by Kay Bea
“What is it?” enquired her husband.
“I am sure I do not know. Papa summons us to Longbourn with all haste. He says there is not a moment to lose.” She turned to the servant. “Tell him we will come at once.”
From the sounds coming from the entry, the gentlemen discerned that Mr and Mrs Bingley had arrived. Moments later, there was a knock on the library door. Mr Bennet opened it at once. “Ah,
Mr and Mrs Bingley, join us.”
Inside the library, Mr Bennet and Darcy allowed the colonel’s note to speak for itself. Darcy read the note aloud to the Bingleys so they might learn of its contents together.
Penwood Cottage, Brighton
Dear Mr Bennet,
It is with a heavy conscience and tremendous guilt that I set pen to paper to convey this news regarding Miss Bennet. This very night while under my care, she was importuned by one of my men. To own the truth, by Lieutenant George Wickham. It seems Miss Bennet fell asleep in the library while waiting for her sister’s return from an assembly at which my wife had agreed to act as a chaperone. It was there that Lieutenant Wickham came upon her.
His attentions were intended for another but in his drunken state he did not realise his error until Miss Lydia came upon the pair and raised the entire household in her distress. Be not alarmed, Miss Bennet was not injured, though she is greatly affected by the potential consequences of her compromise becoming known beyond our house. I have dealt with Mr Wickham; however, Miss Lydia cannot be brought to reason and has been most abusive in her language towards her sister. I fear for your Miss Bennet’s well-being.
I have learnt from my wife that Miss Lydia and Mr Wickham have been meeting secretly these past two weeks. Miss Lydia is of the belief that her sister meant to abscond with Mr Wickham, though anyone with sense could see that was not at all the truth of the situation. I shall leave it to you to determine what is best to be done with your girls.
Until I hear differently, they may remain in my household.
With deepest regrets,
Colonel E Forster
“Oh, my poor sister. I must go to her at once!”
“Of course, Janie, we shall leave on the morrow.” Bingley laid a calming hand on his wife’s shoulder as he turned to face the other men. “What more would you like us to do?”
The four began planning in earnest. Their conversation included the future prospects of all the remaining Bennet sisters, travel arrangements to retrieve Elizabeth and Lydia, and how best to manage any gossip that might arise. Having little disagreement on any topic, all was settled in less than an hour. The Bingleys would travel to Brighton to retrieve their sisters while Darcy left immediately for London to arrange a settlement and purchase a marriage licence. Mr Bennet composed a note for Elizabeth, and the Bingleys returned to Netherfield to prepare for their journey to Brighton.
Darcy’s carriage was not half an hour from Netherfield before he changed his mind and determined he would travel to Brighton without delay. His solicitor could prepare the settlement with little direction and could also arrange the licence if it was needed. Darcy needed to see Elizabeth. He needed to reassure and comfort her, and whether he was to bring her back to Hertfordshire as his wife or spirit her to Pemberley as his sister’s guest mattered not, so long as they were together. This impulsive decision having been made, Darcy felt a tremendous burden lift from his heart, and he was able to breathe freely for the first time since reading the letter from Colonel Forster. Informing no one of his change of plans, his mind centred on Elizabeth.
A rain-soaked Colonel Forster returned to the house and enquired after the ladies. “Where might I find my wife?”
Mrs Brooks said, “Oh sir, Mrs Forster is with Miss Lydia. That girl is naught but trouble. Always wantin’ this and demandin’ that. And the mouth of a soldier when she thinks no one is about! In all my livin’ years, I’ve not heard such language from a gently bred lady, and about ’er own sister! And forgive me, sir, but the missus is no help a’tall. Whisperin’ and gigglin’ like a child all day, encouragin’ Miss Lydia’s bad behaviour. That one needs to remember she’s the mistress o’ this house and the wife o’ da colonel o’ da regiment, not some flighty little miss on holiday!”
“I thank you for that intelligence. What of our other guest? How fares Miss Bennet?”
Mrs Brooks grew pensive. “As quiet as her sister is loud. She won’ eat properly. I canna e’en get her ta take a spot o’ tea an’ she has na said more’n a dozen words all day.”
“Where is she now, Mrs Brooks? Perhaps I can persuade her to eat at the very least.”
“Perhaps so, sir. I’ll go find ‘er. I also put yer letters on yer desk, sir.”
It was not until Mrs Brooks went in search of Miss Bennet for the colonel that she discovered the girl missing. A quick survey of the servants revealed Miss Bennet had last been seen walking in the garden some hours before. She hastened down the stairs to find Colonel Forster in his study reading his correspondence. Mrs Brooks briefly wondered what news was in the express she had delivered to the missus earlier in the day, but she had more pressing matters at hand and could not give the issue much consideration. “Beggin’ yer pardon, sir, but Miss Bennet is not in house. She’s gone, sir.” Mrs Brooks could not keep a slight edge of panic from her voice.
“What? Where could she have gone?” the colonel demanded.
“She was last seen goin’ out the back gate before the storm, sir.”
“Why would she not have returned once the rain began? Start preparing hot water for a bath and make sure there is tea. I will take Captain Ashcroft and go in search of her at once.” The colonel moved immediately into action, barking orders to servants even as he gathered his things to head back out into the weather.
Elizabeth had been left mostly to herself at Penwood Cottage in the days following the scene in the library. Colonel Forster was much occupied with his men, and Mrs Forster was always whispering with Lydia in her room. Elizabeth had found the housekeeper a compassionate servant, but her own emotions were disordered. When Elizabeth was alone, she wished for a companion. When the kindly Mrs Brooks asked after her, she wished to be alone. She wanted to run along the shore until her lungs ached. She wanted to crawl into her bed and hide until the end of time. Elizabeth could not make sense of her feelings. She was angry and frightened and ashamed. Though no mention had been made of it, she was keenly aware that if word of her being found alone in the dark with Wickham were to spread, the two would have little choice but to marry. She considered that Mr Darcy might save her from such a fate, but when she thought of his past with Wickham, her thoughts became muddled again and she feared he would reject her. After four days, the thoughts tumbling through her mind would not be quieted even by a book. Thinking a walk would be best, she gathered her pelisse and gloves and decided to take a turn in the small garden.
Elizabeth had not meant to wander so far or to be gone so long. Once outside in the garden, she could hear the waves breaking on the shore. Like a siren’s song, she followed the sound to the beach and, finding it deserted, indulged an urgent longing to run. She ran on the pebbled beach with the sea lapping at her feet and spraying her body until her limbs would no longer support her. When she finally collapsed on the rocky shore gasping for breath, her slippers were ruined, and she was shocked to discover how far she had run. She did not immediately turn back but instead climbed atop a nearby rock and sat contemplating the endless sea. Wordsworth’s lines came to mind as the vast blue-grey of the water and the constant susurration of the waves lulled her troubled spirit into a state of near peace.
The gentleness of heaven brood o’er the sea:
Listen! the mighty Being is awake,
And doth with his eternal motion make
A sound like thunder—everlastingly.
Elizabeth paid no heed to the time until she felt the first of the raindrops. She was yanked unceremoniously from her numb retreat to a wet, cold, and rapidly darkening reality. Whatever the
consequences, she knew she must return, and she had no wish to give Wickham or Lydia the satisfaction of seeing her die of her own stupidity. Elizabeth slid off her rock, squinted into the rain, and began walking back in the direction of Penwood Cottage.
She had not gone far before she was soaked to the skin, freezing, and could not see beyond a few feet in front of her. The darkness of the storm grew nearly impenetrable and she hunched her shoulders against the rain, stumbling forward.
“Miss Bennet! I say, Miss Bennet!”
Elizabeth startled at the sound of her name. Peering through the darkness, she could make out a soldier rushing towards her in the rain. Panic surged through her and Elizabeth stumbled and fell forward, landing on her hands and knees. She scrambled to regain her footing but kept slipping on the wet stones. The man in the red coat was upon her in three long strides and a scream tore from Elizabeth’s lips. “No!”
The officer grasped Elizabeth by both arms and pulled her to her feet. “Miss Bennet! Stop. You are safe, but you must return with me.” Elizabeth continued to struggle against his hold, but the man kept a firm grip on her arms as he continued to speak. “Please, Miss Bennet, we must return to Penwood.”
“Colonel Forster?” Elizabeth’s teeth chattered as she spoke.
The colonel loosened his grip. “I have been looking for you.”
The concern in the colonel’s voice broke Elizabeth, and the emotions she had fought to contain since the events of that terrible night came bursting forth in a cascade of tears. Great heaving sobs wracked her body until she nearly collapsed. With no other comfort to offer, Colonel Forster scooped an exhausted Elizabeth into his arms and carried her back to Penwood Cottage. “Come. Mrs Brooks will be half out of her wits with worry by now. Let us return.”
He and Miss Bennet returned to a house in chaos. After seeing that his housekeeper had Miss Bennet safely to her room, he learned Miss Lydia had taken advantage of the distraction caused by Miss Bennet’s disappearance to make good on her own threat to escape. An express from her mother had been found in her room along with a message of her own. Word had also been received from the camp that Wickham had been seen leaving in great haste. The two were thought to be together and although every effort was being made to search for the pair, no one truly believed they would be found.
Miss Lydia’s note suggested she planned to return to her family as Mrs Wickham. Colonel Forster hoped the girl was not deceived, though he believed she was. The colonel forbade his wife and household staff from speaking of the situation among themselves or with anyone else, “…especially Miss Bennet! That young lady has enough to contend with, and I will not have any of you adding her sister’s foolishness to her burden.”
After her bath, Elizabeth sat by the fire in her room. Though she felt foolish at having worried her hosts, she could also acknowledge being, if not in better spirits, at least resolved to make the best of her future, whatever it held. Mrs Brooks had convinced her to partake of a small meal and some tea, and Elizabeth was surprised that the food seemed to settle in her stomach. She wondered if she should knock on Lydia’s door later to have a sisterly talk but decided she would read the letter she had found waiting for her first. To her astonishment it was from her mother. Though Elizabeth did not expect words of tender affection, she certainly did not expect the vitriol she found on the page before her.
Longbourn, Hertfordshire
Well Miss Lizzy, what have you to say for yourself? Your father has tried to keep it from me, but I have had it all from my Lydia. First you ruin all our hopes by rejecting Mr Collins, then you scheme to garner an invitation to Brighton, and finally you throw yourself at Mr Wickham! I never thought a daughter of mine would behave in such a manner, and towards her own sister’s betrothed no less. Well, I will tell you this, young lady. I will not allow you to jeopardise Mary and Kitty’s futures as you have Lydia’s! I cannot stop your father allowing you to come here, but you will receive no notice from me, and the servants will be ordered not to attend to you. I shall write to my sister Gardiner at once and advise her not to associate with a fallen woman, as she will surely not want such an influence on her young children. And do not think to seek shelter with my sweet Jane. When I have told all to her, she will not wish to have you either! From this day forward, I have only four daughters.
I wash my hands of you.
Frances Bennet
Elizabeth stared in horror at her mother’s words. She did not wonder at what Lydia might have said—after all, she had been listening to her sister’s insults for days. Her difficulty lay in understanding how it was that Mrs Bennet could believe the lies spun by her youngest child. She had long known her mother to be a woman of mean understanding, but the letter in her hands was far worse than anything she previously considered possible. Elizabeth found that she had not yet cried all her tears. She seemed to be in possession of an endless supply.
“What is it, Mrs Brooks?”
Colonel Forster’s voice was harsher than he intended when the housekeeper interrupted the stillness of his study. He could not believe the youngest Bennet girl and his officer had managed to evade every attempt to locate them.
“There is a gentleman to see ye, sir. A Mr Darcy, sir. ’e says ’e is here on behalf o’ the Bennet family.”
“Darcy? Why do I know that name?” He was pensive for several moments and then the memory came to him. “Of course. He was in Hertfordshire. You say he claims to be here on behalf of the Bennets?”
“Aye, sir. That’s what ’e tol’ me a’right.”
“I am afraid I have no glad tidings for the man. Please show him in.” He poured two large glasses of brandy while he waited.
Darcy was announced, greetings were exchanged, and the colonel offered a glass of brandy to his visitor. “Take it, man, you look as though the devil himself were chasing you.”
“Please forgive the lateness of my arrival. The roads were abominable. I had intended to wait and call in the morning, but when I saw light from within…” Darcy paused. “When I saw the light, I thought I should at least notify you of the family’s pending arrival.”
“Do not apologise, Mr Darcy. As it happens, I am relieved you are come. It is likely you passed my search parties.”
Darcy looked up sharply. “Search parties? Who has gone missing?”
“I am afraid my officer Lieutenant Wickham has run off with the youngest Bennet girl. They were missed after the dinner hour. Miss Lydia left behind this note.” He handed Mr Darcy Miss Lydia’s message and noted the relief that flooded his visitor’s face.
Darcy scanned the words briefly and crumpled the note in his fist. “That man should be hanged,” he bit out. “What has been done to recover them? Is it certain they are gone to Scotland?”
“My men are searching from here to London and then further north. ’Tis the only reasonable direction for them to take. It is known among his fellows that Wickham has associates in town. If our efforts to the north come to naught, we will redirect.”
“But is it certain she is with him? Were they seen together?”
“Mr Darcy, though they have not been seen today, they certainly were seen in company often enough that their mutual disappearance will be much remarked upon.”
“Then she is ruined. She will destroy the hopes of all her sisters. I must leave at once. I cannot delay a moment longer.”
“What do you mean, you must leave at once?”
Darcy took a large swallow of his brandy. This was not why he had come to Brighton, but he could not allow Elizabeth to suffer further harm from her sister’s foolishness. “They must be recovered, and I have, or know of those who have, the contacts to do so. The longer that girl is in his company without the benefit of marriage, the more likely it is he will do her serious harm. He will abandon her as soon as he tires of her or when whatever monies she has provided run out. And then God help her.”
“And if you find them?”
“Then God help him.” Darcy’s face was impas
sive, but his tone spoke of implacable rage. “I must demand one thing of you, Colonel.”
He was certain even before the question was asked that whatever this man wanted he would gladly acquiesce. “What is that, sir?”
“You must tell no one of my coming here tonight or of my involvement in the search for Lieutenant Wickham and the Bennet girl. I would not wish to raise the hopes of the family only to see them crushed. They have suffered enough already.”
“Do you not think you take too much upon yourself, Mr Darcy?”
“I do not. The fault in this is all mine and so must the remedy be. Had I but told you even in Meryton what sort of man you had in Wickham, we would not now be having this conversation.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. Wickham is all charm and affability. I may have been inclined to allow the man to prove himself.” He tried to assuage Darcy’s guilt.
“No, sir. Had I been more open, had I not placed my own concerns above the needs of others, I can assure you that the truth of the matter would have convinced you entirely. You must allow me this.”
Seeing that Darcy was not to be convinced, the colonel did not argue further.
Elizabeth longed for sleep. It was well past time to be in the arms of Morpheus, but she could not make her way there. Every time she closed her eyes, it was the same: her mother and Lydia calling her vile names, Wickham’s face bending towards hers, a crushing weight on her soul as in her mind she saw Darcy look at her with contempt and walk away. She began to wish for the laudanum that was surely keeping Lydia quiet.
