“But I can hardly keep the child secret forever, mama.”
Mrs. Bennet rolled her eyes dramatically. “Do not be a simpleton, of course you shall not, you shall have the child at Pemberley, they will keep it quiet there, I daresay you could hide dozens of mothers and babies in that place before anyone noticed. I shall tell Lizzy she must take the infant. There you see! That will give the poor mite a chance.Then when the business is over, you can come home again, my dear, I will tell everyone you are much recovered and that will be an end to it.”
“And what of my marriage, mama, how will you hide the scandal of its end?”
Mrs. Bennet huffed impatiently.“I will think of something, we should have you widowed I daresay, there is no shame in that, only misfortune. You will infinitely prefer to suffer sympathy than disapproval.”
“If my dead husband should turn up, what of that possibility?”
Mrs. Bennet became more impatient. “Am I to work everything out at once? You should be grateful I have the good sense to have thought up any sort of plan.That is what a mother’s duty is, but there, you do not appreciate me as fully as you ought. No Lydia, do not trouble yourself with thoughts of Wickham, I doubt he will dare show his face again.” She stood and smoothed her daughter’s bedspread looking satisfied, “There, there, my dear, I told you I would arrange everything, I doubt you have much of a future before you, but the church may take you. I shall speak with your father directly, he must make arrangements with Lizzy and you shall go as soon as possible.” Seeing her daughter’s look of protestation she went on,“Well my nerves are not strong enough to nurse you, I daresay I shall be dead before the end of the week and then who shall you rely on to sort out all your troubles, your father has not the first notion about dealing with things sensibly.”
Lydia stayed in bed, too tired and confused to make sense of anything while Mrs. Bennet outlined her plans to her husband in his library, but he did not take well to her ideas. He removed his spectacles and put down the book he was reading. “Mrs. Bennet,” he said solemnly, “let me see if I have understood you, Elizabeth is to take Lydia’s child and raise him, or her, as her own?”
Mrs. Bennet nodded proudly.
“And have you thought, my dear,” her husband went on,“what Mr. Darcy might say to this idea?”
Mrs. Bennet was clearly agitated, her cheeks flushed with indignation. “I do not care two sticks what Mr. Darcy has to say on the matter. It is all decided! Mr. Darcy will have to make the best of it, he saw fit to lure my Lizzy with his riches, he should be willing to share them with her family. Besides, we can hardly consider keeping a small child here, in our old age.”
Mr. Bennet gave a weary sigh. “Faults though Mr. Darcy may have, lack of generosity is not one of them, Mrs. Bennet.”
“Well, let him prove it by helping our poor dear Lydia,” said Mrs. Bennet smugly.
Mr. Bennet thought better of revealing that it had been Mr. Darcy who had paid fully for Lydia’s wedding to Mr.Wickham. He thought back to the day when Darcy had asked him for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage. His reminiscence led him to recall the moment when Elizabeth had told him of Darcy’s part in Lydia’s salvation. With clarity, and a little embarrassment, his own reaction was brought to mind, “…these violent young lovers carry everything their own way. I shall offer to pay him tomorrow; he will rant and storm about his love for you, and there will be an end to the matter.” Mr. Bennet was determined to conceal the truth from Mrs. Bennet despite a strong desire to defend his son-in-law, so he said simply, “Mr. Darcy is more helpful than you could ever know, Mrs. Bennet, now let that be an end to it, please.”
“An end to it? I have scarcely begun!You must write directly to Lizzy and tell her what she is to do. I will send Lydia as soon as possible.We cannot waste any time, she must go while she is still fit for travel. Lord knows the time will come soon enough when she is not.And besides her condition will become noticeable.”
“Heaven forbid,” said Mr. Bennet, adding, “do you consider such conditions are in any way less noticeable in Derbyshire, Mrs. Bennet?”
“Oh, Mr. Bennet,” cried his wife, “I ask nothing of you other than to write to your daughter, is that too much?”
“The writing itself, no, though the request is neither simple nor dare I say reasonable.”
“Request indeed. It is not a request. I demand Elizabeth does as I say. Heaven knows it may do her good. I hope that the discipline of marriage has tamed her headstrong ways, for you never had the strength to check her.”
“I can make no claims to strength, Mrs. Bennet, but when we look at Lydia, whose upbringing and shaping of character has been in your charge, neither can you.”
“Oh! That is just like you to blame me,” cried Mrs. Bennet, bursting into tears,“when it was you who let Lydia go to Brighton in the first place, you who consented to the marriage.”
Mr. Bennet smiled.“And you wanted none of it, my dear?”
Mrs. Bennet continued to weep noisily. “I have only ever wanted, as any decent mother would, what is best for my girls. I only want what is best for them now, I see no wrong in that.”
Rarely did Mr. Bennet raise his voice, but now he did so.“If you see no wrong in forcing one of your girls to give up her own child while another is burdened with it, then so be it, but let me say this now, I will happily accept the blame for all other misfortunes in our lives, but I take no part in this.”
“You infuriate me for your own amusement, Mr. Bennet, I am quite sure you do, but in your heart you must know I am right, if only I were listened to more, half of these disasters would never have happened.”
Mr. Bennet could bear no more of his wife’s accusations. “But other tragedies may very well have happened in their place.You would have had my dear little Lizzy marry Mr. Collins, remember?”
Mrs. Bennet’s face reddened. “Would that have been such a catastrophe? No indeed, a clergyman may have taught her some compassion at least, she may not have lived so high, I admit, but there we are, I do not wish to be reminded of unfulfilled dreams.”
“And I thought Mr. Darcy’s ten thousand a year was fulfillment enough for all your dreams, Mrs. Bennet.”
“Oh! you make me out to be a hard creature. Fortune is not everything you know, besides, I refuse to waste time letting you argue with me.There are matters requiring attention, I have done more than my part in organizing everything, you will write to your daughter or I will never speak to you again.” With that, Mrs. Bennet stormed from the library slamming the door shut.
Mr. Bennet chuckled to himself and spoke aloud. “If my quill should break and my inkwell run dry I should be pained to conjure up even the smallest feeling of disappointment.” But, despite his irreverent attitude to his wife, he set about writing to Elizabeth with a very heavy heart.
Some days later the four o’clock post brought the scream of despair that Elizabeth had dreaded would break the quiet. Her hands shook as she read the news.
Longbourn, Hertfordshire
25th April 1813
My Dearest Lizzy,
Loathed to trouble you though I am, your mother insists that I write and tell you her demands. If I were a stronger man, I could endure her persistent fussing better, but alas, you know my character well enough, Lizzy, I cannot suffer much more of her ranting without going out of my wits myself.Your mother says you must take Lydia at Pemberley and you must take her soon before her confinement is the talk of Meryton. I know, my dear, that you must think there is no scandal in a married woman being with child, but your mother looks farther into the future.A fatherless child, with an ill-fated mother, has poor prospects indeed.We are too old to set about raising the poor wretch and your mother says Lydia would not manage it alone. According to her, your part in the matter will be to keep Lydia and her condition concealed in Derbyshire until the child is born.Thereafter you will take over its upbringing as if it were a babe sprung from your own happy marriage, and there we have the solution, Lizzy.
&n
bsp; Oh, pray I have the required strength to deal with your mother, she behaves so demented she would put King George to shame—God save him. I do not need to outline to you the complications of this situation, and it is pointless my doing so to Mrs. Bennet as well you can imagine. Her heart is set on this arrangement and it pains me to put such demands upon you, my child, but there it is, I am too weak to defy your mother for too long and therefore know you will detect the tone of defeat in this correspondence. I take the cowardly course once more, Elizabeth, and rely upon your bravery, though Lord knows where you get it from, to sustain us.You must know also that Lydia is resigned to the decision, though none of it was of her making.
I do not envy you, my dear, that you have the task of asking your husband to consent to raise Wickham’s child as his own. I dare not imagine that anyone could make a more insulting request of the man and therefore await your response to this letter with a solemn heart. For my part I have agreed to make this request of you on your mother’s behalf.
Please note this, I place you under no obligation to comply or even consider the requests outlined.Your foresight should afford you some protection from the events that now unfold.Your mother is, of course, ignorant to your own previous anticipation of Lydia’s ruin and remains unaware of your husband’s role in her initial salvation. I outline these final details in order to detach myself from the intentions in this letter. I need not tire you further with lengthy explanations of the furor that blights the peace here at Longbourn only to say; to be in York amongst the Luddites would afford me respite.
You have, as always, my very dearest love,
Papa
Darcy paced while his wife read the letter but could not contain his concern for long.“What of Longbourn, Elizabeth?Your sister? I hope you have not had more bad news.”
Elizabeth held back tears. “I do not know how to explain it,” she said.
“What has happened? You cannot shock me, I am accustomed to expect the worst where Wickham has an association,” he said.
“This is the very worst. It is ridiculous, insulting. I fear it will shock you,” she said walking to the window.
Darcy turned Elizabeth to face him and put his hands firmly on her shoulders. She began to cry openly and lay her head on his chest in defeat.“Wickham is like the vilest of curses, a foul spell cast over both our families. Can we ever be free of him?”
Darcy stroked his wife’s hair gently and whispered, “Come now, I cannot have you distressed, what are you afraid of? What can be so grave? Let me help you, ask anything of me, my love.”
Elizabeth lifted her face to meet his eyes which were full of love and concern. “I ask nothing of you for myself, but my mother... ” she became quietly angry,“my mother, who knows nothing of your past experience of Wickham, demands the impossible of you.”
“In what way? If I can help then I shall, Elizabeth. What can be so impossible?”
Elizabeth wept quietly now and settled herself wearily on a lovers’ seat by the window, her face was pale as she gazed out over the grounds. Darcy took the letter from her and read it.When he had finished, he sat next to his wife and took her hand. She smiled but it was a weak smile. “You do not wish to reject me, even now, when I seem always to bring you trouble?” she said quietly.
Darcy shook his head, never moving his eyes from her face. “I do not wish to reject you, Elizabeth,” he said firmly, “and these troubles we have must be shared, they are the result of unfortunate circumstance, they are not brought about by you.”
“Then you are not angry?” she asked, searching his face for signs of rage.
“Oh yes, I am angry, Elizabeth, but not with you, nor with Lydia or your parents.Your father displays a decency in his letter that I can only respect. He valiantly attempts to hide behind the image of cowardice, when in fact he is showing understanding and wisdom.”
“But you are angry with Wickham,” she said quietly.
A determined expression came suddenly like a fire across his handsome features and set a blaze in his eyes. He spoke quietly but with conviction. “Yes, with Wickham,” he spat the name, “always with Wickham, but I will defeat him, one day I will, I will not have him hurt those dear to me.”
He stood and paced the room again, stopping by the fireplace, the letter still in his hand, he raised it to look again at the paper as if some answer or enlightenment lay therein. Still staring at its content he spoke. “Write directly to Longbourn, I will arrange a carriage to collect your sister in seven days,” he said.
Elizabeth went to stand but he was by her and guided her back into the seat, taking both her hands he said resolutely,“You see, I do not wish to reject you, you are innocent in all this.” He swallowed hard and thought for a moment before continuing. “Innocent, like a blameless child, I could not reject innocence and claim to be a man.Tell your parents and Lydia we will take the child, Lord knows there is room in our house and our hearts.” With that, he left the room and went to his groom to have his mount made ready.
What a man he had become, so softened by Elizabeth. Ruled only by passion and, despite his better judgment, he would accept and raise Wickham’s child as his own.As his father had done before him with Wickham himself.The coincidence did not escape him, it alarmed him but he was beyond the point in his life where appearances or impropriety were his main concerns. His concerns now were his wife’s happiness, their own child and Lydia’s. He rode the grounds and stopped to look back at the house, memories of his past dealings with George Wickham came rapidly to him.“History will not repeat itself, I shall make sure of it.” He rode off into the woods; the powerful, rhythmic pounding of his stallion’s hooves on the forest floor momentarily drowned the rapid beating of his angry heart.
CHAPTER 14
“I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. It is, I believe, too little yielding, certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of others so soon as I ought, nor their offenses against myself. My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. My temper would perhaps be called resentful. My good opinion once lost is lost forever.”
Before too long events became more complicated at Pemberley; Darcy and Elizabeth made arrangements for Lydia’s arrival to take place the day after Lady Catherine’s proposed departure on the ninth day of May. But the evening before their leaving, Anne de Bourgh’s health deteriorated and Lady Catherine announced that they would remain in Derbyshire until such time as a significant improvement could be seen.
“The physician is adamant that she should not be moved, tell my nephew I shall be staying another two weeks at least,Anne will travel better once the climate has improved,” she told Mrs. Reynolds.
Lydia was to arrive on the tenth.
In private Elizabeth spoke to Darcy. “Do you suppose Lydia’s condition will be noticeable yet?” She looked down at her own figure. “I am not showing and, at worse, Lydia cannot be far advanced, I doubt Lady Catherine will notice.”
Darcy smiled.“You are applying your own morals to your sister which is unwise, Lydia has had the advantage of living with Wickham in London prior to their marriage, she may be further advanced in her confinement than we imagine.”
“If that is so, then let us hope Lady Catherine is only concerned with Anne at present.” Elizabeth looked weary.“It is all so complicated, how to explain things, the surgeon, have you spoken to him?”
“Yes, he will be seen to come and examine you to confirm your condition, then we will make an announcement.”
“Our happy announcement, forced upon us by such unhappy events,” said Elizabeth quietly.
“He will also examine Lydia to determine how long it is until the birth.”
Elizabeth looked thoughtful.“And I shall have twins?”
“It is the only way, the child must be as our own, there can be no difference in rank or connection or fortune.Wickham’s resentment and vicious character
were forged by the extremes of such division, I will not let it be so again with two more young lives.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “But the temptation, the natural feelings of preference towards one child, how does one combat the most genuine of feelings, how does one love another’s child? I believe I can love my sister’s child with relative ease and a good deal of real feeling.The infant will be of my own blood and I comfort myself that I have something of a start towards loving properly. But you, will you be able to look into the eyes of your enemy’s child and still give love?”
“I have to, Elizabeth, I have no choice, you must let me deal with this my own way, trust me, there can be no interference from Wickham in this, that he knows nothing of her condition is vital.”
“He knows nothing at all, for once Lydia’s childish and flirtatious attitudes have had a good result, she was not going to tell Wickham until it could be hidden no more.” Seeing her husband’s inquisitive expression, Elizabeth paused and then went on, “she probably thought she would not be allowed to go dancing.”
Mr. Darcy's Decision: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Page 10
