A Dishonorable Offer

by Timothy Underwood

  “No. I have not seen her since the assembly ball.” He inclined his head and said gallantly, “You and Jane made such a pretty picture at the ball. There is nothing I love so much as a good dance where young persons can enjoy themselves.”

  Elizabeth, rather rudely, interrupted Sir William to run off.

  Mrs. Long did not know. Miss Gould was quite rude and refused to say anything beyond confirming that she had not seen Jane. The Smiths also did not know.

  After an hour, Elizabeth returned home. As she walked into Mr. Phillips’s house, she decided she had been very silly. Jane had certainly returned, probably from Oakham Mount, and she would laugh at how Elizabeth had left her to work on the pies alone.

  Elizabeth went to the kitchen and was met by the rich smell of cooking meat and bread. The cook sat on a chair in the corner of the room, slowly fingering her way through a Bible and hesitantly sounding the words out as she went. The woman looked up at Elizabeth and asked, “Did you find Miss Jane?”

  The next hours were an endless swirling mixture of anxiety and worry.

  Now that it was decided that Jane was legitimately missing, they informed the mayor and the principal gentlemen. Colonel Forster mobilized the regiment to search for her. People went out to look about the sides of the roads and shine lanterns down empty wells to see if she might be injured somewhere.

  Elizabeth stayed at home, so she would immediately hear any news. She wracked her brains trying to think what Jane might have done. Where could she have gone? To Netherfield maybe? But Bingley’s sisters had gone to London for the season two weeks ago, and Bingley planned to follow any day now.

  Then that vague hope was gone when news returned from Netherfield that Bingley had left for London that morning, with the plan to settle there for the season. Lydia had also been asked, and she had seen nothing of her sister either.

  None of the neighborhood had seen Jane. People gathered at the Phillips’s house — they were to have a card party that night in any case. Elizabeth helped to make sure the guests were well supplied with tea and pastries. She needed to do something to distract herself.

  Mrs. Long and Mr. Gould loudly argued about Jane’s likely fate.

  “Poor girl.” Mrs. Long said, “She has fallen down some abandoned mine shaft and broken her neck. She was such a pretty thing. It is a terrible pity.” After making this statement with a dolorous air, Mrs. Long saw Elizabeth staring at her white-faced and said amiably, “Thank you kindly for the tea.”

  Elizabeth’s stomach seized at hearing this speculation. She forced herself to walk away.

  Mr. Gould exclaimed, “Nonsense! Miss Bennet knows better than to fall down some mine pit. Besides almost all of those are marked off. No, mark my words. She’s run off to London to be the mistress of some rich man she met when staying with her uncle.”

  Meaning to tell him off for saying that, Elizabeth turned around. Mrs. Long said, “Now, Jane has always been such a decent girl. I’ve seen no wildness in her.” Seeing Elizabeth near again, she said, “Don’t take Mr. Gould’s horrid speculation to heart, dear. No, it is far more likely she is lying at the bottom of some long drop dead or horribly injured.”

  “Ha!” Mr. Gould replied, “No girl that pretty is actually virtuous. Especially not with a sister like Lydia.”

  Made too sick with terror by Mrs. Long’s attempt to comfort her to argue with Mr. Gould, Elizabeth retreated to sit in the corner. She buried her head in her hands unable to stop imagining her dear sister falling and breaking her neck.

  It was another hour before they received news.

  A substantial tenant farmer entered the Phillips’s drawing room. The young man had gone to London that morning on business. He grinned with a toothy grotesque glee. “Hahahahaha! So Miss Jane is missing. I barely believed my eyes when I saw her in Mr. Bingley’s carriage at the post stop. Ha! And with all her airs. I know Mr. Bingley won’t marry her. That’s not what they’ve gone off to do.”

  “You’re lying! Jane wouldn’t.”

  Elizabeth felt everyone’s stares poking into her stomach and back.

  Mr. Gould laughed and smashed his fist against his hand. “I knew it! This is why I told my little Harriet to have nothing to do with that girl when she came back. Ha, Phillips. Had another runner. Will it be Miss Elizabeth next or Mrs. Bennet?”

  Mr. Phillips said, “That vile, worthless female. I always knew another of Fanny’s girls would disgrace me, but I thought it would be Elizabeth. So Miss Jane has gone off to be Mr. Bingley’s mistress. She had best hope he never tires of her, as I’ll beat her half to death if I see her again.”

  Elizabeth shouted, “Jane wouldn’t! You all know her. They must plan to marry, or…or it was a different woman you saw…or…”

  Mr. Phillips growled, “Sit down. No more talk from you. I ought to throw you out too.”

  Elizabeth began crying. She sat down on a stiff backed chair.

  Maria Lucas sat next to her. “I think it is true. Maybe Bingley abducted her, just like in Pamela. Then after Jane resists him he will decide to marry her. Don’t you think that would be so romantic?”

  “Maria! Come here,” Lady Lucas ordered her daughter away from Elizabeth.

  None of the other ladies moved to sit near her. Now, they were in an even deeper disgrace. Would even Charlotte still be her friend?

  At least Jane was alive.

  Anxiety gnawed at Elizabeth’s gut. What could have happened? It made no sense. What if Maria was right? Bingley was too friendly and kind for Elizabeth to believe that he would abduct a woman, but it was far easier to believe that of Bingley than to believe Jane would agree to live with him without marriage.

  Or maybe they had chosen to elope. That made little sense. Jane had no fortune and there could be no possible objection to him as a husband. But maybe Bingley wanted to elope so he would not need to hear his sisters and friends argue against the match until it was a completed fact.

  But Jane still would have told her.

  Maybe she had hinted. Elizabeth tried to remember everything Jane had said to her for the past days. Jane had embraced and talked to Elizabeth more than normal, but that was because Elizabeth had been so unhappy to hear about Darcy’s engagement.

  Right?

  I would have loved you exactly the same if you’d become his mistress.

  A numb band spread around Elizabeth’s stomach and her heart beat faster. No. Jane wouldn’t have.

  Mr. Wickham sat next to her. He sighed, but a smirk lingered on the edge of his features. “Your poor sister. I told you that Mr. Darcy would take his revenge.”

  “Mr. Darcy!” Elizabeth snarled at Mr. Wickham. “I hate that name, and I despise you. My sister has… She has… And your sole thought is to defame him once more.”

  Mr. Wickham squared the shoulders of his red coat. “I suspect him for more reasons than my dislike. I know for a certain fact that Mr. Bingley visited town yesterday. By this time of year, Darcy has always arrived in London for the season. Bingley must have visited Darcy. If Jane was mentioned, you can well imagine what advice Mr. Darcy gave Bingley. Bingley is easily swayed by his friends, and he would not hatch such a scheme without prompting.”

  Would Darcy tell Bingley to make Jane his mistress?

  He saw nothing wrong with such behavior. But, Elizabeth had told Darcy how good Jane was.

  “It hurts me to see you so anxious and devastated.” Mr. Wickham touched her hand.

  Elizabeth pulled her hand away and said, “It does not matter what Darcy said to Bingley. Jane would never consent to an arrangement. It makes no sense.”

  “Maybe…maybe she does not go by choice.”

  “What!” That a second person suggested it made the possibility seem real. They had only known Bingley for four months. A phrase from Shakespeare popped into Elizabeth’s mind: One may smile and smile and be a villain.

  Oh, poor Jane. Would he really force her? Violate Jane?

  No, no, no. Not Jane.

 
Wickham said, “You begin to believe me. I think Darcy suggested some blackmail, or maybe they simply grabbed her by force. Great gentlemen can do such things and then escape all punishment for the judge is their friend and…” Wickham gestured around the room. “Even those who have known a virtuous woman her entire life are eager to believe the worst of her. Few will believe that she did not go willingly.”

  Elizabeth pressed a hand against her chest. The room spun around her and she felt faint and dizzy. “Oh, that Bingley is such a man. We must rescue my sister.”

  “I fear nothing can be done. I cannot help you, for I fear what Darcy would do should I cross him again.”

  “Darcy? ‘Tis Bingley who took Jane.”

  “Surely you must understand the plan is Darcy’s.” Wickham looked eager, as though that was the important point he must make Elizabeth realize.

  It snapped Elizabeth out of her horror.

  She knew Darcy too well. A man who told the woman he wished to seduce that he did not love her, simply because he did not want her to agree because she thought he did… Elizabeth shook her head. “Mr. Wickham, Darcy would have nothing to do with such a scheme.”

  Wickham grabbed her hand again and held it tightly. “It hurts my soul to see you still the dupe of such a scoundrel. He is not an honorable man — you know that. You must let go of this pretense that he loves you. He does not. My acquaintance with him is far longer and of far greater depth than yours. You must accept that I have superior knowledge of his character. He would create such a scheme, solely to injure you.”

  “I know he does not love me. Not in the slightest. Never. He never did.” Elizabeth snapped her hand away from Mr. Wickham and stood up. She said in a tense voice, that she hoped did not carry to any of the other guests. “Do not touch me familiarly ever again.”

  Elizabeth went to the corner of the room and sat in a chair that she turned to face the wall.

  Pamela. In the novel, even after he had abducted her, Mr. B wanted Pamela to come to him willingly. He never violated the maid even though he had the opportunity.

  Wickham was probably a little right. Darcy had suggested that Bingley make Jane his mistress, and he had said something like, You must make sure she hears you out. Don’t let her walk away until she has enough time to overcome her first revulsion at the idea. And Bingley had thought Darcy wanted him to take Jane to some out of the way house until she agreed.

  Bingley wasn’t a villain, even if he did smile and smile. He had acted horribly wrong, but he wouldn’t…force himself on Jane. And Jane had been seen healthy and alive at the post stop. Their reputations were shredded even further, but nothing worse had happened. Reputation was not a matter of any real importance when one was still healthy.

  A wave of relief swept Elizabeth as she understood what had happened. She still felt sick and anxious but it was a small matter next to the clawing terror she’d felt minutes earlier.

  Jane needed to be rescued. Darcy would know where Bingley would hide her.

  With a sudden resolution Elizabeth went to her uncle. “I know how to find Jane — we must set off to rescue her immediately.”

  “By God, no. The worthless slut is gone and good riddance. If she wants to let some rich man tup her in exchange for some filthy silver, I damn well am not going to bother her about it. I wish to God you all had died of a fever as children. Oh, I would be so happy if that had happened.”

  “But, I think she was abducted by Mr. Bingley. We must rescue her.”

  Mr. Phillips stared at Elizabeth. Then he giggled. “No, she’s tupping him for the money. And lust. Mainly lust. Get away from me, I don’t want to see you again tonight, and never bother me about Jane again, or I’ll throw you out.”

  Rebuffed, Elizabeth returned to her seat in the corner of the room.

  If Mr. Phillips would not help, what could she do? She had to rescue Jane.

  Charlotte entered the drawing room and immediately sat next to Elizabeth and embraced her. “Oh, Lizzy. This must shock you so much. I am shocked too. I would not have expected Jane to do such a thing.”

  “You believe it? Are you certain you are willing to talk to the sister of such a woman? Your mother would not let Maria speak to me.”

  “Elizabeth, I will always talk to you. You are my closest friend. I shall speak to Mama. And I will never think ill of a woman who makes such a painful choice. If only Lydia had not ruined Jane’s every prospect of a good marriage, things would have been different. Poor Jane. I do not think ill of her at all. And I believe the Almighty is likely to forgive her as well.”

  “Jane did not. Bingley abducted her.”

  Charlotte embraced Elizabeth tightly.

  “He did. I know he did. Jane wouldn’t, even if would be pragmatic, she would not agree to live that way. You know her too well. Her character is so firm and good.”

  Charlotte’s tight squeeze made Elizabeth want to sob. But she wouldn’t. Everything would be right in the end. She would find Darcy herself, and he would help her rescue Jane from Bingley, who was simply being a fool, not an evil violator of women, and then Bingley would marry Jane, and everything would be right.

  There was no reason to weep.

  After Mr. Phillips forced all of his neighbors out of his house, Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Phillips stayed in the drawing room to discuss the happy news.

  Mrs. Phillips said, “Our Jane has done decently for herself.” She laughed. “You have fallen lower now. I dare say, if Mr. Bennet hadn’t died so unfortunately, and you still had Longbourn, Bingley would have married my niece.”

  Mrs. Bennet replied, “I am not bothered by that. Bingley will keep her with him in London, and she’ll be able to meet other great gentlemen, his friends. She wasn’t so very beautiful for nothing. My wonderful, clever girl! She will find an even richer man, and someday she will be the mistress of an earl or even a duke. And if she finds an old, fond widower, she might convince him to marry her and gain a title. Like Nelson’s mistress. Just imagine! My daughter a lady. That would be even better than if Mr. Bennet had lived.”

  Elizabeth felt too terrible to say anything and retreated to her lonely room.

  She had barely enough pocket money to cover a postal fare to London. She approximately knew Darcy’s address. His townhouse was in Grosvenor Square. That was enough information to find him. She would beg him to tell her where Bingley was hiding Jane.

  Even though she’d settled the plan, and even though everything would turn out well enough in the end, the anxiety in Elizabeth’s chest grew and grew, clawing at her heart and at her stomach and tingling down her limbs. She did not let herself think about horrible fates for Jane, but they were there in her mind.

  She made herself think about plans.

  What would she say to Darcy when she saw him? He would stand there with his flirtatious eyes. Engaged. He’d never cared for her.

  Damn him.

  What if he refused to help her?

  Even though he’d not refused to help yet, even though Elizabeth was sure he would help, as she imagined him refusing a terrible rage beat through her chest and jaw.

  That vicious rake. That seducer. He owed her, after encouraging her to fall in love with him and then abandoning her. After encouraging Bingley to thieve Jane. After becoming engaged to a different woman.

  How dare he refuse to help her? She would make him. She would scream at him, and tell all his family his every misdeed, and his fiancée, and everyone in the whole world what he had done. When he sneered and said he had nothing to do with Jane’s abduction, she would make him admit the truth.

  She would, she would, she would.

  Heart-pounding rage mixed with terror. Elizabeth had no sleep, and her mind twisted sickeningly around and around, refusing to grow quiet. And a distant part of her mind knew that she no longer thought clearly.

  Her limbs felt weak and shaky.

  She was going to see Darcy, and…she would tell him.

  Two months. Stealing Jane. Just two damn
months. Hadn’t he loved her at least a little?

  The light crept into the window, Elizabeth raised herself from the bed and gathered her purse. She changed into her faded travelling dress, and with shaky hands she carefully worked her hair into a tight bun that might look passable after four hours on the road. She would still look raggedy when Darcy saw her. Her coat had a patched area, and she wouldn’t look like the dignified protector of her sister when he saw it.

  Recalling how everyone ran about when Jane disappeared, Elizabeth penned a short note that she left in the middle of the bed. It read: I am gone to London to rescue Jane since none of you shall. I am sure Mr. Bingley has abducted her, and you will all see the Truth.

  Elizabeth quietly snuck out of the house. She looked back. She would not be able to return, as Mr. Phillips would never let her back into his house after she also travelled to London alone. Without Jane here, she did not care.

  Her heart beating ceaselessly, Elizabeth walked down to the post station to wait for the coach.

  Chapter 19

  Darcy immediately knew after Lady Margaret accepted his offer and gigglingly embraced him that he was the stupidest man in the United Kingdom. It did not take long to realize he was also the most abominably selfish man.

  Lady Margaret stiffly gripped the armrest of the sofa she sat on. She leaned forward towards Darcy, who forced himself not to recoil backwards. He listened attentively but couldn’t quite smile.

  Georgiana sat on the other sofa in the drawing room of Darcy’s London house, pretending to read a book.

  Lady Margaret spoke in her newly habitual fast chatter. “So everyone was at the play. We were all in the box, and can you guess who came to our box? Can you? Can you? Mr. Darcy?”

  “I cannot.”

  “It was Captain Williams! He sat next to me and Miss Tyler and talked all the way through the play. It would have quite annoyed me, but I was bored by then anyways.”

  “Forgive me, which play were you watching?”

  “Oh, that does not signify. I had a splendid time talking to him. He always dances with me at every ball. I think Captain Williams was flirting with me. An engaged woman. Shocking. Someone should tell him to mind himself in the future.”