the ten years since he had left Pemberley, both while he attended Cambridge and after he graduated. However, she had conceded that perhaps, at not yet sixteen, she was not yet ready to marry and had agreed to wait until she was eighteen. She had been sent to live under the careful supervision of Lady Matlock until September, when she had been enrolled in Mr. Carrington’s School for Women, which was a finishing school in London where many of the upper-class sent their late adolescent daughters to acquire polish and refinement.
When they arrived at the school and Darcy requested to see his sister, the head mistress said, “But we thought she was with you. Your brother and his wife have taken her the last three weekends to stay at Darcy House.”
“My brother?”
“Yes. Mr. Wickham. Miss Darcy said he was your father’s godson and you treated him as if he was a brother. We took Miss Darcy’s word for it. Is he not your father’s godson? Did your father not bring him up and send him to Cambridge.”
Darcy sighed and nodded his head. “Yes, he did, but I have not seen him for years. Can you describe his wife?”
“She is quite pretty, with light brown hair. I believe Miss Darcy called her Theresa. They pick Miss Darcy up Saturday morning and usually return before eight o’clock Sunday night. Will you wait for them or return later, and do you want me to say anything to them when they return?”
“No, I will return at seven-thirty and wait for them. Thank you, Mrs. Roberts. I will deal with my sister as I see fit tonight.”
As they were riding away, Elizabeth said, “I gather this is unwelcome news. May I ask who Mr. Wickham is?”
“He is the son of my father’s longtime, beloved Steward. He lost his mother when he was ten, and then his father when he was twelve. My father was so fond of old Mr. Wickham, he promised to raise his son as a gentleman. He subsequently had Wickham live in the big house with us, had him educated, and sent him to Cambridge, with the intent he would eventually take his orders and be given the living at Kympton, the village on the edge of Pemberley where we supply the living. After I went away to Eton, my father treated Wickham almost as a son and I believe, gave him higher expectations than my father had intended. Wickham entered Cambridge a year after I did, although he was in Trinity College and I was in St. John’s. He had been a good friend when we were young, and father thought him quite a fine young man, but once he was at Cambridge, he changed or perhaps his true nature exerted itself. He was constantly getting into trouble, preying on local, young girls, and acquiring gambling debts. Father and I had to bail him out of trouble several times until, in his last year, father told him he would receive no more help from us, although father did finish paying for Wickham’s education as he had promised old Mr. Wickham he would. When father died, Wickham came to me for his inheritance, which was only £1000. He had expected much more and believed that I had talked my father into decreasing his inheritance when father was dying. In fact, I was surprised he received so little, but that was the only cash he received, and a promise, if he took his orders, he would eventually receive the living in Kympton. He decided he was not cut out to be a clergyman, and after much arguing, he accepted £3000 from me in lieu of the living ‒ signing documents saying his claims on the will were satisfied. I thought we had seen the last of him.”
“However, two years later, he came to me asking for more money, I refused, and he vowed revenge, still claiming I had cheated him. Unfortunately, I chose not to tell Georgie about him, and she continued to believe he was the wonderful young man she had known before he went to Cambridge. Therefore, when he supposedly chanced upon her while she was at the beach in Ramsgate with her companion, Mrs. Younge, this last summer, he began a calling on her. Had I been there, of course, I would have not allowed him to call on her, but I had been called away, and Mrs. Younge claimed she could see no reason to deny his calls, because he was as a brother to me. Eventually he convinced Georgiana, even though she was less than sixteen-years-old, that he loved her and wanted to elope with her. She, who had been feeling lonely and dejected, was thrilled to receive his attentions and agreed. Fortunately, I reappeared at Ramsgate the day before they were to elope, after having been called away for four weeks to deal with a crisis in my Scottish estate. She was sure I would be thrilled she was to marry Wickham, because he had convinced her what good friends he and I were. She was devastated when I told her he was the last man on earth I would want her to marry and was sure he was only after her dowry and revenge on me. In fact, she did not believe me, but I ordered her to go to London with me, fired Mrs. Younge for letting this courtship occur, and put Georgie in the charge of my Aunt Helen, thinking she needed a mother figure. We talked with her long about it, and discovered she thought I had deserted her and did not love her. I assured her I did love her and wanted only what was best for her. We thought she had come to her senses when she finally agreed she should go to finishing school, as had been planned at the beginning of the summer, before we went to Ramsgate. I now see that we were wrong.”
“May I assume Theresa is Mrs. Younge?”
“Yes. I had hired her prior to going to Ramsgate on the recommendation of a friend, and because she was known to my friend, and I had little time, I accepted her without doing an extensive background investigation on her. Immediately after Ramsgate, I had her investigated and discovered she was a woman who had been a paramour of Wickham his last year at Cambridge. We surmise he had contact with her in London not long after I had hired her, she told him about her employment, and he took advantage of it. He went to Ramsgate after we had gone there, and once again met with Mrs. Younge. I believe, when he learned I had been called away to Scotland, he and she came up with the scheme for him to woo Georgie. I suppose they thought, once he married Georgie and obtained her dowry, they could to flee to America or somewhere else where Wickham was not known. Wickham never showed at Ramsgate after I arrived and has not been seen since. Mrs. Younge, who we discovered managing a boarding house here in London, kept insisting she had known nothing about any scheme, and having no proof, there was nothing I could do to her. Obviously, I should have had someone keep track of her, because, it would appear they have continued their effort to get money out of me through Georgie.”
“Is she sixteen yet?”
“Yes. She became sixteen on September 23rd.”
“What are you going to do?”
<
br /> “I do not know. I will confront them tonight and expect I may have to pay to keep it quiet. Her actions have certainly compromised her. I just hope it is not the ultimate compromise.”
“I think you should take someone with you, but I doubt it should be me, because I think it is not an appropriate time to tell her about us. Given you are willing to marry someone so far below you, she may feel she is justified in her behavior. Is there someone else you are willing to take with you?”
“I do not want the Fitzwilliams to know about it until I find out what the situation is. Let me take you and Mary back to the Gardiners, and I will consider what must be done. But we must also decide what to do about us. This could cause a major scandal and greatly tarnish our family name. I hate to bring you into a family which may be completely ostracized by society for many years.”
“Will, do not even think about trying to get rid of me. I became engaged to you for better or for worse. What your sister does, does not make me love you any less. If we must live in exile on your estates for years, then so be it.”
“But if you marry me, it will affect your family and the prospects of your sisters.”
“Let us first see what happens. We will then decide what we will do.”
Chapter 15: Wickham
After dropping off Mary and Elizabeth at the Gardiner’s after they assured him they would say nothing about his problem to the Gardiners, Darcy returned to Willingham Mansion in time for dinner. He was happy to discover his half-cousin, Lord Roger Sutherland, the Earl of Vollenbrook, the eldest son of Lord Willingham, was there. He received his cousin’s congratulations, particularly because Vollenbrook had met Elizabeth and been high impressed with her.
During dinner, before it was seven o’clock, Darcy asked Vollenbrook if he could speak to him privately before dessert was served. Vollenbrook agreed, and Darcy and he went to the sitting area of Vollenbrook’s bedroom, where Darcy told Vollenbrook about Georgiana’s episode with Wickham in Ramsgate, the current situation, and then requested his help. Vollenbrook was most sympathetic and immediately agreed to help, and so, they returned to the dining room, excused themselves, citing an important meeting Darcy wanted Vollenbrook to attend with him, and they left in Darcy’s carriage for Mrs. Carrington’s school.
The Lady of the Mount and Patience Rewarded: Two Stories of Darcy and Elizabeth Page 12
