Consequences (25 page)

“But Charlotte,” said Elizabeth passionately, “is it not possible that Mr. Darcy mentioned no details since he could not refute what Mr. Wickham told me? Everything in Mr. Wickham’s story seemed truthful. He never tried to hide the fact that his father was old Mr. Darcy’s steward, that he had a gentleman’s education through the beneficence of his patron, and that he was deprived of his heart’s desire, a place in the church, by Mr. Darcy’s high-handed and selfish actions.”

“Certainly, that is Mr. Wickham’s story, but remember he told his story of what he had suffered only to you until Mr. Darcy left the county and could not defend himself. And then, when his story could not be disputed, Mr. Wickham made it known to the entire neighbourhood. Was that not improper?”

Elizabeth was uncomfortably aware that she could not disagree with Charlotte’s supposition, and she made no response.

“And Elizabeth,” continued her friend, “I have to tell you, I could never see that Mr. Wickham had any interest in the church. To my knowledge, he never attended any church service in the neighbourhood, and I cannot see such a man composing sermons.” She smiled wryly as she continued, “Not even bad sermons!”

Both women laughed heartily at her little joke, and the discussion appeared to be almost complete. Charlotte, however, had one further point to make. “Elizabeth, all we have talked of may not come to pass, but as your friend, I would like your pledge that you will avoid any precipitate action should the occasion arise. I know you are quick-witted, but you are also passionate, especially in defence of friend or family. Please promise me that you will not act on the impulse of the moment but will take the time to think over all about which we have spoken. Do make sure that you are acting in your best interests. There is no need for any hasty action, after all. It is quite common and proper for a young lady to know a young man for a considerable time before anything more lasting is expected. And even a proposal could be considered for days, or even weeks, before an answer is expected.”

“And ask you for your advice?” asked Elizabeth dryly.

“If you so desire, Eliza. You know you are my dearest friend, and I only have your interests in my heart.”

Touched by Charlotte’s obvious warmth and sincerity, Elizabeth could only agree to her request.

Chapter 15

“Every great mistake has a halfway
moment, a split second when it can be
recalled and perhaps remedied.”

—Pearl S. Buck, American author

Thursday, April 9, 1812

Elizabeth closed the door to her room firmly behind her, having to struggle to avoid slamming the door in the flame of her anger. As she threw her bonnet, shawl, and gloves on her bed, she looked out her window and saw Colonel Fitzwilliam passing through the gate, evidently on his way back to Rosings.

“I understood that there were some very strong objections against the lady.”

Those were the words Colonel Fitzwilliam used. Parts of his assertion were spoken in jest; he thought little of the import of it to his companion, who took his meaning in quite a different direction. To her, it appeared to be an accurate representation of Mr. Darcy, and her feelings were so greatly aroused that she did not trust herself to make an answer. It took all of her self-control to maintain a façade of amiability for the benefit of the good colonel, and she was forced to abruptly change the subject.

Their remaining conversation was on indifferent matters until they reached the Parsonage. Colonel Fitzwilliam did not stay long after they arrived, and as soon as he departed, Elizabeth immediately fled upstairs to her room. She needed to be by herself with the door safely shut, so she could think on what she had heard without interruption.

“I understood that there were some very strong objections against the lady.”

There appeared to be no other possibility; Colonel Fitzwilliam had been talking of Jane and Mr. Bingley when he told his story, even if he had not a suspicion of it. Certainly, Mr. Darcy had immense sway over Mr. Bingley, and it was not to be supposed he could wield the same influence on any other person in the world.

“And I suppose these strong objections were probably that she had one uncle who was a country attorney and another who was in trade in London,” she said aloud as she paced the floor angrily. “How could there be any objection to Jane herself? With her excellent understanding and disposition as well as the most cultured manners possible, who could object to her?”

And here I thought Jane’s misery was mostly the product of Miss Bingley and her sister!
Elizabeth thought angrily.
I never doubted Mr. Darcy had some part in it, but I was obviously mistaken! That man’s vanity and arrogance was the major cause of all that Jane suffered and continues to suffer. He has ruined, perhaps forever, every hope of happiness for the most affectionate, most generous heart in the world!

“I understood that there were some very strong objections against the lady.”

And if there could be no objections against Jane, there could equally be no objections against my father, who has abilities that everyone, even Mr. Darcy, must recognize. And as for my mother, well
. . .

When she thought of her mother’s behaviour at the Netherfield ball, which Mr. Darcy could not have failed to observe, though he gave no indication of it, even Elizabeth winced in embarrassment. However, as she continued to consider it, she soon managed to convince herself that even her mother’s silliness could not have played a material part in Mr. Darcy’s actions.

It was his pride,
that arrogant, overweening pride which inspired his actions
, she thought
. Not even my mother’s want of sense could have wounded his pride as much as my family’s want of connections. And, of course, he also must have wanted to retain Mr. Bingley for his sister!

The agitation and tears brought on by her anger at Mr. Darcy were well in progress, with a headache already beginning, when a soft knock came at the door. Elizabeth knew it must be Charlotte, but she did not want to talk to anyone at the moment, so she said nothing.

Charlotte, however, had observed her friend’s distress when she abruptly went upstairs to her room, and she deduced Colonel Fitzwilliam must have upset her. She was at first disposed to leave Elizabeth alone, but she decided this might be related to the subject they discussed early that morning. So, when there was no answer to her knock, she impulsively opened the door and went inside.

As she closed the door behind her and saw Elizabeth’s pale face and tear-streaked cheeks, Charlotte knew she had been correct. Accordingly, after she sat down beside the bed and softly asked Elizabeth what was troubling her, it took only a few minutes of gentle questioning to elicit all the details of the conversation with Colonel Fitzwilliam. Then, while Elizabeth lay back on the bed, her face turned toward the wall, Charlotte considered what to do. She had tried reason and logic with, on balance, positive results, but she knew how clever her friend was. Her earlier victory, if it could be called a victory, was one of the few she ever managed in arguing with Eliza. Thus, she decided she would not repeat her tactic but would take a different approach . . .

Elizabeth was convinced of what Charlotte was going to say, and she was already marshalling her arguments against it. She knew Charlotte would advise her to think of her family, of her sisters, of Jane. She would counsel caution, practicality, and reasonableness. But Elizabeth’s blood was up, and she was not going to be manoeuvred again into agreeing with Charlotte’s appeal to rationality. It was because she was so certain of what advice would be urged on her that she was not prepared for Charlotte’s actual response.

“Elizabeth Bennet,” Charlotte snapped with cold and angry vehemence, “do not try to tell me this so-called revelation came as a surprise to you! You are simply trying to back out of the promise you made to me just this morning!”

“What?” Elizabeth said in confusion, sitting up in shocked surprise. “I do not understand what you mean.”

“Eliza, I always knew Mr. Darcy must be primarily responsible for separating Jane and Mr. Bingley. Since we both know how quick and insightful you are, I simply cannot believe you could have thought differently. The conversation you had today with the colonel cannot have come as a surprise to you.”

“But . . . but . . .” stammered Elizabeth.

“I cannot remember any time when we were in Hertfordshire that I observed Mr. Bingley being influenced by either of his sisters. For example, do you think either Miss Bingley or Mrs. Hurst wanted to come to the assembly that first night when we saw them?”

“Well, no . . .” answered Elizabeth reluctantly.

“Exactly. They both hated being there every second. That was obvious. Yet Mr. Bingley came and gave every evidence of enjoying himself. And do you think that Miss Bingley wanted to come to the gathering at my father’s house where you played the pianoforte for us?”

“Well . . .”

“Again, Mr. Bingley came despite his sisters being miserable. And lastly, do you not think that both of Mr. Bingley’s sisters must have strenuously opposed the ball Mr. Bingley hosted at Netherfield?”

This time Elizabeth only shook her head, her mouth open at the relentlessness of her friend’s argument.

“Precisely. So, if Mr. Bingley did not allow himself to be persuaded by his sisters in any of these decisions, why would you think they could convince him to leave Netherfield and not return? No, that always had to have been Mr. Darcy. Only he could have had the influence to make Mr. Bingley listen to him since his friend obviously ignored the advice of his sisters on most occasions. So how can you suddenly be so very angry with Mr. Darcy when you must have been able to come to the same conclusions I did months ago?”

Elizabeth was quite taken aback, for she truly had never followed the path of logic in the way Charlotte now outlined. Finally, she was able to say, “It does seem so clear when you state it like that, Charlotte, but believe me, I really had not followed your reasoning at all. Jane was so blind, believing Miss Bingley was her friend and thus would not deceive her, so I was determined to argue otherwise and never thought of what you just related.”

“But now you must believe my premise, Eliza. I am sure Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst never wanted Jane for a sister, but Mr. Bingley would not have been swayed by their arguments. He was too used to ignoring them. But Mr. Darcy surely never tried to convince Mr. Bingley about the assembly or the ball at Netherfield. He knew Mr. Bingley needed to build associations with the neighbourhood families. In addition,” Charlotte said, as a sudden thought struck her, “Mr. Darcy had another reason not to oppose his friend. I remember he sought a dance with you at my father’s gathering and then actually secured a dance at the Netherfield ball. I think that he must have been half in love with you even then!”

“Oh, Charlotte,” Elizabeth laughed, “your logic was most convincing about Mr. Bingley, but now you are venturing into fancy!”

“Did Mr. Darcy ever ask any other of the young ladies in the neighbourhood to dance? Did he ever spend time in conversation with any of them?”

“Perhaps not, but our ‘conversations’ did not consist of pleasantries! They were mostly argumentative!”

“Perhaps, but were you not using those quick wits to mock Mr. Darcy because of the dislike you had taken to him? Yet he kept coming back, as tongue-tied then as he has been at the Parsonage. And you just told me Colonel Fitzwilliam stated Mr. Darcy has already delayed their departure once! I begin to think even you must admit the evidence is mounting!”

“Charlotte, Charlotte, I know you only want the best for me, but this is too much! No, I will keep my promise to you, which will be quite easy, for nothing will transpire. And Mr. Darcy and his cousin will be gone from Rosings on Saturday, so I may enjoy the last week of my visit without further distraction!”

Charlotte did not try to argue this point, which was, in any case, a secondary item. She could not be certain whether there was a real attraction on Mr. Darcy’s part toward her friend, though she thought it increasingly likely. She only wanted to make sure Elizabeth did nothing impulsively if her suspicions were right, and Elizabeth just reaffirmed her promise. So she was well content.

Though Charlotte succeeded in drawing the poison of her anger, Elizabeth’s headache still persisted and grew so much worse toward evening that she determined not to accompany her cousins to Rosings, where they were engaged to drink tea. Mrs. Collins did not press her to go since she knew her friend’s headache was giving her pain. In addition, she knew Elizabeth was seeking to avoid Mr. Darcy because she was still quite angry with him. She tried to prevent her husband from insisting on Elizabeth’s attendance, though her success was mixed since he was most apprehensive that Lady Catherine would be displeased by his cousin’s absence.

When they were gone, Elizabeth was inclined to pull out and examine all the letters Jane had written her, but she reluctantly decided against it. She knew re-reading the letters would only exasperate her against Mr. Darcy, and she had faithfully promised Charlotte she would show some restraint if she did have occasion to see Mr. Darcy again. She knew perusing Jane’s letters would definitely
not
leave her in a calm mood, so she instead settled down by the window with a book.