by Lauren King
Elizabeth can see from her side view that Mr. Darcy is observing her, but she must not look his way. She does not want to see him happy with another young lady. If he is not happy, then she does not want to see his disappointed eyes directed at her.
Darcy sees Miss Elizabeth’s beautiful face and his heart wrenches. He misses her smile, her face, her eyes, her voice, her laughter, her giggles, her opinions – her everything. He hopes that Richard can find out why she refused his courtship. Once he knows why, then he will accept it; he is frustrated at not knowing. Darcy walks up to where Miss Elizabeth is chatting with Richard and bows to her formally as she curtsies most elegantly in return.
“Miss Elizabeth, how are you? How are Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner?” Darcy asks caringly.
“My Uncle and Aunt are well, sir; thank you. How are you, Mr. Darcy?” Elizabeth states warmly and politely as she shyly meets his eyes. Obviously, she will not tell him how disheartened she has been since she had to reject his courtship.
“I am well, thank you, Miss Elizabeth. Are you enjoying the Italian and French art displays?” Darcy is pleased to hear her voice and be able to gaze at her beautiful face even if it is only for a few moments; it is better than not seeing her at all. It has been excruciatingly depressing without her in his life. He feels miserable; he cannot climb out of this gloom.
“Excuse me, Elizabeth. I will rescue Georgie, again.” Richard says quickly before leaving. He wants Darcy to have a couple of minutes in private with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth smiles at Richard and then turns back to Mr. Darcy to answer his question. “Yes, I am enjoying the displays. Are you, sir?”
“I have not enjoyed anything for the past week, Miss Elizabeth.” Darcy’s face is cheerless as he answers her directly.
His words touch her deeply, but she cannot express anything other than friendship right here and now. She does not want to cry in front of everyone; therefore, she tries to tease him to lighten the mood. “Your friends seem nicer this time, sir. I hope Georgiana does not spill tea on either of these young ladies.” She is not successful; he does not seem to enjoy her joke.
“They are only my first time acquaintances, Miss Elizabeth. Richard and Bingley forced me to come today. The lady that I want to take to the museum will not have anything to do with me, and I do not know the reason why.” Darcy says with a bleak, straight face as his dejected eyes pierce hers.
Elizabeth’s heart and insides twist in pain at Mr. Darcy’s words. She hurt him. Lord, she should have told him that she likes him as a friend; he would not be hurt, then. BUT she would have been lying; that would have been too big of a lie to live with. She already had shown her inclination towards him before she found out about Lydia’s mistake, thus he would have known that it was a lie. It was a mistake not to tell Mr. Darcy, immediately. She was just spellbound by the euphoria that he brought with him every time they met – even now.
“I am very sorry, Mr. Darcy.” Elizabeth says softly while she looks down at her hands. She has to press her lips together in order to stop herself from crying.
“You do not have to be sorry, Miss Elizabeth. I am sorry to have brought it up. It was insensitive of me. Please, forgive me. I cannot be crossed because you do not feel for me what I feel for you. I apologize. I wish you an enjoyable day, Miss Elizabeth. God bless you.” Darcy bows sophisticatedly at Miss Elizabeth before turning to Miss Bennet to greet her and wish her a good visit in London.
Georgiana had relayed to Darcy that Miss Elizabeth had written ‘God bless you and Mr. Darcy’ on her note from a few days ago. She is still thinking of him, but why does she still deny her regard for him. He must find out. He will not give up on Miss Elizabeth until he finds out.
Elizabeth sadly curtsies and bravely looks up at Mr. Darcy; their eyes lock for the briefest moment before he steps away. His beautiful blue eyes arrest her, but she cannot do anything else. He will hate her if he finds out about her family’s shame.
Moments later, everyone bids each other a good day, and then Elizabeth sees that Mr. Darcy walks off by himself while the other four in his group go a different direction.
Georgiana sees Elizabeth look after her brother, thus she softly says, “William is going home; he does not want to continue with the outing. He has been like that all week.” Hesitatingly, Georgiana asks, “Did…you two have a disagreement, Elizabeth? I am sorry if I am prying; I do not mean to pry, but I am worried about William.”
“Oh…we did not have a disagreement as you think, Georgiana. I…Mr. Darcy and I cannot progress into anything other than friends. I hope that will not affect our friendship, Georgiana.” Elizabeth says sadly.
“No, no, of course not. I would like for us to be friends always – no matter what, Elizabeth. I admit that I want you and William to be a couple, but if it cannot be, then I will not have you worry about our friendship.” Georgiana says sweetly and sincerely as she holds Elizabeth’s arm. She wishes she could do something for her brother and her friend.
“I am glad, Georgiana. I would like for us to be friends always, too. I am sorry to have disappointed Mr. Darcy. It was not my choice. I am sorry.” Elizabeth breathes deeply, so she can hold back her tears, again.
Elizabeth feels terrible that Mr. Darcy cut his outing short because of her. He looked dejected – all because of her. Maybe she should just tell him so that he knows the reason, thus he will not doubt that he should not court her. He will undoubtedly dislike her and her family, but he will not keep wondering and feel sad that she rejected him for no good reason. He will thank her for doing the right thing and sparing him the humiliation and degradation.
Elizabeth goes up to her chambers to cry as soon as she gets home. Her feelings for Mr. Darcy has not lessened; it has increased. It feels awful to know that she will never know him better. Jane and Mrs. Gardiner try to console Elizabeth, but she cannot shut her feelings or her tears off.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29th
“Mrs. Gardiner, Miss Bennet, Elizabeth, how are you ladies this morning?” Richard asks charmingly.
All the pleasantries are expressed, and then the three ladies talk to Richard about his recent disappearance. He said he had to report to headquarters for updates on training; new promotions of his captains, lieutenants, and sergeants. He may have to leave for France to check on the status of the British Army’s presence, and to do a lot of paper work. Afterwards, Athena comes into the room and both Mrs. Gardiner and Jane leave for a little while. Athena sits quietly drawing again while Richard tries to get Elizabeth to talk about her and Darcy.
“Richard, I am sorry that I am causing Mr. Darcy such discomfort. It was never my intention. I hope he is not angry with me and dislikes me.” Elizabeth says sorrowfully.
“Elizabeth, he is not angry with you, and trust me, he could not dislike you. He is simply very disappointed and despondent with yours and his situation – understandably so.” Richard replies reassuringly.
“Richard, I cannot say anything further because the situation involves others. I am sorry. I never wanted to be in this position. Will you please tell Mr. Darcy that I am honestly sorry?” Elizabeth becomes sad again, so she stays quiet.
“Is there another suitor, Elizabeth?” Richard asks straightforwardly; at least if it is another suitor, then Darcy will know what kind of competition he has to deal with.
“No, Richard! I told Mr. Darcy that. There is no one else. I would not do that to Mr. Darcy.” Elizabeth replies resolutely. She hopes that Mr. Darcy will really believe that she declined his courtship not because of another suitor.
Richard cannot push this subject any further; Elizabeth looks very affected, in every way. He does not want to cause her to cry, so he changes the subject and with his natural cheeriness. It slowly eases Elizabeth’s discontent for a while. At the end of their visit, Elizabeth reminds Richard to relay to Mr. Darcy that she is sorry. “It is not due to another suitor, Richard. Please, tell Mr. Darcy that.” Elizabeth reemphasizes her reason.
Richard a
ssures her that he will communicate this to Darcy directly.
After a quick luncheon, Elizabeth and her Aunt go to her Uncle’s office to finish the last month of accounting involving the embezzlement. When they get there, they see a mean-looking man not in gentleman’s clothing stand outside Mr. Gardiner’s office as if he is guarding it. Mrs. Gardiner does not recognize him, at all. He does not seem to be employed by Mr. Gardiner’s warehouse.
Mrs. Gardiner holds Elizabeth’s hand tightly then says, “This is not Grandpa’s office, we made the wrong turn. I told you it was not the right place.”
Elizabeth understands her Aunt’s ruse, so they both calmly turn around and head outside. Mrs. Gardiner hurries towards Mr. Jennings and rushes him to find three other men to come to Mr. Gardiner’s office immediately. She feels that there is something very bad occurring in there. She tells them to each hold some sort of a weapon. Mr. Jennings rushes three other warehouse workers to come with him to Mr. Gardiner’s office. Mrs. Gardiner hands Mr. Jennings her key to the office and authorizes for him to enter without knocking.
Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth follow behind the four men, but they stay around the corner of the hallway so they will not be in the way if something sinister is happening. From the corner, they are able to hear some shouting, some ruckus, and it sounds like a fight breaks out along with more yelling and fighting. Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth are, each, holding a crate opener. The ladies peek around the corner to see no one guarding the door; hence, they quickly approach Mr. Gardiner’s office and hear Mr. Gardiner yell out for someone to untie him.
When both ladies look inside the opened office, they see two men lying on the floor bleeding; Mr. Gardiner is being untied by Mr. Jennings. Mr. Gardiner’s face is bruised on one cheek. Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth hurry towards Mr. Gardiner.
“Oh my Lord, Edward! Are you, alright? Oh my Lord; what happened? Were you being robbed?” Mrs. Gardiner rushes her questions. Instantly, she is scared because she is afraid that her husband is hurt worse than he appears.
Mr. Gardiner assures her that it is only a bruise.
“Are you well, Uncle? This man was beating you in here?” Elizabeth is shocked. She has never before seen such violent acts. There is blood from the two assailants, and they seem unconscious on the floor.
“He was trying to rob me. Let me take care of this whole mess then I will explain everything to you both at home. I want both of you to go home immediately.” Mr. Gardiner turns to Mr. Jennings and asks him to stay with the others; Mr. Gardiner will be back straight away. “Mr. Walker, please come with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We will walk you both to our carriage. Send the carriage back for me, Madeline. Once I get the authorities to apprehend these men, I will have a talk with all my workers to make them aware that we have been watched and robbed. I will increase the men to watch the warehouses day and night. I have to install certain security procedures.” Once he hands his niece and wife into the carriage, he quietly tells his wife that this robbery has to do with Mr. Clarke. Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth both gasp in horror. He will tell them everything once he gets home. Mrs. Gardiner reminds him to come home early.
Finally, Mr. Gardiner is home by five o’clock. After Mrs. Gardiner cares for his bruised cheek, he refreshes himself and changes. Mr. Gardiner informs Mrs. Gardiner, Elizabeth, and Jane of what happened. Jane was previously told about Mr. Clarke’s embezzlement.
“Those two thieves found out where Mr. Clarke worked from Mr. Clarke. Evidently, Mr. Clarke owes these thugs some money from gambling – 108 pounds. Obviously, he cannot pay them back fast enough, so they want their money in any way they can get it. The main thief said that Mr. Clarke said that he owes others money too, and he has to pay everyone also. Therefore, he cannot pay them back as quickly. Since they know that he used to work here as an accountant, they guessed that there must be money kept here for business transactions. Thank God, I had just cleared out the safe and placed the money in the bank two days ago.” Mr. Gardiner takes a deep breath.
“The main thief that tied me up forced me to give him money. I told him that there is no actual money here because payments are transacted by the bank. He did not believe me; hence, he forced me to open the safe. After I did, he punched me in the face which stunned me, and then he tied me up. He saw that there was no money in the safe, so he got angry. Then he demanded my wallet. He stole the five pounds I had. Then he said if I have money somewhere in this office, then I better hand it over to him so he does not have to come back and give me more trouble. I told him again that we do not keep actual money here. He was looking around for anything valuable when I heard yelling and a fight break out just outside the door. That was when my four warehouse workers came in with the outside thug and then another fight broke out. The thieves were knocked to the ground, and that was when you both came in.”
Proudly, Mr. Gardiner states, “Madeline that was very smart of you to go get the men. I do not know what would have happened to you two if you walked in while both of the thieves were still inside here. It makes me shudder to think about it. Thank God, you were fast-thinking, Madeline. Now, I think you ladies should never go anywhere alone for any reason. There should always be at least two of you along with our driver and another rider sitting with the driver. The children are never to go outside with only their nanny; there needs to be at least one other servant with the nanny. At home, there should always be a male servant present when we are home, and we all should know where he is at all times.”
“The front door should always be answered by the male servant. We do not need a butler, but we can train Johnny to answer the door properly. Whenever there is someone at the door and he is not in the vicinity, then any of the servants could retrieve him so he can get the door. I do not want any of the house maids to open the door anymore. We have to be more careful and be more alert now. I do not know if there will be any repercussions now that those two thieves have been caught. They may be working with others; I hope not, but one can never be sure with those types of people involved in such crimes. They may or may not know where I live; consequently, we have to be more careful with everything.”
“I will confront Mr. Clarke tomorrow and demand he sell his possessions immediately so he can pay me in a day or two or else I will involve the authorities. I do not want to be involved with him any longer. It is dangerous now. I will demand the remaining money from the amount of 2080 pounds that you have calculated, Lizzy. I hope his claim of him only embezzling for the last year is true. We will still calculate the numbers all the way back to the beginning of his employment, and I will still keep track of his whereabouts until we are done with the accounting. Just in case we find more money missing, then we will know where to find him. I will continue to collect from him if that is the case. I am sorry that all this is happening to us. I want to protect everyone here, thus we all have to be more alert.” Mr. Gardiner says worriedly.
“Edward, we all understand. None of this is your fault. We all will take precautions from now on.” Mrs. Gardiner says encouragingly.
“Yes, Uncle; we will do all we can to make our family safe.” Elizabeth says amenably. She is very worried that there may be more violence.
“Uncle, just tell us what to do and we will help.” Jane volunteers willingly but with hidden anxiety; she feels very badly and very scared for her Uncle’s family. She has never thought of such horror and violence happening to someone close to her.
“I am glad to have you all so prepared to help. I am going to talk to Johnny right away, and then I will reassess our entire home for potential break-in areas.” Mr. Gardiner says decisively before seeking out their male servant. “Ladies, will you all make sure that all doors and windows are locked for the night. Madeline, the same servant should be in charge of locking all doors and windows every night. Even the servant’s entrance should be locked at all times. That is an easy access point to the house because it is used most often, and I am certain the servants do
not lock it after every time they use it. A smart thief could take advantage of that entrance to easily enter the house.”
“I will inform all the servants.” Mrs. Gardiner responds right away.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30th
By Sunday, Mr. Gardiner has figured out what needs to be done to secure his home better. All instructions are given to all the servants. Elizabeth asks if it will be safe for the three of them to go to the warehouse to finish up the last month of accounting to get a better number of Mr. Clarke’s embezzlement. Mr. Gardiner says that they can go, but they need to go home well before sundown.
They are home by four o’clock; Elizabeth is done with the entire year’s worth of accounting. Mr. Gardiner will confront Mr. Clarke tomorrow morning.
On Monday morning at ten o’clock, Bingley arrives at the Gardiner residence to call upon them. All pleasantries are conveyed as Bingley looks hopefully at Miss Bennet who smiles demurely. They all sit in the drawing room and talk about London’s weather and what is to be expected for the coming Christmas celebrations. Bingley mentions that he will be attending the Allston’s Christmas Ball; he wonders if the Gardiners will be attending. Mrs. Gardiner says that they will be attending. She does not clarify that Elizabeth does not want to attend and that Jane was not included on the invitation originally. They talk about how they know the Allstons, and then Elizabeth asks how he likes Netherfield Park.
“I think I will give up Netherfield Park, Miss Elizabeth when my initial lease is up in a few of months. I hope that I will still have certain friends that I have made in Hertfordshire, though.” Bingley looks directly at Miss Bennet with this comment and then briefly turns to Miss Elizabeth before turning back to Miss Bennet.
